When I posted my Thor's Helmet nebula a couple of weeks ago, I was really happy with the result, but wanted to see if more integration would make a significant improvement to the overall image. My image had an integration of 3h10' and I have now added data to give an overall integration of 10h. I actually had about 12 hours, but threw away a couple of dozen of subs with bad focus or eccentricity... I think I really like the image with more integration. There is certainly more detail. I have posted the two editions of the new image on the left, and re-posted the old image on the right for comparison.
As usual, please feel free to provide feedback so that I can improve my imaging and processing skills.
Clear skies,
Stéphane
OTA: BT200 f/5
Camera: ZWO ASI294mc
Filter: Optolong L-Extreme
Integration: 120 x 300" = 10 hours
Calibration: 50D, 30F, 50DF per imaging session
Processed in Pixinsight, Gimp, Adobe Lightroom
That's really brought out the nebula!!!
I'm quibbling here, a minor suggestion. M aybe less smoothing, or some sharpening and/or deconvolution of the nebula might bring out more features.
Stephane,
The additional data did bring out significantly more detail
Colour looks great
I agree that a little more Sharpening and Decon would provide more definition in the image
Overall an excellent result
Well done !!
Martin
PS: just keep an eye on your focusing
Thanks for the comments Martin. I tried hard to de-noise, but may have lost sharpness in the process, so I will need to look out for that and strike a better balance. As for focus, is it possible that I am making a processing error? I see a slight dimming at the center of certain bright stars (not all), but the original subs do not have that doughnut look. Is that what you are referring too? Whether it’s focus or some processing technique going wrong, I want to try fix that. Thanks again.
A very nice effort Stephane. Well done. 12hrs is a fantastic effort too. It gives you the ability to really cut out your worst subs and make the integrated stack only the best. Well done on that !
As far as the dark centers in the center of your brightest stars, I think you’ll probably find that’s white clipping. Just slightly too much stretch so you lose the colour data in the center then when you tone down the highlights it becomes a gray patch.
All in all a great effort so early on. Well done 👍
Ryan, thanks for the white clipping explanation. I never even gave it a thought. I only ever worried about black clipping. I really appreciate the tip!
