This pretty and not often imaged galaxy in Lepus, NGC 1784, has been a challenge from light polluted sky. It is ca 3 arc-min in size and magnitude 11.7. Even with 8.3 hours of luminance and 8.3 hrs RGB the images are too noisy for display at full frame. At 50% it might be just "OK." I'm not sure it is worth any more time given how few clear nights are on offer. I used my TEC180 for luminance and a Trius-c for RGB on my TEC140 as well as FocusLock on both scopes. Luminance exposures were 12 min and RGB a mixture of 15 and 12 minutes.
The best comparison image I could locate is from the Carnegie-Irvine Galaxy Survey:
I know how you feel re the amount of data...comes a time when you have had enough and want to move on to the next object ..heck the near 17 hrs you have here is almost my record exposure time with the AG12
Thanks everyone for your kind comments. I've messed around some more with the background and I think it's a little better. It doesn't seem to matter how much data I collect; the LP and gradient just make things so hard I feel often defeated right from the start of processing. Even when I get rid of the gradient the remaining colour data is horribly noisy and splotchy. Short of creating an artificial background is there something I might try?
Not sure if the following will be any use, but I find that ACDNR in PI can help to control blotches - use it with a mask to deselect the bright bits and use a large kernel scale with moderate strength. If you have colour splotchiness in the background, have also found that masking to select only background, followed by desaturation can help
I will give that a try! I have resorted to your 2nd suggestion on this very image in fact. I feel a bit like I'm cheating but really I guess with severe LP one has to do what is necessary to "save" an image. I'm tired of this. I want to move!!!
..heck the near 17 hrs you have here is almost my record exposure time with the AG12 
