Ngc1365

[Paul Haese]

This image is of NGC1365. It contains 35.4 hours of integration time.
It had been on my reimage list for several years and I am quite happy with the result.

Click here (http://paulhaese.net/NGC1365.html) for larger image.

[Ryderscope]

Definitely worth the wait to re image this object. A great result.

[Retrograde]

Just beautiful Paul. The core detail in this is really something!

[Atmos]

Fantastic core detail Paul! Very nice!

[atalas]

Have to love this field.....little faint galaxies all through the background and dominated by a fantastic bard spiral....yummy!

Awesome Paul:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[RickS]

Agree about the great detail in the core. I know you don't normally do noise reduction, Paul, but there are areas that look like they have been smoothed a little too much?

[Bart]

Hiya Paul,

Long time no see!

Top shelf as always. Agree a bit on the smoothing in the arms, but bloody brilliant, none the less.

Cheers!:thumbsup:

[Spookyer]

Very nice result Paul.

Brett

[Geoff45]

Nice Paul. As others have mentioned, the core detail is impressive. I also like the blue stellar regions-- some interesting arcs which look almost like artifacts at first glance (which they are not of course).
Geoff

[gregbradley]

Another ripper. Terrific detail. You are a very patient imager to build up 35 hours like that.

Greg.

[traveller]

Fantastic image Paul, great detail.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks guys for all the comments. :thumbsup:



Thanks Pete. It took several iterations of sharpening to get the core detail looking sharp. I compared that to several prominent images of this galaxy to ensure I was not going too far and it seemed to stack up.




Thanks guys for the comments. Sorry but no smoothing done on the galaxy at all (at least I think that is the case). Some done on the back ground and darker areas via a reveal all mask but none actually done on the galaxy. The base luminance on this image is really buttery in and around the galaxy. Like you I thought it was looking a little plastic but the 18 hours of integration must have caused this or maybe my reveal mask let some smoothing through (possible). Or else there are some subs hiding that are a little blurry. I am not too fused though, but I can certainly see where you are coming from. I will go and investigate whether I have inadvertently caused some excessive smoothing, just to satisfy my own mind since you guys have also raised the possibility. :)



Thanks Geoff, I was very careful to check against other more recent images such as Marcus's to verify that detail. I was has happy to see that others had produced the same looking patterns.



Thanks Greg. As Anthony Wesley once remarked, "this hobby is not for the impatient". he was applying that more for planetary imaging but I think it equally applies for DSO imaging. I don't have a fast system so many hours of integration time has to be sought before I am content with a particular result. I think this image could do with another 20 hours next year to smooth out the back ground better and perhaps bring up some of the back ground galaxies.

[marc4darkskies]

Very nice result Paul but suspect the seeing didn't cooperate as much as you would have liked.

[Placidus]

Another excellent image Paul. Very much like your NGC 300, the sharpness and contrast of the core detail is inspirational.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Marcus. As you know good seeing is always hard to get hold of in astro imaging. Most of this data was taken late winter to mid spring and as a result the atmosphere was a little more turbulent down this way. I did have quite a few good nights of seeing but some nights were only average for my location. I would certainly have liked 1" seeing but not much of that around for the last year or so. Mostly averaging around 2" with the higher moisture levels.



Thanks Mike. I think I would have liked better seeing overall to really capture the outer star streams which are just visible. I might add some more to it next year just to get it up to what I am after.

[APO_Team]

You can be happy with the result Paul !! This is perfect !
Integration time has paid :thumbsup:

Tom

[Slawomir]

Really beautiful image Paul. Makes me dream of darker skies and trying RGB imaging :)

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Tom. :)



Thanks Suavi, my skies are currently under threat, the local council is trying to energise the lights in our town. We are in a race against that to get dark sky status. I think it will come too late though. As it happens I did some SQM readings last new moon and the skies produced 21.90 at it's best but averaged out at 21.80. I was pretty happy with that. It is nice to have dark skies.

[Bassnut]

Excellent Paul, that fair pops, and monster detail in the core. Thats a lot of hrs for RGB and its worked well.

[DaveNZ]

Wonderful central detail Paul. Good edge star shape too.

Are you you the TS 3" field corrector ?

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Fred, I was originally going to go for a mega data set on this object, hence why I collected more data in the colour. However I have found in recent years that having something like 3-5 hours in each colour makes a difference to the noise levels that appear in the back ground prior to the addition of the luminance layer. I don't need to blur or apply much smoothing to eliminate noise and that gives a nicer finish to the back ground in the end. It works for me and I don't mind collecting the data. Added to this is that colour saturation is easier with the increased colour signal.



Thanks Dave, no I am not using that corrector. It does not work with these scopes I found. I spent a lot of money on adapters to try and get the right spacing but nothing ever seemed to work. I have been cropping for the last few years and just cleaning up the edge shape on the stars. I am hoping that GSO will have the new working prototype for a 3" flattener some time early this year. That way I can test it and start using the full size of the sensor.

[DaveNZ]

Good luck with the new GSO flattener.

[multiweb]

A real corker. :thumbsup: Saw your other shots on FB. You've been busy.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Marc. Yeah I tend to have the rigs running every clear night possible these days. It's starting to make up for the cost of the outlay of both systems.

[alpal]

Great image Paul,
that's a dim, mag 10 galaxy with the extended arms - much dimmer.
I am surprised that you can pick up so much.
I remember trying to take 3 minute shots with a DSLR, 5 years ago
& getting almost nothing showing up at all except a blurred nucleus.
Is it the best NGC 1365 ever posted on Iceinspace?
It's the best I can find with a quick search.

well done
cheers
Allan

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Allan for the huge compliment but I reckon that would be a pretty big call. There are quite a few fine examples I can find here and I think each of them has their individual aspects which make them excellent in their own right. I am confident in thinking this is another image to add to the mix.

In regards to your comments about its dimness, I tend to agree. I found while the core is pretty bright the outer arms are very dim and require a lot of exposure time to give good definition to the detail.

[Ross G]

A beautiful galaxy photo Paul.

Amazing colour and detail.

One of the best galaxy photos I have seen for a long time.

Ross.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Ross, nice of you to say that. :)

[Jussi]

This is one of the best amateur shots of his target Ive seen! Just wow! Did you still have that 12" GSO RC?

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Jussi.

I still have the RC12 and imaging with it. Currently working on another project which is nearing completion. Picked up some very good seeing last week at around 1.4-1.7" FWHM; so stay tuned for another image in the coming weeks.

My plan is to upgrade to a 16" if GSO ever get around to finalising the large field flattener they have in development.

[andyc]

Impressively detailed Paul, thanks for sharing. I love the rich colours and the background galaxies. Out of interest, how many nights did it take to collect 35 hours data? I recall Rolf Olsen diarising months of imaging, I guess this was the product of many weeks of effort, but how many hours data might come out of a night, 5-7?

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Andy. I imaged the galaxy over 9 nights in October and early November with an average nightly capture of 3.88 hours. I keep the capture folders of each imaging run just to work out how many nights these things take to complete capture. I don't go to the same extent that Rolf does, however the logs are also kept which could identify how much data is collected each night.