8 replies to this topic

[WhooptieDo]

Galaxy season is a bit of a pull for wider field scopes like the Esprit 100.    Sharpness with this scope should never be underestimated, I've seen quality that rivals 10 inch reflectors quite often, with FWHM's in the low 2 arc second range.   There's a reason I love them and chose to buy a second one to work side by side.   They're the hands down the perfect back yard scope for my conditions and seeing.

 

Now that also implies that I should have good seeing, and quite frankly, this winter has sucked! The weather and clouds have been miserable, and on the few clear nights I've had, I walk out side look up and sing twinkle twinkle little star in my head!  Almost all of this data is well over 3 arc second sampling, so you can imagine my surprise when I actually pulled off an image that I was happy with.  (I never say that!)

 

I knew I wanted to dump alot of integration time into the Ha signal of this galaxy, so I let her rip on pretty much every clear night we had.   Seeing was already bad, so I decided to let her rip on 40 minute subs even, just for science.   Not much surprise but the signal gained didn't seem completely worth it over 20 minute.    Also, I learned (completely accidentally) that I can take 40 minute broadband exposures too!  Definitely wasn't ideal by any means, but the sharpness was just the same.   Star cores were of course blown, but rejection took care of most of that.  I stacked up with and without the 40 minute reds, and the difference was negligible....so I kept it.

One thing I tried my hardest to work on was going much easier with the denoise in this image.    I knew there was no IFN or dust to expose, so I had to focus on all the little faint details, the small galaxies, tiny stars.   At what point did too much denoise ruin the nice background?   Did the little stars still stand out?   For once, I feel like I did it right.   What do you folks think?

 

Lastly, the Ha jet was the absolute icing on the cake!    All the little fine details and structures in the outer rings of the galaxy made it pop when the rest of the galaxy was very soft (thanks winter seeing!). Hope you guys enjoy.

 

 

Here's the full FOV as well.    First time sharing an image on CN, wasn't sure how much the quality gets nuked.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's my Astrobin link:
https://www.astrobin.com/sqsnbp/

Edited by WhooptieDo, 20 May 2024 - 05:15 PM.

[RogeZ]

I’m familiar with your work, I think you are one of the best out there and many of your images I look to as “reference”. Keep up the great work.

Regarding this image, I think you went a bit too much on the denoise and ended up eating fine detail. There is a flat feeling to the image but mind you I’m a non-processor so any denoise seems artificial to me.

[Jim Thommes]

Beautiful Brian! Well worth the acquisition time.

[klangwolke]

Just wow. I’m sitting out here waiting for the sun to set on clear night with above average seeing, and your shot is just icing on the cake. The Ha just makes the image pop. This has to be one of the best shots of the cores I’ve seen.

[Peds]

Brian, probably one of the nicest Ha jets I've seen. Good stuff!

[Mert]

Impressive image, those halfa jets are stunning!

[airscottdenning]

Wow, that is just a spectacular image! Yes, the details of the jets in M106, and the nebulae in the arms. And also love the phenomenal number of faint galaxies, many with details of dust and spiral structure. 

 

Well done!

[smiller]

Excellent image and your astrobin has some magnificent work.

 

 

  I think your “below average seeing” is my “good seeing”!  Lol…

[WhooptieDo]

I’m familiar with your work, I think you are one of the best out there and many of your images I look to as “reference”. Keep up the great work.

Regarding this image, I think you went a bit too much on the denoise and ended up eating fine detail. There is a flat feeling to the image but mind you I’m a non-processor so any denoise seems artificial to me.

Thank you very much.   Means alot considering I have yet to hit my second anniversary in the hobby.

 

As for the denoise, I tried my hardest to preserve every detail, right down to the little galaxies.  On the left here is the completely raw luminance data, and the right is the processed result.  If anything hurt me it was a FWHM of over 3 arc second in the lum stack.  I feel like CN's reformatting of the images may make it appear more denoised than it actually is.  What do you think?

 

 

 

Excellent image and your astrobin has some magnificent work.

 

 

  I think your “below average seeing” is my “good seeing”!  Lol…

It's possible!  lol.  I'm very much at sea level on the east coast.  Scope quality can limit alot there too!   My fall data sets are my favorite though.  I wish it was always that clear and sharp!