Moon 2019-11-13 - First Mosaic!

[fatboy1271]

Hey All,

I need some processing advice on this please I looked at Bryan's list of software as a guide; I really love the MS ICE program for stitching mosaics. As the title states, this is my first mosaic!

It's funny that I've had my setup now for a few years and I'm still learning that I have things in my accessory box that I didn't know I had! This is the first time I've imaged the Moon with my ASI120MC and the ES ED80 without using the diagonal. When I got to thinking about taking some new Moon shots I thought that I would have to buy some new accessories. Then I looked at the diagonal and saw that there was indeed a 2" to 1.25" adapter that comes out of the diagonal... DUH! For some reason, maybe because I never really looked at it, I thought the diagonal's 1.25" opening was just part of it. Anyway, not using the diagonal makes for much better imaging

Do people use Darks, Bias, and Flats in their Lunar processing? I took video for Darks but didn't use them.

SharpCap, Autostakkert!, Registax, MS ICE, Photoshop

Stacked in AS! and unedited:

Registax; did I overdo the Wavelets?

Photoshop; overlay of unedited stack on top of Wavelet version, with Saturation reduction in color and an Opacity reduction for the overlay. Ugh, I believe there is also some Layer editing to darken the Wavelet version, but I confused myself with all the "learnin'" I did in PS:

[JayTee]

Hi Patrick,

No, for planetary /lunar Imaging we only use the light frames that come from a video file. The reason -- everything is bright enough to not warrant those other frames.

Cheers,
JT

[fatboy1271]

Hi Patrick,

No, for planetary /lunar Imaging we only use the light frames that come from a video file. The reason -- everything is bright enough to not warrant those other frames.

Cheers,
JT

Thanks JT! Makes perfect sense

[UlteriorModem]

Looks good to me, the center one may be a tad over sharpened, but it is dramatic!

[Thefatkitty]

Those look good! Maybe a bit over sharpened in Registax, but it's hard to know where to draw the line sometimes Still, your focus is great!

As for advice.... Seriously, I use an old DSLR, an even older achro, and different software, so I really wouldn't be able to help you out. All I can do is to tell you to keep it up; you're off to a great start!

All the best,

[bladekeeper]

Pretty darn cool!

Yeah, the wavelets version is a bit on the crunchy side for my taste. But you salt and pepper it however you like it, bubba.

Registax does have some color balance features. Top right corner in the Features box, look for Histogram. You can adjust all three RGB channels separately as well as the gamma. Don't forget to hit the Do All button afterward.

Typically I will crank through AS and then Resistax and am done unless I do the StarTools color balance treatment. That seems to work best on mosaics and not on single panel captures, though, for me at any rate.

Getting the wavelets nailed down can be a little time consuming. I tend to only mess with the first two sliders and I do not touch the others. Once you get it adjusted to your liking, be sure to "Save Scheme" so that you can recall the settings in the future. I also find that this can vary depending on the scope used. I find that with my achros, 25 on the first slider and 10 on the second works quite well. With my apo, 8 and 4.

As JT mentioned, no darks or flats required. I do have a hot pixel on my ASI120, but it can be easily blotted out with the band-aid tool in PS. A little dab'll do ya!

[fatboy1271]

Pretty darn cool!

Yeah, the wavelets version is a bit on the crunchy side for my taste. But you salt and pepper it however you like it, bubba.

Registax does have some color balance features. Top right corner in the Features box, look for Histogram. You can adjust all three RGB channels separately as well as the gamma. Don't forget to hit the Do All button afterward.

Typically I will crank through AS and then Resistax and am done unless I do the StarTools color balance treatment. That seems to work best on mosaics and not on single panel captures, though, for me at any rate.

Getting the wavelets nailed down can be a little time consuming. I tend to only mess with the first two sliders and I do not touch the others. Once you get it adjusted to your liking, be sure to "Save Scheme" so that you can recall the settings in the future. I also find that this can vary depending on the scope used. I find that with my achros, 25 on the first slider and 10 on the second works quite well. With my apo, 8 and 4.

As JT mentioned, no darks or flats required. I do have a hot pixel on my ASI120, but it can be easily blotted out with the band-aid tool in PS. A little dab'll do ya!

Thanks for all the info Bryan! I totally agree with people's view of the second version, but I do think the blending of the two isn't too bad. Nice to know about the sliders, as I used all six...