Ngc 253 now with 14 hours in total

[allan gould]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Thanks Leo, Geoff and Allan for your comments.

Yeah pretty happy but always striving for perfection H. I have collected another 5 hours of data now and will add that at some point soon just to finalise the image.

Will love to see what the extra subs do for the image Paul.
It's already great and excellently processed, very impressive and I'm glad the 12" is working so well.
Allan

[Eden (Brett)]

Beautifully done, Paul. Excellent detail but definitely not over-cooked.

[gregbradley]

Great Sculptor image. An image I would have though was impossible from a 12 inch scope let along a GSO scope. Super detailed.

I like that brown/yellow section at the core, that's really well shown in your image and something I've not really noticed in other images. You've shown the dust plumes without the overprocessing that makes one wonder if its a processing artefact.

Great work. How much is the AOX adding here?

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Colin and Brett for your comments.

Originally Posted by allan gould

Will love to see what the extra subs do for the image Paul.
It's already great and excellently processed, very impressive and I'm glad the 12" is working so well.
Allan

Thanks Allan, I'll have to try and put something together over the weekend. I might try and gather a bit more data in the next few days after moonset. My main aim is to get detail in those distant galaxies and perhaps pull more of the halo out.

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Great Sculptor image. An image I would have though was impossible from a 12 inch scope let along a GSO scope. Super detailed.

I like that brown/yellow section at the core, that's really well shown in your image and something I've not really noticed in other images. You've shown the dust plumes without the overprocessing that makes one wonder if its a processing artefact.

Great work. How much is the AOX adding here?

Greg.

Thanks Greg. The GSO has quite nice optics. That combined with the seeing and the AOX gives great definition.

I do think the AOX adds quite a bit in good seeing. I have compared images from last years attempt of this galaxy and this years. The seeing was quite similar. The detail is significantly better.

That said, during the week I had one night where the seeing was horrid. The stars were very round but the detail was quite blurred. So in good seeing the AOX really adds to the detail, but in average to bad seeing there is no real advantage.

[Paul Haese]

Originally Posted by allan gould

Will love to see what the extra subs do for the image Paul.
It's already great and excellently processed, very impressive and I'm glad the 12" is working so well.
Allan

Allan, I have put together the luminance now. There was a huge increase in brightness with 520 minutes of luminance now.

The halo is more visible now and more detail is showing in the smaller galaxies.

I have now included a smaller image of the updated image in my first post.

[gregbradley]

Holy cow that's an amazing result. To think its done with a $5K scope.

Terrific.

Thanks for the data about the AOX.

Greg.

[ozstronomer (Geoff)]

Paul, the extra Lum data really makes the Galaxy pop!

Well done on the processing

Cheers Geoff

[allan gould]

Certainly you have shifted the bar well up for the rest of us. The halo and detail are well done without forcing the data to death. Looks so natural
Allan

[pluto (Hugh)]

Wow, that's some serious detail in there, and great colours too. Well done!

[Rex]

WOW! nothing else can really be said. Fantastic detail and colour Paul.

[Paul Haese]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Holy cow that's an amazing result. To think its done with a $5K scope.

Terrific.

Thanks for the data about the AOX.

Greg.

Thanks Greg. I am continually amazed at what this scope can produce. I doubt that my optics are any better than other GSO scopes and that heartens me to know that this quality of optics are available for a moderate price.

Originally Posted by ozstronomer

Paul, the extra Lum data really makes the Galaxy pop!

Well done on the processing

Cheers Geoff

Thanks Geoff. The halo really started coming out with that extra 3 hours. I was happy to the little galaxies had improved in detail too.

Originally Posted by allan gould

Certainly you have shifted the bar well up for the rest of us. The halo and detail are well done without forcing the data to death. Looks so natural
Allan

Thanks Allan, I am not really sure if the I have actually raised the bar at all. Persistence and my obsession with perfection have helped me narrow down some glaring problems and resolve those as best as I can. Doing that has improved image quality out of site in the last year. Sometimes it pays to be a little obsessive I think.

Originally Posted by pluto

Wow, that's some serious detail in there, and great colours too. Well done!

Thanks Hugh. Pity all the galaxies where not this close to image. It would be so interesting to see all the goings on in each of them.

Originally Posted by Rex

WOW! nothing else can really be said. Fantastic detail and colour Paul.

Thanks Rex. Happy that you like the result. I was at a function last night and several non astronomy people who are on my mailing list commented on my images of late. They were marvelling at what can be seen out there and told me they often pass on my images to others. I found that pleasing to know that other people who I don't know or barely have an interest in astronomy are seeing some of the sites of the universe. It pleases me that in some small way I am performing public outreach and helping to educate others about the universe. Their delight at the images was similar to yours.

[astronobob (Bob)]

Masterpiece - Stunning - GGGGROUSE One Paul

[alpal]

Hi Paul,
That's a great improvement in the halo with the extra data.
I am amazed at what you've achieved with the GSO.
This looks like a picture from a scope costing 5 times the price!

I would still have increased the darker areas with curves
as they are way down at a level of between 3 & 8 in some areas
especially in the corners - although I know I'm being too picky.

I wish I could find the time to get my new 10" f4 Newt. out there under the stars.
You have certainly put the runs on the board!

cheers
Allan

[Nicola (Nicola)]

How beautiful!

[Paul Haese]

Originally Posted by astronobob

Masterpiece - Stunning - GGGGROUSE One Paul

Thanks Bob, nice to have such a reaction.

Originally Posted by alpal

Hi Paul,
That's a great improvement in the halo with the extra data.
I am amazed at what you've achieved with the GSO.
This looks like a picture from a scope costing 5 times the price!

I would still have increased the darker areas with curves
as they are way down at a level of between 3 & 8 in some areas
especially in the corners - although I know I'm being too picky.

I wish I could find the time to get my new 10" f4 Newt. out there under the stars.
You have certainly put the runs on the board!

cheers
Allan

Thanks Allan. I am not surprised about the quality of the optics really. My GSO RC8 was very sharp. That was nearly 6 years ago that I bought that OTA. It was a punt at the time but since then there have been numerous examples of sharp images being produced by these scopes.

Going on my histogram the image looks well lit. I don't really think the darker areas are under lit. Remember respect the light in an image. Bright areas ought to be bright and dark areas dark (quoted from David Malin). The halo grades out to the corners with no clipping showing. So I cannot see how you came to that conclusion.

Thanks for taking the time to comment again.

Originally Posted by Nicola

How beautiful!

Thanks Nicola.

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Now you're talking Paul! Excellent! The extra data did the trick for me although it's a bit too saturated for my taste.

Cheers, Marcus

[alpal]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Thanks Allan. I am not surprised about the quality of the optics really. My GSO RC8 was very sharp. That was nearly 6 years ago that I bought that OTA. It was a punt at the time but since then there have been numerous examples of sharp images being produced by these scopes.

Going on my histogram the image looks well lit. I don't really think the darker areas are under lit. Remember respect the light in an image. Bright areas ought to be bright and dark areas dark (quoted from David Malin). The halo grades out to the corners with no clipping showing. So I cannot see how you came to that conclusion.

Thanks for taking the time to comment again.

Hi Paul,
The criteria by which I judge images is usually from
the Chilean Advanced Robotic 32" Telescope.
see here:
http://www.chart32.de/galaxies-m

I checked the darkest areas I could find in the background on that picture
with a 5x5 average while opening curves & I read the darkest value as 19
whereas your image is down to 3 at some points - very dark indeed.

Maybe it's a matter of personal taste - but anyway -
for what it's worth - that's what I go by.

cheers
Allan

[Paul Haese]

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

Now you're talking Paul! Excellent! The extra data did the trick for me although it's a bit too saturated for my taste.

Cheers, Marcus

Thanks Marcus. I agree about the saturation. I have backed that off just a bit.

Originally Posted by alpal

Hi Paul,
The criteria by which I judge images is usually from
the Chilean Advanced Robotic 32" Telescope.
see here:
http://www.chart32.de/galaxies-m

I checked the darkest areas I could find in the background on that picture
with a 5x5 average while opening curves & I read the darkest value as 19
whereas your image is down to 3 at some points - very dark indeed.

Maybe it's a matter of personal taste - but anyway -
for what it's worth - that's what I go by.

cheers
Allan

Fair enough Allan. Though I doubt that image is a fair comparison.

I use a contrasting technique that is probably the result of values you are reading. Personally I don't know why you would go to that extent to examine someone's image.

[astronobob (Bob)]

but wouldn't that be like comparing a Mini Minor tho be it a 'Cooper-S' to a Formula E car ?
Just asking