Leo Trio - a composite portrait

marc4darkskies (Marcus) · #1 01-05-2010, 09:17 PM

Weather & moon hasn't let me finish the data gathering yet but I decided to go ahead and process the 3 hours of LUM I got a couple of weeks ago. I don't normally post an unfinished image but I got excited when I saw the detail that was coming out and couldn't resist sharing. Apologies to the purists BTW.

Don't worry, the full frame will be displayed when I finish the image ... although it is rather striking to seem them so close together!

Small:
http://www.pbase.com/gailmarc/image/124078895/large

Large:
http://www.pbase.com/gailmarc/image/124078895/original

Cheers, Marcus

Hagar (Doug) · #2 01-05-2010, 09:22 PM

That is a lovely lum layer and should add beautifully to some good RGB.
Look forward to seeing the finished product Marcus.

alexch (Alex) · #3 01-05-2010, 09:23 PM

Amazing detail and I like the image scale

. Can't wait for the final result

Alex

RobF (Rob) · #4 01-05-2010, 09:27 PM

Holy cow - that is just stunning. I think I just spent 10mins staring at it.

alan meehan (Alan) · #5 01-05-2010, 09:45 PM

Marcus just stunning looking forward to the final result.

strongmanmike (Michael) · #6 01-05-2010, 11:10 PM

Very cleaver Marcus

Certainly some nice resolution there mate.

What makes this striking is that the three detailed galaxies are so close together, in reality I don't think there is a set of three galaxies of this size and resolvability that close together, anywhere in the sky..?

Mike

h0ughy (David) · #7 01-05-2010, 11:37 PM

phenomenal result - three cheers for the result Marcus

JD2439975 (Justin) · #8 02-05-2010, 12:01 AM

What a corker, love the dust lane detail in NGC3628.
Can't wait for the full colour version, very nice work Marcus.

richardo (Rich) · #9 02-05-2010, 02:10 AM

Marcus, wow!
Some beautiful detail and very well processed indeed.

Quite inventive to reduce the fov to show the full extent of the structures in each of the galaxies.... imagine if it were a true fov, and they were close to each other, they'd be ripping each other apart!

Look forward to the colour version in real field of view, will be truely something very special.

Rich

Rigel003 (Graeme) · #10 02-05-2010, 08:44 AM

I guess it's like skim reading a book and leaving out the boring bits in between the juicy stuff. Amazing detail from a 6" scope. Looking forward to the finished product.

marc4darkskies (Marcus) · #11 02-05-2010, 08:55 AM

Thanks a lot guys! Yep, if the weather doesn't cooperate next week to get the RGB I'll just ... scream! Maybe a similar presentation in colour is in order too (as well as the full frame of course) . It's hard to beat in-your-face, up-close galaxy images for visual impact IMO! And a bit of "artistic license" can be a good way of achieving that

... hey, at least it has stars!

Jeffkop (Jeff) · #12 02-05-2010, 08:56 AM

Got the exposure times perfect I'de say, which I'de also imagine would be difficult with 3 objects to consider. ITs definitely going to be a cracker image when you've the time to add the colour, however that said, its a pretty impressive piece of work just as it is !!!!

gregbradley · #13 02-05-2010, 09:19 AM

Fantastic result Marcus. Such great detail. You would only expect that sort of detail from a very large scope. Amazing.

Greg.

renormalised (Carl) · #14 02-05-2010, 10:54 AM

Amazing detail, Marcus!!!!....wonderful shot, almost a shame you're going to "mess it up" with RGB

Peter Ward · #15 02-05-2010, 11:15 AM

Nice one

marc4darkskies (Marcus) · #16 02-05-2010, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffkop

Got the exposure times perfect I'de say, which I'de also imagine would be difficult with 3 objects to consider. ITs definitely going to be a cracker image when you've the time to add the colour, however that said, its a pretty impressive piece of work just as it is !!!!

Thanks Jeff!

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Fantastic result Marcus. Such great detail. You would only expect that sort of detail from a very large scope. Amazing.

Greg.

Thanks Greg. I actually blinked my NGC 3628 with Ken Crawfords wonderful image taken with a 20". My resolution is surprisingly close to his - certainly much closer than you'd expect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by renormalised

Amazing detail, Marcus!!!!....wonderful shot, almost a shame you're going to "mess it up" with RGB

Cheers Carl and I promise to improve it with colour

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

Nice one

Thanks Peter. But I expect at least one superlative and 3 thumbs up when I add the colour

gregbradley · #17 02-05-2010, 07:02 PM

Coupla questions for you. This is with an STL11 so I imagine you have cropped these a fair bit to get that image scale right?

Also do you find you get round stars to the corner of your 1.6X extender or do you crop out any coma? I take it you are not using a flattener with the extender or are you?

You got some fabulous tracking there.

Greg.

Bassnut (Fred) · #18 02-05-2010, 07:13 PM

Geez, some seriously talented processing skills right there Marcus, a stunning effort indeed.

multiweb (Marc) · #19 02-05-2010, 07:42 PM

Top shot Marcus. The details is simply astonishing and the processing outstanding.

although I'll be the party pooper re:compositing and scaling. There is a fine line between taking shots and "painting" even for presentation purpose with a relatively black background.

I'm not a purist by any mean and there is latitude with artistic licence when processing with details and colors but not scale or re-positioning IMHO . Sorry.

David Fitz-Henr · #20 02-05-2010, 08:53 PM

Ahhh, Marcus-san!! Great images of the Trio in Leo (or is that Lio? - sorry, private joke everyone). The long combined exposure time has enabled you to show the very faint outer regions of the galaxies - really great stuff!!
I am with Marc (ze Frogginator) on the subject of compositing though - would prefer to see even a faint grey line dividing the images ... and I am pure (no need to add a noun to the end of that either Marcus!).