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 (http://paulhaese.net/M65&M66.html)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]

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

[RB]

I love it too, well done Paul.

:)

[Paul Haese]

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.



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. :shrug:





Thanks guys, glad you think that. :)

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

:bowdown:

Masterful image Paul!!:thumbsup:

I can't get over the detail, stunning. :eyepop:

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

Cheers,

Justin.

[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

[Stevec35]

Looks good to me Paul. Top shot!

Cheers

Steve

[Christoph]

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]

Very nicely done Paul! :thumbsup: Superb detail!

[sjastro]

Well done.

Steven

[Paul Haese]

Thanks all for the comments thus far.



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





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.



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.



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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[trent_julie]

Wow!

[Paul Haese]

I will take a look at those stars soon. I am hoping for some clear skies in the next week, so I can pick up a little more data. I think those stars blew ought when I did a medium contrast curves. I forgot to mask them out.





Just very picky now of my own imaging Ray. There is some noise present that I am not happy with and some speckle in the image around the galaxies from a little too much sharpening. Overall I am happy with the image but there is always room for improvement.



Actually the seeing has been very ratty at Clayton this last six months. I have missed a lot of opportunities to do any planetary imaging as a result too.

The setup needs a little more refining but it is nice to have it collecting data on a regular basis.



Yes I have been taking some hints and ideas from those rock stars. I think it is a matter of subtlety with this type of sharpening. I am yet to get that 100% right. If I was using an AOX I can only imagine the detail present.




Thank you for the compliment. Martin Pugh's image of this recently is simply spectacular and I encourage you to take a look at it.

[David Fitz-Henr]

Another great image Paul; some nice details in there :thumbsup:
A bit over 15 hours worth of data - I hope some of those clear skies are coming to Sydney soon!

[Logieberra]

Paul, that's a ripper! Just beautiful. Thanks for sharing. LT.

[ericwbenson]

Hey Paul,

I see a strange color gradient in the stars - but not the bgd - from bottom left (Blue) to top right (Red). Or put another way, there are very few red stars in the BL corner, and no blue stars in the TR corner. TL and BR corners have a normal spread in star colours. Is this what you meant by funny gradients? I must say I've never seen this effect before, usually the bgd tint varies along with the star colours, I suppose you were able to process the bgd shift out, but the color balance was still shifted.

Details are quite good in the galactic cores, no need to fool anymore with that.

Best,
EB

[Paul Haese]

Thanks guys for the comments.




Yes is the gradient I was referring about. Something odd happened with the green and red channels. I think high cloud is the problem but my neighbour up the road has been leaving his front garden light on and that might be causing the gradient. I don't really know.