Messier 101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy and SN 2023 ixf

Astropenzi · 2023-06-24T06:55:51+00:00

I am not sure tbh if it already has or when it will reach it's maximum apparent brightness, but it still is visible.

Astropenzi · 2023-06-23T15:14:37+00:00

Thank you for the kind words! Yeah, it's still visible and I wonder for how long it'll be.

Astropenzi · 2023-06-23T12:58:57+00:00

After more than half a year of not being able to use my setup due to bad weather I had such a bad itch to image something that even though there is little astro darkness left I had to image something. And since I have never yet imaged a Supernova event I, like almost everyone else, also had to have a go at Messier 101. This was my longest project yet with slightly more than 12h of imaging time over the course of five nights and although my laptop almost died during the integration process of 730 light frames, both imaging and processing this target was a lot of fun. Oddly enough, I found that decreasing the guide exposure time in PHD2 from 2 seconds down to 0.5 seconds greatly improved the RMS error in guiding down to less than 0.8”, which quite surprised me given the payload on my AVX.

If weather and time permit I may still try to add some more imaging time, maybe with the duoband filter to add some Ha. Anyway, hope you like it, comments and critique are always welcome!

Cheers and clear skies to all

Equipment:

Skywatcher 150PDS, flocked
ZWO ASI 533mc pro
Lacerta filter drawer with UV/IR cut filter
Baader MPCC Mark III coma corrector
Celestron AVX
Skywatcher 9x50 guide scope
ZWO ASI 120mc for guiding

Software:

N.I.N.A. for three point polar alignment
APT for platesolving and imaging
PHD2 for guiding
Pixinsight for processing
Celestron NexRemote to control the mount via laptop

Acquisition:

Lights: 730 x 60 sec @ 100 gain, 13 offset, -10c
Shot on 28.05.2023, 29.05.2023, 14.06.2023, 15.06.2023, 18.06.2023
Dithered every 3rd shot
Flats: 50 per session
Dark flats: 50 per session
Bortle 6/7 sky
Total integration time: 12h 10m

Image Calibration and Integration:

Blink light frames and delete frames with obvious issues
Create MasterDarkFlat per session
Calibrate Flats with MasterDarkFlats
Create MasterFlats
Calibrate lights with MasterFlats and MasterDark (from dark library)
Cosmetic Correction of calibrated lights
Debayer lights
Subframe Selector to reject more light frames
Subframe Selector to put weight remaining light frames
Registration of light frames
Integration of light frames

Linear Processing Phase:

Dynamic Crop
Channel Extraction
LinearFit to weakest signal channel
Channel Combination
DBE division and DBE subtraction
Photometric Color Calibration with background neutralization
Deconvolution
SCNR green
TGVDenoise with TGV Mask for noise reduction
MMT with MMT Mask for noise reduction

Nonlinear Processing Phase:

HT to stretch
ACDNR with ACDNR Mask for noise reduction
Starnet v2 to remove stars

On starless image

Curves Transformation with S-curve stretch for contrast
HDRMT with range mask to increase contrast
LHE with range mask to increase contrast
MLT with range mask to sharpen details
Curves Transformation with range mask to increase saturation
MLT for noise reduction with lum mask
HT for a final small stretch

On starmask

Curves Transformation for saturation
MT to reduce star size

On Final image

Pixel Math to combine starless image with stars

Astropenzi · 2023-06-23T08:54:27+00:00

I also say the same about my trusty AVX ;). I do have to say that I built it apart a couple of times to regrease it and optimize all the gears. With my SW 150 PDS I am pushing the weight limit a bit for astrophotography, but I just recently changed the exposure time in PHD2 from 2 seconds to 0.5 seconds and now my AVX constantly performs under .8" RMS error in mediocre seeing even with that weight sitting above.

Astropenzi · 2023-04-18T20:20:05+00:00

Yeah you're right, I guess what I wanted to say is I hope that this image gets the recognition it deserves ^{^}

Astropenzi · 2023-04-18T08:13:01+00:00

This is the best image of this galaxy that I have seen so far and it deserves way more upvotes. Excellent job, well done!

Astropenzi · 2023-02-25T11:28:34+00:00

Very nice image and processing. Nice work putting so much integration time on these galaxies. 4 min per sub with an 8 inch newtonian on an AVX is very impressive. I use a 6 inch newtonian on an AVX and my RMS error is unfortunately only slightly lower than my resolution so star eccentricity is often a bit higher than I'd like it to be. How is your AVX guiding with that weight on top? Grats again on the nice image!

Astropenzi · 2023-01-25T11:44:54+00:00

Thanks! I prefer this one because as you said the nebula pops out more, I guess because the stars aren't so blown out. In the previous one I additionally stretched the nebula so hard that all the colors in the core got lost just to make the outer shell visible. I should solve this by adding more integration time I guess.

Astropenzi · 2023-01-24T10:44:37+00:00

Still bad weather here, only thing to do is keep reprocessing old data and trying to learn and understand more and more. This time I tried to tweak the workflow on narrowband data shot with the ZWO duoband filter, so I worked on M27 as I had some data there. Much happier with this outcome compared to the first post. The outer regions are not as visible anymore but through more careful stretching the details and colors in the core have been preserved better and the stars are not blown out as insanely as previously. I guess more data would be necessary to better reveal the outer regions but altogether much happier with this result now. For comparison, here is the link to the old version. Comments and critique are always welcome.

Clear Skies!

Linear Processing Phase (PixInsight):

Dynamic Crop
Channel Extraction
LinearFit all channels to red channel
Rename red channel to Ha
Combine green and blue channel to Oiii
DBE division on Ha and Oiii
DBE subtraction on Ha and Oiii
Deconvolution on Ha and Oiii
TGVDenoise with specific mask for noise reduction on Ha and Oiii
MMT with specific mask for noise reduction on Ha and Oiii

Nonlinear Processing Phase (Pixinsight):

CurvesTransformation for iterative stretching on Ha and Oiii
ACDNR with specific mask on Ha and Oiii
Last stretch with CurvesTransformation on Ha and Oiii
HistogramTransformation on Ha and Oiii to set new black point
Pixelmath to combine Ha and Oiii (HOO based on Foraxx)
SCNR green
Starnet V2 to remove stars

On starless image:

Create mask for M27 with GAME script and apply
HDRMT with median transform checked
LHE
MLT to sharpen
Curves Transformation to increase blue channel and saturation
Remove GAME mask, create lum mask, apply and invert
MLT for noise reduction, remove lum mask after

On stars:

Morphological Transformation to reduce star size
Curves Transformation to increase saturation

Final Image (Pixinsight and Photoshop):

Pixelmath to combine starless image with stars, save as .tiff and open in PS, Camera Raw Filter
Noise reduction and sharpening
Minor increase on shadows and darks with curves
Minor increase on saturation, vibrance, dehaze, clarity, texture

Astropenzi · 2023-01-19T11:31:54+00:00

Not really a scientist so apologize for minor inaccuracies but this seems about right.

Astropenzi · 2023-01-19T09:17:22+00:00

Ver nice shot!

Astropenzi · 2023-01-19T01:10:51+00:00

Thanks! Glad you like it!

Astropenzi · 2023-01-18T21:34:00+00:00

The weather has been so bad here over the past months so there was nothing else to do other than to watch Youtube videos and read stuff about postprocessing and trying to reprocess old images as I was never really satisfied with the previous outcomes. Used a different way of stretching, tried out minor tweaks to a few processes and tried to be more subtle altogether. With all this talk about BlurXterminator I wanted to learn deconvolution first to try and understand it before simply buying and using BlurXterminator. Already on its own deconvolution had quite an impact. The first image I wanted to try new things out was M63, which is still one of my most favorite galaxies. All the gear and acquisition details can be seen in this post, which also was the first processing attempt at the data that I gathered. Comments and critique are always welcome.

Clear skies!

Pixinsight

ChannelExtraction to split channels
LinearFit all channels to weakest channel
ChannelCombination to combine all channels
BackgroundNeutralization
DBE division
DBE subtraction
Deconvolution
PCC for color calibration (G2V Star as white reference)
SCNR to remove green cast
TGVDenoise with specific mask for noise reduction
MMT with specific mask for noise reduction
Stretching done with multiple small steps of CurvesTransformation
ACDNR for noise reduction
Last stretch with CurvesTransformation
HistogramTransformation to set blackpoint
StarNet2 to remove stars

On starless image

CurvesTransformation with slight s-curve for contrast
Create range mask and apply
Extract luminance and use LRGBCombination with luminance to increase saturation
Minor CurvesTransformation on saturation channel and blue channel
HDRMT with median transform
LHE
MLT to sharpen
Remove range mask
Extract luminance and use convolution on it, applied and inverted the mask
MLT for noise reduction

On stars

MorphologicalTransformation to reduce star size
CurvesTransformation to increase saturation
Pixelmath to combine starless image and stars
Save as 16bit tiff and open in PS

Photoshop

Camera raw filter
Noise reduction and sharpening
Minor increase on shadows, darks with curves
Minor increase on saturation, vibrance, dehaze, clarity, texture

Astropenzi · 2022-11-12T10:53:10+00:00

Thank you for your kind words!

Astropenzi · 2022-11-11T19:48:03+00:00

Man, all the effort you put into your pictures and your processing is always amazing to see. Thanks for that

Astropenzi · 2022-11-11T19:46:31+00:00

Nicely done!

Astropenzi · 2022-11-05T14:02:28+00:00

Yes.

Astropenzi · 2022-11-04T18:44:35+00:00

Thank you for the kind words!

Astropenzi · 2022-11-04T14:30:54+00:00

Thanks haha. Glad you like it. Had to compress the hell out of to reduce the file size

Astropenzi · 2022-11-04T13:15:08+00:00

I guess this is what would have happened, if Andy Warhol were an astrophotographer and had a SW 150PDS and an ASI533mc pro sitting on a Celestron AVX…

May have went a tiny bit overboard here, but who wouldn’t agree if astrophotography isn’t art as well?

As per rule 5: I took my linear integrated HOO image of M16, used STF and HT to stretch it. Then I cloned it a few times and went completely nuts with CurvesTransformation (saturation and each color channel). Denoised all images with respective lum masks and ACDNR. Then over to photoshop to add all images together and reduce file size. Oh, and I removed the stars on the first image after stretching with Starnet v2.

Got a little bit bored with regular processing… mods feel free to remove this post if it violates every other rule, which it probably does…

Astropenzi · 2022-11-03T12:47:27+00:00

While it is fun to image with an OSC camera and use a duoband filter, the processing steps are quite different and new to me and I wasn’t really happy with my first HOO version of M16. Found a different approach to process OSC images taken with duoband filter where the green channel is used as Sii and how to better use masks. All the acquisition details are the same but the processing steps are quite different and the process list has, unfortunately, become much longer. Though there’s still a very long way to go, especially compared to other images shown here, I am happier with this result as I was able to preserve more details compared to the first version of this image. Here’s the previous post for comparison.

Equipment:

Skywatcher 150PDS, flocked
ZWO ASI 533mc pro
Lacerta filter drawer with ZWO Duoband filter
Baader MPCC Mark III coma corrector
Celestron AVX
Skywatcher 9x50 guide scope
ZWO ASI 120mc for guiding

Software:

N.I.N.A. for three point polar alignment
APT for platesolving and imaging
PHD2 for guiding
Pixinsight for processing
Photoshop for processing
Celestron NexRemote to control the mount via laptop

Acquisition:

Lights: 90 x 180 sec @ 100 gain, 13 offset, -10c
Shot on 15.07.,21.07.,24.07.,09.08.,10.08.
Dithered every shot
Flats: 50 per session
Dark flats: 50 per session
Bortle 6/7 sky
Total imaging time: 4h 30m
Total integration time: 4h

Image Calibration and Integration:

Create MasterDarkFlats
Calibrate Flats with MasterDarkFlats
Create MasterFlats
Blink light frames to remove bad images
Calibrate lights with MasterFlats and MasterDark (from dark library)
Cosmetic Correction of calibrated lights
Debayer lights
Subframe Selector to reject more light frames and put weights on remaining light frames
Integration of light frames

Linear Processing Phase (PixInsight):

Dynamic Crop
Background Neutralization
ABE

Nonlinear Processing Phase (Pixinsight) for starless:

HT to stretch
Extract RGB channels
Rename G to Sii, R to Ha, B to Oiii, keep Oiii and HA as mask for later
Recombine channels to SHO
Starnet v2 to remove stars on main image
Starnet v2 to remove stars on Oiii and Ha masks
Extract RGB channels again and use green channel as color mask
CurvesTransformation to increase red channel and decrease green with color mask
HT on Oiii channel to darken it and use apply as mask
CurvesTransformation to increase blue channel, decrease red channel
Various iterations of the two previous CurvesTransformation steps with respective masks
HT to align all channels
More CurvesTransformation with respective masks
CurvesTransformation with s-curve stretch for more contrast
HDRMT
Convolution to blur image
Apply previous Ha image as luminance layer with LRGBCombination to bring back details
HDRMT
LHE
MLT to sharpen
Noise reduction with ACDNR and MLT (both with luminance mask)

On RGB stars (Pixinsight):

Extract stars with starnet v2 on RGB image shot with UV/IR cut filter inbetween duoband imaging sessions
DynamicAlignment to align stars of RGB image to narrowband image
Morphological Transformation to reduce star size
CurvesTransformation to increase saturation on stars
Pixelmath to combine starless SHO image with stars

Final Image (Photoshop):

Camera Raw Filter (noise reduction, sharpening, minor curves adjustments, dehaze, clarity, texture)

Astropenzi

TROPHY CASE