NGC 3521 A Tricky Fellow

[pvelez]

Here's my revised image of NGC 3521

I found this quite hard to process. I do like a splash of colour but I found it difficult to increase the saturation in the galaxy without getting nasty stars - usually a burnt orange - or a sludgy brown tinge to the dim areas. So the background is much darker than it should be. I did experiment with combining a Lum and star mask which made it a bit easier to be selective. I think I need much more practice with this.

That said, I do like this field. There are a few galaxies lurking in the background - I've added an annotated image produced with PI. Is a cool feature.

No Decon this time. Just some sharpening with ATWT. All processed in PI.

Higher res images can be found here:

http://www.pbase.com/equitius/image/156018700

http://www.pbase.com/equitius/image/156018787

Here is the blurb from my website:

NGC 3521 is a spiral galaxy with a central bar. Our view is inclined from an angle of about 72 degrees so its not easy to make out the bar.

NGC 3521 is located in the rich field of galaxy in the constellation Leo. This is a happy hunting ground for astronomers seeking galaxies as is shown by the multitude of dim fuzzies in the background. The following image has been annotated to show the more prominent ones.

This galaxy is around 26 million light years from us so its a reasonable distance away.

This image was taken with a SBIG STX16803 on a Planewave CDK12.5 from my remote set up at Coonabarabran. It was shot in May 2014.

Comments most welcome

Pete

[Stevec35]

Very good job on that one Pete! One way you can tweak the saturation of individual areas is using the sponge tool. This can help to tone down parts of the image that get too saturated.

Cheers

Steve

[MrB]

Very nice Pete, I don't think the background is too dark at all. It certainly doesn't appear clipped.

Out of interest, is that you in your profile pic? Anyone ever mentioned you look heaps like Adam Savage? :D

[gregbradley]

Very nice Pete. To me though its being presented upside down! How many hours was this one?
Greg.

[strongmanmike]

That looks great Pete and no tell tale signs of the dreaded image killing decon ;)

Mike

[Elio]

What a beauty! :)

[Peter Ward]

Wow. Very slick indeed.

Remote at Coona eh? :question: Not sure how I can run that past the one who must be obeyed... :)

[Rod771]

Very, very nice Pete! Lovely detail in the Galaxy!

Well done :thumbsup:

[alpal]

Lovely shot - it's a beautiful galaxy.

[RickS]

Great result, Pete! The CIELAB a* and b* curves can be used to tweak saturation more selectively if that's what you're after.

Cheers,
Rick.

[pvelez]

Thanks Steve - will investigate the sponge - never came across it before



Yes its a dorky photo - though I've never been compared to Adam Savage before. Mind you, I haven't taken an interest in blowing things up on TV



Thanks Greg - about 5 hours L and 4 each for R, G and B from memory



Cheers Mike



Thanks



Does she have to know? Truth be told, it is not cheap but with it all running smoothly now without anxiety about rain ruining my gear, its worth it. Now all I need is the weather to play nicely. Funnily enough there are no issues with clouds around full moon.



Thanks Rod



Agreed - its a cracker of a target. I might give it another go next year



Thanks Rick. I have yet to venture into Lab land but it might be time to head that way.

Pete

[marco]

A great one Pete, lovely details! I believe your combination of scope/sky is great, it seems you are sampling perfectly at the given seeing conditions of your site!

Clear Skies
Marco