TheSkySearchers

I am dropping the AP challenge down to once per month for a while because as the long nights come into the North, there may be less interest in processing other peoples data.

This month we have some really nice OSC data from @Larry 1969 . This was captured with the Altair Hypercam 26c and is a great example of what the new gen of sensors (this is the IMX571 - same as the ASI 2600mc) can do with even a relatively short integration.

Larrys original post is here so you can see what you've got.

https://theskysearchers.com/viewtopic.p ... 97#p149974

It will solve in PI with 800mm FL and 3.76 micron pixel.

The data is available as both 32b fit and 16btiff and can be downloaded from here
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Alj6NhuYfZtW2EcN70s ... g?e=j04Y0f

You know the drill - 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

Here is my attempt, all processed in PS 2020. I went for a simple approach using levels, curves, masks, high-pass filter on the galaxy and nebula, star reduction and a saturation boost but not too much. No noise control at all. Right-click on the image and open it in a new tab for a close-up view.

That's a nice clean go at the image Gmetric. And no noise reduction required!

Thanks David and thanks Larry. I'm downloading the fits file now.

Regards

Graeme

Here is my go in PI. The data was really good so it didnt take much to process it to what I think, is a great finish.

A very standard PI workflow of;
DynamicCrop
DBE
PCC
EZDenoise
HT (stretch to non linear)
CT for saturation and contrast (3X)
HDRMT
SCNR

I did no do my usual final tweaks in PS as it just didnt need it.
Thanks @Larry 1969 for the great data. For only 2 hours the lack of noise is amazing. And I love the diffraction spikes in this one!

Working with good data makes image processing a far easier task. I don't think we'll see any significant variations between the submitted images. My thanks to Larry1969 for posting ...

BTW, I live in the northeastern portion of the USA and actually shut down my observatory from mid-October to mid-March due to the extreme snow and cloudy conditions (I'm a couple of miles from a major ski resort). The very, very few nights that are clear enough for imaging, always seem to occur during the full moon ... of course! Therefore, I'd would like to request that David reconsider his decision to change the AP processing challenge to a monthly basis. Thanks ...

Here's my submission processed entirely using Photoshop.
- Curves
- Levels (set background to 35)
- Curves
- Levels (reset background to 35)
- Crop image to include only M97 and M98
- Resize image to 1600x1194
- HLVG (remove any green in background)
- Tone Mapping (NIK Collection)
- Deep space noise reduction (Astronomy Tools)
- Pseudo Deconvolution using Smart Sharpen
- Selective noise reduction (NIK)
- Selective High Pass sharpening
- Vibrance (color saturation)
- Increase Star Color (Astronomy Tools)
- Levels (reset background to 35)

Sky wrote: ↑Sun Sep 19, 2021 2:06 pm Working with good data makes image processing a far easier task. I don't think we'll see any significant variations between the submitted images. My thanks to Larry1969 for posting ...

BTW, I live in the northeastern portion of the USA and actually shut down my observatory from mid-October to mid-March due to the extreme snow and cloudy conditions (I'm a couple of miles from a major ski resort). The very, very few nights that are clear enough for imaging, always seem to occur during the full moon ... of course! Therefore, I'd would like to request that David reconsider his decision to change the AP processing challenge to a monthly basis. Thanks ...

Hi Sky,

Thats come out really well. great star colours. I think you are right and we will not see too many wildly different results this time.

Since you use PS on its own, have you taken a look at the new StarXteminator plug -in? I've got a post in the imaging forum and I've also done one of the earlier challenges using it. its really impressive and will be a great tool to remove and replace stars to allow better processing of background nebula.

On the frequency of the challenges, let me have a look and see what we have got in the vault - I may need to chase down some more data quite soon if we go back to every two weeks.

Take care

David

It's interesting to see how very similar these images are.
I was pretty happy with my interpretation and you all seem to have come up with the same.

Larry

Larry 1969 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 21, 2021 9:45 pm It's interesting to see how very similar these images are.
I was pretty happy with my interpretation and you all seem to have come up with the same.

Larry

Yes I agree.

I think as sky said above, when the data is this good theres only so much processing you need to do. I think also the subject matter is such that there is not much room for artistic license. But still a treat to process.

Jockinireland wrote: ↑Tue Sep 21, 2021 10:36 pm I think as sky said above, when the data is this good theres only so much processing you need to do. I think also the subject matter is such that there is not much room for artistic license. But still a treat to process.

I'd be happy to provide you with all of the "less than good" data you can handle! My poor data alone could keep this "AP Processing Challenge" going for years!

Larry

Larry 1969 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 23, 2021 11:36 am

Jockinireland wrote: ↑Tue Sep 21, 2021 10:36 pm I think as sky said above, when the data is this good theres only so much processing you need to do. I think also the subject matter is such that there is not much room for artistic license. But still a treat to process.

I'd be happy to provide you with all of the "less than good" data you can handle! My poor data alone could keep this "AP Processing Challenge" going for years!

Larry

I was thinking along the sames lines. I don't believe you can really increase your processing skills by working on great data that needs only minimal processing, but I do agree they are a treat to process. Personally, I'm always on the look-out for new techniques that will raise the bar on what can be accomplished when processing image data ... especially on data that has different types of artifacts that need to be corrected.

I also have a lot of old data that I thought was really good at the time ... with all the defects ... that would benefit from a modern redo.

Here's an extreme example using my very first CCD image (M17 - 20 second exp.) taken on September 12,1991 with a cooled Lynxx PC camera (192 x165 pixels 31,680) on a 5.5" Celestron Comet Catcher. Image processing was very rudimentary back then, so what you saw on the computer monitor was what you got! Still, I was absolutely amazed at all the detail visible on my short exposure image.

Just got in before month end!

So I tried following a Cuiv video and while I didn't have a lot of luck with Deconvolution or Masked Stretch, I learnt a lot about Star Masks!

Automatic Background Extractor
Dynamic Crop
Curves Transformation
HDR Multiscale Transform
Extract Luminance
Screen Transfer Function/Histogram Transformation
Curves Transformation
Apply Mask
Decrease Saturation
Invert Mask
Increase Saturation

As has been said, Noise Reduction not really required with this data!

My previous attempts at this earlier in the month were rubbish but this one is half decent!


Regards

Graeme