M31 & M45 19th Jan '22

[imakebeer]

Continuing to hone my AP skills I went back to M31, plus a bit of M45 since I had the gear setup and time in hand. I still think I've got miles to go with processing compared to the best pics but I'm pleased that I can see my progress in my own work from one session to the next after just a few months.

With both of these images I wonder if I'd benefit from getting to grips with layer masks to process the lighter and darker regions separately? Something to try I guess!

SW150PDS + Nikon D5500 + BYN. I doubled my previous longest imaging time on M31 from 60 to 120 x 60s @ ISO 400. Same settings for M45 but only 30 x 60s. I also did 20 each darks, bias and flats. Stacked and processed in Siril, plus a bit more tweaking in GIMP.

For M31 I think this time I've managed to capture a hint of the finer detail further out - this just really emphasises to me how flippin' big M31 is! I wonder if it's possible to do a mosaic to capture a wider field? (I'm sure it is). I think I can also see some hint of coma(?) towards the edges - I do have a coma corrector that I haven't used it which will also widen the FOV a little I believe so can give it a try.

With M45 the framing isn't so good - ideally I'd have rotated the camera to frame it better but I wanted to leave it in place until the morning to do my flat frames. Also something somewhere must have happened in Siril that made the diffraction spikes go a bit bananas!

[wesdon1]

20 hours ago, imakebeer said:

Continuing to hone my AP skills I went back to M31, plus a bit of M45 since I had the gear setup and time in hand. I still think I've got miles to go with processing compared to the best pics but I'm pleased that I can see my progress in my own work from one session to the next after just a few months.

With both of these images I wonder if I'd benefit from getting to grips with layer masks to process the lighter and darker regions separately? Something to try I guess!

SW150PDS + Nikon D5500 + BYN. I doubled my previous longest imaging time on M31 from 60 to 120 x 60s @ ISO 400. Same settings for M45 but only 30 x 60s. I also did 20 each darks, bias and flats. Stacked and processed in Siril, plus a bit more tweaking in GIMP.

For M31 I think this time I've managed to capture a hint of the finer detail further out - this just really emphasises to me how flippin' big M31 is! I wonder if it's possible to do a mosaic to capture a wider field? (I'm sure it is). I think I can also see some hint of coma(?) towards the edges - I do have a coma corrector that I haven't used it which will also widen the FOV a little I believe so can give it a try.

With M45 the framing isn't so good - ideally I'd have rotated the camera to frame it better but I wanted to leave it in place until the morning to do my flat frames. Also something somewhere must have happened in Siril that made the diffraction spikes go a bit bananas!

@imakebeer Awesome work mate! I just managed a Jupiter image, my DSO of M45 was a disaster, unfortunately. I did Jupiter and M45 on same night, but when I started processing M45 data, I realised all my subs were out of focus, and my tracking was bad. I don't mind, it was just awesome getting outside and imaging! I'm happy with Jupiter though! It's about my 12th Jupiter image. Things that used to really stress me out, now are like second nature. I still have a long way to go yet, but I'm getting better with experience. You've made incredible progress, much faster progress than me! Well Done mate! 

*As a side note, I just ordered my new ( well used, but new equipment for me ) small refractor. It's an ALTAIR 66mm/400mm ED Doublet Apochromatic Refractor, which I specifically bought for it's more forgiving tracking nature, being much wider FOV than my 1000mm/200mm Newtonian Reflector. I can't wait to get outside and image with it! Obviously I'll post pics when done!

Edited January 23, 2023 by wesdon1

[imakebeer]

@wesdon1 That's a nice looking image of Jupiter 👍 You should post it up in the planetary section with a few details