Hi
Finally had a couple of dark clear nights with fairly good seeing and managed to complete a few hours each on M104 and M20. I think that M104 is one of the most striking of all the galaxies and M20 is just beautiful. I wan't sure what to do about M104 colour (seems to be a lot of dust in the way), so tried to match that in the Hubble image. Thanks for looking and appreciate any feedback.
Well, not much to say Ray other than both are absolutely beautiful views, two of the best versions of both objects I have seen taken with a (true) amateur size instrument from a non pro mountain seeing site
Enjoyed
I know your scope is well tuned but you do seem to get some good seeing...lucky bugger
Ray!!... They are superb! Very easy on the eyes, subtle, but natural looking colours, not overdone, especially M104. I like the fine detail and the background is quite smooth. What were the exposure numbers?
Well, not much to say Ray other than both are absolutely beautiful views, two of the best versions of both objects I have seen taken with a (true) amateur size instrument from a non pro mountain seeing site
Enjoyed
I know your scope is well tuned but you do seem to get some good seeing...lucky bugger
Mike
thanks very much Mike - very generous. The seeing has been good at times, but the biggest thing was building an ROR obs. I can now use an aircon to get the scope surrounds quite cool during the day and that has improved local seeing by maybe 1/2 an arcsecond over what I used to get.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AG Hybrid
Your image of M20 is absolutely superb. I don't know what the IIS picture of the week is right now but it isn't as pretty as that picture.
thank you Adrian. I agree, it really is a beautiful object.
Quote:
Originally Posted by g__day
Simply wow!
Hi Matthew - thanks very much
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joshua Bunn
Ray!!... They are superb! Very easy on the eyes, subtle, but natural looking colours, not overdone, especially M104. I like the fine detail and the background is quite smooth. What were the exposure numbers?
Josh
Hi Josh. thanks for the kind comments. M104 was 7.5 Lum, 6 RGB and M20 was 3.3 Lum and 3.7 RGB. all 1x1 @ 3 minute subs (3 minutes is about optimum for L with this system under my typical sky, but I also use that for colour to improve stars even though not optimum). There is still a bit of noise in the background, but its not too bad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AG Hybrid
After taking a double take on your M104 image. The resolution is excellent. Your mount tracking must be sensibly perfect.
Are those lots of globular clusters around the galaxy itself?
hi Tim. thank you. best winegrape variety in the world!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ghsmith45
As always, great images Ray. I particularly like the Sombrero. Getting all that delicate detail in the disc is no easy task.
Geoff
Thanks very much Geoff. It took a fair bit of time to get reasonable data - I had to discard frames with poor seeing, so a lot of bits ended up on the cutting room floor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eden
Beautiful work, Ray. Two of my favourite targets captured in splendid detail.
Mine favourites too Eden, along with NGC253 - thanks for your comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rex
Woooooow! two absolutely superb images Ray. Both showing amazing detail and very natural. Something to aspire too.
Ray, the Trifid is excellent - beautiful handling of the HH jet and the various bow shocks, but the Sombrero is just jaw-droppingly magnificent. Awesome.
Two very stunning images Ray. Data expertly handled. Hard to pick which I like best. Perhaps M20. Are these crops or full frame? Looking forward to seeing more.
That M104 is a great image. Nice stars, the colours very nice throughout the whole image. Best of all, it's not clipped like others I have seen. Very nice job. Nice job on M20 as well.
Absolutely superb Ray. Incredible image scale and dynamic range. Top processing.
Was that shot with the GSO 300? Trying to work out the FL. That's gotta be over 3m right?
Ray, the Trifid is excellent - beautiful handling of the HH jet and the various bow shocks, but the Sombrero is just jaw-droppingly magnificent. Awesome.
Best,
M&T
Thanks Mike - really appreciate the comments.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jase
Two very stunning images Ray. Data expertly handled. Hard to pick which I like best. Perhaps M20. Are these crops or full frame? Looking forward to seeing more.
Hi Jase. thanks a lot. both are crops, with about 0.6 of the M20 and 0.8 of the M104 retained. Cropped to tidy up overlap regions and improve the composition.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TR
Ray,
That M104 is a great image. Nice stars, the colours very nice throughout the whole image. Best of all, it's not clipped like others I have seen. Very nice job. Nice job on M20 as well.
Terry
Thanks you Terry - spent a lot of time trying to control the stretch so that the clipping was minimal, so appreciate your feedback
Quote:
Originally Posted by multiweb
Absolutely superb Ray. Incredible image scale and dynamic range. Top processing.
Was that shot with the GSO 300? Trying to work out the FL. That's gotta be over 3m right?
Hi Marc. many thanks. this was through the SW 250f4. the fl is 1m and the sampling is 0.91 arcsec/pix with the 694 camera.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
Stunning Ray.
Just beautiful.
Greg
Hi Greg. many thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Ward
Sorry, not so keen on the M20...a little too neon for my liking....but...
What a sublime M104!! Wonderful stuff
Thanks for the comments Peter. I am on the long road of trying to understand how colour data behaves under stretching, so appreciate the feedback on M20 - will revisit and see what can be done to tame it.
, so appreciate the feedback on M20 - will revisit and see what can be done to tame it.
Regards Ray
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooo, it's absolutely fabulously perfect mate!!!!, seriously, one of the best I have seen, the colour is very similar to Marcus' great version from last year...don't you dare touch that colour...don't you dare (it would be nice to see juuust a touch of teal green in the reflection area though...if that's ok, please)
Last edited by strongmanmike; 19-06-2015 at 12:17 PM.
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooo, it's absolutely fabulously perfect mate!!!!, seriously, one of the best I have seen, the colour is very similar to Marcus' great version from last year...don't you dare touch that colour...don't you dare
OK OK OK, got it.
Actually, I did think that it was a bit too neon when processing, but the data wanted to go that way, so I let it - and I ended up liking it (a bit like eating a grapefruit). I will have another look though, but whatever results will be version 2.
(it would be nice to see juuust a touch of teal green in the reflection area though...if that's ok, please)
OK OK OK, got it. 
