nickatnight
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/14/08
Posts: 1751
Loc: Santa Clarita, CA (LA Suburbs)
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Hi Folks, I shot this about 10 days ago, and have pretty good detail, but I've been struggling getting the color to look natural. This is 1 hr and 50 min of 5 minute exposures with the modded Canon XTi @ iso800 through the EON 72mm @ f4.8 with IDAS LP2 filter, piggybacked on the CPC925 on a Mitty wedge, guided with SSAG through the CPC. I also added 15 minutes of 60 sec subs to get a little deeper into the core.
Here's a link to the not so big version:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2568/4070678303_12955df214_o.jpg
and a small one for here:
Thanks for looking...
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Nils_Lars
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/04/08
Posts: 3440
Loc: Santa Cruz Mountains , CA
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Really good details and well processed right down to the core , a solid M31 Nick.
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Erik
Orion Atlas Self Hypertuned (EQMOD)
Orion ED 80
Williams Optics VII reducer
Celestron 8" SCT
Orion Starshoot Autoguider
PHD guide
Canon 400D Hap Griffin Mod w/Baader filter
Astronomik clip-in LP filter and 12nm Ha
Stilleto CVF and Bahtinov mask
Tamron 75-300mm&28-80mm lenses
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/31986095@N05/
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Rankinstudio
sage
Reged: 04/05/08
Posts: 417
Loc: Salt Lake City, UT, Lake Powel...
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That is a wonderful M31. Way to go 
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David Rankin
http://www.rankinstudio.com
Astro Gallery
Orion 254mm F4.7 (imaging scope)
Baader MPCC
Quickcam pro 9000 (guider, imager)
Canon Rebel XSi (self modified)
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Canon 28-200 F3.2 Lens
DSLR peltier cooler
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SGT500
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/03/06
Posts: 2922
Loc: Ny
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Hey Nick,
Thats a really Great shot. you really went deep into this one
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-Sal
AstroTech Ritchey Chretien 8"
Williams Optics Zenithstar 80
Orion Atlas Eq-G
Hap Griffin Modified Canon Eos Xs (1000D)
My Astrophotography Gallery
My Sketch Gallery
Edited by SGT500 (11/03/09 10:54 AM)
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Kurly
member
Reged: 11/02/07
Posts: 69
Loc: Rockwood, Ontario, Canada
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Nick,
This image is my ultimate goal!
What an absolute beauty!
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Illinois
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/18/06
Posts: 693
Loc: near Chicago, Illinois USA
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Wow! Awesome and sharp details in M31 with pinpoint stars!
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Astronomer since 1975!
Orion 80mm ED refractor and
iOptron CubePro mount
Meade 16" Lightbridge Dobsonian
Orion 10" SkyQuest Classic Dobsonian
Tele Vue Eyepieces
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Orion Narrowband and SkyGlow filters
Member of IDA, let's fight light pollution!
Old Edmund 6"F8...donated to cousins
Super Polaris C8...donated to Byron Observatory in Illinois
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wrather1
AstroBear
Reged: 10/25/05
Posts: 3880
Loc: Dallas, Texas
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Nick, what are you concerned with here - your shot looks great!
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"Don't worry about what telescope you own, or its quality. Just get out under the night sky, and enjoy God's wondrous universe." - T. M. Back
Meade RCX400-12 "Ursa Major"
TMB 130SS + EQ6-PRO "Ursus Polaris"
Orion ED80 "Ursa Minor", WO ZS66ED "grab-'n'-go"
EOS 30D (Hutech), ToUcam Pro, Star Shoot Autoguider, Meade DSI
North Texas Clear Sky Chart
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Rankinstudio
sage
Reged: 04/05/08
Posts: 417
Loc: Salt Lake City, UT, Lake Powel...
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I really like how you didn't stretch and over saturate the reds and blues. It gives it a much more natural look. Again, good job
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David Rankin
http://www.rankinstudio.com
Astro Gallery
Orion 254mm F4.7 (imaging scope)
Baader MPCC
Quickcam pro 9000 (guider, imager)
Canon Rebel XSi (self modified)
Atlas EQ-G (EQ MOD)
Canon 50mm F1.8 II Lens
Canon 28-200 F3.2 Lens
DSLR peltier cooler
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StarmanDan
sage
Reged: 08/27/07
Posts: 391
Loc: China Spring, Texas
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Excellent shot! Wish mine were as good. 
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"Starman" Dan Doyle
Texas Astronomical Society of Dallas
Central Texas Astronomical Society
8" LX200GPS w/ST80 guidescope, Canon 350D+DSI Pro
150mm f/8 Sky Watcher Refractor
10" f/4.5 Homemade Dob
RV-6 Criterion Dynascope
http://darcstar.wordpress.com
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Agnotio
sage
Reged: 08/29/08
Posts: 230
Loc: Ottawa, Canada
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Quote:
I really like how you didn't stretch and over saturate the reds and blues. It gives it a much more natural look. Again, good job
Sorry but I have to disagree with you here David. The problem is the opposite: too much stretching of the colors, red especially, is giving the galaxy a purple hue. It's otherwise a very nice shot. I did a small color balance tweak here because I don't have PS on this computer, but I think it's in the right direction:
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Sky-Watcher Equinox 80ED
EQ6 Pro with EQMOD
Canon 450D
Sky-Watcher 10" f/4.7 Dob
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antimorris
sage
Reged: 08/16/09
Posts: 245
Loc: San Antonio-ish, TX
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I think its great - makes me want to get the EON for my piggyback scope!
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Anna
CPC 800 XLT w/FeatherTouch micro-focuser
Orion EON 80ED
unmodded Nikon D40
Meade DSI II Pro with ATIK Filter Wheel & Outback Razorback Cooler
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Morris Astronomy
My Astro Blog
"sic itur ad astra"
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antimorris
sage
Reged: 08/16/09
Posts: 245
Loc: San Antonio-ish, TX
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Could you post the unprocessed stack somewhere so I can work on my processing? I havent been able to do M31 myself yet since I dont have a piggyback yet and my CPC800 is too small a FOV to get all of Andromeda - I would love to practice on yours until I get my own. Thanks!
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Anna
CPC 800 XLT w/FeatherTouch micro-focuser
Orion EON 80ED
unmodded Nikon D40
Meade DSI II Pro with ATIK Filter Wheel & Outback Razorback Cooler
---------------
Morris Astronomy
My Astro Blog
"sic itur ad astra"
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waassaabee
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/26/07
Posts: 2702
Loc: Central California Coast
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Quote:
Sorry but I have to disagree with you here David. The problem is the opposite: too much stretching of the colors, red especially, is giving the galaxy a purple hue. It's otherwise a very nice shot. I did a small color balance tweak here because I don't have PS on this computer, but I think it's in the right direction:
I thought the pinkish tinge was a reminder about Breast Cancer Awareness Month...
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Gary
34N 120W
-My kingdom for blue squares!-
WO Megrez 90FD/TV 0.8x FR/FF
AT8RC
mini Borg 50/Q-Guide/PHD
CGEM
Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader mod - o.o
My Friend Flickr
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nickatnight
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/14/08
Posts: 1751
Loc: Santa Clarita, CA (LA Suburbs)
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Thank you very much everyone! I'm happy to have a good galaxy to add to my collection. I still feel I'm much better with nebulous things, and have a ways to go with galaxy processing. But M31 is big and kind and fun to shoot and processes.
I totally agree I have to get rid of the pinky, purple hue. I do think Agnotios tweaks helped that out, thanks Agnotio.  It was actually worse when I first posted, and Gary was kind enough to send me a "secret message" that it was too pink. I'm all for promoting Breast Cancer Awareness, but the pink is honestly not for the cause I'm sorry to say. (Thanks for the cover story gary) I tweaked it a bit, but it does need more. I'll give it some tweaks tonight when I have a better monitor to work from.
Anna - I think for the price the EON 72mm is a great scope, super compact, but it needs a focal reducer/field flattener, so include that in any decision. I bought a used WO Type-2 .80, which works very nicely. I'll see what I can do about posting a link to the stack. I need to sign up with mediafire or the likes.
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nickatnight
Celestron CPC 9.25" GPS
Lumicon 2" LumiBrite Diagonal
Meade s5000 18mm UWA, Meade 6.7mm UWA,
Parks G.S-5 10mm, Celestrom 40mm Plossl
Parks 2x Barlow, Meade Tele-Extender
Celestron f6.3 Focal Reducer
Lumicon UHC Filter and Deep Sky Filter
Canon Rebel XTi (prime)
Canon Powershot G9 (afocal)
Canon EOS T-Ring and Parks T-Adapter
Lumicon Univ DigiCam Adapter
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Star surfer8
super member
Reged: 05/15/06
Posts: 493
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Excellent M31 Nick. Lots of detail. As for the color, it's all a matter of taste but if you're going for the natural look then I think it's a little on the pinkish side. That's just me though. You can always go with Gary's thought.
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Tom
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Grouptele
sage
Reged: 08/11/07
Posts: 304
Loc: Qcy, IL
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Nick,
Looking good!
Agnotio,
Good call
Victor.
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C8-XLT, G5, AT66
EQ-G
Starshoot color CCD
Canon XS, HapMod
SPC900NC webcam
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Rankinstudio
sage
Reged: 04/05/08
Posts: 417
Loc: Salt Lake City, UT, Lake Powel...
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Quote:
Quote:
I really like how you didn't stretch and over saturate the reds and blues. It gives it a much more natural look. Again, good job
Sorry but I have to disagree with you here David. The problem is the opposite: too much stretching of the colors, red especially, is giving the galaxy a purple hue. It's otherwise a very nice shot. I did a small color balance tweak here because I don't have PS on this computer, but I think it's in the right direction:
If it was over stretched in red it was very slight, really a matter of preference. I have seen many many m31 shots that looked way to blue red. I think he did a great job on keeping the color tame. Just my opinion.
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David Rankin
http://www.rankinstudio.com
Astro Gallery
Orion 254mm F4.7 (imaging scope)
Baader MPCC
Quickcam pro 9000 (guider, imager)
Canon Rebel XSi (self modified)
Atlas EQ-G (EQ MOD)
Canon 50mm F1.8 II Lens
Canon 28-200 F3.2 Lens
DSLR peltier cooler
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scopemankit
super member
Reged: 01/27/09
Posts: 137
Loc: south africa
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Great image Nick!
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Chris
Cape Town
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nickatnight
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/14/08
Posts: 1751
Loc: Santa Clarita, CA (LA Suburbs)
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Thanks David and Chris.
OK, I got a MediaFire link set up to the stack. Be warned of the heavy sky gradient. I usually fix that early on with Gradient Exterminator or DBE (dynamic background extraction)in PixInsight.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/yhjzjbjwlmm/m31_1h50m_5mx_iso800_eon_dss.TIF
Good luck...
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nickatnight
Celestron CPC 9.25" GPS
Lumicon 2" LumiBrite Diagonal
Meade s5000 18mm UWA, Meade 6.7mm UWA,
Parks G.S-5 10mm, Celestrom 40mm Plossl
Parks 2x Barlow, Meade Tele-Extender
Celestron f6.3 Focal Reducer
Lumicon UHC Filter and Deep Sky Filter
Canon Rebel XTi (prime)
Canon Powershot G9 (afocal)
Canon EOS T-Ring and Parks T-Adapter
Lumicon Univ DigiCam Adapter
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bedowinn
member
Reged: 07/17/09
Posts: 20
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Hey fellow santa clarita "up all night" resident.
What do you use to process your images??
Awesome work btw
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nickatnight
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/14/08
Posts: 1751
Loc: Santa Clarita, CA (LA Suburbs)
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Hi bedowinn. Nice top see someone local on the board! I use DeepSky Stacker, PixInsight and Photoshop, with a few plug-ins. One day I hope to pick up Image Plus or similar, but the above is doing a pretty good job for me so far.
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nickatnight
Celestron CPC 9.25" GPS
Lumicon 2" LumiBrite Diagonal
Meade s5000 18mm UWA, Meade 6.7mm UWA,
Parks G.S-5 10mm, Celestrom 40mm Plossl
Parks 2x Barlow, Meade Tele-Extender
Celestron f6.3 Focal Reducer
Lumicon UHC Filter and Deep Sky Filter
Canon Rebel XTi (prime)
Canon Powershot G9 (afocal)
Canon EOS T-Ring and Parks T-Adapter
Lumicon Univ DigiCam Adapter
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bedowinn
member
Reged: 07/17/09
Posts: 20
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Nick,
I am a noob. What little I have learned basically comes from these forums, and a local camera shop. I have a CG-5 swinging an Orion 80mm ED/Canon. Orion 80mm shorty autoguide scope with an Orion autoguider CCD.
I finaly got PhD to lock on a guide star last week. I spent the next 3 hours shooting M31. I shot 17 5 min exp at ISO 800 and 10 darks (which I screwed up by leaving live view on).
I stack with Nebulosity. I just picked up PS CS-4.
So now I am trying to learn what to do next. Right now my post processing skills suck. But at least I have some data to play with.
BTW, Valencia creamed Saugus last night 49-0. Valencia will be fun to watch in the playoffs.
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Tonk
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/19/04
Posts: 4355
Loc: Leeds, UK, 54N
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Hey thats a very very nice image indeed.
Its even captured two dark matter satellite galaxies. Did you use flats? 
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Televue 85, GM-8/Gemini, Canon 40D (unmodded), Canon 450D (modded w/Astronomiks clip-ins - UV/IR, OWB)
Coronado SM60/BF10, Baader Herschel Wedge
Leeds Sky Clock Ripon Sky Clock
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David Rosenthal
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/23/06
Posts: 1645
Loc: NJ
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Awesome M31 Nick!!! You preserved some real nice details in the core and have overall done a great jbo with the processing. ( Flats will help out as Tony mentioned )
Color balance is a personal thing...do what looks good to you and makes you happy !!!
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David Rosenthal | Midland Park, NJ
My Image Gallery
http://www.EastCoastAstro.com
Atlas EQ-G EQMOD USBDIR [Self-Hypertuned]
8" Meade SCT | Borg 76ED | Takahashi FS-60C
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Series 5000 26mm, Hyperion 17mm, TV 11mm Plossl
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nickatnight
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/14/08
Posts: 1751
Loc: Santa Clarita, CA (LA Suburbs)
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Thanks again. I did shoot flats, twice, but there was a lot of stuff floating in the air that weekend. My original flats had a giant fuzz right on top of the galaxy. I wound up cleaning off the scope and reshooting flats, which was much improved, but not perfect. When I play with the color a bit more, I'll fix up those spots.
Bedowinn - After stacking, your primary tools will be curves and the histogram. I use PixInsight and Photoshop for this, but Nebulosity I think has many tools for this people swear by. You're going to gently use the curves, in the form of gentle "S" to bring out the signal over the background. You may look into Gradient Exterminator (PS plug-in), as I've yet to shoot anything that didn't have a sky gradient negatively effecting the image. You'll see this gradient appear as your stretching, and it's best to take care of it early. Processing skills take time, like an eternity. I spend many evenings calling myself a processing hack, and often I know there's better data captured than I can pull out properly. Just keep at it and it will develop.
Sounds like Saugus had an off night last night. 49-0! Ouch. Well deserved play-off run for Valencia though. I just want the season to end, 'cause they shine their searchlights across my sky on game nights. 
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nickatnight
Celestron CPC 9.25" GPS
Lumicon 2" LumiBrite Diagonal
Meade s5000 18mm UWA, Meade 6.7mm UWA,
Parks G.S-5 10mm, Celestrom 40mm Plossl
Parks 2x Barlow, Meade Tele-Extender
Celestron f6.3 Focal Reducer
Lumicon UHC Filter and Deep Sky Filter
Canon Rebel XTi (prime)
Canon Powershot G9 (afocal)
Canon EOS T-Ring and Parks T-Adapter
Lumicon Univ DigiCam Adapter
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bedowinn
member
Reged: 07/17/09
Posts: 20
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Nick,
I aim to get better at the processing. Woodland hills Camera is supposed to put on a seminar in a couple of months. I will look into downloading Exterminator.
I snapped some shots of M33 and M13 last night at Aguora Hills (It got real lonely and dark there after awhile).
Debating whether to freeze my keester up on Mt. Pinos next weekend. Are you going??
Mike
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telecasterguru
super member
Reged: 02/02/09
Posts: 100
Loc: Sydney Australia
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Nick,
I think you have done a great job on the Galaxy.
Frank
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bbgobie
newbie
Reged: 11/12/09
Posts: 4
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Great Image! I love it!
I've got some questions, hope you don't mind. As I think I'm really getting an insight into astrophotography through your thread.
I've downloaded your tiff and have rotated + resized to match up perfectly with the image you posted. WOW!
Am I to understand to get from the tiff to your final output you only pretty much play with curves/levels/saturation? I don't seem to be able to manipulate it anywhere close to what you have. I'm a total newb to this whole thing and think I totally misunderstood my previous attempts.
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Please visit my photoblog
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bbgobie
newbie
Reged: 11/12/09
Posts: 4
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Hey Nickatnight
Thanks so much for posting the raw file. I've learned a lot since I found your post yesterday. I spend the afternoon learning pixinsight through their tutorials and WOW! Still so much to learn but I'm making huge progress.
I have another stupid question though. In your original stack do you upsize the resolution? It seems like M31 has filled your frame? I always thought M31 was a tiny dot and smudge in most scopes nevermind a 72mm refractor(with wide field adapter?). Or is it all we can see visually is a dot and a smudge but actually if we just keep our scope aimed their and shoot we can pull out the type of details you have?
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Please visit my photoblog
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nickatnight
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/14/08
Posts: 1751
Loc: Santa Clarita, CA (LA Suburbs)
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Hi bbgobie. Sorry I missed the questions you posted. I'm glad your learning a lot playing with the stack. First, M31 is a large target. I would have been better off rotating the camera a bit, but to answer your question, thae stack is the full frame, original capture size. Visually it's quite large too, but that's primarily the core you see with binos or a scope. The outer spiral arms take some stretching even in long photographic exposures.
Sounds like what you're doing is the right thing. PixInsight has some great tutorials, and apart from stretching, getting rid of gradients and noise is important, and i do a lot of sharpening and layer masking in Photoshop to get the different parts of the image to stand out but blend with the rest. I'd love to see what you end up with after your work on the stack...
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nickatnight
Celestron CPC 9.25" GPS
Lumicon 2" LumiBrite Diagonal
Meade s5000 18mm UWA, Meade 6.7mm UWA,
Parks G.S-5 10mm, Celestrom 40mm Plossl
Parks 2x Barlow, Meade Tele-Extender
Celestron f6.3 Focal Reducer
Lumicon UHC Filter and Deep Sky Filter
Canon Rebel XTi (prime)
Canon Powershot G9 (afocal)
Canon EOS T-Ring and Parks T-Adapter
Lumicon Univ DigiCam Adapter
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bbgobie
newbie
Reged: 11/12/09
Posts: 4
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Hey Nick, 3am here, I'll find the image I processed based on your raw tomorrow some time. No where near as good as yours but definatitely learning.
Thanks so much!
I seem to learn more every day and get new questions everyday
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Please visit my photoblog
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wrather1
AstroBear
Reged: 10/25/05
Posts: 3880
Loc: Dallas, Texas
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Hey Nick - could you please take a look at my attempt at M31 with a bigger scope and tell me how I could improve it? I have gone around and around and around with the processing and I just can't seem to get the color balance the way I think it should look. I'm new at shooting galaxies!
M31 Linky
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"Don't worry about what telescope you own, or its quality. Just get out under the night sky, and enjoy God's wondrous universe." - T. M. Back
Meade RCX400-12 "Ursa Major"
TMB 130SS + EQ6-PRO "Ursus Polaris"
Orion ED80 "Ursa Minor", WO ZS66ED "grab-'n'-go"
EOS 30D (Hutech), ToUcam Pro, Star Shoot Autoguider, Meade DSI
North Texas Clear Sky Chart
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