Nico Carver
patreon
Galaxy Season is here, testing new gear
🕑 Added 2025-04-18 20:43:10 +0000 UTCHello all,
In past years, I've often skipped out on galaxy season since imaging galaxies isn't really my thing. But completing the Messier Marathon last month has given me a bit more appreciation for imaging galaxies, and I've resolved to shoot some of the major Messier galaxies that I haven't before. So here is my first shot at it. This is the Leo Triplet. The two galaxies on the left of the image are M66 (top) and M65 (bottom). On the right, the edge-on galaxy is NGC 3638, colloquially known as the 'Hamburger Galaxy.'
This is just 2 hours of integration, captured with a telescope and mount that were brand new to me (both picked up at NEAF for testing/reviews). Also the first time I've shot pure broadband with the QHY miniCAM8 mono. This combo worked 'okay.' My guess (needs more testing to rule out human error) is I won't actually recommend a pixel scale (1.1"/px) this demanding on the EQ-AL55i, as I had to throw out about 12 frames due to elongation or doubled stars.
Tech. details on Astrobin: https://app.astrobin.com/i/g5943s
Gear used
-Airy Disk APO 96mm Triplet Refractor https://bit.ly/4jm7UQM
-Sky-watcher EQ-AL55i https://bit.ly/42Dkd3W
-QHY miniCAM8 https://bit.ly/4jgjg8O
Processing description
In PixInsight:
-WeightedBatchPreProcessing Script to handle Calibration, Registration, Integrations
-ChannelCombination to combine Red, Green, Blue channels
-AutomaticBackgroundExtraction with a function degree of 1 (likely not needed here as there was really no visible gradient)
-ImageSolver and PhotometricColorCalibration (default values)
-Russel Croman's BlurXterminator (Stellar 0.1, non-stellar 0.5)
-Starnet2 (separate stars from galaxies)
-GeneralizedHyperbolicStrech (stretch the galaxies with GHS and the stars with arcsinh)
-RangeSelection (made a mask of the galaxy cores and applied it to the galaxies image)
-HDRMultiscaleTransform (5 layers, scaling function: Small Scale 32)
In Photoshop:
-Curves
-Saturation boost (overall + extra on Blues, Cyans, Reds) with Luminance Mask applied
-Camera Raw Filter (noise reduction, color noise reduction)
-Screen blend stars
-Export -> Save for Web...
Clear skies,
Nico
Comments
travellingjournalist
Hi this maybe off topic but a friend has come with a way of using sequator on a Mac without using the windows emulator, he’s used an app called whiskey and he goes through how to install it his YT is Chris cork photography I’ve not tried it myself yet
Nico Carver
I do plan to review both, but it may be awhile. Not sure on the direction I want to take for the reviews yet.
Nico Carver
Thanks Barry!
GD
Great effort for 2 hrs! Looking forward to your reviews of the Airy Disk 96mm triplet especially since I have been eyeing the Astronomics 90mm (https://astronomics.com/products/astro-tech-at90edx-f-6-triplet-apo-refractor-ota) which has similar glass but a 1x flattener. And of course the EQ-AZ55i which seems to be priced as a SA GTi replacement but looks way more capable.
Barry Drake
That's great for just 2 hours!
