Ngc 300

[marc4darkskies]

Hmmmmm ... had a bit of a tussle with this one, striking the balance between noise reduction and maintaining detail. I opted to retain a bit more noise than usual (for me) so as not to eliminate the real detail. There is no sharpening on this image either - save for some contrast enhancement - so not too shabby for a 6" in Sydney I think.

Small: http://www.pbase.com/gailmarc/image/119360007/large
Large: http://www.pbase.com/gailmarc/image/119360007/original

It's a mere 7.75 hours of exposure so more data would help of course ... plus I think there is at least one "Sidonio" to do on it yet. In any case, I'm reasonably happy with the first cut. Hope you like it! (critique always welcome of course)

Cheers, Marcus

[David Fitz-Henr]

Mmmmmarcus-san !! Beautiful image as always !! When did you manage to get 7.75 hrs of exposure with Sydney's weather of late ?? Maybe some good nights fell on your new weekend roster ?? I was ready to capture some photons tonight, but there seemed to be a constant haze sucking up most of the photons ...

[RobF]

Beautiful. What a great rendition. Thanks for showing.

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks mate! Yes, managed to gather some lum photons last new moon before the clouds came back and finished off last Tues. Maybe the coming Tues / Wed weather will be kind to me too!



Thanks Rob, glad you liked it!

[gregbradley]

That's a wonderful image Marcus.

Adding some Ha would show up the neb areas
in the galaxy much like M33 shots do.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

Excellent Marcus, not sure what a Sidonio could do to this actually :confuse3:...be interesting to see what you could improve. I see what Greg is getting at but adding contrasty Ha does not imedeately seem necessary. Currently the subtlety of the image is its appeal and I agree not going hard on the noise reduction is deffinitely a positive step in my opinion.
I also agree (of course) a good 6" APO is incredibly versitile and can punch above its weight (and thus march in a VB ad :P).

Very nice work Marcus :thumbsup:

Mike

[AlexN]

Very nice work Marcus. This is one thats eluded me in the past.. You've really done it some justice in your rendition..

Well done.

[Octane]

Marcus,

This is an exquisite rendition. It's almost like what you'd see in a dream. Excellent work -- very impressive.

Regards,
Humayun

[desler]

I have to agree with everyone else Marcus, Sensational image.

Darren

[jase]

Most excellent work Marcus. A very natural appearance, almost too perfect for my tastes. ;) Even when you equalise the image the galaxy turns white indicating a neutral balance, no shifts. Stayed away from the heavy colour saturation I'm accustomed to with your images? Sign of the times?

EDIT: is there a reason why you kept the nucleus so warm? Magenta appears to be strong in the area.

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks Greg. Yeah, I thought about doing some Ha but the weather hasn't cooperated ... plus ... I'm naturally lazy ;)



Thanks Mike - appreciate that! Everything I tried to reduce noise impacted the detail or made the transition from the galaxy to the background sky too obvious / pronouced. So I finally surrendered :)



Thanks Alex. I think I could improve it though if I get some nights with better seeing. Some of my Lum subs were less than optimal.



Cheers Humayun!



Thanks Darren!



Thanks Jase!! But ... too perfect??!! :lol: I'll take that as a compliment! :) I usually image well known, in-your-face subjects that scream out to have the colours shown off to the max. The delicate colours and structure of this object demanded a gentler, more subtle aproach to processing.

And the nucleus? Well, I usually look for attributes in the subject that I can use / exaggerate to make the image more striking. Many of the other renditions on the web (incl Rob Gendlers) give the nucleus a similar treatment.

[strongmanmike]

Ah huh! say good bye to plastic looking space-art images...welcome to the slightly noisey but natural side :D

MIke
now you just need to learn to love blue...and the transformation will be complete

[sjastro]

Marcus,

Nice image. Not sure about the magenta however.

Remember that NGC 300 can be resolved. The noise you see may in fact be largely stellar resolution. Smoothing out the image is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Steven

[marc4darkskies]

No, no... NEVER!!! I will never be tempted by the dark side - vibrant colour rules!!!! :D



Thanks Steve. Yes, I'm definitely resolving stars but it was retaining them while minimising the noise that was the challenge.

[multiweb]

Great shot Marcus. Lot of details and very vibrant colors. :thumbsup:

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks Marc!

I'd really like to catch some one arcsec seeing with my Tak one day - then watch out!! :prey:

[coldspace]

All I can say is WOW, I love top galaxy shots, they are my favourite.
Great work.

Matt.

[Ken]

I like it Marcus just the way it is, I have tried twice this month to image this with two different scopes but cut short with the wind.
Clear skies Ken

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks Matt. Yep, galaxy shots can be tough to process but if you pull it off they can be awesome!



Stick with it Ken - look forward to seeing your version.

BTW, I've reduced the slight magenta bias in the nucleus now - a subtle but noticable improvement.

[Hagar]

Very very nice Galaxy Marc, resolved beautifully right to the core.

Well done.

[renormalised]

Very very nice shot, Marc, as usual. Excellent work:D

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks Doug & Carl! I was surprised how much stellar resolution I got. Though not as crisply resolved as Rob Gendlers version - through a 14.5" RC (here (http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/NGC300.html)) - much of the detail in his is present in mine! I can only imagine what my Tak would do with one arcsec seeing!

Cheers, Marcus

[strongmanmike]

...?...split two point sources of similar brightness, the centres of which are 1 arc sec apart...? :question: ;) :help:

[AlexN]

That would depend greatly on the resolution, but for all intents and purposes, assuming Marcus runs the setup at F/11.7 with the extender. Yes. :D

haahahahaaa

[iceman]

Excellent Marcus, great to see more from you!

[marc4darkskies]

:lol: ... don't forget exposure time, brightness of the point sources, guiding and diffraction (airy disk diam)! :D I hope I get the opportunity to find out one day though!!



Thanks Mike!