M51

Hi All,
My image of M51 has now been processed with many thanks to Dave G. An image I thought was only fit for the bin is showing detail I never realised I had captured.
I'm over the moon (sorry, no pun intended) with the result.
www.irishastronomy.org/user_resources/fi...51-2%20processed.jpg
Thanks Dave.

Hi Bill,

Isnt it amazing what processing can do eh?

I think a focal reducer would also be very useful to help getting more of the image on the CCD chip. When we meet up I'll bring mine along and we can give it a go. Mines a celestron reducer but I think it should work on your LX90. It should help a lot in lowering the f/ratio thus making for a wider field of view. The side benefit will be that the field rotation will be less evident.

Thanks Dave. Once I get myself back into work a focal reducer is priority on my list.
It certainly helps to know what your doing regarding processing, and not just hit buttons randomly like I did :oops: . Mostly I allowed Autostar Suite to stack for me and often didn't keep the unprocessed images, I hate to think what I've lost in the past, but I think it was with that shot of M51 I changed tack and started to keep all the unprocessed images, that way I get to see the stacked image on the fly, but have all the originals for better processing.
Thanks again,
Bill.

Great image Dave!!

Amazing

Hey Bill, that's a pretty neat image! It is amazing alright the difference it makes when you know how to process an image correctly.

Yep Michael, there's a wee bit more to processing than I gave credit for.
Bill.