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I've been collecting on the Andromeda
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Jan 5, 2022 16:53:55   #
stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast
 
I'm exhausted from trying to get this one processed , m31 is a good challenge . It's getting there , some advice on how to keep my 10second exposures from getting blown out would be very helpful? I shot 10s , 30s , 120s rgb and 300s Ha ?



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Jan 5, 2022 17:24:22   #
rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA
 
stepping beyond wrote:
I'm exhausted from trying to get this one processed , m31 is a good challenge . It's getting there , some advice on how to keep my 10second exposures from getting blown out would be very helpful? I shot 10s , 30s , 120s rgb and 300s Ha ?


Are these single, or stacked exposures? The application that was recommended to me for stacking was Sequator.
https://sites.google.com/view/sequator/

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Jan 6, 2022 08:00:44   #
stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast
 
I've not processed this target before with this 1600mm pro camera , it looks overstretched , I need to learn how to bring out the dark lanes without blowing it out everywhere. Out of the 3 months on shooting on this galaxy , I only used a small portion of all the data I acquired since October.

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Jan 6, 2022 17:15:08   #
profbowman Loc: Harrisonburg, VA, USA
 
I like what you are working on, and "my hat is off to you." I have not done the kind of astrophotography you are doing, so treat my questions and suggestions with that in mind. I have only worked on the Moon, Jupiter and its Moons, and a couple of comets.

With that in mind, your photo looks like your bright areas are blown out from overexposure and from too much post-processing that has "melted" pixels together. Could you post one of your original phots here, if you do not mind me or some others messing with it? I don't need a RAW image, just a jpeg image before any finessing of the image is done beyond the basics.

You might have more data here than you think you do. --Richard

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Jan 7, 2022 13:24:11   #
stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast
 
Richard , I'm sure I do have more data . I've been at this image too long and I was tired and fed up at the time , I just should have walked away again . I just worked on ic434 HH and it's showing potential.

m31
m31...

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Jan 8, 2022 10:40:42   #
profbowman Loc: Harrisonburg, VA, USA
 
stepping beyond wrote:
Richard , I'm sure I do have more data . I've been at this image too long and I was tired and fed up at the time , I just should have walked away again . I just worked on ic434 HH and it's showing potential.


With this last image you shared, I was able to pull more detail out of the arms and lanes in M31, but it is still not as good as the image you posted originally. All I did was to lighten the image by increasing Gamma and then increase the Contrast in IrfanView. --Richard



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Jan 9, 2022 12:52:18   #
stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast
 
I'm still at it Richard, starting all over from the 32bit raw to the jpeg trying to tweak out and not blow the core out so yall can see the inner dark lanes of the galaxy, processing is my nemesis with the way my memory is. You were able to pull some more detail that was there. That's what I'm having trouble with bringing out those dark lanes and not blowing the core out. I stack multiple images in Photoshop and I just haven't learned that trick yet and of course the color balance of the starry sky. If I get back down to work on it today after messing with old brass hardware and Brasso, I'll post .

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Jan 9, 2022 15:03:51   #
profbowman Loc: Harrisonburg, VA, USA
 
I'm sure you can do better. But I thought, this Sunday I have some time, so I tried again.

This time I took the image you first shared and did a screen capture on it, played with the gamma and contrast, took some blue out of the final image, and then converted it to grayscale and did some final adjustments (reduced the size a bit and worked to get some of the noise out of what I had done).

Here it is. Just having some fun. --Richard



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Jan 9, 2022 15:10:53   #
stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast
 
It's got depth , needs a lot of clean -up . I'm at the point where screaming is in order my starfield is navy blue but, the galaxy is starting to be the way it should've been subtle blue tint , until I blow the daylights out of it.

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Jan 12, 2022 11:54:26   #
Ballard Loc: Grass Valley, California
 
stepping beyond wrote:
I'm exhausted from trying to get this one processed , m31 is a good challenge . It's getting there , some advice on how to keep my 10second exposures from getting blown out would be very helpful? I shot 10s , 30s , 120s rgb and 300s Ha ?


Andromeda is so big that I you need a fairly shot focal length to get the whole thing in. (I found 500mm works well for a full size sensor (probably around 300mm would be better on an APS size sensor).

For this object I have successfully used the following exposure times at F4.0.
~20 exposures at 4 minutes each for Red, Green and Blue
12 exposures at 5 minutes, 20 exposures at 4 minutes and 20 exposures at 2 minutes each for Luminance.
I need to go back and reprocess using some of the HDR techniques I recently learned on processing M42 with pixinsight to see if I can get more detail out.

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Jan 12, 2022 13:34:04   #
stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast
 
I wanted to see how much I would need to put together a decent image but, they just don't make a light weight rotator to accommodate a coma corrector. So, instead of rotating my camera and having to retake calibration frames every time I rotate the camera angle . I'll spend my time on the other targets in my fov. I really don't want to go through changing the angle , it's not that much. I'm just not ready to change everything over to my F5 Refractor

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Jan 12, 2022 14:21:19   #
DickC Loc: NE Washington state
 
Still a good photo, that's probably 50 light years from us!

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Jan 13, 2022 06:15:12   #
Marc G Loc: East Grinstead, West Sussex, England
 
Here is method I use in photoshop to preserve star size, core size etc...
1. duplicate image (ctrl J)
2. modify / select colour range (high lights) adjust slider so just the core & brighter stars are selected.
3. modify / expand x 2
4. modify / feather x 1
5. apply reveal all mask
6. click back on the layer (ctrl A ctrl C)
7. holding Alt button click on the mask & a white layer should appear
8. Cltr V & a mono chrome image should appear on the mask
9. Cltr I to invert the mask
10. click back on the layer & apply small levels stretch

This procedure can be done many times but ensure you apply it to a non-destructive layer (holding shift Clrl Alt click E)

regards Marc

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Jan 13, 2022 08:02:33   #
Marc G Loc: East Grinstead, West Sussex, England
 
stepping beyond wrote:
It's got depth , needs a lot of clean -up . I'm at the point where screaming is in order my starfield is navy blue but, the galaxy is starting to be the way it should've been subtle blue tint , until I blow the daylights out of it.


Hi Mate

I had a play with your image, despite the compressed jpg & limited data within I was able to work a little photoshop magic
regards Marc



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Jan 13, 2022 08:44:46   #
DickC Loc: NE Washington state
 
Marc G wrote:
Hi Mate

I had a play with your image, despite the compressed jpg & limited data within I was able to work a little photoshop magic
regards Marc


Regardless who did it, it's a great photo!!

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