The Needle Galaxy LRGB (NGC4565) 10"+80mm

[tooth_dr]

Hi

I have made some changes to my workflow for RGB, thanks to @xiga, and although this is just the first step in improving my processing, I am happy now to tackle at least the RGB bit.  I would like to develop a workflow for luminance- ie when to make stars smaller, NR, sharpening, etc.

I've managed to produce this image of the Needle Galaxy using data from a 10" newtonian (blue tube 250px) and an ED80 on a dual rig, with KAF-8300 sensors. I scaled the colour data up to the luminance in APP.

Imaged on 16th and 21st April 2020.

Luminance 10" = 3.75 hours

Red ED80 = 2.5 hours

Green ED80 = 1.5 hours

Blue ED80 = 1.33 hours

Total integration time = just over 9 hours.

 

Thanks for looking

Adam

 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2020 by tooth_dr

[Adreneline]

Excellent job to my eyes Adam - really like the star colours.

An added bonus is there is so much to see in the image in terms of other 'fuzzies'.

Thanks for sharing.

Adrian

[tooth_dr]

6 hours ago, Adreneline said:

Excellent job to my eyes Adam - really like the star colours.

An added bonus is there is so much to see in the image in terms of other 'fuzzies'.

Thanks for sharing.

Adrian

Thanks Adrian. The bigger scope really does improve the resolution of the image. There is even some detail in the small spiral galaxy bottom left. 

[ollypenrice]

Lovely image, natural and unforced. The all important background sky is tip top.

There's a horizontal line passing through the galaxy, most visible on the right hand side. Any idea where it came from? It would be an easy cosmetic fix.

Olly

[tooth_dr]

4 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Lovely image, natural and unforced. The all important background sky is tip top.

There's a horizontal line passing through the galaxy, most visible on the right hand side. Any idea where it came from? It would be an easy cosmetic fix.

Olly

Thank you Ollie.  I think it’s a reflection as it is in other images in a different place.  I plan to blacken a few edges when I get a chance.

I knew it could be fixed but I don’t know how. I tried to use the healing tool but that made it more obvious.

Do you have time to explain?

[ollypenrice]

33 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Thank you Ollie.  I think it’s a reflection as it is in other images in a different place.  I plan to blacken a few edges when I get a chance.

I knew it could be fixed but I don’t know how. I tried to use the healing tool but that made it more obvious.

Do you have time to explain?

Sure. There are various ways but the easiest on this is just to use a small clone stamp brush, medium feathered, and set to Mode Darken. Just make your way along the line with single dabs of this small brush, choosing the clone from nearby sky each time and avoiding stars both when collecting the clone and applying it. Once near the galaxy pick up the clone from a patch of outlying galaxy of the same brightness as the background to be repaired.

Blend mode Darken is less invasive because it will only be applied to the lighter pixels of the line in most cases. Took three minutes at most.

If you have Noels Actions (AKA Pro Digital Astronomy Tools) you can rotate the image either way till the line is horizontal on screen and then run 'Reduce horizontal banding.' Next make the result a layer underneath (also in the Actions) and erase the line from the top layer. That way you're only messing with the line itself and not the whole image.

I also stack and calibrate in AstroArt.  This has an excellent 'remove line' feature which repairs sat. and 'plane trails pretty well. It would work on your line, I'm confident.

The healing brush in Ps is tricky and picks up stars, etc. The spot healing brush next to it is much easier, but slower.

Olly

Edited May 3, 2020 by ollypenrice
typo

[Xiga]

13 hours ago, tooth_dr said:

Hi

I have made some changes to my workflow for RGB, thanks to @xiga, and although this is just the first step in improving my processing, I am happy now to tackle at least the RGB bit.  I would like to develop a workflow for luminance- ie when to make stars smaller, NR, sharpening, etc.

I've managed to produce this image of the Needle Galaxy using data from a 10" newtonian (blue tube 250px) and an ED80 on a dual rig, with KAF-8300 sensors. I scaled the colour data up to the luminance in APP.

Imaged on 16th and 21st April 2020.

Luminance 10" = 3.75 hours

Red ED80 = 2.5 hours

Green ED80 = 1.5 hours

Blue ED80 = 1.33 hours

Total integration time = just over 9 hours.

 

Thanks for looking

Adam

 

 

 

Nice! This is a big improvement on your version from last year Adam. The colours are looking great. 😎

The reflection can be fixed in a few ways. I think the way I did it in your M94 image was to use the Burn tool at a very low amount (only a few %) and carefully paint over the streak in a single stroke, with a brush size close to the same width of the streak. This significantly reduced the effect, enough so that Noel's Horizontal Banding Reduction action was able to clean up the rest. 

HTH.

[Allinthehead]

Lovely image Adam, great detail in the Needle.