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One nice thing about AP is that when the skies do not cooperate, you can always go back and reprocess data.
Even though there isn’t the thrill of newly captured data, the re-process is always fun and gives you the “feel” of being out there again especially when you feel that there is an improvement.
This is an image of M1 that I captured in January of 2021.
I ran it through the latest Pixinsight version 1.8.9-1 and ver. 2.5.4 WBPP utilizing Local Normalization and drizzle (1x, no increase in file size or processing time).
Plus, I have some new tools like StarXterminator and NoiseXterminator and Bill Blanshan’s quick GHS stretch and star reduction tools (pixelmath).
I like this process much better. Please offer any comments positive or negative that you have.
Thank you very much for looking.
Last edited by Juno16 on Wed Nov 30, 2022 3:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jim
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
Hey Jim. I don’t think I saw the first one but this image of the Crab Nebula is fantastic. Not over saturated with colour and clearly showing the complex knotty filaments. It’s a beauty, buddy. Nicely done!
Arry (Bortle 7 area)
Telescopes: Sky-Watcher ED72II, Sky-Watcher PDS130, Sky-Explorer SN F4 200mm astrograph and Vixen F11.1 90mm Cameras: Nikon D5300 modded, Canon Kiss X8i modded, Cooled Canon kiss X4 modded, Atik 16IC and 383 colour, ASI120MC, QHY5LII Mount: Sky-Explorer HEQ 5 belt driven
messier 111 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 12:33 am
love the colors and details , thx .
Thank you Jean-Yves!
Gmetric wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 12:34 am
Hey Jim. I don’t think I saw the first one but this image of the Crab Nebula is fantastic. Not over saturated with colour and clearly showing the complex knotty filaments. It’s a beauty, buddy. Nicely done!
Hi G!
I really appreciate your nice comments!
You might be able to see the original version if you scroll down the Astrobin link, but I’m not sure since I have an account.
The stars were splotchy and eggy, the nebula colors were different, and the stars within the nebula showed ringing from poor settings in deconvolution.
It’s nice having 10TB+ storage in my pc. I save everything!
Jim
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
Ylem wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 1:22 am
That's awesome Jim, I do recall you posting the original.
Thanks a bunch Jeff!
Like I told G, I think if you open the image in Astrobin, you can scroll down and see the original version.
It wasn’t bad, but had a few issues that I could help with being a tad better at processing.
Jim
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
The almost two year old data had elongated stars (my old AVX) and I had to "fix" that (took about two minutes). Other than that the data processing was really smooth.
The original process was about two months after I started using Pixinsight. Going on close to two years now and I have so much more to learn.
I know that we talked about moving to PI years ago and I am surely glad that I did.
Thank you for your nice comment JT!
Jim
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
Hey Jim, thats a great example of why we should consider reprocessing older data with newer tools of software versions.
The original was nice but this is head and shoulders (if crabs had head and shoulders!) above it. The background is nicer, stars tighter and better colours, nebula itself is smoother without halos.
Mighty fine job indeed Jim!
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
Very impressive! One of the best Crabs that I've seen.
============================================================================= I drink tea, I read books, I look at stars when I'm not cursing clouds. It's what I do. =============================================================================
AT50, AT72EDII, ST80, ST102; Scopetech Zero, AZ-GTi, AZ Pronto; Innorel RT90C, Oberwerk 5000; Orion Giantview 15x70s, Vortex 8x42s, Navy surplus 7x50s, Nikon 10x50s
Jockinireland wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 12:45 pm
Hey Jim, thats a great example of why we should consider reprocessing older data with newer tools of software versions.
The original was nice but this is head and shoulders (if crabs had head and shoulders!) above it. The background is nicer, stars tighter and better colours, nebula itself is smoother without halos.
Mighty fine job indeed Jim!
I appreciate your nice comment! The original process was after a few months into Pixinsight and I was kind of “plucking “ around. Another 10 years and I might have it!
pakarinen wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 1:51 pm
Very impressive! One of the best Crabs that I've seen.
Cool! Thank you!
bobharmony wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 2:57 pm
That is a LOT of internal structure brought out without overdoing things. Nice improvement in your processing regimen, Jim!
Bob
Hi Bob.
It’s hard to not get carried away with targets like this and I tried to keethings tamed down a little bit, but it ended up with a little bit of “pop” anyway.
Thank you for you very nice words!
Jim
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
Mac wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 4:35 pm
Great processing on a gorgeous target. I haven't imaged this one in over 2 years, time to try again.
Really need a bigger scope to do this target justice.
I thought about cropping, but decided to leave it as-is.
Actually, it’s the first time I’ve used the auto cropped masterlight version in the new WBPP. If you have an updated to the latest version yet, it’s got a few nice surprises.
I hope you get a chance to image the Crab soon.
This data was from January 2020 and I would like to add some more time on it too!
Thanks a bunch Steve!
Jim
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
bernhardhubl wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 5:26 pm
Hello Jim,
Very nice details!
best,
Bernhard
Thank you Bernhard!
Jim
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
Juno16 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 5:02 pm
[
Actually, it’s the first time I’ve used the auto cropped masterlight version in the new WBPP. If you have an updated to the latest version yet, it’s got a few nice surprises.
I have used the WBPP script a total of maybe 5 times. Some day I may go back and try it. It often failed to stack my photos so I did it all manually and never stopped.
Steve
Scopes : Explore Scientific ED102 Triplet APO - Radian Raptor Triplet APO - Orion 50mm Mount : AVX EQ |Software : KStars - EKOS - Stellar OS |Cameras : ZWO ASI533MC ASI1600MM ASI120MM-mini CPU : Mac Studio, iMac - Kstars-Ekos on Raspberry Rpi4/RPi5 |Misc : Thousand Oaks dew controller - DewNot straps - Optolong L-enhance - ZWO EAF Image Processing : PixInsight - LightRoom - Photoshop - macOS 14 - Windows 11
Juno16 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 5:02 pm
[
Actually, it’s the first time I’ve used the auto cropped masterlight version in the new WBPP. If you have an updated to the latest version yet, it’s got a few nice surprises.
I have used the WBPP script a total of maybe 5 times. Some day I may go back and try it. It often failed to stack my photos so I did it all manually and never stopped.
I get that Steve. Really is the same thing as manual pre-processing, just lumped into one package. I have had a few issues that could have been sorted out better if I was pre-processing manually, but the PI developers have really made WBPP into a nice feature rich package recently that is very stable (at least so far for me) and works very well.
If I had several failures with WBPP, I would be doing all of the pre-processing manually too.
Jim
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/