A distant Tie Fighter in Hydra

[strongmanmike]

Well, I decided to shoot M83 after finishing sessions on my main project (which is still on going), so not a long exposure but still my best on this galaxy I think?

I particularly wanted to show the faint perpendicular arms on the little adjacent galaxy that makes it look like a Tie fighter from Star Wars..and I managed that, so I'll take it as a success :)

M83 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/159520083/original)

Distant Tie Fighter (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/159529247/original)

Mike

[Paul Haese]

The colours are good Mike and the background good but the galaxy itself looks a bit over processed to me. Potentially a good image but maybe less sharpening.

[RickS]

Love the Tie Fighter, Mike. I agree with Paul that M83 itself looks a little overprocessed.

Cheers,
Rick.

[strongmanmike]

Hey, what can I say?...I love processing :P :lol:

All good :thumbsup:

Mike

[DJT]

Shush, am counting the faint fuzzies:fight:

Great colours, really sharp and punchy.:thumbsup:

[ozstronomer]

Great image, Mike. Love the colours in the Galaxy

Geoff

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Dave and Geoff :), yes a few faint fuzzies in there.

Truth be known though, I did process this for more public appeal, shall we say ;) (bit like I did for my NGC 253 image in 2013) so it may well be a bit strong and in your face for many dedicated astroimagers, sorry :sadeyes: the response on flikr is almost the largest I have had for any image to date so go figure :)

Mike

[RickS]

That's a good point, Mike. My more outrageously processed images get a much bigger response from the non-astro community but the critics here are often less impressed :) Jay GaBany made the point in one of his AAIC talks that we are bombarded by highly saturated images in the media these days and he thinks you need to tart up (probably not the terminology he used) astro images to compete for attention.

[strongmanmike]

And variety is the spice of life too :), I love your outrageous works mate :thumbsup:

Mike

[Andy01]

Not wanting to hijack your thread here Mike, (I love this image btw) but as a relative newbie to this community, I agree with Rick's comment.

Further, maybe it's just me but it seems a bit futile for us all to be photographing the same objects and processing them to get what largely appear to be the same/similar results. Yes the technical challenge is it's own reward for some - but bringing something creative and new (ie: Rick's latest Veil image) is surely just as if not more worthwhile - albiet not necessarily popular with the purists! ;)

[marc4darkskies]

Yikes! I can't help feeling a little disappointed by those remarks Mike. Who cares about 1000's of Flickr hits? :confused2:

I just don't like it mate, sorry. It's clearly over cooked. All I see is the potential the image has! :sadeyes:

[strongmanmike]

Purists? Where? :scared:...let's get'em :fight::bashcomp: :lol:

You are absolutely right Andy, one can become a hardened, unwavering critique with narrow limits of acceptance if one is not careful :)

Mike

[multiweb]

Good image Mike with great colors and contrast. High impact.

Sharpening vs. fine features will always be a compromise, no doubt, but the field you're presenting is relatively wide so go for it. No problem here. If you were closer up then yeah, it would make sense to ease up on the processing but a tart always looks good from the other side of the street.


:lol:

[strongmanmike]

I don't really, was just a relevant observation mate :) and backed up my Ricki ie an image many astroimagers aren't too keen on, non astroimagers often love :)

No worries Marcus, all good...I think I know what you are trying to say :question: perhaps you could spell it out a little more clearly though? :lol: Seriously though, thanks for the opinion :thumbsup:



Hey Steve, clearly, I can do that perfectly well myself mate :P but I'll keep you in mind :lol:

Mike

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Marc, this was a bit of an experiment and getting negative feedback is perfectly fine. While the colours are certainly strong and the contrast up, I tried to be careful not to introduce any obvious sharpening artifacts (no decon worms or spotty background for eg) so the detail should (at least mostly I hope?) be just that..?

Mike

[Slawomir]

Hi Mike,

I really like your photo. Stars are great and the galaxy is nicely presented. I only do narrowband but what makes RGB imaging exciting to me is, apart from more natural colours, finding faint galaxies in the background.

Great stuff!

[Placidus]

Those two tie-fighters are very deep and sharp. The one that's a barred spiral with a single strong not-so-tightly wound pair of spiral arms is especially impressive. The halo of M83 is very deep.

[clive milne]

One and a half minutes....

[alpal]

Excellent result Mike,
Don't listen to these guys about over processing.

cheers
Allan

[gregbradley]

Not bad for a quickie Mike. Its a bit CSI Miami but hey that was a popular show!

Greg.

[Geoff45]

Lovely shot Mike. I like the way you manage to zero in on details that most of us just gloss over. This is a nice bright object, so 5 hours seems pretty reasonable, although others may disagree.
Geoff

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Slawomir, the colour palette here almost looks like NB to some :lol: :P



Cheers Mike'n Trish, it is those two galaxies that make an image of M83 to me, bit like the Up Yours nebula next to Eta Carina :D Actually Steve Mohr's latest version of M83 shows the Tie Fighter arms on the smaller of the two wrap right around the galaxy,more like a ring!



Ah Ok IIII get it......ha ha.....ok, no I don't, fill me in Clive :question:



Oh don't worry Al all I hear is Blah Blah Blah :lol:...kidding, happy (well accepting at least :)) for negative opinions, makes life interesting :thumbsup:



CSI Miami...yeah that was my influence, you got it...that and the carpet at our local club :P



Cheers Geoff, thanks mate :thumbsup: it's the important little things that often get lost in the focus on the colour and other processing variations :)

Mike

[Ross G]

A great looking galaxy photo Mike.

Beautiful colours and so sharp.

Love the detail and composition.

Ross.

[strongmanmike]

Thanks a lot Ross :)...I have toned down the processing just a tad since my first post, still punchy but slightly less contrast and saturation now...I bent under pressure :lol:

Mike

[SimmoW]

Ha, i love these conversations! It'd be so boring around here otherwise.

I like it, esp to highlight the faint fuzzies. But then again I'd love to see a more subtle version. Sometimes I feel we need to post 2 versions, or even 3, to keep all parties happy. But in the end, it's your call, you need to be happiest.

[strongmanmike]

Well, I guess that's right? Funny, most images I compose I have different themes or feels I decide to portrait but this si not always going to work in with everyone's eye or expectations. I always feel it is like art and there are no absolutes...sometimes I just feel like having a bit of fun with an image and processing it in a certain way. Not everyone likes the outcome of course and that's cool :) Some feedback did make me revisit the image though but only subtle alterations were done.

Having said that, I may well take a look at it again in a few months and go yeeew :eyepop:.. what was I thinking? :lol:

Mike

[astronobob]

Pure & Simply Impressive either way from this duck, actually one of few images that captivates the eyes on the detailed structure within - maybe im just bias with galaxies, tho speshly since quite a fiery work and has had me gazing into for quite a while - interesting indeed :thumbsup:
One thing I notice ,could be imagination, is the twin sets of spikes in the larger stars, the obvious diagonals , but also see a smaller set vertical & horizontal, looks interesting as well ? :thumbsup:
Nice going Mike

[Eden]

Maybe it is a bit over-processed, but who cares? Half of the audience hasn't the slightest clue as to how it's "supposed" to look anyway.

I like it -- it reminds me of the old Pro Hart "Stain Master" carpet commercial. Good work as always, Mike. :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Bob, new you'd like it ;) I was shooting for some grab-ya impact, the public loves that :D :thumbsup:

The extra little spikes are a CCD artifact I think, I see them on occassions...they look purdy huh? :)



Yep and if you look hard there is a dragon fly in my M83 too :lol: :P

Mr Hart (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qb4n8yc2so)

Mike

[Rod771]

Correct. :) I love the Tie fighters, nicely done Mike!

Its all in the title. I think we need to "Stay on target" ;)

[clive milne]

Too long in the microwave.

[strongmanmike]

Aaah huh...a cryptic comedian ;) thanks for the cooking tip Clive.

[strongmanmike]

Indeed (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnP5iDKwuwk) :lol:

Cheers Rod and as I said, Steve Mohr recently did a deep M83, which he hasn't posted here, that shows the perpendicular arms of the small galaxy wrapping right around the central bar like a ring.

Mike