First M45

[Craig_L]

Hi there.

Eventually managed to capture enough data over the month through the cloudy weather to get an image with some blue in it instead of red. Don't know what you think but I was expecting a little more detail for the amount of subs. Might be my processing, although I am in the city and M45 hangs over the sea for me. Not sure whether that effects the detail.

Tak Sky90 with flattener
Canon 450D Hutech
10 X 7 min @ ISO 800
6 X 7 min @ ISO 1600
4 X 10 min @ ISO 1600
ICNR but no flats
Stacked in Nebulousity
Processed in PaintShop Pro 8

Any thoughts welcome.

Cheers,

Craig

[renormalised]

Nice shot!!. Maybe a bit more aqua than it should be (most shots appear a bright royal blue) but it's nicely done. Good work.

[Craig_L]

I was wondering about the green. Might have another go and "normalise" the colours. Thanks for looking Renormalised.

[Matty P]

Great shot Craig. I do agree with the colours being off but apart from that it is a great looking image.

Well done.

:thumbsup:

[Garyh]

That`s not bad at all Graig! Like mantioned maybe tone done the green in the nebulosity but a nice result. All the times I have had a go at M45 I always get crappy results if the sky is a hazy and much more showing under very clear skies. Must be the blue light being more scattered and absorbed by the conditions and being so low down?
cheers Gary

[dugnsuz]

Great work Craig - Nebulous+++
:thumbsup:

[h0ughy]

nice work, a heap of data there - and noise as well but it is a great shot for your first. i did my first shot what seem like an eternity ago (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/attachment_browse.php?a=30741) , it was way over processed,and was happy, but i knew i had a long way to go. i was looking forward to redoing this again in 2008 but the weather is killing this opportunity off, i hope to have a go through my new observatory when i get it up.

be proud of what you got Craig, its a brilliant start:thumbsup:

[Craig_L]

Thanks Matt, Gary and Doug for your comments. I've had a fiddle with the curves again and removed a little of the green - less aqua now I hope, but still not happy with the processing. Lot to learn.

Cheers,

Craig

[Garyh]

:thumbsup:
Much nicer color Craig!

[Ric]

Great shot Craig, the wispy nebulosity looks fantastic.

[Craig_L]

Thanks Houghy, Gary and Ric. Still got a long way to go with processing I'm afraid. Craig

[TrevorW]

Hi Craig

Had a go at processing hope you don't mind theres still a lot of data in there that can be brougt out although still a novice myself

Cheers

[multiweb]

I know what you mean. M45 eludes me a bit too. I tried from "average" skies didn't get much out of it. I tried under dark skies. Got reflections from the bright stars all over the place. Considering your conditions I'd say you got a real good result with details. Not sure about colors but it could be haze or LP. Tends to give more greens. I think M45 is an object for darks skies and loads of short exposures. It find it a challenging DSO.

[Craig_L]

Thanks Trevor. Don't mind at all. What are you using to bring out more of the nebulousity - curves in PS?

[TrevorW]

Basically my approach is this

1. Curves
2. Levels
3. Colour balance
4. Curves
5. Levels

and if you have PS CS3 used shadows/highlights

As far as I'm aware it's a matter of playing with the images without clipping the data to acheive the most appealling image. Just experiment see what images look like from the more experienced.

Cheers

[TrevorW]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I did around 20 x 2minute expsoures on this one and some shorter exposures as well in fairly LP skies and got zip as far as the nebula was concerned, me thinks this one needs longer exposures to bring it out. IMO

:thumbsup:

[RB]

A nice result Craig, I like the second version better.

What I would recommend is that you stick with 10 min subs at say ISO 800 and do as many as you can.
Also start doing flats !!! - Very Important, you'll be able to stretch the data further.
Also if you can, try taking darks instead of ICNR to maximize your time, but take them at regular intervals and as close to ambient temp as possible.




You're spot on Trevor, longer subs are the way to go.

:thumbsup:

[Craig_L]

Thanks for the advice Andrew. Will set about another run at ISO 800. I had done flats before but then changed the angle of the camera on the scope so have to re-do them.