M65 and M66 in colour

[Paul Haese]

Not sure if I like this image or not. Some things appeal to me and others are not really what I want.

This is 15.5 hours of data. I had a lot of trouble with high cloud causing all sorts of gradients in this image. As well as the city lights affecting the sky in which this object is located.

I am happy with the detail though.

Click here for high resolution image.

[atalas]

Great color and detail Paul!you've done well with the background when considering the gradients you dealt with....possibly your not sure how you feel about It because of the sharpening?

[Peter.M]

I think you have done pretty well with it Paul!

[multiweb (Marc)]

I think that's a terrific shot. Love it!

[RB (Andrew)]

I love it too, well done Paul.

[Paul Haese]

Originally Posted by atalas

Great color and detail Paul!you've done well with the background when considering the gradients you dealt with....possibly your not sure how you feel about It because of the sharpening?

You could be right Louie. There is bit of speckle around the galaxies caused by the sharpening process and some of the detail is a little blocky in nature now. The seeing was just not really good enough to grab really sharp detail. Time to consider and AOX.

Originally Posted by Peter.M

I think you have done pretty well with it Paul!

Thanks Mate, with the weather we have had here of late I am surprised I got this far with the image. I actually have a lot of good blue data but when I combine it with the red and green I get an entirely blue field. The red and green data is corrupted by the high cloud and the signal must be low or something. It must be to do with the maths of how it is being combined.

Originally Posted by multiweb

I think that's a terrific shot. Love it!

Originally Posted by RB

I love it too, well done Paul.

Thanks guys, glad you think that.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Masterful image Paul!!

I can't get over the detail, stunning.

I needed to sit back a metre from the screen to take in the vista.

Cheers,

Justin.

[pvelez (Pete)]

What's not to like Paul? That is a keeper - no need to throw that one back.

I'm very tempted to give this pair a go myself based on your work.

Pete

[Stevec35 (Steve)]

Looks good to me Paul. Top shot!

Cheers

Steve

[Christoph (Chris)]

Stunning image!
Cheers,
Christoph

[allan gould]

I really love the image Paul. I couldn't get 15+ hours on anything at the moment except for sleeping.
Detail is exceptional and the stars are really tight and spherical. That 12" shows great promise in your hands.
Allan

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Very nicely done Paul! Superb detail!

[sjastro]

Well done.

Steven

[Paul Haese]

Thanks all for the comments thus far.

Originally Posted by tilbrook@rbe.ne

Masterful image Paul!!

I can't get over the detail, stunning.

I needed to sit back a metre from the screen to take in the vista.

Cheers,

Justin.

Thanks Justin, I am very happy with the detail too.

Originally Posted by pvelez

What's not to like Paul? That is a keeper - no need to throw that one back.

I'm very tempted to give this pair a go myself based on your work.

Pete

It is a very good pair to have a go at. I was hunting around a few months back for the next target and was initially going to do NGC3628 as my main preference (alas that will have to wait until next year now). but just happened to check out the field of view indicators in the skyX and discovered I had lots of room and it would make an interesting image. The pair fit easily on the STXL11002 sensor.

Originally Posted by allan gould

I really love the image Paul. I couldn't get 15+ hours on anything at the moment except for sleeping.
Detail is exceptional and the stars are really tight and spherical. That 12" shows great promise in your hands.
Allan

Thanks Allan. Automation makes it easy to get 15 hours. I would prefer another 10 hours or so but the weather is closing in for winter and it can be hard to get hours up when the object is transiting just an hour after astronomical dark.

Persistence is paying off with the 12". There have been a few issues along the way but the time put in looks like it was worth it. I am really enjoying using the system. The SkyX has been tamed and the mount is working a treat now.

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

Very nicely done Paul! Superb detail!

Thanks Marcus. I am sure you are chomping at the bit to see what your new lovely can do. I am sure the optics will produce images of very similar standard in terms of detail.

[RickS (Rick)]

Looks very nice to me too, Paul, at least on my laptop screen. Some of the fatter stars could be dialed back a little but no significant criticisms from me!

Cheers,
Rick.

[Shiraz (Ray)]

excellent image Paul - not sure why you would have reservations about it, it has fine detail and low noise levels.

[gregbradley]

That's a stunner Paul. No real sign of any trouble. You sure do get good seeing at your location. The right galaxy in particular is very stunning. It'd be great to shoot NGC3628 and complete the trilogy.

Your setup seems to be singing.

Greg.

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Excellent Paul, so much detail in the galaxies and it just gets better zooming in. Ive seen other processing like this from imaging rock stars, huge extension blurred then dropping suddenly to very detailed cores. Its very effective and attractive.

[mbaddah (Mo)]

Beautiful shot Paul, one of the best I've seen of this region. Thanks for sharing.

[trent_julie]

Wow!