Sombrero Galaxy and Trifid Nebula

[A.S.I.G.N. Observatory]

Light capture and darks caused me to spent all night on these two.

65 minutes on Sombrero, darks subtracted.
55 minutes on Trifid, Darks subtracted

Imaging scope- Skywatcher ED120 APO refractor on an EQ6Pro
Guide scope- Skywatcher ED80 APO refractor piggybacked
Imaging camera- Orion Starshoot Pro OS DSI
Guide camera- Orion Starshoot autoguider.

Captured with MaxIm DL essentials
Post processed with PS elements 6

Hope you like.

Baz.

[dpastern]

Both good shots Baz, I'm surprised at how small the Sombrero is though.

Dave

[jhkphoto]

Really cool stuff! i would love to do some stuff like this one day!

[siddr20]

Excellent shots :)

man can i come to your observatory one day please??

[poppie guy]

I would love to just be able to see these through a telescope, nice photos.

[troypiggo]

Great shots, Baz. Really like the Trifid. Been wanting to get that myself soon. It's high on my list.

Minor comment - the Sombrero looks a little off on the white balance. Maybe a touch on the green side?

[A.S.I.G.N. Observatory]

Great shots, Baz. Really like the Trifid. Been wanting to get that myself soon. It's high on my list.

Minor comment - the Sombrero looks a little off on the white balance. Maybe a touch on the green side?

Thanks heaps guys. Observatory visits are ok, but I have to get to know you first, then we can talk about visits. It is my home after all....

Troy, yes, I did notice the green cast and in fact, I turned it down a couple of levels in PSE6 before I posted. Obviously not enough as a few people around the traps have commented on it.

The colour balance in MaxIm sometimes works a treat (as it did for the Trifid....perfect colour) Other times, it just won't work. I don't know what I am doing wrong.

The sombrero is small, yes. This is a prime focus shot through the 120 ED. I am working on buying a Televue 2x Barlow soon. There is only so much widefield one can do, after all.

Baz.

[markjpcs]

Nice shots!

[siddr20]

Thanks heaps guys. Observatory visits are ok, but I have to get to know you first, then we can talk about visits. It is my home after all....

Not a problem. I will introduce myself in a pm to you tomorrow :)

[Nighthound]

Very nice Baz. I personally like wide fields of the smaller objects.

Was the Sombrero in a direction more light polluted than the Trifid? Were you using any LP filtration?

I'm wondering where the color shifts occurred, truth is it could have happened at any point. I don't use Maxim so I'm not familiar with the software. I generally make a balance check first thing after the stack and try to shift as close to perfect from the onset of the Photoshop adjustments, if needed. As I stretch the file I may have to tweak the balance a bit along the way and then do a final check at the end. A sample of the darkest background area should read close to R=25, G=25 and B=25. In the CMYK column I watch the black to end up around 80. Keeping the color histogram of all channels visible while processing always helps me closely monitor balance.

I hope you don't mind I did a quick balance adjustment. I'm not using the best monitor right now, I'll check these again in a couple hours when I have access to a better monitor.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/Nighthd/Astrophotography/test/tst2/Sombrero29Mar09_65minMedium.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/Nighthd/Astrophotography/test/tst2/Trifid29Mar09_55minMedium.jpg

Cheers.