M83

[DiscoDuck (Paul)]

Hesitant to submit given the huge number of superb M83s I see on this forum, but my first attempt at M83 from a dark sky site.

5 hours of data with a QHY8 on an RC8 + EQ6. Shot in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia over a largely cloudy and windy weekend! Some subs abandoned due to wind gusts but tried to keep some ones that enhanced the signal at not too much cost to FWHM.

Higher res on Astrobin.

Comments welcome, e.g. I was a bit gentle on saturation. Could it do with increasing?

Paul

[alpal]

Hi Paul,
that's an excellent shot.
It's a very sharp picture - you must have had top seeing conditions.
Yes - I would increase the saturation of the galaxy a bit.

cheers
Allan

[Anth10 (Anthony M)]

I'm yet to try imaging this object, this is an inspiring shot taken from one of my favourite places in Oz.
Well done, you should be very happy with your work.
Anth

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

That's a beauty. Very clear. I don't see many pics from RC8 scopes. I'd up the saturation a bit too.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

This is a good image Paul. On the weekend under the super dark skies of Wiruna at SPSP I looked at this baby through a 24" F3.6 (along with David Malin in fact) and although it was a little less defined in the scope to the eye, this reminds me of that view and no I think the saturation looks fine and the image has nice clarity and looks quite deep. The detail across the galaxy is perhaps looking a bit dotty, I am assuming from decon/wavelettes ? but still, really enjoyed the view .

Mike
PS. Davids Ageing eyes couldn't make out the spiral arms but they were very obvious to me

[traveller (Bo)]

Very nice Paul,
I remember camping at the Flinders Ranges in the late 90's, it certainly is a very nice and dark place!
Bo

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

Many good things going on here. The two little galaxies close in at 7 o'clock have two tiny fellows clearly visible next to them.

Well done.

[Rigel003 (Graeme)]

Very nice image with lovely fine detail. I once took my C11 up to Wilpena. It was dark but I was surprised to find the transparency not all that good. Eventually worked out that there was a layer of smog coming from all the campfires around the area. Sure was cold too.

[andyc (Andy)]

That's very good indeed, really sharp and deep. Nicely processed too, loving the details within the Galaxy, and the two little galaxies are sharp - you could up the saturation if you liked, but I don't think that's a big deal. Looking at the astroron data - were your subs all 20min? How many of each?

[topheart]

A very good M83 Paul!!
Well done!
Cheers,
Tim

[codemonkey (Lee)]

Nice work Paul! Contrary to my recent effort on M83, I quite like the more subtle saturation of yours, it's definitely more believable. The galaxy is nicely resolved; some nice detail.

I probably would have left the background a bit darker on this. Not sure if it's the camera, or perhaps noise reduction, but the background looks a bit blotchy to my eye. Anyway, that's just what I would have done differently, take it as you will.

Oh, and congrats on getting a "Top pick" selection on Astrobin! Could be a IOTD soon!

[DiscoDuck (Paul)]

Originally Posted by alpal

that's an excellent shot.
It's a very sharp picture - you must have had top seeing conditions.
Yes - I would increase the saturation of the galaxy a bit.

Thanks Allan. Seeing wasn't too bad I think. I've just upped the saturation marginally on Astrobin. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Anth10

I'm yet to try imaging this object, this is an inspiring shot taken from one of my favourite places in Oz.
Well done, you should be very happy with your work.

Thanks Anth. Good luck with it!

Originally Posted by cometcatcher

That's a beauty. Very clear. I don't see many pics from RC8 scopes. I'd up the saturation a bit too.

Thanks Kevin. Tweaked it a tiny bit. Yes, the RC8 is quite a nice little scope but there aren't too many around it seems.

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

This is a good image Paul.... detail across the galaxy is perhaps looking a bit dotty, I am assuming from decon/wavelettes ? but still, really enjoyed the view .

Thanks Mike. Decon? Me? Just a smidge!

Originally Posted by traveller

Very nice Paul,
I remember camping at the Flinders Ranges in the late 90's, it certainly is a very nice and dark place!

Thanks Bo. Yes, very dark - even more so when cloudy as it was on the last night there

Originally Posted by Placidus

Many good things going on here. The two little galaxies close in at 7 o'clock have two tiny fellows clearly visible next to them.

Well done.

Thanks Mike and Trish. Hadn't noticed them. Did an image annotation in PixInsight from the PGC catalog, and they're not in that!

Originally Posted by Rigel003

Very nice image with lovely fine detail. I once took my C11 up to Wilpena. It was dark but I was surprised to find the transparency not all that good. Eventually worked out that there was a layer of smog coming from all the campfires around the area. Sure was cold too.

LOL! Thanks Graeme.

Originally Posted by andyc

That's very good indeed, really sharp and deep. Nicely processed too, loving the details within the Galaxy, and the two little galaxies are sharp - you could up the saturation if you liked, but I don't think that's a big deal. Looking at the astroron data - were your subs all 20min? How many of each?

Thanks Andy. Yes 20 min subs. A one-shot color camera so just 15 color shots.

Originally Posted by topheart

A very good M83 Paul!!
Well done!

Thanks Tim.

Originally Posted by codemonkey

Nice work Paul! Contrary to my recent effort on M83, I quite like the more subtle saturation of yours, it's definitely more believable. The galaxy is nicely resolved; some nice detail.

I probably would have left the background a bit darker on this. Not sure if it's the camera, or perhaps noise reduction, but the background looks a bit blotchy to my eye. Anyway, that's just what I would have done differently, take it as you will.

Oh, and congrats on getting a "Top pick" selection on Astrobin! Could be a IOTD soon!

Thanks Lee. I think your M83 is superb - a different take on the colour, for sure, but you have remarkable clarity and smoothness there. Re the background, I've tried to tweak it a bit darker (on Astrobin). My camera is fairly noisy, which doesn't help, but it could be the MLT transform used for noise reduction.

Oh, and thanks for letting me know re Astrobin. Hadn't seen that!