M97 - Owl and M108 @ IoW Star Party

[RichieJarvis]

Hi All,

Not too happy with this one - the focus definitely seems very soft to me. Posting it really to find out whether I am being too harsh (probably not), and if there is anything I can actually DO about it

This was also taken on the IoW during the Star Party. Its LRGB - 10x600,10x200,10x200,10x200 through the Zenithstar 66.

Thanks,

Richie

[steppenwolf]

Hi Richie, lots going on in here but the focus is a little soft I think. I have had a little go at the image using one of my own 'actions' and you may or may not like the difference!

[RichieJarvis]

Hi Steve,

I do indeed - what did you do???

Soft focus definitely - I was quite annoyed about that when I saw it

Can I put the combined fits somewhere for you - pwetty pwease?

Cheers,

Richie

[steppenwolf]

I do indeed - what did you do???

Not telling - buy the book .......

..... hang on, you have (which gives you free access to the action)

I ran the action which sharpens the image in a very easily controllable manner without producing any artefacts. Next I adjusted the levels on your original image by reducing the gamma level (moving the centre slider to the right) to reduce the overall brightness. I then copied your image on top of mine and adjusted the opacity until I got the overall balance right and then used the eraser to remove the centre of the large galaxy and Owl Nebula, exposing my versions underneath. Finally I merged the layers in 'normal' mode and made a final tweak to the 'levels'.

If you can find somewhere to place the FITS files, I'd be pleased to have a look.

[Tim]

Hi Rich, shame about the focus, we've all been down that road

Do you have a bahtinov mask for that tube? Great way to absolutely KNOW you have focus dead on, easier and faster than any FWHM method too.

Tim