NGC 3521 Bubble Galaxy

[Startrek (Martin)]

This is my first time imaging NGC 3521 Bubble galaxy which was just high enough at the moment to capture about 1.5 hrs before trees obstruct my view towards the north west
I wish I could have snagged another hour or two but it’s location restricted more data capture
Captured at my weekender ( Bortle 3 ) south coast NSW on Saturday night
8” f5 Bintel newt on an EQ6-R Mount
Canon 600D with Baader coma corrector
Camera sensor electronics running at 24deg C
ISO 800
18 x 5 minute dithered guided subs
15 x darks
PHD2 guiding at 1.20 to 1.40 arc sec error ( guiding was struggling with the conditions , increased Min Mo to 0.30 to smooth out guiding )
Goto and tracking EQMOD, StellariumScope and Stellarium
Frame , focus and capture BYEOS
Stacked in DSS
Processed in Startools V1.5 linear data set

Original frame size and cropped resized versions

Thanks for looking , Comments most welcome

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Lovely shot Martin, your pictures inspire us all and they just keep getting better. Nicely processed, good star colour and great definition in the galaxy makes this one of your best. Nice to take advantage of clear dark skies down on the south coast. The weather was good to us here in Melbourne on the weekend too.

[Anth10 (Anthony M)]

Picture perfect 👌
Stars look great and the galaxy is smooooth.
Well done

Anth

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks Mick and Anthony
Guiding wasn’t exactly tight ( I’m usually sub arc sec ) but I still got away with 5 minute subs and nice round stars
Enjoyed imaging this galaxy as it a bit of an unknown plus only had limited time before it dropped to low behind some trees
Very pleasing to see how it turned out, particularly using a DSLR which is always a battle with noise at those longer exposures
I hope to image it again soon as it’s a beautiful spiral galaxy, though quite dim at magnitude 9.2
Thanks again
Cheers

[LostInSp_ce]

Another classic Martin. Beautifully done.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks LIS
Appreciate the nice comment
Here’s a re process I did tonight as I think I could squeeze a bit more from the data set
Same work flow but included the Life module using the algorithm Multiply 2 x Gamma Correct which enhances the main object without introducing noise and reduces the interstellar background noise and tightens the stars.A very powerful tool which works well on galaxies
Also reduced final noise reduction to 4.5 pixels to 3.5 pixels which helps maintain detail

There’s always a method in Startools to squeeze a bit more out of an image, you just have to experiment and find it

Cheers

[LostInSp_ce]

Originally Posted by Startrek

Same work flow but included the Life module using the algorithm Multiply 2 x Gamma Correct which enhances the main object without introducing noise and reduces the interstellar background noise and tightens the stars.A very powerful tool which works well on galaxies
Also reduced final noise reduction to 4.5 pixels to 3.5 pixels which helps maintain detail

There’s always a method in Startools to squeeze a bit more out of an image, you just have to experiment and find it

Cheers

Yes indeed. I see what you mean. Definitely an improvement without destroying good data. Looks like a handy function to apply in the workflow.
Great tip.