A couple of new shots - REPROCESSED

marco (Marco Lorenzi) · #1 08-02-2012, 03:11 PM

It has been quite q while since I posted here a new image so I will try now to amend posting two new pics at the same time

They all from data collected last winter (southern season), I know, I am quite late in processing, hopefully will improve in the future

First one is another cosmic animal for the collection on IIS, I actually released few weeks ago but didn't post here. It is a shot of M27, that to me should be renamed Butterfly nebula considering the shape. It is a HaOIIIRGB composition, showing here a crop of about 70%.
http://www.glitteringlights.com/Images/deepsky/13667287_7Mtr58#!i=1663528853&k=4xC qGrM&lb=1&s=X3
This is a not so easy target from southern latitudes because it doesn't get much elevation even when transiting and color extinction is an issue, in particular for blues. I was lucky to have some OIII taken from Italy (200 mins) a couple years ago (same setup) to add to the data from Coona that helped a lot.

The second image is a long exposure of the silver dollar galaxy, NGC253.
I opted for a HaLRGB mix for this one. I tried to push the luminance as much as possible to see if there were some cirrus or dust in the background but apparently there is no much out there. However the outer halo shows some irregularities and the galaxy dust lanes are quite rich of details, considering the focal length I am imaging it, therefore I am quite satisfied with the result. Here is the link:
http://www.glitteringlights.com/Images/deepsky/13667287_7Mtr58#!i=1690557309&k=Wpm 8PJc&lb=1&s=X3

Both images are also visible at full resolution (option "O" from the gallery menu).

I hope you will like them!

Clear Skies
Marco

strongmanmike (Michael) · #2 08-02-2012, 03:24 PM

Yes, I saw the Dumbell elswhere I believe..? It is a great shot for sure

. An image of the dumbell without the angel wings visible is not considered adequate these days, amazing how technology progresses our expectations.

NGC 253 is quite incredible, not many imagers have revealed the outer halo and it was on my list if I ever get my AG12 under a dark sky at the right time of year. Well done. The colours in the galaxy don't look quite right to me

but hey, overall though it is another grand Lorenzi-esque image

Nice work mate.

Mike

marco (Marco Lorenzi) · #3 08-02-2012, 06:15 PM

Thanks for the nice comment Mike

Quote:

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

NGC 253 is quite incredible, not many imagers have revealed the outer halo

Can't find any amateur image revealing the halo in fact, only evidence I found is on some pro articles (in particular one by Malin & Hadley)..

Quote:

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

The colours in the galaxy don't look quite right to me

I admit it puzzled me as well, actually no matter how processed what I got is always a yellower color than many other images around. It is also true that found some other images with even a more orange/yellow color so eventually I decided to keep mine. I have however pushed the overall color saturation a bit so I am not completely surprised that the final hues are not so common..

Clear skies
Marco

gregbradley · #4 09-02-2012, 09:09 AM

A couple of spectacular Marco images. Always a treat.

The Dumbbell is very good especially when the bulk of the data was gotten in Australia. The large number of overly yellow/red stars is showing the colour extinction. Anyway of countering that with star masks and selective colour? Not that important though.

The Sculptor is an impressive image. I have always thought galaxies are way larger than usually presented and your image is further proof of that theory. I have not seen the outer halo like this before so that is a first.

Greg.

strongmanmike (Michael) · #5 09-02-2012, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marco

Thanks for the nice comment Mike

Can't find any amateur image revealing the halo in fact, only evidence I found is on some pro articles (in particular one by Malin & Hadley)..

Clear skies
Marco

Jason Jennings got some of it last year and another German imager (friend of Gerd Neumann) who's name escapes me did a fantastic shot of it that showed it very nicely but I can't remember his name and can't find it, now you, Werner Rossnagel also did one and its at the Alluna Optics web site, otherwise that's it I think? The halo in yours seems the brightest.

Mike

Ross G · #6 10-02-2012, 11:29 PM

Two beautiful photos Marco.

Amazing!

Thanks.

Ross.

RobF (Rob) · #7 11-02-2012, 12:05 AM

Wonderful images Marco. I love your 253 too. Me senses more than a touch of Pixinsight in there - looks like multiscale transform at work amongst others? Halo sure is inspiring - presumably taken from a very dark sky site?

marco (Marco Lorenzi) · #8 11-02-2012, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregbradley

A couple of spectacular Marco images. Always a treat.

The Dumbbell is very good especially when the bulk of the data was gotten in Australia. The large number of overly yellow/red stars is showing the colour extinction. Anyway of countering that with star masks and selective colour? Not that important though.

The Sculptor is an impressive image. I have always thought galaxies are way larger than usually presented and your image is further proof of that theory. I have not seen the outer halo like this before so that is a first.

Greg.

Thanks Greg, I have actually reprocessed both images since following some suggestions (including Mike here) they were a bit out of color and perhaps too "artificial".

Here are the link:

M27 old version: http://www.glitteringlights.com/Imag...qGrM&lb=1&s=X3
M27 new version: http://www.glitteringlights.com/Imag...cdT3&lb=1&s=X3

NGC253 old version: http://www.glitteringlights.com/Imag...8PJc&lb=1&s=X3
NGC 253 new version: http://www.glitteringlights.com/Imag...VVWs&lb=1&s=X3

I would be interested in having your feedbacks..

Quote:

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Jason Jennings got some of it last year and another German imager (friend of Gerd Neumann) who's name escapes me did a fantastic shot of it that showed it very nicely but I can't remember his name and can't find it, now you, Werner Rossnagel also did one and its at the Alluna Optics web site, otherwise that's it I think? The halo in yours seems the brightest.

Mike

Thanks for pointing out the images Mike, very interesting! The one in Alluna website is impressive! I have repro (almost) completely NGC253, correcting the colors, reducing the saturation (in perticolare in the core where the yellow was covering other colors), limited the stretch and kept a more natural looking. Links above. How does it look now?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ross G

Two beautiful photos Marco.

Amazing!

Thanks.

Ross.

Thanks Ross

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobF

Wonderful images Marco. I love your 253 too. Me senses more than a touch of Pixinsight in there - looks like multiscale transform at work amongst others? Halo sure is inspiring - presumably taken from a very dark sky site?

Yes, Multiscale transform

Perhaps overdone, now with the repro it should be much better..
Both taken from Coona...

Clear Skies
Marco

alpal · #9 11-02-2012, 09:05 AM

I prefer the 2 latest versions.
Frame them & put them on the wall.
They are top APOD standard pics.
That's the sort of work we'd all like to do if we had
a decent dark site & proper high end equipment.

cheers
Alpal

Rigel003 (Graeme) · #10 11-02-2012, 02:09 PM

Wonderful images, Marco, as are all the others on your webpage. Apart from the central objects I also love the background fields with the natural looking and colourful stars. The TEC 140 looks to be a great scope for imaging.

gregbradley · #11 11-02-2012, 02:46 PM

Nice repro Marco.

Greg.

multiweb (Marc) · #12 11-02-2012, 04:34 PM

Love that Dumbell. Never seen the extensions before.

atalas · #13 11-02-2012, 04:50 PM

A couple of very nice shots Marco.

Fabiomax (Fabiomassimo) · #14 12-02-2012, 09:25 AM

very beautiful both, Marco!
Ciao,
Fabiomax

richardo (Rich) · #15 13-02-2012, 08:38 PM

Lovely stuff Marco!

Always a pleasure to look at your images.

All the best
Rich

iceman (Mike) · #16 14-02-2012, 04:54 AM

Stunning images Marco, really saturated. Love it!

The NGC253 image is now IOTW.

TheDecepticon · #17 14-02-2012, 11:13 AM

Two very nice images. The galaxy would be my favourite though! Well done!

stardust steve (Steve) · #18 14-02-2012, 11:32 AM

Congrats on IOTW Marco.

Absolute cracker of an image that Silver Dollar galaxy. When i first saw it just after you posted it, i remember saying a WOW out loud, my wife turned around and wondered who i was talking to haha

It looks so sharp and 3d like. I have never seen an image of this Galaxy before (or in real life either). Well deserved

RickC (Richard) · #19 14-02-2012, 02:19 PM

wonderful images Marco, always a pleasure to see your photos
well deserve IOTW
cheers
Richard

cventer · #20 14-02-2012, 11:03 PM

Very nice images Marco. the detail on 253 is brilliant.

Im not so sure about the colors though. I have looked at it on my calibrated monitor and a non calibrated one and the blues in the spirals and pinks of the h2 regions seem oversaturated. The pinks look hot pink.

Maybe its because I have never seen a version of this captured properly before