The Pleiades from Wiruna

[Astrod00d]

Hi All,

In between imaging the HH and Rosette on Sunday night, I grabbed 10x300s subs of M45. The attached image is a stack of the best 9 frames for a total of 45m exposure time.

Only half of M45 fits onto the sensor - M45 is a good candidate for a mosaic next new moon!

Post-processing was in PS, using curves I've tried to bring out the faint nebulosity while not overcooking the stars. Last time I attempted M45 all I got was bright halos around the stars - fixed this time around.

More subs would improve the result for sure... but is there a trick I can use to reduce the background noise in this image while preserving the faint detail? Or have I pushed it as far as it'll go?

127mm North Group APO
EQ6 guided using PHD and EQMOD
QHY8, gain 1, offset 58
9x300s subs
Flats and bias applied in DSS
Post processing PS CS3


Cheers,

Rob

[h0ughy (David)]

the detail is pretty good, great to see what the scope can achieve.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Pretty cool. You've got stacks of nebulosity on that one. The framing's spot on too.

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

lovely shot...with this summer object, I found noise goes hand in hand with long exposure for a DSLR.... just surprised to see noise raise its ugly head with a Qhy8 and that too for only 5 minute subs

[tornado33]

Yep thats a lovely deep shot.
Scott

[gregbradley]

Thats a great image for 45 minutes.

Try Noise Ninja it does wonders.

Greg.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Great shot Rob

...so, was Wiruna clear last weekend or something..

Mike

[Garyh]

Very nice M45 Rob! Beautiful wispy detail showing!
Good work!

[Astrod00d]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

the detail is pretty good, great to see what the scope can achieve.

Thanks Dave, I'm looking forward to seeing your results when you get the chance. Sorry I missed you at Lostock.

Originally Posted by multiweb

Pretty cool. You've got stacks of nebulosity on that one. The framing's spot on too.

Came out better than I expected. Must put more time into it next new moon...

Originally Posted by seeker372011

lovely shot...with this summer object, I found noise goes hand in hand with long exposure for a DSLR.... just surprised to see noise raise its ugly head with a Qhy8 and that too for only 5 minute subs

Thanks Narayan, that's because I got greedy and stretched it too much The wispy stuff was way down within a few ADU of black level. I'll try longer subs next time, should result in better S/N if I can control the stars...

Originally Posted by tornado33

Yep thats a lovely deep shot.
Scott

Thanks!

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Thats a great image for 45 minutes.

Try Noise Ninja it does wonders.

Greg.

Thanks for the info! Do you use the standalone version or the PS plug-in?

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Great shot Rob

...so, was Wiruna clear last weekend or something..

Mike

Nah... We're just saying that to annoy you!
Seriously though, you woulda just loved Sunday night. Crisp, clear and steady.

Originally Posted by Garyh

Very nice M45 Rob! Beautiful wispy detail showing!
Good work!

Thanks Gary, I was surprised by the detail particularly for only 45 minutes exposure. Now I'm all fired-up and I wanna put several hours into M45 next new moon!

Cheers,

Rob

[leon]

Very nice Rob, that is one of the objects I will never be able to image unless I move the shed. well done

Leon

[gregbradley]

Hi Rob,

I use the Photoshop plug in. I use 2 main plug ins Noise Ninja and Gradient Xterminator.

Even though I image at a dark site with virtually zero light pollution I sometimes still see gradients. I take it these come from some effect from the filters sometimes.

Steven also has a technique for reducing colour noise without reducing detail on his site. I have used that as well.

But Noise Ninja is pretty hard to beat and simple to use. There will be some slight smoothing though but its a small compromise.

Greg

[jase (Jason)]

Great work Rob. You've accentuated the wispy nebulosity exceptionally well. Look forward to seeing more.

[Matty P (Matt)]

Lovely M45 Rob. You have brought out the faint blue nebulosity really well.

Great work.