AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

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AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

#1

Post by Jockinireland »


It has been a while since we had DSLR data for our challenge so this month we have one of my favourite objects, M45, The Pleiades or The Seven Sisters. This was captured and kindly submitted by @UkDave. Capture was with a Tecnosky 70 AG quadruplet Nikon D5300 unmodified and is approx 8.5hrs from two nights ,flats ,darks and bias taken from a bortle 5 skies location in the UK (England)

For PCC in Pixinsight it will solve at 350mm FL and 3.9µm pixel size.

Dave had not posted this on TSS so here is his original rendition so you can see what we have to play with.
r_Pleides 2 data _stacked.jpg
The data is available as 16bit fit and 16bit tiff here https://1drv.ms/u/s!Alj6NhuYfZtW23l4CEV ... n?e=PcQzAS

Download what files you want and process in your software(s) of choice then post in this thread. The purpose of the APP Challenge is to share techniques so we can all learn and grow in our abilities so please describe your process steps and any special tricks you used to get your result. If you have been finding something difficult to do with this data - tell us and hopefully someone will be able to help.

Please consider submitting some data of your own for future challenges. Just send me PM and I'll take it from there.

Enjoy the challenge.

David
Scope: Skywatcher Evostar 80ED (SW 0.85 FR/FF) on a SW NEQ6Pro
Guiding; SW Evoguide 50ED, ASI 120mm mini
Meade 8" LX200 GPS on wedge (Guided with a cheapo 50mm guidescope and a ZWO ASI 120mm mini)
Sharpstar 61EDPH II (with dedicated 0.8 reducer) with wiliam Optics 32mm uniguide
Camera: ASI2600MC pro. QHY 163M with ZWO 7nm NB filters, Canon EOS700D astro mod
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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

#2

Post by UkDave »


Have fun everyone I’m intrigued to what peeps will submit 👍
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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

#3

Post by STEVE333 »


Here's my version done with PixInsight.

Pleides_LRGB_EZ.jpg

PROCESSING STEPS:
Background neutralization
Color calibration
Remove gradients with DBE
Reduce noise with MLT
HistogramTransformation to stretch
Noise Reduction with TGVDenoise
Increase color saturation
Increase blue with ColorMask (Blue)
Remove excess Green with SCNR
Increase star colors saturation through star mask
Run LRGB with sharpened Luminance image.
Reduced Red around periphery with Curves using a GAME mask to protect the Pleiades and surrounding nebulosity.
Reduce stars with EZ Star Reduction
Enhance low-level luminance with ExponentialTransformation using a mask to select only Pleiades region.

Cheers - Steve
Steve King: Light Pollution (Bortle 5)
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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

#4

Post by Jockinireland »


I made my first effort on this in Pixinsight. A fairly standard workflow of;
DynamicCrop
DBE
PCC
Deconvolution
EZDenoise
EZSoftStretch (I could not get Masked Stretch to work without pink cores in the bright stars and standard HT was just too harsh)
CT for saturation and contrast (3X)
HDRMT
SCNR
Giving this;
UKD_M45_PI.jpg
I tried a few tricks in PI (including exponential transformation script)to bring out the faint background dust which is just starting to show in the above but could not get what I wanted so I went back to the PCC stage, extracted LUM, did deconvolution and EZdenoise on the LUM alone, then stretched both the RGB and the LUM on the lum to non-linear but only enough to start seeing the Pleiades. I then moved them both to Photoshop and followed Scott Rosens "DSLR_LLRGB" tutorial. Its too long an complicated to describe here it includes aggressive stretching, screen mask invert, LRGB combination with high sat etc. Its a great, if complicated technique (equally applicable to any OSC) and you can find it in the link at the bottom. That gave me this;
UKD_M45_SR.jpg
I felt that was just a bit flat so blended the two of the above in PS to give;
UKD_M45_PI_SR_blend.jpg
Thoughts on the relative merits of the three versions ??

Scott Rosens Tutorial here

http://www.astronomersdoitinthedark.com ... torial.php

Take care

David
Scope: Skywatcher Evostar 80ED (SW 0.85 FR/FF) on a SW NEQ6Pro
Guiding; SW Evoguide 50ED, ASI 120mm mini
Meade 8" LX200 GPS on wedge (Guided with a cheapo 50mm guidescope and a ZWO ASI 120mm mini)
Sharpstar 61EDPH II (with dedicated 0.8 reducer) with wiliam Optics 32mm uniguide
Camera: ASI2600MC pro. QHY 163M with ZWO 7nm NB filters, Canon EOS700D astro mod
Secondary mount: Skywatcher StarAdventurer

My Astrobin https://www.astrobin.com/users/mackiedlm/
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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

#5

Post by Larry 1969 »


I gave it a fairly quick run through StarTools and experimented with a second round of sharpening, selecting "Large" on the first run and "Medium" on the second... I think it was a bit much but it's cool to experiment with other peoples data!
r_Pleides 2 data _stacked.jpg
Larry
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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

#6

Post by Graeme1858 »


Jockinireland wrote: Sat Aug 07, 2021 11:37 am I made my first effort on this in Pixinsight. A fairly standard workflow of;

I quite like the second one! In my attempts at it I have tried to reduce the background nebulosity whilst making the star nebulosity stand out. Your second one looks just like what I was trying to achieve.

Regards

Graeme
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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

#7

Post by Graeme1858 »


Larry 1969 wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 1:05 am I gave it a fairly quick run through StarTools .....

Same again Larry! Nice clear background whilst emphasising the star nebulosity. How did you do that?

Regards

Graeme
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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

#8

Post by Larry 1969 »


Honestly Graeme, I think the initial development sequence is the key. My first attempt with this data resulted in a dull, dim image and just as I was going to post it, I saw Steve's version and I went back to the drawing board. On my second run I used "FilmDev" instead of "AutoDev" to increase the overall brightness and that also seemed to enhance the nebulosity. Then it was workflow as usual until the "Sharpen" module where I made two passes selecting "Large" for the first and "Medium" for the second which seemed to enhance detail in the nebulosity but I'm not sure I like it...

Larry
For visual:
10" Skywatcher collapsible goto dob, various EP's and a Celestron StarSense auto align.

For imaging:
Orion 8" astrograph 800mm @ F3.9
Eq6-R Pro controlled by APT via EQmod with an OTA mounted mini PC
Tele Vue Paracorr Type 2 coma corrector
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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

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Post by Jockinireland »


So the weather turned miserable yesterday afternoon so though I'd thought I'd have ago at this in Startools. I dont use startools much now so am quite rusty (Especially with "7") and used a pretty standard workflow with automatic mask generation and pretty much default settings.
this was
Autodev
Crop
Wipe
Autodev
Contrast
HDR
Sharp
Decon
Colour
Shrink
Entropy (No idea what that does but it looked ok so I hit "Keep" :D )
Denoise

Giving this
UKD_M45_Startools_final.jpg
Which I think, considering my lack of Startools Finesse, is not bad.

Take care

David
Scope: Skywatcher Evostar 80ED (SW 0.85 FR/FF) on a SW NEQ6Pro
Guiding; SW Evoguide 50ED, ASI 120mm mini
Meade 8" LX200 GPS on wedge (Guided with a cheapo 50mm guidescope and a ZWO ASI 120mm mini)
Sharpstar 61EDPH II (with dedicated 0.8 reducer) with wiliam Optics 32mm uniguide
Camera: ASI2600MC pro. QHY 163M with ZWO 7nm NB filters, Canon EOS700D astro mod
Secondary mount: Skywatcher StarAdventurer

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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

#10

Post by Graeme1858 »


Nice one David

Here's my go at Dave's excellent data using PI.

I did an initial SCNR, Dynamic Crop and Horizontal Flip.
AutoBackgroundExtraction
DynamicBackgroundExtraction
BackgroundNeutralisation - This doesn't seem to do much!
ColourCalibration - This does a good job with the background!
TVGenoise
HistogramTransformation with ScreenTransferFunction
CurvesTransformation - Increased contrast with an S Curve, then applied a Luminance mask, reduced background noise/nebulosity. Removed the mask and tweaked up the Blue channel.
Saved as a PNG. Reduced file size in IrfanView.

M45_Crop_ABE_DBE_TVG-s.jpg

Lots of fun!

I have a question. I like to minimise the Processes after I've used them and move them to the top right corner to produce a list of the Processes I've use. If I use DynamicCrop and minimise it then I can't use DynamicBackgrounExtraction because there's still a DynamicCrop in Progress. How can I have both open/minimised at the same time?

Regards

Graeme
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ASI1600MM Pro, ASI294MC Pro, ASI224MC
ZWO EFW, ZWO OAG, ASI220MM Mini.
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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

#11

Post by Jockinireland »


looking good @Graeme1858

As to your question, I hit the same problem when i first started with PI and never found a way round it so I dont think you can have 2 dynamic processes open or iconised at the same time. But maybe someone on here can put us right?
Scope: Skywatcher Evostar 80ED (SW 0.85 FR/FF) on a SW NEQ6Pro
Guiding; SW Evoguide 50ED, ASI 120mm mini
Meade 8" LX200 GPS on wedge (Guided with a cheapo 50mm guidescope and a ZWO ASI 120mm mini)
Sharpstar 61EDPH II (with dedicated 0.8 reducer) with wiliam Optics 32mm uniguide
Camera: ASI2600MC pro. QHY 163M with ZWO 7nm NB filters, Canon EOS700D astro mod
Secondary mount: Skywatcher StarAdventurer

My Astrobin https://www.astrobin.com/users/mackiedlm/
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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

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Post by STEVE333 »


Graeme1858 wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 10:33 am I have a question. I like to minimise the Processes after I've used them and move them to the top right corner to produce a list of the Processes I've use. If I use DynamicCrop and minimise it then I can't use DynamicBackgrounExtraction because there's still a DynamicCrop in Progress. How can I have both open/minimised at the same time?

Regards

Graeme

Hi Graeme - When you have finished with the Dynamic process (Crop or BackgroundExtraction) click and drag the triangle in the lower left corner onto the desktop. This creates a new instance of the process but it isn't running. Then close the Dynamic process. You can move the new instance to your list of processes.

Hope this makes sense.

Steve
Steve King: Light Pollution (Bortle 5)
Telescope + Mount + Guiding: W.O. Star71-ii + iOptron CEM40 EC + Orion Magnificent Mini AutoGuider
Camera: ASI 1600MM Pro + EFW Filter Wheel + Chroma 3nm Siii, Ha, Oiii + ZWO LRGB Filters
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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

#13

Post by Graeme1858 »


STEVE333 wrote: Tue Aug 10, 2021 3:34 am Hi Graeme - When you have finished with the Dynamic process (Crop or BackgroundExtraction) click and drag the triangle in the lower left corner onto the desktop. This creates a new instance of the process but it isn't running. Then close the Dynamic process. You can move the new instance to your list of processes.

Hope this makes sense.

Steve

That makes complete sense! One of the videos I watched showed that for creating a list of Process Icons to save as a set that stayed there for next time you use the programme.

Thanks Steve

Regards

Graeme
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ASI1600MM Pro, ASI294MC Pro, ASI224MC
ZWO EFW, ZWO OAG, ASI220MM Mini.
APM 11x70 ED APO Binoculars.

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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

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Post by STEVE333 »


Graeme1858 wrote: Tue Aug 10, 2021 6:18 am That makes complete sense! One of the videos I watched showed that for creating a list of Process Icons to save as a set that stayed there for next time you use the programme.

Thanks Steve

Regards

Graeme

You're welcome Graeme - You can save the list of Process Icons. I have a list for OSC processing, one for NB processing, etc. You probably know this, but, you save the list of icons by right-clicking on an empty location on the desktop which will open up a drop-down list. Move the cursor over Process Icons and another drop-down list will open. Move the cursor over Save Process Icons and left-click on it. This will open up a new window that shows the location where the icon list will be saved along with the File Name that will be associated with that list. You follow the same procedure only select Load Process Icons to Load the desired list.

By the way, you can edit a saved Process Icon. For example, say you have saved a TGVDenoise process icon. If you wanted to change one of the settings then:
1) Double click the existing TGVDenoise process icon and it will open the process window.
2) Change any settings as desired.
3) Left-click on the triangle at the lower left of the open process window, and, drag and drop it on the process icon in the list. It will ask a coupe questions and I always answer YES. Then don't forget to SAVE the process icons or your changes won't be saved.

Have fun.

Steve
Steve King: Light Pollution (Bortle 5)
Telescope + Mount + Guiding: W.O. Star71-ii + iOptron CEM40 EC + Orion Magnificent Mini AutoGuider
Camera: ASI 1600MM Pro + EFW Filter Wheel + Chroma 3nm Siii, Ha, Oiii + ZWO LRGB Filters
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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

#15

Post by carastro »


In Photoshop, mainly levels and curves, with a bit of match colour to increase the colour saturation.

Image
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Scopes: Skywatcher ED80, Skywatcher ED120, William Optics ZS71, Samyang 135MM F2 lens,
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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

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Post by Jockinireland »


Thats come out nice Carole @carastro
Scope: Skywatcher Evostar 80ED (SW 0.85 FR/FF) on a SW NEQ6Pro
Guiding; SW Evoguide 50ED, ASI 120mm mini
Meade 8" LX200 GPS on wedge (Guided with a cheapo 50mm guidescope and a ZWO ASI 120mm mini)
Sharpstar 61EDPH II (with dedicated 0.8 reducer) with wiliam Optics 32mm uniguide
Camera: ASI2600MC pro. QHY 163M with ZWO 7nm NB filters, Canon EOS700D astro mod
Secondary mount: Skywatcher StarAdventurer

My Astrobin https://www.astrobin.com/users/mackiedlm/
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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

#17

Post by Graeme1858 »


Nice nebulosity standing out from the background.

Regards

Graeme
______________________________________________
Celestron 9.25 f10 SCT, f6.3FR, CGX mount.
ASI1600MM Pro, ASI294MC Pro, ASI224MC
ZWO EFW, ZWO OAG, ASI220MM Mini.
APM 11x70 ED APO Binoculars.

https://www.averywayobservatory.co.uk/
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Re: AP Processing Challenge 23 - UkDave - M45

#18

Post by Larry 1969 »


That's very nice. I'm continually impressed with what some can achieve with PS.

Larry
For visual:
10" Skywatcher collapsible goto dob, various EP's and a Celestron StarSense auto align.

For imaging:
Orion 8" astrograph 800mm @ F3.9
Eq6-R Pro controlled by APT via EQmod with an OTA mounted mini PC
Tele Vue Paracorr Type 2 coma corrector
Altair Hypercam 26C
Image
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