Sauron's Eye Finalised I think.

[Paul Haese]

This will be my last thread on this target. I may collect more data but I am reasonably happy with this image now. I collected 160 minutes in each of the colour channels and 960 minutes in the luminance channel. The noise in the back ground is mainly due to the luminance channel.

What I really like about this image is not only the detail in the core area but the myriad of galaxies in the back ground. Some appear to be nearby but most appear orangey in colour and that would make them more distant.

I now have the third jet just showing through and only more time would produce a result that shows it well. I concede that my f8 system cannot get that data unless I do something like double of what I have now.

I have really enjoyed the experience of producing this image and reading all about this very fascinating galaxy.

Click here (http://paulhaese.net/NGC1097LRGB.html) for larger resolution image.

Feel free to comment.

[Stevec35]

Certainly one of the best NGC 1097 images I've seen Paul

Cheers

Steve

[Atmos]

There certainly is a :eyepop: factor with this rendition. Wonderfully captured Paul!

[Placidus]

Faultless finish. Most enjoyable. The colour is excellent, and the "gas ring" in the nucleus magical.

[DJT]

Great image Paul. A very interesting object as you say and you have handled it really well. Top job:thumbsup:

[RickS]

A great image, Paul, with impressive detail. The galaxy core is the icing on top for me.

I recently ran across a paper on imaging a low surface brightness galaxy where the authors were able to show features as faint as 28 mag/arcsec^2. I'm going to see if I can apply their techniques to my old NGC 1097 data and bring out R4 more clearly.

Cheers,
Rick.

[multiweb]

Great colors and details in the core and silky black smooth background. Ticks all the boxes. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Paul Haese]

Thanks David and Marc for your comments.



Thanks Steve for such high praise. Whilst I am very happy with the detail levels on this image, I think there are a few images out there that look much better. Those are from much larger scopes though. So I am happy my "little" scope stands up well against the bigger players.



Thanks Colin, I have processed this several times over the course of collecting the data. I got quite excited about the possibilities after about 10 hours of luminance. I could easily take this further and collect a lot more data in the luminance to create a very noise free image with lots of the back ground galaxies poking out.



Thanks MnT for your kind words. I really like the colouring too both of the galaxy and the stars in the field. That gas ring is a really interesting object and I am very happy with how that came out.




Thanks Rick. it must be some sort of sharpening and contrasting technique I imagine that would provide that ability. I'd be very interesting should you be able to produce more detail out of your image.

I looked at your image several times over the last couple of months. I also looked at several others images too, just for comparative purposes and to work out what I liked in each.

[topheart]

Hey Paul,
Top notch documentation of a very interesting and challenging galaxy.

Interesting indeed how those faint jets occur so differently / individually....

Thanks,
Tim

[Slawomir]

Really beautiful image Paul. The highlights to me are superb detail levels and perfectly balanced colours :thumbsup:

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Tim. I have come to the conclusion that imaging faint targets requires certain things. One necessity is that if RGB is involved, I really need to get 3-4 hours of data in each channel to ensure good colour balance. You can use less but I have found it can often require a bit more processing to get a half decent result. The noise levels with more data allow a brighter image too and hence the ability in this case to show the jets better than the previous version. Invariably I think many like myself try to hide the noise by using a darker background and in this case that was hiding the jets a bit. With more luminance I have no doubt that I could improve this image further, though I think it would require double the integration time to get a noticeable result. I am interested in getting that last jet but don't think I want to sacrifice imaging time on just that.



Thanks Slawomir. I think the detail level is what really makes the image, otherwise it would not have had the same punch.

[gregbradley]

A fantastic Paul. One of your best efforts.
The core area is so detailed and great colour. One of the very best I have seen of this galaxy. Congrats.

Greg.

[codemonkey]

Great work Paul!

[astronobob]

Excellent Work Paul, its been an exciting and challenging galaxy for you, great to see that you have come out 'yet again' on top with this target, Damn fine Astro-Imaging !!

[gvanhau]

Outstanding Image Paul.

I am attonished :eyepop: the great detail you got in the core of the galaxy; comparable to the Image of SSRO, taken with a larger aperture (16") and the excelent skies of the andes-Chile.


Geert

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Lee for your comment.



Thanks Greg, its a great galaxy to image and great fun to process.




Thanks Bob, every image I do goes through a huge evolution of processing. As I progress through the data collection I do a process at significant points. I guess on this occasion I demonstrated this process a bit to the members. I suppose people would normally collect their data and then do the multiple processes. Some might do what I do. I have found it helps stave of the times when the cloud gets in the way.

If anything I hope this demonstrates that collecting more data will give you a chance to produce a better image. :)



Thanks Geert. I guess the seeing I get and the use of the AOX made the difference with the detail. Like I say in average seeing with an average brightness guide star you cannot get really good detail, but in good seeing with an average brightness star it makes a significant difference. Nice to be comparable of a bigger scope at high altitude.

[astronobob]

Yes it has indeed Paul :thumbsup:
Not sure if your aware, I havent imaged for a couple of years now, Im not at Leyburn these days, sold the Obs there, but am in the process of upgrading my Back-yard-astro-area to be more permanent with a Roll-Away Lockable Scope Rig Cover, so can image over several nights - well, thats the plan ? Am in medium light pollution at best and only a OSC camera, so wont be able to reach the faint stuff but see how it goes with brighter target areas for a while !
Hopefully back in the swing of things early next year ?

Appreciate your comment and encouragement :thumbsup:

[Paul Haese]

Yes I have been following your progress on the project. Any observatory is better than none in my opinion.

[PRejto]

Paul you set the bar very very high. That's great and it gives us mere mortals something to aspire to. Great image!!

Peter

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Peter for your compliment. Being a little OCD is helpful in this imaging game I think. It can make for the pursuit of perfection. Though nothing is ever perfect.

[Shiraz]

well WOW. that is a beautifully polished image Paul - right up there with your very best. It seems to have a "Gendler" look about it in some ways - well done.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Ray. Very high praise.