Anne Dromeeder

[xelasnave]

Her tax file number is M31.

She posed for me some time ago so I pulled out my sketches and produced my interpretation while resting which has been forced upon me...

While most of you were wasting time at work I was being productive and working on my Startools production skill.

So I tried to give some humour but as usaual a comic I aint.. stars were oval the data had heaps of noise...so a good test for me to bring the magic out of Startools, high gain no darks or dither and I am very happy how Startools can make a silk purse from a pigs ear...there are better renditions out there but I cant do as good as them so this is my best for now.

The colour I have no idea but I did go thru the motions to do it the right way but I just dont know you see..

Main thing is I am having fun and feel like it is not cloudy.

edit one more try hence second image.


alex

[Startrek]

Alex,
Nice images , you’ve definitely captured some quality data and had some fun processing too
M31 is too low at both my sites so unless I climb a hill and set up remotely I’ll never image this jewel of the northern hemisphere
One observation though , some of the stars in random locations appear to ringing artifacts around them ? Maybe Deconvolution not set up right with a good mask ????
Thanks for posting
Martin
PS: Happy to share some work flow ideas with Startools modules any time

[xelasnave]

Thanks Martin.
I am not surprised actually to find problems in the area you suggest as I recall pushing all the settings (usually I dont touch a thing and really I cant notice a change) to see what they did ..but the kettle boiled and I came back having made a cup of tea and did not check, saw it had finished and hit keep..and so..I did not notice until in photoshop and did spend time rubbing some out and trying to fix them..but then I ran the phohoshoped image thru Startools again and fixed things a little...but at a point said damn it and finished up.. However I came back again...I may reprocess again because the object is as I say getting to know Startools again..
Thanks for your input as I greatly appreciate help from a master such as yourself.
Alex

[xelasnave]

The curious thing..those spots..At some point I had a mask that would not clear no matter what I did..it saved with some highlighted stars..you can see left overs in the centre for example..a lot of fixing things went on..
So many things went wrong when I reflect.
Alex

[Bassnut]

She's a cracker Alex, nice work, there is no more productive work than working on Startools skills.. A bit red perhaps, attached is a bit of blue. Subjective of course.

[Dave882]

Great work mate! She’s really hard to get a shot of hanging out so low in our southern skies. I’ve also been struggling to get a handle on the starstools mask functions…a bit temperamental for me too but still learning

[Startrek]

Thanks Alex
For those who are using Startools I thoroughly recommend watching this tutorial presented by Ivo about a year ago on a UK Astro channel
It is quite long about an hour and half but it does give you an insight into how Startools works in comparison to conventional processing software. Ivo does a brief workflow demonstration on some data as well.
I’ve been using it for nearly 5 years now V1.3 to V1.7 and still discovering things that optimise your image
One mistake I made only in the last 6 months which was brought to my attention on the Startools forum was to use a module twice ( which is a no no in Startools ) this makes sense when you watch the YouTube below
Never stop learning with signal evolution tracking processing
Cheers

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8Luu2-BMXzc

[xelasnave]

Heck thanks Fred I appreciate your encouragement and in particular your support of my philosophy to concentrate on the important things in life.
AND special thanks for seeing how you can improve on my image ...I wish more people would have a go..in the old days we did that a lot and it was not only fun but you learnt stuff as well. ..Your image looks better than mine ..to me..so what tricks did you use?

You should see some of the ones I don't post..to me they look great but when I show my daughter she points out the harsh purple and the green stars.
Thanks again..I hope you and yours are doing well.
Alex

[xelasnave]

It was just some glitch I am sure Dave. The great thing with this new star tools is it has a choice " create a conservative mask" ..well I am conservative so I use that often..And the auto is handy..stars..do..( invert for decon) sometimes shrink or grow.

The wonderful thing with StarTools is you can leave the settings as you find then generally and beginners should take that on board as that gives you a decent image.

I have noticed often even the noise setting works best if left alone..not all the time but it is surprising the times it does the best job.

So when are you going to post some images..I think folk hold off when they don't have a new data set but heck in this weather you really need to get into reprocessing..it's like playing guitar you must practice all the time cause if you fall behind it takes intolerable effort just to get back to where you were...

Thanks for joining in I greatly appreciate seeing a response.

Alex

[xelasnave]

I have run StarTools again after noise reduction and even after Photoshop to have a second go at noise..and other things..so that is a waste of time?

I have tried to join the StarTools group on Facebook twice now and they have ignored me so I guess my reputation has worked against me...I know I rub some folk up the wrong way and probably what annoys them most is they realise I don't care what they think.

Alex

[Kuz]

Alex good to see you posting heaps of images again mate:thumbsup:

[xelasnave]

Thanks Kuz..I realised the weather was working against me and I thought such must be happening to others..so I thought to try and get some activity going even though doing no new imaging...but when you think it thru sure your captures improve but so must your processing..and certainly in my case I am entirely confident by reprocessed images are a great deal better than my first attempts.
Hope you are well.
Alex.

[OzEclipse]

Hi Alex,

Nice image, great L data on such a low object. I colour corrected those stars but the colour correction turned the green haloes into dark haloes. I can't do anything about the dark haloes but I have had a go at colour correcting the colour cast. Couldn't quite remove the colour cast from the core

Hope you like it.

Joe

[xelasnave]

Thanks Joe I sure do like it. It makes the world of difference to have someone who knows what they are doing correct my mistakes.

I have been imaging..nothing worked but it was a beautiful clear night..my mount was playing up but I managed a couple of captures..like only 15 second and not many..my mount needs some exercise as it seems to jump now and then ...doing nothing for a ling time I bet..like me.

But it was so good mucking around..but talk about a mess cables leads boxes covering materials rope ..but on the positive polar on the EQ5 is now perfect..both cameras work, and the best thing is the mower has lights so I could drive between the van and the observatory ..it is too wet still for the car.

I doubt if I can produce an image from the little I got but I will see..

But I had to give it in as I just got so tired.

Thanks again I do appreciate you taking your time to help correct my inage.

Alex

[Startrek]

Alex,
Not sure if this is linked to Facebook as I don’t do Facebook but I joined the official Startools forum I’m sure they will accept your application as it’s purely technical about the software and there’s a load of tutorials and advice already there to read
You can post images too
I joined a year or so ago

Here’s the link

https://forum.startools.org/

Cheers
Martin

[xelasnave]

Thanks Martin I appreciate you putting me onto the existence of the forum. I have joined and must say I already like the site and sure it will be a big help.

I am not sure how I will be able to get back into imaging as last night I was done by 11-30 pm and when I woke up this morning I felt terrible...hopefully the RASA will have me finished by 9-30 pm in winter.

Funny (did not realise) I had the OSC with a Ha filter with the OSC on the scope..why? Not sure but from testing stuff from last time...anyways didnt look carefully and focused and did some test shots on Orion thinking all that time all that was there was the OSC...mmm the trap and surrounds were bright red??? What the !!!
Mmmm where is the colour adjustment bar in Sharpcap? there must be one somewhere..mmm no..then it occurred to me..did I leave that Ha filter in the draw in..no I would have put such an important expensive filter away surely...
One of those moments of conflicting emotions..happy to find there is no problem with the colour but so dumbfounded as to how I could be so slack, forgetfull and stupid all at once.. however I realised the oversight must have been due to getting tired toward the end of the previous testing session and I took that into account when deciding to close up early latér that night.
Such a pity as when I was leaving I looked up and it was a near perfect night but when I sat on the mower to get back to the car I realised the dew was exceptionally heavy as I had sat in a puddle...that somehow made me ok with closing early.
Thanks again.
Alex

[Startrek]

Yes the Startools forum is a wealth of knowledge and the developer Ivo is very accommodating.
As far as being tired , in Winter most objects are up high enough by 6.30 to 7.30pm so you can get 3 or 4 hours in and still get to bed by 11pm. I’m only 62 and struggle sometimes to push through to 1 or 2am. Last Winter I pushed through to 3.30am on a couple of nights and I was a wreck the next few days.
The RASA will serve you well , I’m sure you will only need an hour or two on an object with that 2600 camera
The rain has finally stopped in Sydney after weeks and weeks , my
in ground pool looks like a scene from that 60’s horror movie “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” . Pool shops are going to be busy over the next week $$$
Hope it’s clear up north now !!
Cheers
Martin

[xelasnave]

Once I would stay up all night partying ( guitars can lead you down that path) and so astronomy was easy..at the old place I would go for a week or two all nighters...no problems when I was young like you..but I guess I just need to take into account I have been thru some minor health issues and just ease back into it...astronomy that is...all the folk I used to party with seem to have died.
Thanks again.
Alex

[JA]

Hi Alex,

Love your M31 -great pickup at such low altitude. To each their own and I hope you don't mind, but I darkened the background and increased the blue a little to make the galaxy pop a little more....

Best
JA

[Nikolas]

Nice work Alex this one is too close to the horizon in Melbourne.

[xelasnave]

I welcome folk working on my images... Some folk dont like it but for me I take it as the highest of compliments...
The more dark the background the better as that is where you notice noise I find and when you notice it there you start looking elsewhere...well I do anyways...I took it as far as I dared but very happy with your interpretation... well done and I sincerely thank you.

AND I am very very lucky in my spot as most of what I will look out over will be Ocean if you think about it..I have a neat little window for this one. AND shooting near the horizon is not such a big deal and I believe is where short notice exposures pay off as they can manage the increased problems due to turbulence...That is just my opinion and is a belief rather than a finding supported by evidence...it is so easy to turn a belief into a fact and something I avoid hence my qualification...all I can say is thats the way I do it.

Alex

[xelasnave]

Thank you very much for your kind encouragement Nicholas as I do appreciate you taking your time to comment.

I would say if you can see it have a go...there will be spots that are better than others so select your window to maximise your chances.. if you can see it at all..I think because of its size it may be more forgiving than you expect..I dont know..can you see it at all?

We can talk ourselves out of doing things cause we listen to others... and so often I find folk giving advice have not done what they advise you on...like look at the folk who say dont get a ZWO camera because of that streaking problem..have you got one mate? Mmm you havent OK but you now like to show your knowledge. Thank you.. ...if you can see it have a go... short exposures high gain break the rules and fix it in photoshop.
Alex

[JA]

Good point Nik. In Melbourne I think it gets to around 11 degrees maximum elevation in direction of North, whereas in upper NSW it would probably get to around 20 degrees in elevation.

It's a beautiful galaxy - I would love to image it with a 300mm lens. Maybe somewhere around Melbourne we could find a relatively uncluttered / flat / non-light polluted Northerly horizon. Maybe from the Mornington Peninsula looking North-ish towards Melbourne ~50km over the water the Melbourne light dome may not be THAT BAD and possibly be OK to image down that low for an hour or so. Or possibly over the Dandenong Ranges somewhere. It would be interesting to try.

Best
JA

[Nikolas]

I would have to go right out into an area where the Northern sky is uncovered right down to the horizon, If I ever get my gear further north it might be an option. It's a great target!

[xrekcor]

Wow! Top shot! We’ll done

[Mickoid]

I took this shot a few years ago 90km from the Melbourne CBD. I've also captured it much closer, it's doable, you just need a good clear northerly horizon. :)

[xelasnave]

Thanks Rob but I think Michael gets first prize.
Thank you Michael for showing that it can be done..a great shot.
Alex