Over-Done M27

[bladekeeper]

Grabbed this on 17 October. I was mainly trying to see of I could pull out any of the outer structure of this planetary. That resulted in the core being rather blown out, but I did get some fun structure to show up along with some outer fluff.

I nabbed 40×180s lights stacked about 36 of them along with darks, flats, and bias.

Scope: Stellarvue SV102T
Mount: Celestron AVX
Imaging: ZWO ASI294MC Pro cooled to -16° C
Filter: Optolong l-eNhance
Guiding: Astromani 60mm, ZWO ASI120MM-S
Software: NINA, DSS, StarTools

Compare to my capture back on 8 June of this year:

[Thefatkitty]

That's cool Bryan! Nice nebulosity (is that a word?), and one heckuva lotta stars!!

If you don't try, you'll never know...

Nice to hear from you; hope all is good

[bladekeeper]

That's cool Bryan! Nice nebulosity (is that a word?), and one heckuva lotta stars!!

If you don't try, you'll never know...

Nice to hear from you; hope all is good

Thanks, ol' buddy!

All is well, just busier than a three-legged dog trying to bury a turd on an icy lake, and too tired to think half the time.

[Don Quixote]

This is a very interesting compare, Bryan.
Would it be possible to blend these two images to restore the core?

[Juno16]

I think that you captured all of the nebulosity that M27 had to offer!

Amazing that you still managed to keep somewhat of a dark background. I’ve never seen so many stars!

Thanks,
Jim

[bobharmony]

Nice job bringing out the outer reaches, Bryan. Time to think about masking

Bob

[bladekeeper]

This is a very interesting compare, Bryan.
Would it be possible to blend these two images to restore the core?

Yeah, I think that could be done. I'll give it a go and see what I can come up with. Thanks, Mark!

I think that you captured all of the nebulosity that M27 had to offer!

Amazing that you still managed to keep somewhat of a dark background. I’ve never seen so many stars!

Thanks,
Jim

Thanks, Jim!

Hopefully the tropical weather isn't beating you up tonight!

Nice job bringing out the outer reaches, Bryan. Time to think about masking

Bob

Thanks, Bob! Yeah, I've been avoiding the "m" word for too long. Time to dive into it.

[Hankmeister3]

You don't happen to be one of those closet astro-extremists, eh, Bryan?

Actually, it looks like one of those ultra-deepspace X-ray photos of a very fast rotating object. I can't believe you actually got a black background, too.

[MariusD69]

Awesome! Well done, Bryan!

[bladekeeper]

You don't happen to be one of those closet astro-extremists, eh, Bryan?

Actually, it looks like one of those ultra-deepspace X-ray photos of a very fast rotating object. I can't believe you actually got a black background, too.

Hahaha! Well, on visual observing I have a penchant for pushing myself and gear as hard as I can. I don't quite have the chops for that with AP.

Awesome! Well done, Bryan!

Thanks, Marius!

[Brian]

That is very interesting. I have wondered what it takes to capture and bring out those very faint details without blowing out the brighter regions. You have an great comparison there bladekeeper. Do any of the gurus out there have input on how they make aesthetic images across such a large dynamic range?

[bladekeeper]

That is very interesting. I have wondered what it takes to capture and bring out those very faint details without blowing out the brighter regions. You have an great comparison there bladekeeper. Do any of the gurus out there have input on how they make aesthetic images across such a large dynamic range?

Thanks, my friend.

I think some aspect of HDR processing would accomplish that. Or masking and layering from a shorter exposure image of the object. I've got it on my to-do list to work on that but I just haven't to-dunnit yet.

Working on a lunar imaging article for the local astro club newsletter. As soon as I get that buttoned up, I'll settle in with the image and get good and mad trying to improve it a bit. I've got some reading and studying to do on that first.

[SkyHiker]

Doesn't HDR use a single image? Try killing the stars with Erode in Gimp then stacking them, either 2 images in DSS or in Gimp with 50% opacity. I know easier said than done but working with masks may be worse!

[bladekeeper]

Doesn't HDR use a single image? Try killing the stars with Erode in Gimp then stacking them, either 2 images in DSS or in Gimp with 50% opacity. I know easier said than done but working with masks may be worse!

Hahaha! Thanks for the tip, Henk. I'll give that a go and see what I can come up with.

[BABOafrica]

Always hard to decide exactly how to process all the data. But you got something and it's nice.

BABO

[pakarinen]

[...] busier than a three-legged dog trying to bury a turd on an icy lake

Ok, I'm definitely writing that one down for future reference.

(I really like the triplet of red stars at about the 2 o'clock position on the longer exposure.)

[bobharmony]

Following up on Henks post, you could try the Layer feature in StarTools. It also allows HDR without masks by blending the two (or more) images. I learned about it last year while working on my various exposure lengths of M42.

B0b

[10538]

Hello Bryan my friend! I don’t know a dang thing about AP but I like the June 8 version better! Hope you’re doing well!!

[bladekeeper]

Always hard to decide exactly how to process all the data. But you got something and it's nice.

BABO

Thanks, Joe!

Ok, I'm definitely writing that one down for future reference.

(I really like the triplet of red stars at about the 2 o'clock position on the longer exposure.)

Thanks! Yeah, I've got a million dumb sayings like that. I am a product of being raised by my Arkansas grandparents.

Following up on Henks post, you could try the Layer feature in StarTools. It also allows HDR without masks by blending the two (or more) images. I learned about it last year while working on my various exposure lengths of M42.

B0b

Thanks, Bob! I will give that method whirl too!

Hello Bryan my friend! I don’t know a dang thing about AP but I like the June 8 version better! Hope you’re doing well!!

Hi Ed! I don't know a dang thing about AP either so you are in good company!

Doing good here, just so darn tired.