First attempt at Sculptor Galaxy

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

Only 25mins worth of data (5x5mins subs @ ISO800) plus darks and flats. Tracking was off a tad. Will get some more subs if not too windy tonight.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

So far so good.
You have some very nice detail happening, and naturally, when you add more data, you'll be able to tame the noise.

[desler]

Heed JJJ's words, it's all there, more data, tame the noise and you'll have a great image!

Darren

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

Thanks for the comments

I grabbed 2hrs worth of data last night so it will be interesting to see the result. Getting hard with moon and not having GoTo is a bit of a pain. Good old setting circles. Still need to do a bit of searching to bring the object into view.

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

Now over 2hrs of data. Still should spend more time processing but happy with the results thus far

Is that a small galaxy I can see at around 2 o'clock?

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Originally Posted by swannies1983

Is that a small galaxy I can see at around 2 o'clock?

You have a few Galaxies Dan

see on your pic:

[CoolhandJo (Paul)]

Looking good! Try some noise reduction filters. Great pic!

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

Updated processing to reduce noise. Still needs some more work.

[midnight (Darrin)]

Coming along very nicely Dan.

Keep up the good work.

Darrin...

[niko]

wow! this is a really good example of how more data can greatly improve an image. It's looking really good

JJJ I love the "tame the noise" phrase - spot on!

niko

[RobF (Rob)]

I would have killed to get an NGC 253 that nice early on. What a great image
Particularly like the processing to have brought out the characteristic dust lanes so well.

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

Thanks again everyone . Not bad for an oldish dslr (400D) and the fact I have given up trying to guide in DEC due to issues I can't seem to resolve. Plus, I had to deal with the moon while imaging (last Friday night).

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

Further processing after learning a few tricks such as setting the black point, reducing background noise by inverted mask layers, unsharp mask and high pass filter to bring out detail in the dust lanes.

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

Very nice Dan.
Re your Dec guiding issues - is this with PHD?
I had issues recently when the star doesn't move enough during calibration.
Fixed it by changing 'Calibration Step' (in the brain menu) up to 1500ms.
Doug

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

Thanks Doug.

Re DEC guiding: Calibration is fine but pulses sent tend to over correct, resulting in the star moving by 1-2 pixels away from the central line.

See a few posts here http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...t=53901&page=3 and http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=83052

[paulF (Paul)]

Nice to see the progression of the pic with more data/processing!
Very well done

[Ross G]

A nice galaxy photo Dan.

I like the detail.

Ross.