Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
All valid approaches Mike...but what Steve and I are essentially doing is simply identifying that something exists there and it's basic shape & extent. Interpreting it more accurately is for the pro's in the end as they have the large aperture telescopes, multi million dollar detectors and the dark steady sites necessary for this bit (ala my faint dwarf galaxy discovery) 
I (and I imagine Steve) have a good understanding of my imaging system glare profile around bright and dim objects, I have stretched many, many objects looking for faint strange halos (and jets  ) so I know my system very well, if I suspect something I am pretty confident I have ruled out star glare, dodgy processing and flats. Perhaps though, when the faint halo is so faint and so uniform and so circular, such as with this one by Steve, it is indeed probably a little more difficult to rule out optical halation...? But I don't think the PN in this case is bright enough to cause the extent of what Steve has shown..?
All interesting discussion 
Mike |
Looking at my data again Mike there is unquestionably a halo there and it is round and symmetrical but very faint. My processing has probably made it more prominent than it actually is which I guess is not very scientific. In any case my STXL11002 has now returned from its enforced holiday in the USA so I will be taking a break from halos for a while.