NGC6744 Galaxy

[Doogs38 (Alex)]

2nd attempt at NGC6744; my first was this time last year using my SW120ED and I had barely a clue on anything about astroimagery except for some EAA experience. Needless to say a year of learning APP and PI has resulted in an arguably better image this time :-) I had sooooo many problems processing the LRGB data and exclaimed a few naughty words along the way. I had issues with an odd gradient in the blue channel which meant I had to toss 1.5hrs of blue data; some of my flats needed to be redone; numerous dead-ends in PI where a whole evening's (L)RGB work resulted in poor colours and little saturation ... I don't know what I'm doing wrong in PI with LRGB as I don't have problems with SHO. I'm finding APP produces better linear LRGB/RGB images of galaxies using its 'RGB Combine' tool. The end result still has problems with background but I'll stop editing until I have more B and L data and some Ha too.

EdgeHD 8" with 0.7 R, ASI294MM, Antlia LRGB
Shot across 2 nights - 11hrs 12mins total
L: 107 x 180s
R: 48 x 180s
G: 49 x 180s
B: 20 x 180s
Stacked in APP, edited in PI, finished in PS. Cropped.

Hi-res here.
As always, any feedback gratefully received. Thanks for looking. Alex

PS I love all the background galaxies visible in the image.
PSS I'm in awe that NGC6744 is ~30m ly away and still so visible albeit with an apparent magnitude of 9.14. And, it's an analog of the Milky Way but bigger. Imagine if something in NGC6744 was looking back at us ... they'd see something similar to their home!

[oska (John)]

Another ripper Alex. I think you've got it down fine. I can surely relate to the endless redos in PI, my current is over 30 but I think I like 27 best, so yeah, a couple of retries. GHS can give you a better stretch, on either the channels individually or combined. GraXpert can do a good job on gradients when DBE fails, sometimes. Really great result mate, congrats!

[AstroViking (Steve)]

Looking good, Alex, looking very good indeed.

[Doogs38 (Alex)]

Originally Posted by AstroViking

Looking good, Alex, looking very good indeed.

Thanks Steve. I suspect this will be a work-in-progress across multiple years which is an entirely new concept to me! But, I think it's heading in the right direction.

Originally Posted by oska

Another ripper Alex. I think you've got it down fine. I can surely relate to the endless redos in PI, my current is over 30 but I think I like 27 best, so yeah, a couple of retries. GHS can give you a better stretch, on either the channels individually or combined. GraXpert can do a good job on gradients when DBE fails, sometimes. Really great result mate, congrats!

Thanks John. 30 redos - that's commitment and a chunk of time!! What are you working on? I got to redo #7 (I think) and had two separate versions of it; an LRGB, and, an LLRGB which is what I used for the shared image. The additional L was blended at only 30% and was good to highlight some extra detail in the arms. For background extraction, I'm slowly becoming a fan of DBE as it gives more control but can take much longer to get a good result. I also use GraXpert with good results but it does seem to add noise (which is easily cleaned up with NX).

[xelasnave]

Wonderful image Alex and given your dedication you deserve a great result...you inspire me to try harder ..at some point in the future.

Alex

[Doogs38 (Alex)]

Lol, thanks Alex. I’ve literally just discovered a YouTube vid that FINALLY shows me how to produce (in PI) LRGB galaxies and stars with awesomely good, natural colour! It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for as I’ve really struggled with this. I just did a quick test and it works very very well. Woooo I’m inspired to redo my recent galaxy images. Check out this vid, it might inspire you too, Alex. https://youtu.be/FWdJh0rMutE

Originally Posted by xelasnave

Wonderful image Alex and given your dedication you deserve a great result...you inspire me to try harder ..at some point in the future.

Alex

[xelasnave]

Thanks Alex. I was watching "Entering into Space" videos earlier( yesterday) and enjoy his style of presentation.
I particularly enjoyed the video you suggested ...it seems exactly what I need...
I have watched it twice so far.
It won't be long before I pull the trigger on PI
Alex

[John W (John Wilkinson)]

Terrific image Alex - well captured.

Cheers, John W.

[Dave882 (David)]

Great image Alex. It’s a tough one as those outer arms are very faint and you’ve got really nice detail through to the core too. The colour is great too. Well done.
Thanks for posting that link- I’ve also still trying to work out a good broadband workflow in PI

[Doogs38 (Alex)]

Thanks Dave and John. I've redone this image using a similar LRGB workflow to that in the vid below, but substituted NoiseX, BlurX and StarX for some of PI's native deconv, noise reduction and enhancement tools. I reckon I've ended up with a nicer, more natural looking colour right across the frame - I'll post it in the Big Boys/Gals forum. Still experimenting but that is what it's all about

[carlstronomy (Carl)]

Alex, really nice. Love the colours and the detail is very nice

[Doogs38 (Alex)]

Thanks Carl :-) After a very busy week, I managed to grab some additional B, L and Ha last night and reckon that's enough data for this one, for this year. I'm gunna reprocess all this data from scratch as this weekend's Astro fun! Alex