7 replies to this topic

[bosastroguy]

I was able to get a short imaging session lately from Vermont of the pinwheel galaxy.  It was stacked in Deep Sky Stacker, 15 subs at 90 minutes with calibration frames.  There seems to be a lot of noise, shot with a Red Cat 51 on a SWSA GTI with ASI Air plus on a modded Canon 70D.  Just looking for comments/suggestions for additional editing for my stacked image in PS.  Thanks and clear skies.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[rj144]

Use Siril and GraXpert for most of the editing, not PS.

[UKnewbie1729]

+1 for what rj144 said, Siril and Graxpert are specifically written for processing astro images, PS isn't, plus they're both free.

[UKnewbie1729]

I think threatening us is against the Terms of Service...

 

As I read them, only if it's aimed at a specific user.

 

Activating multiple-strike system...........targets acquired................get ready for LOADS of second-hand gear appearing on the market soon, please offer the families a fair price

[danny1976]

You don't really have the right focal length for M101. A Redcat 251 is better for widefield nebulae. 

 

And 90min is not enough to get a good quality picture. Try 15h and then start processing. You need to keep the noise down and you already have a disadvantage with that 70D. 

 

To process your image Siril and Photoshop are a good start. The Xterminators are also great tools that make your life a lot easier. 

But to get BXT you will also need a PixInsight license.

Edited by danny1976, 18 May 2025 - 09:06 PM.

[matt_astro_tx]

Right, 90 minutes is a good start, but not nearly enough data to create a good image with.  Go for at least 4 hours (or 6 or 8) and you'll really have something to process!  Do that and then report back on how your noise is looking.

[UP4014Fan]

What Matt said.  I imaged M101 for something like six hours before I was happy.

[RPitts62]

Good start, but try to get at least a minimum of 4 hours. If you can do multiple nights and gather more data, even better. At only 90 minutes, noise is going to be there no matter what. 

 

I'll vouch for using Siril or PixInsight. Photoshop is great, but not for stacking and initial processing. If you don't want to spend the money for PixInsight, Siril is pretty darn good in its own right. Check out Rich's channel at Deep Space Astro on YouTube. Fantastic resource for learning Siril.