M83 and Lagoon monochrome 29Apr DSI II

[kinetic (Steve)]

Hi,

Seeing tonight was/is very steady.
I went back to the DSI pro II tonight to see if I
could improve on my best Lum result on this object.

Not quite as crisp as my best, but up there.
Edit: And also just added: a Lum capture just finished
of Lagoon. Seeing has improved allowing Laplacian
sharpening without leaving too much artifacts.

Steve

[Craig_L]

Nice shot Steve. Not too familiar with the DSI's but looks good. Capturing the same this very minute.

[Ric]

Very nice Steve, the outer arm structure comes through very nicely.

Cheers

[kinetic (Steve)]

Thanks Craig and Ric,

M83 is in a difficult spot right now for me.
If I start a very long RGB session then I have to deal with
a Gem flip after about 2 hrs...and the moon is now
in the way, so it's probably going to have to wait for
a few weeks.
If I wait until M83 transits and then start the RGB session,
I have to start about 1-2am I'd reckon.

Steve

[iceman (Mike)]

Nice images Steve, nice faint detail and structure.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Wow. Nice and sharp. Both very detailed.

[kinetic (Steve)]

Originally Posted by iceman

Nice images Steve, nice faint detail and structure.

Originally Posted by multiweb

Wow. Nice and sharp. Both very detailed.

Thank you guys!

Steve

[Hagar (Doug)]

Very nice Steve, Loads of fine detail. Now all you need to do is add some RGB data and these two will be top photos with a DSI.
Good stuff.

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Steve,

You are getting great results from the DSI II. I'm a bit surprised the M83 core is burnt out with 5 sec subs. What are you using to process the images?

Peter

[kinetic (Steve)]

Thanks Doug and Peter,

Peter, I pm'd you my processing once , remember?
For the record, and for the benefit of any DSI II/ GSO-## users:

Nebulosity for capture: offset 128
Saved as RAW FITS
Usually 5sec exposures x 500 (300 end up good enough for stacking)
Darks x 100-200

Processing:

Handpick Darks....sometimes a few dodgys get through.
Handpick Lights....whittles 500 down to ~300 (see above)
Stack Darks.
Subtract Darks from lights.
Make Bad Pixel map...save as usually 120-150% adjusted.
Apply BPMap to Lights.
Stack Lights (using manual align)

Crop out edges due to tracking error
Rotate (needed for Eastern sky) 180 °
Apply curves, usually QuickMega curve for nebula/ galaxies.
Final Histo adjustment.

Sharpening: Usually Laplacian in Nebulosity or Unsharp Mask 1.00-1.50
in Paint Shop Pro.

Done.

PS: Peter, the core is not burnt out...I just haven't fathomed a way of preserving
the core and still getting the faint stuff....I'm only a novice here !


Steve

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Steve,

I do remember now that you mention it - must be old age setting in, sorry about that.

You should be able to preserve the core by applying multiple small iterations of levels and curves, resetting the black point each iteration. I tried the Nebulosity Quick Mega curve on one of my earlier M83 images and while the shape of the curve looks ok I think it is too extreme. Are you applying this more than once?

Here's a screen shot of the shape of the curve I'm using in PS.