M 81 (Bode’s Galaxy) Reworked
by Bob on May.18, 2011, under Messier Objects
I still can’t make any new images, so I decided to redo some post-processing some images.
One of these reworked images is M81, hope you like it!
For comparison, here’s the “old” version:
Type: Spiral Galaxy
A.k.a.: NGC3031, Bode’s Galaxy
Constellation: Ursa Major
Distance From Earth: 12,000,000 light years
Diameter: 95,000 light years
Camera: Atik 314L color
Exposure: 43x600s light frames, 0 dark frames, 0 flats
Filters: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2
Telescope: Skywatcher 120 ED Pro
4 Comments for this entry
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June 7th, 2011 on 19:33
Hi,
Your images are stunning,I have recently purchased C9.25 with CG-5 mount,
for last couple of nights I am trying to view DSO and I was successful with M3,M9,M13. I would like to see any DSO that has more details that I can show to my kids
Do you know if there is any DSO available at this time of yearI have tried M51 and all I saw as gray smudge and tried M101 and nothing was appearing.
thanks
June 7th, 2011 on 20:09
Hi, thanks for the compliment!
Only the latest M13 was made with my C9.25 EdgeHD, the rest came from the ED120 I sold.
If you think you’ll see DSO’s like in the pictures, you’ll be very disappointed.
Most galaxies are quite faint and you’ll need larger aperture if you want to see detailed structures (think 14″ and bigger).
If you have really dark and clear nights, without much light pollution in your area, you might be able to see more though.
The darker the area around you, the more you’ll be able to see. Also, give your eyes the time to adjust to the darkness, if something is faint, try to look slightly to the right and up from the object.
You actually picked a couple nice DSO’s already, those globulars should look nice. Other than M3, M9 and M13, try M5, M53 and M81.
At this time of year it’s even more difficult to see DSO’s, because it won’t be astronomically dark for several months. The best period for this is when the sun sets much, much earlier.
Don’t give up though, there’s lots of beautiful stuff to see up there!
March 22nd, 2012 on 14:23
Hi nice pictures I recently bought the Atik 314L+ and am having problems with processing the data. So my question is what software are you using and could you give me a rough idea on processing work flow I am stuck… Thanks BTW I am using a 190 Mak-Newt 8″
March 22nd, 2012 on 15:36
Hi, thanks for the compliment!
The Atik 314L+ is a nice camera, only slightly different from mine.
I’m using Nebulosity (from http://www.stark-labs.com) for imaging and basic image tweaking.
After that I use Adobe Photoshop to do some more tweaking (stretching and removing leftover hot pixels mostly).
That’s a nice scope you have, I’ve seen some really nice pictures made with the same telescope! Enjoy.