The Grus Quartet

[cometcatcher]

Second image from last night, The Grus Quartet. It's no Marco image but this is the first time I've imaged this group of four little galaxies. I've been meaning to for the last 25 years, but every time something would interrupt.

The Grus quartet consists of (from left to right) NGC7599, NGC7590, NGC7582 and NGC7552. There are other small, fainter galaxies in the background.

418 x 30 seconds, GSO 10" F4 Newtonian, HEQ5 Pro unguided, Baader MPCC MKIII, Pentax K-5.

Astrobin. ---> http://astrob.in/193511/0/

[alpal]

Quite good Kevin,
418 frames is a lot - that's 1/20th of the noise - well done.

Interesting for me as I have my 10" f4 Newt. ready to go
but the weather's been too lousy for over a month.
It gives me an idea of what I could do.

cheers
Allan

[cometcatcher]

Thanks Allan. I'm certainly not getting my scope anywhere near it's full potential. I've seen what these GSO 10" F4 scopes can do, but for me on a budget I'm happy so far with just a DSLR. Just need time and clear skies.

[Placidus]

Congratulations. Acting within the limitations of such necessarily short exposures and ambient temperature, that is superb.

[raymo]

Very nice indeed Kevin. What ISO are you using?
raymo

[cometcatcher]

Thanks M&T!



Thanks Ray. ISO 1600 for this set. No filters other than a UV / IR cut.

[Tony_]

Nice one Kevin - this is a great quartet.

Try this technique in photoshop to reduce noise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32Mj2Ia-tC0
I love it - really helps reduce DSLR noise.

If you want a more "harsh" noise reduction - (I have attached a sample of your image) use median noise reduction. There is a balance between amount noise reduction and masking vs lost stars etc. but overall it helps smooth out the background. Personal taste I guess.

Tony.

[marco]

Well done Kevin, in fact your details are more that those in my image :thumbsup:
Cheers
Marco

[topheart]

Awesome detail!!

Cheers,
Tim

[cometcatcher]

Thanks Tony. I have bookmarked the video and shall study it a bit later. I don't mind a bit of noise. My favourite method of noise removal is to take more subs!



Thanks Marc! Mate your image was suburb. Something for me to aspire to.



Thanks Tim!

[strongmanmike]

Very nice Kevin and while he is being modest, I have to agree with Marco, you have captured some pretty darn good detail mate :thumbsup:

Mike

[cometcatcher]

Thanks Mike! I guess it's okay for a first go at it.

[strongmanmike]

Yeah, it's good :thumbsup:

Check out a version I did (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/67254137/original) back in 06...was surprised to capture all those faint ring galaxies :question:

Mike

[cometcatcher]

It would have been a super image if it wasn't for the dust. Is there any way of processing that out? I don't seem to get much dust with the K-5 thankfully.

[Rex]

Wow Kevin, that is superb mate. You are certainly showing what can be achieved on a budget with limited gear, (no guiding), and a little ingenuity. Congratulations on a great image .

[Geoff45]

Very nice Kevin. You've got some good detail in 7599 and 7552.

I know how you feel about wanting to image a particular object and something always going wrong. My bugbear is Barnard's galaxy--heavy dew, sudden clouds, mount/computer playing up etc, etc.

[RickS]

A very nice result, Kevin. Well done!

[cometcatcher]

Thanks Rex. I want to see how far I can push this K-5 before it blows up lol.



Thanks Geoff. I'm sure when you do image Barnard's galaxy it will be great!



Thanks Rick. I would have liked more time on it but for the clouds. So little time, so many objects to image lol.