M31 from Queensland Astrofest 2010 using 300mm lens

[h0ughy]

This is my first real process of this beastie – taken with a 300mm FD L lens, cooled canon40d the image is a composite worth of data up to 7h and 57min worth ISO 1600. All the images were stacked then cropped to shape in Pixinsight as one night was slightly off centre (data is data!). ALL FINAL PROCESSING was done in Pixinsight1.61. I lost quite a few shots to fog, movement and a couple of aircraft. Still its nearly 8 hours worth. Hope its Ok?

Sorry its a small image - a lot of data meant i had to keep shrinking the image size to get it under the 200K mark:sadeyes:

[Lester]

That is an exceptional image David. All the best.

[sheeny]

Excellent Dave!

Al.

[Bassnut]

Thats as tight as David, even looks good at that poxy res, makes me wonder how it looks bigger :P. 8hrs is a huge effort and it shows, top shelf.

[Octane]

Great effort, Dave. Looks wonderful.

I hope to spend just as much time as you have on this in the coming M31 season.

Cheers.

H

[jjjnettie]

I was witness to the blood, sweat and tears that went into this image.
It was well worth it David, it's wonderful.

[DavidTrap]

Not bad at all David - what were your sub durations?

DT

[h0ughy]

thank you Lester, I appreciate the cheers

Thanks Al - this was one of my prime targets this year at Queensland Astrofest. I origianlly planned on getting 12 hours worth but the rain and fog got me on a few nights

thanks Fred - send me an email at h0ughyit at tpg.com.au and i will send you a full res jpeg to have a very critical view if you wish

I am sure you will H:thumbsup:

[h0ughy]

Thanks JJJ. i could nto have gotten this fully without the help from yourself and Ponders and of course my human focus machine Peter bester ;)

I took 12 minutes worth of 1 minute subs and the rest were all 5 minutes

[DavidTrap]

Thanks David,

I've only just done one combined image - 30sec and 450sec images of the Tarantula. I was impressed at how it improved detail of the core, whilst retaining peripheral detail. (The image quality itself was rather poor - hard to get too upset as it was taken through fog at 3am on the second Saturday morning) I found an article on the web that described how to use layers and masks - was actually much easier that I though it was going to be.

Did you process the set of 1 min subs and superimpose them onto the core to create this image? I'm just trying to work out how to have tackle this beast myself.

DT

[h0ughy]

LOL i was a lazy sod :lol: and just stuck it in the bunch for stacking - should have separated;)

[DavidTrap]

Ok, I'll bite - does it actually improve the dynamic range of the image if you put 1min subs with 12min subs?? Wouldn't median stacking (or a similar process) just pick the middle pixel value??

Just trying to work out this post processing stuff.

Ta in advance,

DT

[MarkA]

My goodness 8hrs for this object it has to be at least coupe of nights of imaging. Excellent effort

[h0ughy]

:shrug: no idea - trial and error;):lol:

I use Pixinsight to process the images after stacking in DSS - only use photoshop to resize and save for web ;) but i did take them so not to blow out the core too much

[h0ughy]

yes 5 nights - would have been 7 but for the weather

[DavidU]

Lovely image Dave. 8hrs is a decent stint.
:thumbsup:

[DavidTrap]

Thanks David

I'll try to take some subs of varying length and do a composite next time I get out. Won't be as long an exposure as yours though!

DT

[h0ughy]

thanks David - it was longer but i lost over an hour to fog and aircraft

[alan meehan]

Nice process Dave you have bridged the gap on the outer galaxy excellent work my friend.
AL

[h0ughy]

Thanks Al

[Screwdriverone]

Upside down Miss Jane?

Nice Pic Houghy, a link to a full res on say...photobucket would be nice, I would like to see the uncompressed version!

Cheers

Chris

[h0ughy]

thanks Chris - you might be right but i like it the way it is;):lol:

[acropolite]

Very nice work Dave, any more like that and you'll have to don a cape and wear your underwear on the outside. :thumbsup:

[ChrisM]

David, that is impresssive! Such a great star field too. It's a bit too far north to see well from here in southern Vic.


Chris

[Neil]

Dave ,that,s excellent. Particulily impreesed with all the stars resolved in our galaxy while looking at our neigbour.Great work.

[Phil Hart]

remarkable Dave.. long exposures get results!

[h0ughy]

thanks phil but i will leave that sort of stuff to ponders;):lol:

[h0ughy]

thanks Chris glad you liked it

i hope to do a repro on this to bring out more details



yes Phil data is king - the more the better as your Antares region shot is testament to:thumbsup:

[Ric]

Cracker image Dave.

M31 is one of the classic galaxies to image.

Cheers

[h0ughy]

yep it was on my hit list ever since i started to go to astrofest;) and was imaging with a dslr. i still havent got the skills to use film:P

[allan gould]

Excellent shot Dave and well processed. The subtle coulors are also well done.
Well worth the time spent on it.
Allan

[h0ughy]

Allan,
thanks for the input. LOL i wished i also did 253 - but that can be next years project;) along with a 10+ hour shot of the helix

[Garyh]

Glad I didn`t miss this one David! The full size version would be absolutely Awesome! :thumbsup:

[Bassnut]

It is, ive had a privlidged peek at a 4 meg version, even with mucho zooming its very low noise, and has excellent detail.

[Omaroo]

Really nice David! Well captured and processed. :thumbsup:

[h0ughy]

pm me with your email address

[h0ughy]

thanks Chris:thumbsup:

[RB]

I love M31, my favourite galaxy.
What a lovely capture Dave, marathon effort my friend.
I can see this one being published in a mag sometime soon. :P

Excellent work mate.

[h0ughy]

well i dunno bout that:P did take a while to get;)

[firstlight]

It is only "upside down" if you live down in the northern hemisphere.

[peeb61]

WOW! Way to go David! Love it...

[h0ughy]

missed this post - glad you enjoyed it

[atalas]

Another nice one Houghy....hey flip It over mate,the dust detail looks better that way.

[h0ughy]

Never thought of doing that - i normally , well always, keep the subject the way i took it. :shrug:

[Paul Haese]

Not sure how I missed this one, but lovely image. Bigger presentation would be better, but it still looks very nice.

[Hagar]

Very nice David. I wish it was visible down here. It is but just a few degrees above the horizon but the local hills block it out.

Well done.

[h0ughy]

thats why its only a Qld astrofest target for me as from Newcastle it is pretty low for me - not worth imaging

[h0ughy]

thanks Paul