Ngc 253 now with 14 hours in total

[Paul Haese]

I started imaging this object last year before the first camera died and before I obtained my AOX.

The hard part about this object is processing the detail so it looks natural. The galaxy is so busy that it is easy to over cook it. I have spent a couple of days going over several detail layer images, trying to take a look after I have rested my eyes. I think this image appears sharp but not over sharpened, though I am still not totally convinced.

In any event I will welcome any comments that people might have about the image.

Click here (http://paulhaese.net/NGC253RC.html) for higher resolution image.

[Somnium]

great shot Paul, really rich and deep colours, :thumbsup:

[Andy01]

WOWEE Paul! That's awesome :)

[batema]

Stunning image Paul. The detail is amazing.

Mark

[Fabiomax]

It seems to fly over the galaxy. At the center I see puffs similar to those of M106. great detail!,
Cheers,
Fabiomax

[Placidus]

Beyond superb!

What we notice most is that you've achieved very high contrast and saturation, allowing the details of the "galactic fountain" plumes to really stand out, without any grittiness or colour noise, and no glassy sharpening artifacts.

Best,
Mike and Trish

[astroboof]

Very tough one Paul. Cheers for the lovely view, as yet I haven't either looked at or attempted to image it this year- my imaging train isn't quite there yet for fuzzies.

On my new PC the detail is superb but perhaps a tiny bit over in colour saturation? Yet to truly calibrate the monitor so that might influence things.

At any rate, are we ever 100% satisfied with any image we process?

It's a great image, beyond anything I will ever do. I'm sure you will get more experienced feedback soon.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Aidan, Andy, Mark and Fabio for your comments. :thumbsup:



Thanks Mike and Trish. I had a good look around the net and there are only a few examples of this object that I thought showed good detail but not too much sharpening. Getting the balance right is tough I think. The tiny little hair like fountain dust lanes are pretty tricky.



Thanks Bob. It always seems to be a perennial favourite with imagers and can be over looked by more experienced imagers. That seems fairly evident from looking around the net at the world renown imagers galleries. It would appear from the examples on their sites they imaged this target some time ago and had not got back to do it again.

Not sure about the saturation but had thought it looked good on both monitors I have here and on my iPad. Perhaps your monitor might need a tweak but I am conscious that the saturation is up a bit from my more normal standard.

Thanks for commenting. :)

[SkyViking]

I haven't imaged NGC253 myself so cannot comment on the finer processing aspects of it, but to my eyes this looks very natural and pleasing, nicely done Paul! It's a great looking galaxy and a fine image of it.

I think this one just squeezes into my FOV so I better add it to my imaging list :)

[RickS]

That's a really excellent 253, Paul! Great detail and colour and subtly processed.

Cheers,
Rick.

[DJT]

Lovely. Enjoyed strolling through your image on the iPad. Great detail and colours . As well as the hairs rising out the centre, I thought the brown clouds of dust out to the edges hold a huge amount of detail.
Nicely done

[Peter Ward]

Nailed the colours.

A great NGC253 for sure :thumbsup:

[marco]

Fantastic Hubble quality image Paul :thumbsup:
Marco

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Rick, David and Peter for you comments. Much appreciated.



Thanks Rolf. I am tempted to go quite a bit longer on this image to get all the faint back ground galaxies and see how far that halo really does extend out. Your long duration imaging runs have me wondering how much depth could be achieved on some of the projects I have in the mill and planned over the next year.

Wow, if it just squeezes in you might have some interesting detail if you get enough nights of good seeing.




Thanks Marco That is very high praise. :)

[Leonardo70]

Great image Paul. Congrats.

All the best,
Leo

[Geoff45]

No noise, great detail and nice colour make for a really good 253. Well done Paul.
Geoff

[alpal]

Nice picture Paul,
there is so much detail.
I would have raised the black point to about 25 instead of the 6 that you have.
That way more of the halo would come out too.


cheers
Allan

[Octane]

Unreal. The detail is sublime.

Gotta be happy with that!

H

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Leo, Geoff and Allan for your comments.



Yeah pretty happy but always striving for perfection H. I have collected another 5 hours of data now and will add that at some point soon just to finalise the image.

[Atmos]

Fantastic shot there Paul, very well processed. Getting lost in those dust lanes :P

[allan gould]

Will love to see what the extra subs do for the image Paul.
It's already great and excellently processed, very impressive and I'm glad the 12" is working so well.
Allan

[Eden]

Beautifully done, Paul. :thumbsup: Excellent detail but definitely not over-cooked.

[gregbradley]

Great Sculptor image. An image I would have though was impossible from a 12 inch scope let along a GSO scope. Super detailed.

I like that brown/yellow section at the core, that's really well shown in your image and something I've not really noticed in other images. You've shown the dust plumes without the overprocessing that makes one wonder if its a processing artefact.

Great work. How much is the AOX adding here?

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Colin and Brett for your comments.



Thanks Allan, I'll have to try and put something together over the weekend. I might try and gather a bit more data in the next few days after moonset. My main aim is to get detail in those distant galaxies and perhaps pull more of the halo out.




Thanks Greg. The GSO has quite nice optics. That combined with the seeing and the AOX gives great definition.

I do think the AOX adds quite a bit in good seeing. I have compared images from last years attempt of this galaxy and this years. The seeing was quite similar. The detail is significantly better.

That said, during the week I had one night where the seeing was horrid. The stars were very round but the detail was quite blurred. So in good seeing the AOX really adds to the detail, but in average to bad seeing there is no real advantage.

[Paul Haese]

Allan, I have put together the luminance now. There was a huge increase in brightness with 520 minutes of luminance now.

The halo is more visible now and more detail is showing in the smaller galaxies.

I have now included a smaller image of the updated image in my first post.

[gregbradley]

Holy cow that's an amazing result. To think its done with a $5K scope.

Terrific.

Thanks for the data about the AOX.

Greg.

[ozstronomer]

Paul, the extra Lum data really makes the Galaxy pop!

Well done on the processing :thumbsup:

Cheers Geoff

[allan gould]

Certainly you have shifted the bar well up for the rest of us. The halo and detail are well done without forcing the data to death. Looks so natural
Allan

[pluto]

Wow, that's some serious detail in there, and great colours too. Well done! :)

[Rex]

WOW! nothing else can really be said. Fantastic detail and colour Paul.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Greg. I am continually amazed at what this scope can produce. I doubt that my optics are any better than other GSO scopes and that heartens me to know that this quality of optics are available for a moderate price.




Thanks Geoff. The halo really started coming out with that extra 3 hours. I was happy to the little galaxies had improved in detail too.



Thanks Allan, I am not really sure if the I have actually raised the bar at all. Persistence and my obsession with perfection have helped me narrow down some glaring problems and resolve those as best as I can. Doing that has improved image quality out of site in the last year. Sometimes it pays to be a little obsessive I think. ;)



Thanks Hugh. Pity all the galaxies where not this close to image. It would be so interesting to see all the goings on in each of them.



Thanks Rex. Happy that you like the result. I was at a function last night and several non astronomy people who are on my mailing list commented on my images of late. They were marvelling at what can be seen out there and told me they often pass on my images to others. I found that pleasing to know that other people who I don't know or barely have an interest in astronomy are seeing some of the sites of the universe. It pleases me that in some small way I am performing public outreach and helping to educate others about the universe. Their delight at the images was similar to yours.:thumbsup:

[astronobob]

Masterpiece - Stunning - GGGGROUSE One Paul

[alpal]

Hi Paul,
That's a great improvement in the halo with the extra data.
I am amazed at what you've achieved with the GSO.
This looks like a picture from a scope costing 5 times the price!

I would still have increased the darker areas with curves
as they are way down at a level of between 3 & 8 in some areas
especially in the corners - although I know I'm being too picky.

I wish I could find the time to get my new 10" f4 Newt. out there under the stars.
You have certainly put the runs on the board!

cheers
Allan

[Nicola]

How beautiful! :) :eyepop:

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Bob, nice to have such a reaction.



Thanks Allan. I am not surprised about the quality of the optics really. My GSO RC8 was very sharp. That was nearly 6 years ago that I bought that OTA. It was a punt at the time but since then there have been numerous examples of sharp images being produced by these scopes.

Going on my histogram the image looks well lit. I don't really think the darker areas are under lit. Remember respect the light in an image. Bright areas ought to be bright and dark areas dark (quoted from David Malin). The halo grades out to the corners with no clipping showing. So I cannot see how you came to that conclusion.

Thanks for taking the time to comment again.:)



Thanks Nicola.

[marc4darkskies]

Now you're talking Paul! :thumbsup: :) Excellent! The extra data did the trick for me although it's a bit too saturated for my taste.

Cheers, Marcus

[alpal]

Hi Paul,
The criteria by which I judge images is usually from
the Chilean Advanced Robotic 32" Telescope.
see here:
http://www.chart32.de/galaxies-m

I checked the darkest areas I could find in the background on that picture
with a 5x5 average while opening curves & I read the darkest value as 19
whereas your image is down to 3 at some points - very dark indeed.

Maybe it's a matter of personal taste - but anyway -
for what it's worth - that's what I go by.

cheers
Allan

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Marcus. I agree about the saturation. I have backed that off just a bit.



Fair enough Allan. Though I doubt that image is a fair comparison. ;)

I use a contrasting technique that is probably the result of values you are reading. Personally I don't know why you would go to that extent to examine someone's image.

[astronobob]

but wouldn't that be like comparing a Mini Minor tho be it a 'Cooper-S' to a Formula E car ?
Just asking :question: