had great fun with this beautiful object - really pleased to get anything at all on the faint outer arms. Digging around in the weeds meant that there is a lot of noise, but I think (hope) that some of it may be structure in the galaxy arms.
I am having a lot of trouble with colour balancing and would be grateful for any feedback.
A remarkable image Ray. I don't recall see any version of this galaxy before that has captured those outer arms so well. The galaxy though seems a tad unsaturated in colour. I would reduce the red/yellow in some of the brighter stars and look at ways to boost colour in the galaxy itself and try to get some blue into the spiral arms and a bit more red/yellow in the core.
Lab colour method is one way. There are others.
You really get a lot of detail in your images. They always surprise me.
A remarkable image Ray. I don't recall see any version of this galaxy before that has captured those outer arms so well. The galaxy though seems a tad unsaturated in colour. I would reduce the red/yellow in some of the brighter stars and look at ways to boost colour in the galaxy itself and try to get some blue into the spiral arms and a bit more red/yellow in the core.
Lab colour method is one way. There are others.
You really get a lot of detail in your images. They always surprise me.
Greg.
Thanks very much for the feedback Greg. I will reprocess in the next couple of days and repost. Those two bright orange stars are quite intrusive, but I am not the only one who has had trouble with them http://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1148a/
This has your usual level of good resolution going for sure (at least as good as I got with the AG12) aaand meah, yes the colour looks a little muted I suppose but many people will like it that way...my version done 12 months ago was considered a little too colourful by some, so horses for courses mate and yes pushed hard to reveal those faint outer arms and a little noisy as a result but I can still appreciate a good galaxy image in there, besides I would rather see the arms at the expense of noise.
Hi Ray,
well done -
that's why I'm building a 10" f4 Newt.
cheers
Allan
thanks Allan. A 250 Newt is a pretty good compromise scope if you can get it ironed out. Also, the RCC1 is an excellent CC that just fixes coma and has no other effect on the image. hope you get it sorted soon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by clive milne
Colour balance looks fine to me Ray...
I would think it would benefit from more signal, but when is that ever not the case? and perhaps a whisker less de-con (personal taste)
nice shot
Thanks Clive. I was getting up into the tens of hours, so not much more to gain with more signal this season - what I really need is less sky signal. I agree that deconvolution could be slightly reduced - will try it. Unfortunately that is step 1 of a long process...
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
Looking at that ESO image your galaxy colour seems very similar. So perhaps its spot on.
Greg.
maybe, but I will try a bit more saturation and see what it looks like. I guess there is no "right" answer - these images are all a long way from anything that we could see, so it is almost as "free for all" as NB.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RickS
Very nice, Ray! Colours are good but conservative
thanks Rick - appreciate the feedback
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
Great to see you back imaging galaxies Ray!
This has your usual level of good resolution going for sure (at least as good as I got with the AG12) aaand meah, yes the colour looks a little muted I suppose but many people will like it that way...my version done 12 months ago was considered a little too colourful by some, so horses for courses mate and yes pushed hard to reveal those faint outer arms and a little noisy as a result but I can still appreciate a good galaxy image in there, besides I would rather see the arms at the expense of noise.
Thanks for the view
Mike
Hi Mike. remarkably similar images - you used more saturation, but that's about it. I could have used more noise reduction, but I find that process can sometimes turn everything plastic, so I generally prefer to leave a bit of noise. will post a more saturated image in the near future to see how that looks.
thanks very much for the feedback folks. regards Ray
thanks Allan. A 250 Newt is a pretty good compromise scope if you can get it ironed out. Also, the RCC1 is an excellent CC that just fixes coma and has no other effect on the image. hope you get it sorted soon.
Hi Ray,
The 10" f4 is a magical size that can work on an EQ6 mount.
It's the biggest bang for the buck.
All is well - I am finding out a lot about mirrors etc:
Looks awesome Ray, Even the ESO image doesn't show as much outer extensions if I'm seeing it right.
I'd go for a bit more contrast within the galaxy but each to their own..
Looks superb to me. Stars beautiful. Faint outer spiral captured. Tiny fuzzies in the distance show good form.
I threw some hard statistics at the colour balance. Your histogram black point and dark regions look perfect. Ignoring monitor calibration, and just looking at the numbers, your core, and the ESO core, are both 10% saturated, theirs a perfect pink while yours shows the tiniest smidgin of magenta. Nothing in it. So far so good. The star-forming region at about 5 o'clock from the core in your shot is about 18% saturated cyan-blue, whereas theirs is 28% saturated cyan-blue. If we pretend the ESO shot is the "answer in the back of the book", there is room for you to increase the saturation of the mid-tones a bit. You'd need to mask in the galaxy, mask out the darks to avoid colour noise, and mask out the stars, as they are already pretty strongly saturated. Just doing that should give better blues in the star-forming regions, but might make the core a tiny bit too warm compared with ESO. Nice problem to have!
Ray,
Hi Ray,
The 10" f4 is a magical size that can work on an EQ6 mount.
It's the biggest bang for the buck.
All is well - I am finding out a lot about mirrors etc:
Not only what I'll use - but many other manufacturers & also refractors.
cheers
Allan
yes, your references make interesting reading, particularly the testing of the refractors.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LewisM
Ray, love it, agree it needs a LITTLE bootst in blue perhaps, but incredible detail - those background galaxies pop!
thanks very much Lewis. I will be attempting a mild repro soon to see what it looks like with a bit more oomph.
Quote:
Originally Posted by alistairsam
Looks awesome Ray, Even the ESO image doesn't show as much outer extensions if I'm seeing it right.
I'd go for a bit more contrast within the galaxy but each to their own..
Alistair
thanks for the feedback Alistair. It's always a balance between extracting the dim bits while not compressing the bright bits too much - will try out some more contrast in the core region.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Placidus
Hi, Ray,
Looks superb to me. Stars beautiful. Faint outer spiral captured. Tiny fuzzies in the distance show good form.
I threw some hard statistics at the colour balance. Your histogram black point and dark regions look perfect. Ignoring monitor calibration, and just looking at the numbers, your core, and the ESO core, are both 10% saturated, theirs a perfect pink while yours shows the tiniest smidgin of magenta. Nothing in it. So far so good. The star-forming region at about 5 o'clock from the core in your shot is about 18% saturated cyan-blue, whereas theirs is 28% saturated cyan-blue. If we pretend the ESO shot is the "answer in the back of the book", there is room for you to increase the saturation of the mid-tones a bit. You'd need to mask in the galaxy, mask out the darks to avoid colour noise, and mask out the stars, as they are already pretty strongly saturated. Just doing that should give better blues in the star-forming regions, but might make the core a tiny bit too warm compared with ESO. Nice problem to have!
thanks for the analysis and kind comments Mike. I will do a repro in the near future to see what is possible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpaceNoob
Very impressive, I love the little galaxy in the background too
Thanks for the comments Chris - I also like that barred spiral and tried to keep it intact through the processing.
thanks all for the constructive input. regards Ray
I like the detail in the inner arms, but think like some that the colour could be boosted a little. You might need to manage the bright orange stars when doing the boost though.
This is a good field of view and I think well composed when combined with the field of view it really works. I like the way the galaxy almost fills the field of view.
If it were me I would get some more hours of data. The background has a bit of a salt and pepper look which could be managed by some extra time. Just my opinion but I think getting more data is better than doing noise control.
A galaxy I have not seen much and something I should put on my imaging list.
I like the detail in the inner arms, but think like some that the colour could be boosted a little. You might need to manage the bright orange stars when doing the boost though.
This is a good field of view and I think well composed when combined with the field of view it really works. I like the way the galaxy almost fills the field of view.
If it were me I would get some more hours of data. The background has a bit of a salt and pepper look which could be managed by some extra time. Just my opinion but I think getting more data is better than doing noise control.
A galaxy I have not seen much and something I should put on my imaging list.
Hi Paul,
It's in a great spot at about 1am - almost directly overhead.
The time is now - to image this one.
I hope others do too - it's a great target.
