Congratulations to gregfixit for winning Feature Thread of the Week with 7 votes - View Previous Winners
My love of astronomy and and photography, as well as photo editing, have lead me to do something I never thought I would do. I have purchased over 30 gigabytes of .fit files from Grand Mesa Observatory for the purpose of creating/having my own image of the Andromeda Galaxy. I am contemplating renting telescope time, or even a subscription service that provides data sets for 2 celestial objects per month. Renting/subscribing to a specific telescope and camera setup would allow me access to images I could not afford to capture on my own. The equipment used is a Takahashi 130 FSQ with a QHY367C using 4 min and 2 min sub exposures in color and 10 min Ha 5nm Chroma. The light frames and dark frames combined for about 30 gigabytes of .fit files. Nearly all the red in this image is from the frames captured through the Ha (Hydrogen Alpha) filter. Once received I used Pixinsight to stack, stretch, subtract the dark frames from the light (to reduce inherent sensor noise). Once combined, I then move into Photoshop where I work the colors and try to pull out the details in the different color channels.
I have spent nearly 30 hours processing this image and I have saved at least 15 different versions. I had to learn a new processing software (Pixinsight) and a completely new workflow. The original is a 36 megapixel image of my favorite astronomical object (at least favorite so far) and it is mine to keep forever.
I shared a different version on Reddit and it was suggested that since I didn't use my telescope and camera, that it really isn't my image. I have rented camera equipment over the years and considered all photos taken with the rented equipment my own. If I had spent every penny I ever put into camera equipment on astrophotography equipment, and purchased (or leased land) in a dark sky sight in Arizona or New Mexico, I may have been able to take this image myself. (Although the taking of the photos is very much automated via software)
Anyway, I am very proud of this image and I wanted to share here on FM as this is a community that has helped me so much over the years. Any feedback is appreciated.
Processing someone else’s images can’t be nearly as rewarding as doing it all yourself. Trust me, the capturing is far more rewarding than the processing.
jforkner wrote:
Processing someone else’s images can’t be nearly as rewarding as doing it all yourself. Trust me, the capturing is far more rewarding than the processing.
Jack
I hope to some day know just how rewarding it is to capture an image such as this with my own gear. I have owned 7 or 8 telescopes over the years. And I have taken lots of astrophotos using DSLR's (everything from a modified 450D to my current 1Dx.) I'm guessing I have gone through what most any astrophotographers have gone through with everything from learning how to set up a proper guiding rig to having my night of imaging ruined by clouds, or dew. As rewarding as many nights of viewing, or photographing, have been in the past I always end my night with thoughts of what could have gone better. I will be retiring in another 5 years and I am contemplating building my own observatory and setting up a telescope capable of capturing data files as good as those I've purchased. I think data subscriptions, or telescope renting, is a good way to help me determine if the investment will be worth it.
Thanks for taking a look and taking the time to comment.
Great story and excellent processing. I applaud your approach. IMHO, it's better to pursue such endeavors in baby steps. Not much point in splunking big $ into a hobby to find out that you might not be cut out for it after all. As you purchase data, process it and understand the entire workflow, it can help you reach better decisions once you take the plunge and start procuring equipment to pursue astro-imaging on your own.
My meighbor has a 14" telescope for astro-gazing and a seperate astro-photography setup. I have been with him a few times and can appreciate how much of a "labor of love" astrophotography is. Best of luck with your plans,
Great story and excellent processing. I applaud your approach. IMHO, it's better to pursue such endeavors in baby steps. Not much point in splunking big $ into a hobby to find out that you might not be cut out for it after all. As you purchase data, process it and understand the entire workflow, it can help you reach better decisions once you take the plunge and start procuring equipment to pursue astro-imaging on your own.
My meighbor has a 14" telescope for astro-gazing and a seperate astro-photography setup. I have been with him a few times and can appreciate how much of a "labor of love" astrophotography is. Best of luck with your plans,...Show more →
InnomnateViem wrote:
Nice processing. How do you like PixelInsight for processing?
I hope to someday like Pixinsight. I made mistakes in my workflow and ended up going through the whole process 3 or 4 times. For stacking, image stretching and reducing noise it works great. Once I got a stacked image I pretty much did the rest in Photoshop. Pixinsight is very generous to give a 45 day free trial before spending the $250 to purchase. I ended up purchasing because I would never be able to process an data set like this without it.
Thank you for taking the time to look and comment.
