Slightly rough M31

[MartinB]

Bit frustrating since there is a lot of stuff around Cepheus and Cassiopia which is partially obscured by trees from my obsy. Decided to dust off my QHY8 and pair it with my FSQ and 0.73 reducer which takes the set up down to F3.7.

The QHY8 fired up first time (which is a first for me), the new drivers seem to work ok. Sorted the gain an offset. Ready to go on M31 and then yuk, ice on the chip. Gave up, came back a couple of hours later and all now working well.

Managed to get 16x10mins. The flats weren't very good because my EL panel has a pink tinge.

Captured and stacked with Maxim, processed mainly in PS with a little dip into Pixinsight. Would have liked more time and processing was an uphill struggle. I think I've butchered it really, I just don't get on with OSC imaging.

[Hawklord]

Sorry, but I think it's a beauty! Lovely dust lanes and colour.

[Tim]

Just glad to see you using your kit Martin

[MartinB]

Just woken up and had another look at this. Golden rule - don't post an image straight after a first process. Time to start again from scratch

[Keiran]

I wouldnt grumble if i got this image. There is a lot of great detail in the image its looking really good

[MikeD]

Nice shot Martin.

You have the data in the bag so plenty of time to get a result you are pleaswed with.

Mike.

[Astrokev]

I'd be well pleased with this shot!

Is it just me, or is the image reversed?

[iamzoso60]

Sorry, but I would be pleased with that!

[astroimpulse]

Looks fantastic and the info is there in the pic.

I just quickly dragged it into photoshop, ctrl & L, moved the black levels towards the right....and it came alive! Took under 20 secs and revealed how well you've done there. Sometimes the simple final processes get the best results.

Beautiful clarity. I'm envious