Southern Pinwheel & Tweezers

[Stephane]

Hi all,

Two galaxy images. I am still trying hard to bring out detail in processing while not going overboard. Not quite in the same league as Peter Ward's though!

Please feel free to critique.

Clear skies,
Stéphane


NGC 4945: 1h30
M83: 2h00
Filter: IR/UR cut

[Startrek (Martin)]

Stephane,
Those are great images don’t be too hard on yourself
NGC 4945 is excellent , really sharp and well processed
M83 appears to have a lot of noise which you’ve tried to suppress but a nice image just the same ( maybe a tad too much blue saturation )
Just to put things into perspective Peters rig is super high end equipment +$60k stuff plus his 16” RC scope weighs 52kg without imaging gear , that’s a beast of a scope let alone the precision optics. Pete’s image is a cracker but he has the rig to achieve that sort of resolution and yes he is in another league.
Your images are fine , your equipment is fine , processing can always be improved and you can always capture more and better quality data too. This AP hobby is a continuous work in progress year after year
Well done !!
Martin

[Dave882 (David)]

Lovely images there Stephane! Tonnes of detail and will only get cleaner with more data. I’m so glad there’s some ppl still getting some clear sky!!

[Stephane]

Originally Posted by Startrek

Stephane,
Those are great images don’t be too hard on yourself
NGC 4945 is excellent , really sharp and well processed
M83 appears to have a lot of noise which you’ve tried to suppress but a nice image just the same ( maybe a tad too much blue saturation )
Just to put things into perspective Peters rig is super high end equipment +$60k stuff plus his 16” RC scope weighs 52kg without imaging gear , that’s a beast of a scope let alone the precision optics. Pete’s image is a cracker but he has the rig to achieve that sort of resolution and yes he is in another league.
Your images are fine , your equipment is fine , processing can always be improved and you can always capture more and better quality data too. This AP hobby is a continuous work in progress year after year
Well done !!
Martin

Thanks Martin, I appreciate those comments. Yes, M83 was really noisy and did what I could. I agree that the image would benefit from toning down the blue a little in the galaxy.

When imaging broadband, I get some gradients that my flats eliminate reasonably well, but with NGC 4945, the flats performed far better than usual. I was surprised at how clean the calibrated subs looked, as well as the stack of only 1h30. Hopefully, I can replicate similar quality flats and that might help future broadband images. Since this image, I have attempted to fix the double diffraction spike. Results pending, stay tuned.

Thanks again for your helpful comments.

Originally Posted by Dave882

Lovely images there Stephane! Tonnes of detail and will only get cleaner with more data. I’m so glad there’s some ppl still getting some clear sky!!

Thanks Dave! I hope to get more data on these one day. There is always the dilemma: more integration or new target?

[Kuz]

Nice work Stephane. You are progressing well with your images. Another 2 great images

[xelasnave]

You have done well Stephane...your Pinwheel is fantastic and personally I like it very blue..My Pinwheel was poor focus and all fuzzy blue.
If I may quote something I think from the Desidarta?.? Spelling is wrong I am sure but then I have only had it on my wall for 50 years..

May be not exact either..

Don't compare yourself to others as there will always be greater and lesser person than yourself for you may become vain or bitter.

Your only measure should be against yourself...be content and proud of your improvement upon where you started from..

So do you have any more?

I have been looking at your images and let me say you are doing very well.

Alex

[RyanJones]

Very nice Stephane. You’re powering along with your work. Hopefully you can fix up that double defraction spike issues.

Another version of what Alex wrote is ;

Don’t compare yourself to who someone else is today but who you were yesterday.

[Stephane]

Kuz, Alex, and Ryan, thank you for your kind words. This hobby never ceases to get more interesting the more I learn. Hopefully I can continue to improve with your helpful tips.

Clear skies.
Stéphane