processing Challenge 32 _LBN 550 - Lots of Dust!!

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Jockinireland Ireland
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processing Challenge 32 _LBN 550 - Lots of Dust!!

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Post by Jockinireland »


Todd Stephens is a very accomplished Astrophotographer who has had no less than 3 of his images awarded IOTD on Astrobin - quite an accomplishment. All three of these IOTD's are for widefield images of dust clouds and they are quite simply wonderful images.

Todd has very generously allowed me to put his data for a new image, which he has only recently completed, up for our monthly challenge. This is a very small jpg of the image.
Todd_LBN550.jpg
You can see the full res image, and his other fantastic images, on his Astrobin page here https://www.astrobin.com/users/FrostByte/

The image was the result of over 26 hours of data taken with a AT60ED (0.8 reducer) and a Canon 600D (It will solve for PCC at 288mm FL and 4.3 micron pixel). I believe it was taken in a very dark sky.

I've made it available as Todds original untouched fits straight out of APP and I've also save it as tiff for out Photoshoppers. I've saved both 32b unsigned and 16b this time as I think it would be worth doing initial stretching at 32 bit before completing at 16b.

Files are here https://1drv.ms/u/s!Alj6NhuYfZtW9Q12xAB ... X?e=XXoxHe

So 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.

Obviously if you want to show it anywhere other than on this thread please fully credit Todd Stephens.

Todd has said he is interested to see what others do with it so I'll send him a link to this page. So best foot forward please :D

Enjoy the challenge - its a tough one but a great data set.
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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STEVE333 United States of America
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Re: processing Challenge 32 _LBN 550 - Lots of Dust!!

#2

Post by STEVE333 »


Wonderful data, thanks so much Todd.

I forgot what a pleasure it was to work with good OSC data.

PixInsight PROCESSING:
Crop
NoiseXTerminator
Remove background gradient with AutomaticBackgroundExtraction
BackgrounNeutralization & ColorCalibration
Create Starless image and Stars image using StarXTerminator

Starless:
  • Stretch with HistogramTransformation
  • SCNR to remove any green
  • Increase color saturation with CurvesTransformation and "S" selected

Luminance:
  • Extract luminance from starless image
  • Reduce noise using NoiseXTerminator
  • Sharpen using MultiscaleLinearTransform
  • Increase contrast with LocalHistogramEqualization - Once with Kernel = 26, again with Kernel = 110
LRGB:
  • Slightly blur Starless image using Convolution to reduce noise
  • Apply LRGBCombination to Starless image with enhanced Luminance from above

Stars:
  • Gently stretch stars only image with HistogramTransformation
  • Increase color saturation with CurvesTransformation and "S" selected

Add LRGB image to Stars only image using PixelMath

LBN550_w_Stars.jpg

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
Software: PHD2; APT; PixInsight ***** My AP website: www.steveking.pictures
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Re: processing Challenge 32 _LBN 550 - Lots of Dust!!

#3

Post by Jockinireland »


@STEVE333 yes its great data. And I love these dusty images but they are difficult to capture and process.

Thats a nice process. Some of the background looks a bit blue on my screen?

How did it go with the noisexterminator when you used it for a second time i.e on the Lum layer. Did you reduce the settings?
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: processing Challenge 32 _LBN 550 - Lots of Dust!!

#4

Post by Jockinireland »


Todd first shared his data with me a couple of weeks ago and I had a go at it then. I was not really very happy with that version so had not intended to post it here but rather have another crack at it.

But I looked at it today and decided that with a few addtional tweaks it could be OK for the challenge. it is about sharing experience after all.
todd_dustR1-2.jpg
Pixinsight processing,

Dynamic crop
DBE
PCC including Background normalisation
NoiseXterminator
StarXterminator

Starless
Stretch with HT
LHE
Exponential transformation - this was to bring out the faint dust and while it worked I think its responsible for the final blotchy background.
Saturation boost in CT

Stars
Stretch with HT
Sat boost with CT
SCNR to remove green

Recombined Starless and stars with pixelmath

I then took it into photoshop for some final stuff

Balance BG with levels (I just find this easier than in PI)
I then applied a soft , heavily feathered mask over the background - mostly the lower central portion - to a new layer from copy and then applied a "screen" to that at about 50% opacity, this further boosted the faint dust.
A selective High pass routine to pick out some detail
Some final tweaks for colour and contrast in layers and that was it.

I'm not 100% happy with it. i think the background is lumpy/blotchy and could be smoother. But I will be giving it another try over the week-end to see if i can resolve that..

When you look in on this Todd - a big thank you from TSS

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: processing Challenge 32 _LBN 550 - Lots of Dust!!

#5

Post by STEVE333 »


Jockinireland wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:39 am @STEVE333 yes its great data. And I love these dusty images but they are difficult to capture and process.

Thats a nice process. Some of the background looks a bit blue on my screen?

How did it go with the noisexterminator when you used it for a second time i.e on the Lum layer. Did you reduce the settings?

Hi David, been busy all day. You're absolutely right about the background, it was way too blue. Thanks for pointing that out. I'm so used to processing in NB that I forgot that the background should be mostly black, no O3 blue - DUH!! I did some reprocessing to get back to reality. The result is below.

LBN550_w_Stars_2.jpg

As for NoiseXTerminator I tried a few settings of the Denoise and settled on 70 for the noise reduction on the already stretched Lum. It worked perfectly. I really like both of the ...XTerminator programs! They are making my processing a lot easier!

Cheers
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
Software: PHD2; APT; PixInsight ***** My AP website: www.steveking.pictures
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Re: processing Challenge 32 _LBN 550 - Lots of Dust!!

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Post by STEVE333 »


Here's a final version with even more blue removed.

LBN550_w_Stars_3.jpg

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
Software: PHD2; APT; PixInsight ***** My AP website: www.steveking.pictures
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Re: processing Challenge 32 _LBN 550 - Lots of Dust!!

#7

Post by Larry 1969 »


Thanks for the data! I've been fooling around with some of the tools in APP and this image was fun. I got something wrong with the color and I used 50% star reduction, but it could use much more IMO.

Loaded fit file into APP. Cropped stacking artifacts. Light pollution removal and background calibration. Star color and star reduction. Saved and opened in StarTools and ran my usual process. I think this is where I messed up the color. This is all new to me. I do enjoy it though!

Larry
Attachments
LBN550_stack_1_-crop-lpc-cbg-csc-sr.2.jpg
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
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Re: processing Challenge 32 _LBN 550 - Lots of Dust!!

#8

Post by CharLakeAstro »


A quick run-through this challenge. This is not an easy one to process.
The illumination does not seem to be very flat...darker top than bottom - perhaps the dust itself is the reason.

Image
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Re: processing Challenge 32 _LBN 550 - Lots of Dust!!

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Post by Jockinireland »


CharLakeAstro wrote: Fri Jun 03, 2022 6:32 am A quick run-through this challenge. This is not an easy one to process.
The illumination does not seem to be very flat...darker top than bottom - perhaps the dust itself is the reason.

Image
Hi, and welcome to the challenge.

What software are you using and what gradient reduction. I ask because this image has so much dust it took me some time to get a decent gradient removal and required very careful sample placement. I use Pixinsight and DBE
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: processing Challenge 32 _LBN 550 - Lots of Dust!!

#10

Post by CharLakeAstro »


Hi
I was using Affinity Photo. But I backed away from the gradient reduction thinking it might actually just be dust.
The extreme curve stretch required to bring out the dust sure adds a challenge.
Jockinireland wrote: Fri Jun 03, 2022 8:28 am Hi, and welcome to the challenge.

What software are you using and what gradient reduction. I ask because this image has so much dust it took me some time to get a decent gradient removal and required very careful sample placement. I use Pixinsight and DBE
Last edited by CharLakeAstro on Sat Jun 04, 2022 12:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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