Ngc 253

[Shiraz]

Hi

Seeing at 3 arcsec was a bit better than the recent average, but not good enough for small stuff, so tried something bigger. Required a lot of deconvolution to extract much detail, so it's all a bit noisy. Pixinsight did a great job with what really was only average data though.

Love this galaxy - somehow it looks like a place, rather than something abstract.

Thanks for looking. Regards Ray

200f4 RCC1
NEQ6
SX H694

LRGB 63:40:22:26 L:1x1@3min, RGB:1x1@2min
Final image cropped and downscaled by 0.8

[strongmanmike]

Hey, good going there Ray, some nice detail indeed, can't believe it is 253 season again already. The colour is a bit lacking but I do agree it looks like a place...I say like a Floating Metropolis :thumbsup:

Mike

[jsmoraes]

I always think about the galaxies with a quite outstanding centre, but core of 253 gives me impression of being similar to a whirlpool. Beautiful image ! :thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

You got some very nice detail there Ray. I am interested in this camera myself. The colour is off though this galaxy is not whitish more yellowish with some bluish areas.

Greg.

[Larryp]

Really nice, Ray-you've captured some great detail

[Shiraz]

Thanks for the feedback Mike - appreciated. will go back and redo the colour - definitely need to improve my understanding of colour processing.



Thanks Jorge. it is beautiful.


Thanks for the feedback Greg - will redo the colour. Haven't found any significant downsides to the camera to date - although pixels might be just a tad too small for your big scope?


Thanks Larry - now to work on the colour :).

regards Ray

[Lee]

A nice image Ray.... How do you ascertain what exposures to use for RGB filters?

[Shiraz]

Hi Lee. The sub length was based on keeping too many stars from saturating while still getting some reasonable SNR on the galaxy. The number of subs in each colour was what the clouds allowed. Have yet to go the G2V calibration route - probably need to look more at a proper colour calibration process. What do you do? regards ray

[marc4darkskies]

Great detail, subtle colouring ... lovely image Ray! :thumbsup:

Cheers, Marcus

[Lee]

At the moment I just get what I can get... :)
I usually just shoot equal numbers of equal length RGB subs... I've looked at G2V calibration, but haven't tried it yet.

[Rigel003]

Lovely image, Ray. Good image scale, crisp detail and subtle processing.

[jjjnettie]

Beautiful work. :)

[allan gould]

Very nice image Ray of one of my favourite galaxies. Really well captured.
Allan

[RickS]

Very nice detail, Ray, and good to see your theories working in practice!

eXcalibrator is worth a look for colour calibration. It used to be fiddly and complicated but the latest version is pretty easy to use.

[Shiraz]

Thanks very much Marcus



this colour imaging stuff is turning into an interesting journey isn't it?


thanks Graeme


thank you Jeanette


Thanks Allan - it is a remarkable object


Thanks for the info Rick - just found a good tutorial on pixinsight and will have a look at eXcalibrator.

Regards ray

[John Hothersall]

This is a great image of a wonderful bright galaxy full of detail, pity about the jetstream but well salvaged. I agree with comments about adding a little more colour, but good result for 1hr of luminance. This galaxy always warms my heart.

John.

[PRejto]

Hi Ray,

Very nice!! Every time I see one of your images with the H694 I want to have a go with this camera ASAP.

Peter

[Shiraz]

Thanks John. the jetstream has been pretty brutal this year, but it let up a little for this image. I am in the process of trying to understand colour a bit better and will re-post when I have it sorted.


Thanks Peter. It sure is a handy little gadget and has lived up to it's promise - cannot make up for average seeing though :).

regard Ray

[gregbradley]

Haven't found any significant downsides to the camera to date - although pixels might be just a tad too small for your big scope?

regards Ray[/QUOTE]

I was thinking it might be good on the TEC180. Perhaps with a Riccardi reducer or the AP 155TCC with the appropriate length extension tube. That would make it around F4.5 and 180mm. That could be good.


Greg.

[jase]

Nicely done Ray! They don't call it the Silver Coin Galaxy for nothing. I'd like to see a little more blue to the structure but in any case this is a fantastic result. More please...

[Ross G]

A great looking galaxy photo Ray.

Excellent colour and detail.

Ross.

[iceman]

Beautiful work Ray, lovely galaxy.

This is now IOTW (http://www.iceinspace.com.au).

[Lee]

:clap: Congrats Ray....

[Shiraz]

I was thinking it might be good on the TEC180. Perhaps with a Riccardi reducer or the AP 155TCC with the appropriate length extension tube. That would make it around F4.5 and 180mm. That could be good.


Greg.[/QUOTE]
that sounds really good Greg - interesting to see how it goes with a top class scope.


Thanks Jase - am still trying to understand colour processing/stretching, so hopefully will be able to improve the colour depth.


thanks very much Ross

Crikey! that's very nice. Thanks very much Mike. :)


thanks Lee - nice surprise.

regards ray

[LewisM]

That Ray, is absolutely superb!

Might give Galaxy-killer extra-ordinaire Mr Pugh a run for his money :) ;)

[Geoff45]

Nice image Ray. I'd be happy to take one like that.
Groff

[Shiraz]

Thanks very much Lewis. Not anywhere near Martin Pugh's level (I wish!), but am having a lot of fun.


thanks Geoff. I was happy at the way it turned out - but I still have not quite got my head around all aspects of colour processing

regards Ray

[g__day]

I think that's a great shot with a lot of fine detail.

[ChrisM]

Impressive result Ray. The centre looks as though you could jump through it (with a parachute - of course).

Chris

[Shiraz]

Thanks Matthew

Thanks Chris. I agree that this galaxy looks "approachable" in some way.

Regards Ray

[multiweb]

Superb shot Ray and congrats on IOTW. Well deserved. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[CoolhandJo]

love it!

[Shiraz]

Hi Marc - thank you

Thanks very much Paul

regards Ray

[trent_julie]

Awesome!

[Shiraz]

thanks Trent. regards ray

[Spookyer]

Well done mate. That one makes it onto my target list.

Brett

[elfinke]

On the upside, this is an amazing image. Thanks for sharing.

On the downside, I was fired for loudly exclaiming 'Holy **** would you look at this astrophoto!' at work when I loaded up iceinspace frontpage.

:P

[Shiraz]

Thanks Brett - it's a nice galaxy to image.

Thanks very much Trev - errr, real sorry about the job...

regards ray

[naskies]

Very nice!

Out of curiosity, how difficult is it to set up / collimate your 8" newt and RCC1 corrector? The stars look great across the field.

[Shiraz]

thanks Dave.

Modified the GSO focuser to fix flex, use dual screws to lock the RCC1 in the draw tube, glued the primary mirror into the cell, made a stronger secondary holder and reinforced the main tube. Also had to align the focal plane in the SX camera. Setup hasn't needed to be adjusted for the last month or so - even though the OTA comes off the mount after every use. Used to be a pig of a scope to get/keep aligned, but is now very stable. The RCC1+filter wheel+OAG+SXcamera weighs just a little over 1kg, which helps. There is a tiny bit of astigmatism that focuses out to smaller than the average seeing disk, but the system may be able to do slightly better when this little niggle is resolved (probably the main mirror mounting). Not currently willing to waste a night chasing it down though, since cloud free darkness is very hard to find lately.

[naskies]

Thanks for the explanation, Ray. If you ever feel like writing up an in-depth article about your newt mods one day, you'll have at least one very interested reader :D

[Lee]

Ray, do you use weights/etc to counter balance the focuser-end weight??

[Shiraz]

Will write up what was done and post it in the astrophotography equipment forum in the next few days. Thanks for the interest. Regards ray

[sjastro]

Very nice NGC 253 Ray.

Regards

Steven

[Ross G]

Congratulations on IOTW Ray.

A great galaxy photo.


Ross.

[Shiraz]

Thanks very much Steven. Wonder what it looks like in other spectral regions?


Thank you Ross - nice surprise :)

Regards Ray

[Tandum]

Never seen a blue 253 before

[Shiraz]

thanks for the feedback Robin. Agree that the core is less yellow than is generally accepted. Others have commented on the colour (Mike and John suggested more colour, Greg more yellow, Jase more blue). I am in the process of trying to work out exactly how PixInsight handles colour with the aim of developing a set of procedures that produces results nearer to the mean of available images.

Regards ray

[sjastro]

I think it will make an interesting target in NIR.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=107000
It is on my wishlist.

Regards

Steven

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Fantastic detail Ray!!

I'm really rather envious.
I think there's something in the ten commandments about coveting others telescopes :confuse3:

Skill has a lot to do with it as well, I covet that too.

Cheers,

Justin.

[Bassnut]

excellent detail, and masterfull processing. I think the lack of colour saturation in this case doesnt detract.

[kelvin1984]

Great work Ray! You can make your own postcard with it :)

[Shiraz]

looking forward to it - thanks for the reference


thanks Justin. as you know, getting scopes working fairly well is all about two steps forward and one step back - good fun though isn't it?


Thanks for that generous comment Fred - appreciate feedback on the colour


Thanks Kelvin - might do just that.

regards Ray