M106

[don4l]

This image has been a bit of a learning curve.  I don't normally do LRGB imaging (and now I know why)!  When I got the first couple of subs in, I thought that it was going to be easy.  M106 seemed really bright.

I got a bit of a shock when I tried to make an LRGB image.  All I seemed to have was the core surrounded by the most appaling noise.  Trying to lift the rest of the galaxy out of the background has taken hours of data, and it still isn't much good. 

Any advice would be very welcome.

The image was taken on my Tal200K with a G3 16200 camera.  The pixels are far too small for 2000mm focal length, so I took  all the data binned 2 x 2.  I did try some subs binned 1 x 1 at 6" per pixel, but it was clearly pointless.

L = 109m, R = 44m, G = 64, B = 128, Ha = 136m.  Total = 8 Hrs.

The odd balance between the different filters is because I kept having to collect more to try to make that particulat channel useable.

[EDIT]  Good grief!  I either uploaded the wrong version, or did something stupid.  I've raised the black point.  Hopefully this is correct.

[edit again]  This is weird.  The images look much brighter on here than in Gimp.  Black point raised again!

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by don4l

[tooth_dr]

That red Ha jet is pretty clear, so I'd say youve done a great job here.  I also have a lot of LRGB data to process, and I havent got around to it, because it's not easy!

[don4l]

32 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

That red Ha jet is pretty clear, so I'd say youve done a great job here.  I also have a lot of LRGB data to process, and I havent got around to it, because it's not easy!

Well done for spotting the Ha.  It is barely discernable from the rest in the Ha data, but the Gimp did a good job of exposing it.  I might try to get some more at some point, but I would really need to get the rest of the faint stuff first.  The problem is that the amount of darkness is diminishing, and I want to try to do some other stuff while it is still around.