Messier 20

[telemarker (Keith)]

M20 or the Triffid nebula, so named due to its tri-segmented appearance is my first Tricolour image. Taken through my recent ED127 and ST-8300 camera/scope acquisitions.

HEQ5Pro guided with a DSI/50mm finderguider combo.
3hr luminance and 3hr Ha taken using 20 min subs 1x1 binning
30min RGB using 5 min subs and 2x2 binning all at -25 degrees
Registered and stacked in DSS. RGB registered in DSS, combined in PS, Ha-Red blended for the red channel and Ha-Lum combined.

Pushed keys and clicked buttons until it resembled something like a nebula.

Pls tell me how to improve it.

First image is cropped to remove stacking marks. Second is cropped for the tight close up.

[Hagar (Doug)]

Nice image Kieth. You have probably worked the data a little bit hard and just a slight reduction in sharpening will improve your star shape and the nebula itself.
Nice job just the same.

[paulF (Paul)]

Wooow talk about details
Beautiful shot and love the depth in it !!!

[luigi]

Awesome Trifid, the color is spectacular. I do notice some artifacts probably produced by sharpening or noise reduction.

[desler]

Pushing the buttons seems to have worked for you there Keith!

As the others have said, possibly a bit overdone!


I on the other hand tend to leave them a little under done! Balance seems to be the key, you seem to have most of the basics, like me I suggest edit 1 edit 2 and so on until your happy!
Have fun and keep posting your progress, really, very nicely done!


Darren

[toryglen-boy (Duncan)]

nice on mate, well done

[telemarker (Keith)]

Originally Posted by Hagar

Nice image Kieth. You have probably worked the data a little bit hard and just a slight reduction in sharpening will improve your star shape and the nebula itself.
Nice job just the same.

Thanks Doug. It can be hard to resist the urge to push it that little bit further when trying to bring the detail out. In concentrating on that aspect its easy to overlook other errors being introduced. I think I need to get a handle on masking. This mono imaging is certainly a different beast. So much to remember to do, especially not to capture 30 min of subs of just the focussing stars

Originally Posted by paulF

Wooow talk about details
Beautiful shot and love the depth in it !!!

Thanks Paul, for looking and commenting. It came with much trial and lots of error but I'm glad you liked it.

Originally Posted by luigi

Awesome Trifid, the color is spectacular. I do notice some artifacts probably produced by sharpening or noise reduction.

Thanks Luigi for your comments. I'm sort of happy the way it came out. Using the Ha data certainly caused issues with colour balance but it made up for it in detail. Selective masking is my next learning exercise.

Originally Posted by desler

Pushing the buttons seems to have worked for you there Keith!

As the others have said, possibly a bit overdone!


I on the other hand tend to leave them a little under done! Balance seems to be the key, you seem to have most of the basics, like me I suggest edit 1 edit 2 and so on until your happy!
Have fun and keep posting your progress, really, very nicely done!


Darren

Thanks Darren your comments, they are much appreciated. I'll probably leave it as is for the time being and return to it after I've learnt some more skills. I need to learn how to isolate specific areas to minimise the carnage.

Originally Posted by toryglen-boy

nice on mate, well done

Thanks Duncan, these frosty nights have impressed on me the importance of a good pair of boots. Runners just don't cut it. I hope you're out catching photons too.

[TrevorW]

Plenty of data but the image seems overdone as previously stated, how does the final histogram look.

Its all about colour balance, levels and making sure that histogram looks like a bell curve without clipping.

I always try and look at images previously posted too see what the pro's have done and then emulate there's to achieve as noise free, colourful image with a smooth background as possible and it's difficult to get it just right

Also read a lot, try different free software packages etc, there are stacks of articles out there that can help (or confuse).

Just keep out it it'll all come together eventually

[Octane (Humayun)]

Keith,

I'd have to say you're well on your way. Glad to see that you're making use of the 5". I think the image scale you get with that chip is delectable.

Was this first light? I certainly miss the field of view through that scope. Glad to see you're looking after her. : )

H

[telemarker (Keith)]

Originally Posted by TrevorW

Plenty of data but the image seems overdone as previously stated, how does the final histogram look.

Its all about colour balance, levels and making sure that histogram looks like a bell curve without clipping.

I always try and look at images previously posted too see what the pro's have done and then emulate there's to achieve as noise free, colourful image with a smooth background as possible and it's difficult to get it just right

Also read a lot, try different free software packages etc, there are stacks of articles out there that can help (or confuse).

Just keep out it it'll all come together eventually

Thanks Trevor, this is partly where I become confused. The final histogram is as you say a bell curve, but this includes a luminance layer with a blend of Ha + lum. The layer for the colour data is clipped in 2 colours. In this situation which histogram do you watch - the final, initial or both? Probably very basic PS stuff but I'm rather ignorant when it comes to using layer let alone masking things. Trial and error ATM. I think I need to watch an example being done from go to whoa to get a real idea of the process. Anyways, thanks for the constructive advice it really is appreciated.

[telemarker (Keith)]

Originally Posted by Octane

Keith,

I'd have to say you're well on your way. Glad to see that you're making use of the 5". I think the image scale you get with that chip is delectable.

Was this first light? I certainly miss the field of view through that scope. Glad to see you're looking after her. : )

H

Thanks H, it really is a huge step up (literally) on the ED100 I was using before. This isn't first light. I've been trying some narrowband prior to getting a motorised 7 position filterwheel and attaching a motofocuser. So it's pretty well a period of getting all this to function together. Also cloud has been a bit of a problem of late (excuses......). I've had a go at the cats paw, M16 and M17. Mostly these are still work in progress.