M31 Critique please
This is a test image with only 5 hrs of data.
I will be adding more this week as well as Ha.
This was imaged with my wide field setup SQA55 2600MC Pro.
I tried to be more careful with the stars considering that the image is undersampled.
This was processed in Pixinsight using FBPP since this is a test.
I like that you’ve retained the star-like core.
Oh man… I would die for an image like that.
Colors look quite nice and natural. I won’t even touch it much more. We all have the tempation to boost colors and detials during last seteps of post-processing and ending up often with distroying the natural look.
Looks great. You could try adding some time towards Ha, but I don’t think it’ll really improve it much.
Looks nice (colour & structure) but there are some weird stars, they look like an O.
📷 image.png
Vandewattyne · Oct 26, 2025 at 09:43 AM
Looks nice (colour & structure) but there are some weird stars, they look like an O.
📷 image.png
Vandewattyne · Oct 26, 2025 at 09:43 AM
Looks nice (colour & structure) but there are some weird stars, they look like an O.
📷 image.png
Dave Stearn:Vandewattyne · Oct 26, 2025 at 09:43 AM
Looks nice (colour & structure) but there are some weird stars, they look like an O.
📷 image.png
andrea tasselli · Oct 26, 2025 at 08:06 PM
Vandewattyne · Oct 26, 2025 at 09:43 AM
Looks nice (colour & structure) but there are some weird stars, they look like an O.
📷 image.png
I doubt BXT can produce such a thing, it might enhance it but that is about it. The "hole" is due to pre-processing (CosmeticCorrection) with under-sampled stars, I suspect. This occurs when set to "Auto".
CC was not set to auto
Looks nice! I’d look into the star shapes, though. Besides above, they are cross/tic-tac-toe shaped. Did you drizzle? That may help
I think I solved the star issue. With the 2X drizzled image I used Correct only BXT and then Resample down to the native resolution using integer Resample.
Rick Krejci · Oct 27, 2025 at 01:00 AM
Looks nice! I’d look into the star shapes, though. Besides above, they are cross/tic-tac-toe shaped. Did you drizzle? That may help
At a high zoom you will see square patterns especially for small stars. The image was undersampled to begin with. I was able to 2X drizzle Gaussian and then Resample down after using BXT. From a normal viewing distance the stars should look good.
Good colors and quality of image. Has come out well. I personally also have a SQA55 and hence can appreciate the wide angle view !
Great Effort !
Nice image, well done!
I like the “natural” colors. Looking forward to see the final result, maybe with Ha. From my POV, making the Ha regions more visible would add value to the image. I am currently working on a M31 image too, but I have to wait for better weather to finish.
Vandewattyne · Oct 26, 2025, 09:43 AM
Looks nice (colour & structure) but there are some weird stars, they look like an O.
📷 image.png
Have you checked your alignment parameters?
Rainer Ehlert · Nov 20, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Vandewattyne · Oct 26, 2025, 09:43 AM
Looks nice (colour & structure) but there are some weird stars, they look like an O.
📷 image.png
Have you checked your alignment parameters?
How are you viewing the image?
How am I viewing the image?
Well, on my PC monitor
Which software do you use for aligning?
Rainer Ehlert · Nov 20, 2025 at 04:56 PM
How am I viewing the image?
Well, on my PC monitor
Reason I asked if you were to view in Classic Mode at full resolution the stars would look good. If you just zoomed in the image would appear stretched.
Ah OK. I just answered to a posting where somebody posted a zoomed image. You wanted critique and some body found it out and it was not me, Sorry.
OK, I understand. I had a similar problem and then tweaked my Star Alignment settings and now everything is OK.
OK, I tried to download your image in order to analyse it but it is not possible.
You know what, forget everything I wrote…
I made a single screen shot of one of the corners but did not find anything, so I really do not know where it comes from.
Sorry for having written those dumb comments…