Making the most of poor data

[strongmanmike]

Well...I haven't captured any more data but for the life of me, I was frigin determined to wring some more fidelity and detail out'a this damn crap Trifid data :tasdevil: :lol:

So...

1) Even given the conditions, the small amount of Halpha I gathered wasn't enough but it had the most detail in it so I re layered it in both the Lum and the Red being more careful with the layer blending, applied some high pass layering and selective sharpening and local contrast enhancement to bring out the dust lanes in the cats face better and give it some 3 dimensional depth.

2) Improved the star shapes, colour and fidelity with better blending and worked on improving the blue channel which was most affected by the poor seeing

3) Lifted the overall colour fidelity without stretching in any more noise (not enough data to begin with :()

Still be better to gather some Lum and or Ha under better conditions to really improve it but hopefully it has more oomph and fidelity now...what do you think?

The new improved Trifid Nebula (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/155999986/original)

oooor displayed a little smaller (https://www.flickr.com/photos/strongman/14370310962/in/photostream/lightbox/) it looks better :lol:

Given the conditions and low amount of data, I think this is about as good as it gets...without introducing processing artifacts :)

EDIT: funny, every image I have taken of the Trifid since about 2004 was done in poor conditions, I can't get a break on this one :shrug: :help:
although I think this latest version was the first taken entirely under a bright moon as well..?

2009 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/115753547/original): wind, bad seeing, drifting cloud and fog :sadeyes:

2007 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/82479275/original): Poor seeing and wind :eek:

2006 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/58377174/original): poor seeing :rolleyes: - but hey..no guiding! - I turned it off so the autoguiding wouldn't chase the seeing = the NJP is a great mount :thumbsup:

2006 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/62110287/original): poor seeing and high cloud again :help:

aaaand early 2004 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/55309763/original): can't find the log notes for this one..but I was a fledgling CCD imager then...can you tell? :P :sad:

Mike

[MrB]

I quite like it Mike.
Can even make out the Unicorn's 'horn'.

How much of your processing is done in AA?
I'm still learning the ropes, haven't had too many ah-ha moments but to be honest I'd be just as lost in any package (PI, Nebulosity, MaxIm etc.)

[stevous67]

. :lol:

Your so called poor data :whistle:, combined with your processing skills :einstein: has produced a very acceptable trifid. Colour and appearance looks great, stars very nicely controlled. Standing back, it's a great looking image.

Steve :thumbsup:

[Rod771]

Well, that's a great result with crappy data :)

I'd be very chuffed with that! :thumbsup:

[Stevec35]

I think a very acceptable result

Cheers

Steve

[gregbradley]

Not too shabby. Should've deconvolved it hehehehe

Greg.

[Elio]

awesome result ... :eyepop:

[David Fitz-Henr]

You've turned that data into a very respectable Trifid Mike; with 2.5 hrs of data - what's your next mega-data project? :rofl:

[SkyViking]

Great result Mike, this version is definitely an improvement. Given what you had to work with it is very respectable outcome for sure, nice work!

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Simon, yeah I guess revealing the unicorns horn is a sign that I got it over some sort of line huh? :lol:

I do all the camera control, image capture, sub frame aligning, data reduction ( :question: but no darks and no flats so not much'o that these days ;)), the RGB combine, ddp sharpening and stretch and log stretching in Astroart, most other things are done in PS



Well ya gotta be tenacious in this game sometimes Steve huh? ;)

Ahhh, standing baaaack... good idea Steve, squinting probably helps too :lol: :thumbsup:

Cheers mate :thumbsup:



Good to hear Rod, thanks :thumbsup:



Thanks Steve, funny, every image I have taken of the Trifid since about 2004 was done in poor conditions, I can't get a break on this one :shrug: :help:

2009 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/115753547/original): wind, bad seeing, high cloud :sadeyes:

2007 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/82479275/original): Poor seeing and wind

2006 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/58377174/original): poor seeing - but hey..no guiding! - I turned it off so the autoguiding wouldn't chase the seeing = the NJP is a great mount :thumbsup:

2006 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/62110287/original): poor seeing and high cloud again :rolleyes:

aaaand early 2004 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/55309763/original): can't find the log notes for this one..but I was a fledgling CCD imager then...can you tell? :P

[strongmanmike]

:lol:..yeah I tried but it just looked like an image suffering from bad seeing that was deconvolved, the band aids were obvious :question: :lol:



Cheers Elio



Oh yes I plan on trying to push it out closer to 3hrs next time :scared2: perhaps with the Sun still up too:lol:



He he t'was much fun Sidonioing the data :P

Mike

[Shiraz]

nothing too shabby about the smaller version - good save.

[strongmanmike]

Yes, when in doubt...just post a smaller image :lol:

[Elio]

You are a devil... :lol:

[strongmanmike]

Diavolo :wink2:

[Paul Haese]

Looks pretty good to me. Good colour and detail is quite nice; although I reckon you can sharpen up those dust lanes a little more yet without making it look over sharpened. In any event I like the look of the image.

I really ought to do this object with the RC12. Perhaps if time permits after I have finished the narrow band work on IC2944.

[strongmanmike]

Hey look, it's an image, not a show stopper but given the conditions I'll take it :) Tried several extra sharpening routines but all tended to just make it look sharpened, t'is a fine line...at 2.5hrs total and a bright moon, the data was a bit thin on :)

Mike

[MrB]

Hah no, I just don't recall seeing it in other shots. I've probably just never looked hard enough :lol:

[strongmanmike]

It's a basic test of a decent Trifid Nebula image really, if you can make out the two jets then it makes the grade...then the resolution of the image can be judged up from there by just how clear the two opposing jets are..right up to THIS (http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap031228.html) :D

I was lucky just to show them, in better conditions it could be interesting :)

Mike