Ngc 5128

[Peter Ward]

Some new high-ish res data added. Some serious image processing as well

http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery6.html

Cheers
Peter

[jase (Jason)]

Great work Peter. Was this at the native focal length of the RC? No AO-L?

[iceman (Mike)]

ok, that's brilliant. Has to be one of the best 5128's i've seen ever!

[Alchemy (Clive)]

lots of detail in the dust lanes, and the interesting thing is a faint blue halo of stars is visible to the top of the dust lanes, we normally see the bright one to the lower left and the far right. Generally ive seen it processed to be a bright core (usually a white/bright grey) So thats a most interesting feature.
dynamic range of tones from dark to light is there, (if more contast in the mid tones could be done perhaps ?) i couldnt do the detail in this shot with my current gear.

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Gorgeous image Peter!! Stars are smaller, contrast is higher and it appears to have higher resolution than the version you posted earlier this year.

Don't suppose you could supply some exposure stats and processing info?

I'll be honest with you though, IMHO the core of your January version (ngc5128rcbi.jpg) was better. It had better detail and tonal/colour depth. Do a blink and you'll see what I mean. Probably just a teensy bit of over-processing going on. Forgive my pickyness - but your images deserve a very close look! Also, any reason for it being off-centre in the frame?

Cheers, Marcus

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

Gorgeous image Peter!! Stars are smaller, contrast is higher and it appears to have higher resolution than the version you posted earlier this year.

Don't suppose you could supply some exposure stats and processing info?

I'll be honest with you though, IMHO the core of your January version (ngc5128rcbi.jpg) was better. It had better detail and tonal/colour depth. Do a blink and you'll see what I mean. Probably just a teensy bit of over-processing going on. Forgive my pickyness - but your images deserve a very close look! Also, any reason for it being off-centre in the frame?

Cheers, Marcus

STL11k, RC14.5 at 2900mm. LRGB total approx 4 hours with about 1 hour of AOL luminance data. CCDops, Maxim (calibration, gamma and a tad of LR de-convolution) and Photoshop CS3.

Cropped off centre because I like the 1/3rd's rule for composition....I also like this version better as there are no ST10 micro-lens spikes and shows the obscuring dust colour better. Dealers call I guess

[Lester]

Awesome.

Well done.

[leon]

That is super image Peter, the clarity and detail is just awesome.

Leon

[Ric]

Man o man, what a pearler.

That is one lovely image Peter.

Well done

[spearo (Frank)]

wow!
best one I've seen yet!
frank

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Hi Peter

Very impressive indeed. You say "serious processing", well its not obvious to me, certainly not the kind of processing I indulge in .

Ive always thought of your images as being of the stricktley unprocessed kind, sometimes to your disadvantage . If this is your serious processing effort, then you have that down pat too, well done, one of the best ive seen of this.

[Garyh]

Now that is just beautiful!
Reminds me of the closeup in the latest edition of AS&T!
That extra processing/data has really made a nice image Peter

[2020BC (Bill Christie)]

Um, this is pretty good. Best I've seen to date of this object. Maybe a little too 'violet/purple?', but who would know what it really looks like. Maybe your pic is the new benchmark now. Totally, maximum good.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Peter, if it were a donut, I'd eat it!!!

That is one amazing pic

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Veeeeeeeeeeery nice image Peter!

Interesting to compare to this rather well recieved image I took over 2 yrs ago with just 6" of aperture, a tiny CCD, no darks, no flats, no bias, minimal image processing and much less expousre (only 2hrs total LRGB)

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike20...79166/original

Certainly different looks overall but shows the power of aperture, processing and modern technology .

Mike

[Matty P (Matt)]

So much detail Peter, one of the best NGC 5128's I've ever seen!

Very well done.

[Peter Ward]

Thank you all for your kind remarks. Despite the high tech gear, imaging from the light bowl of Sydney remains a challenge, and is starting to blot out very faint background field galaxies without very long exposures. Fortunately Ngc 5128 itself is pretty bright.

It' a pity government at local, state and federal levels while happy to gaol individuals wielding laser lights, does not at all seem to be concerned with megawatts of power wastage heating the planet but importantly illuminating low flying ducks and the underside of clouds!

Getting back to NGC 5128....it is a fascinating object with a large intensity range that is difficult to process and still make it look natural. It is easy to burn out the central core, so I use gamma curves quite a lot. Similarly there are bright stars in the central bulge which can be easily lost in the glare. I think I have yet to get the balance just right

..hence suspect there are still a few more photons to be tweaked from the data so don't be surprised if I make further processing changes

[bluescope]

Definitely the best image of 5128 that I have seen Peter, so clearly defined, congratulations !

[winensky]

This one sets the standard. Best I seen regardless of the source. Thank you.