An M51 widefield

[powerlord]

Not been posting many pics recently due to rubbish weather and the building the mk2 observatory.

However got this data a few weeks back with the trusty 200pds and asi2600.

To be honest I left processing it for a while because I didn't think it was very good data, but it actually came out decent. I used the new version of Siril to do most of the preprocessing, then into affinity photo, starX, noiseX.

About 5 hours of 5 min subs.

stu

[Adreneline]

12 minutes ago, powerlord said:

However got this data a few weeks back with the trusty 200pds and asi2600.

Very nice Stu - you've done a great job on the data.

I couldn't resist having a little play. I too like to see these targets in the wider field context but your M51 is so good it can stand being the star of the show so I did a bit of cropping:

Hope you don't mind.

M51 is one of those targets that really captures the imagination.

Adrian

P.S.

18 minutes ago, powerlord said:

Not been posting many pics recently due to rubbish weather and the building the mk2 observatory.

Trust the mk2 is going to plan.

[Sunshine]

It's wonderful! I especially love the contrast, and look at all the find detail in the galaxy itself, amazing!

[powerlord]

1 hour ago, Adreneline said:

Very nice Stu - you've done a great job on the data.

I couldn't resist having a little play. I too like to see these targets in the wider field context but your M51 is so good it can stand being the star of the show so I did a bit of cropping:

Hope you don't mind.

M51 is one of those targets that really captures the imagination.

Adrian

P.S.

Trust the mk2 is going to plan.

yeh I usually crop in, but thought for once I'd leave it for folk to zoom in if they want.

obsy is getting there - trying to lay laminate just now, which is somewhat doing my head in.. but getting there:

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/403869-mount-stu-observatory-mkii/?do=findComment&comment=4356255

 

[ollypenrice]

Colour and resolution are really punchy and will stand a crop. It's the faint stuff I'd be wanting to revisit. The background sky is dark and flat which makes me think that the faint outer extensions will have been slightly clipped. From what we can see of them, I'm inclined to think they'll be there in the data awaiting a bit of a coddle!

Olly

[powerlord]

It was only 5 hours. I did try Siril's new GHST stuff (thanks to Nico's video), but there was nowt there other than noise. I don't think I've cropped out anything decent. I did pull the background down a bit more than I usually would - but if you zoom in and have a look you'll see it's not flat - noise still there.

If I add another 5 hours or so to it, I'll process it again and see if I can eek anything else out it, but for now that's really all there is I reckon. I used masks to bring back the outer dust back in once I pulled out the noise, which is why you are thinking there was more there than there is I think.

[MartinB]

Beautiful, I love to see it sitting there in outer space.  

[kirkster501]

I love the detail in the galaxy and the colours.  But I agree with Olly in that I think you have over-clipped the sky background a tad too much and have lost some detail here.  Have you over-clipped to disguise some background issue such as a gradient???   I'd revisit this; the data is worthy of it and you have the basis of a great image in the data.

[powerlord]

there really isn't chaps - here's the starless one before pulling the levels down.

every bit of dust in the tails is in my edit - if it's not visible -  it's your monitor profile clipping those blacks I think? as I can see every bit of it in the edit.

But if there's some trick I'm not doing - I'm all ears - always learning.

stu

[ollypenrice]

15 minutes ago, powerlord said:

there really isn't chaps - here's the starless one before pulling the levels down.

every bit of dust in the tails is in my edit - if it's not visible -  it's your monitor profile clipping those blacks I think? as I can see every bit of it in the edit.

But if there's some trick I'm not doing - I'm all ears - always learning.

stu

I suspect that your star replacement layer has slightly subdued the faintest signal in your starless. This is something you have to watch out for very carefully. In Photoshop, at least, once you have your star replacement layer on top of your starless you need to blink it on and off in order the check that this is not happening. It's something I spotted when first using StarXT. I often find that my star layer is clipping my faint signal and I use Curves to adjust it so it isn't. (You can use Curves directly or use it via Brightness and Contrast or Levels but it is all the same thing.)  If you're using Pixinsight you'll have to work out how to adjust your pixelmath values to prevent it.

However, you also say that this is the starless 'before pulling the levels down' so that might be the stage at which you lost the extremities of your faint tidal extensions. But you did lose them. Look carefully.

Olly

 

[powerlord]

Thaanks Olly , I see the small extensions you are talking about. I think I'll leave it for now though. As I said earlier - when I get more data, I'll pull more out of it. For now, I'm happy with it. If I'm going to start again, I'd rather wait to have more data. If I get another 10 hours (IF/WHEN obsy mk2 is complete), then I think it should take that stretch better. Thanks for the tip about starXT. Here though I think it's just that I struggled to blend the very faint bits into the whole - I made a decision on where it 'ends' and as you point out, I made that decision in the wrong place. I think also to extend what you say above, it does make sense sometimes to flip back and forth between the final and the original basic stretch - I think that would have also showed where I'd clipped the blacks down. In my defence though, I really liked that 'blacker than usual' background here from an artistic pov - I think it works and makes it pop - so as soon as I did it I thought it just worked for this image and stopped looking - as Martin says above - it just makes M51 stand out more - alone in space. An overall effect I think that would maybe be lost a bit if I did try to recover everything from the dark ? there's always next time.

Tonight it's a clear night, but since it was also the day I decommissioned obsy mk1 - and mk2 isn't ready I'm at a loss to image. So thats no more imaging till I get mk2 up and running - the pressure is on! 🙂

syu

Edited March 10, 2023 by powerlord