First attempt at Pixinsight: M101...

[oymd]

Good evening everyone

Over the past two clear nights, I took 100 subs @180s of M101.

Went through a PixInsight guide advised to me by one of the members, thanks @geeklee

Still haven't tried any filers that might improve the result

Please feel free to offer feedback!

ASI294MC Pro, ED80

Many thanks

 

[geeklee]

Good work Ossi.  As discussed, I think you've brought out a lot of what the raw stack had to offer.  There's nice subtle colour there with some good detail.  Good crop as well to frame it better from the wider original.

It's a tricky target with that focal length and camera/pixel size.

[oymd]

1 hour ago, geeklee said:

Good work Ossi.  As discussed, I think you've brought out a lot of what the raw stack had to offer.  There's nice subtle colour there with some good detail.  Good crop as well to frame it better from the wider original.

It's a tricky target with that focal length and camera/pixel size.

Thanks Lee

all thanks to you!

do you  think a filter would have helped get more detail? Like a light pollution filter? Or the extremely expensive IDAS D2 would have given a better result?

180s x 100 is 5 hours of data! I am a newbie, so I’m not the one to judge if the result is reasonable for an ED80 + .85reducer + 294MC Pro, or I should have got a better result and I need to add something to my train, a filter for example?

[geeklee]

46 minutes ago, oymd said:

do you  think a filter would have helped get more detail? Like a light pollution filter? Or the extremely expensive IDAS D2 would have given a better result?

I'm not sure what would work best for your situation.  If the moon was out during this session, I don't think there's much magic that would help significantly with those types of targets.

46 minutes ago, oymd said:

180s x 100 is 5 hours of data! I am a newbie, so I’m not the one to judge if the result is reasonable for an ED80 + .85reducer + 294MC Pro, or I should have got a better result and I need to add something to my train, a filter for example?

5 hours of data is really good patience when you're starting out 🙂  There's no silver bullet.  It all comes back to trying to do this type of imaging (broadband, faint targets) under a bright moon.  

Continue the patience mentioned above, the moon is rising early morning now and we're on our way to a New Moon. Get out again if you're able and get some subs without a moon. Unfortunately, the skies are only properly dark for a shorter time now as well - even less up here though 🙁

Sorry I can't be of more help on the filter question - I think it's important to be comfortable with the basics first, be happy with your process and output and try not to introduce too many new things while you're still learning... but everyone is different in their approach! 🙂

Edited April 16, 2020 by geeklee

[oymd]

After processing with PI, a very faint touch of GIMP added at the end...just to darken the backgraound a little, and change the hue.

Not sure which one's better?

 

[Aramcheck]

Well done!

BTW I've found the Inside Pixinsight book very useful...

Cheers
Ivor

[MarkAR]

Both versions good but I think I prefer the first one, looks a little more natural.

[oymd]

1 hour ago, Aramcheck said:

Well done!

BTW I've found the Inside Pixinsight book very useful...

Cheers
Ivor

I've bought it as well

[04Stefan07]

Great results!

I am too on the learning curve with PixInsight as I have been an avid Photoshop user for many years. It is a steep learning curve but I find that PixInsight is much easier to get the processes done.

I have been following a few guides to create my own workflow. Some guides are super extreme whereas some more simple. I prefer to be in between.

[david_taurus83]

That's a good first effort! M101 is a really difficult target, more than people realise! I'd you haven't got the book Inside Pixinsight then the tutorials on Lightvortex Astronomy are good and the steps are very similar to the book. Your focus looks a little soft, could it have been better? I recently done 10 hours on M51 and I have an autofocuser, it still came out soft like it wasnt perfect! These smaller targets make it more critical for good focus as we tend to zoom in when processing.

[ollypenrice]

Photoshop? 👹

Olly

 

[Wyvernp]

There are also a great series of youtube videos by Chris Woodhouse on Pixinsight that I have found fantastic https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEd4A5H8HcV8ybp96WRGmsA/videos

[johnturley]

Has anybody compared Pixinsight with Adobe Lightroom (which I have).

I understand that unlike Lightroom, Pixinsight is available as a free download, however I am never going to be into spending hours, stacking and processing images, just want to spend a few minutes enhancing the images I take, for which Lightroom appears to do the job.

John