M64

[DaveS]

The "Black Eye" galaxy

This is 4 hours Bin2 RGB in 10 min subs, and 4 hours Bin 1 Luminance, also in 10 min subs, on the 13th and 15 May, starting and ending in nautical dark. Very thin and low contrast data, but it is what it is.

Stacked in AstroArt 8, initial Post in PI, then back to AA for LRGB combination and slight colour adjustment.

Somewhat disappointing, but not unexpected given the suboptimal conditions. This is it for this Galaxy Season, just two images captured over three nights between 25th Feb and 15th May.

[DaveS]

OK, one more.

I put a soft mask over the core to isolate it from the surrounding galaxy and the field stars then applied quite a strong Unsharp Mask to bring up the detail. I did try the Multiscale High Pass filter in AstroArt 8 but it produced some "worm like" artifacts .

[WolfieGlos]

Great image, really like the second version. Why do you think it’s disappointing? Also, what scope did you use for this one? 

[DaveS]

I think I was expecting more definition in the spiral arms.

This was with the ODK 12 and the Trius 694 which I had put on the 'scope for Galaxy Season