After looking at them for a few days, poking and prodding to see if I could squeeze anything more out of them, It dawned on me.. I've not run deconvolution on these images!
Heres M16 and M8 with some deconvolution applied.. First two are the originals, second two are the deconvoluted images..
David - An image starts to look overcooked when the stars become unnatural looking, or when any more adjustment only creates more noise etc.. I have many examples on my computer, but if you look in the bottom right hand corner of the M8 image you'll see its really grainy looking, thats a sure sign of overcooking an image.. Basically its just trying to get more data out of an image than what is actually there.
Marc, Yeah the ST9 blooms like all hell given enough exposure time. Im currently in deep saving at the moment, however I've secured an external guiding setup, filter wheel for the ST9 and will invest in a 7nm narrowband filter set in order to subdue the stars... the 13nm filter definitely helped, however I think going narrower is the key to stopping blooming.. I know you can process blooms out, however Im not exactly sure on how to do this yet.. Google has the answer im sure.
Marc, Yeah the ST9 blooms like all hell given enough exposure time... I know you can process blooms out, however Im not exactly sure on how to do this yet.. Google has the answer im sure.
CCD Stack as deblooming algo as part of its data rejection. You should try the free 30 day trial version see what you think. As Fred said "real cameras bloom". I'm just using a toy
hah.. Dude... Real cameras bloom.. Real nice cameras dont Not having a dig at Fred, just explaining my laziness!
I'll have a look at CCD Stack.. Starting to get WAY too many programs with CCD in the name.. K3CCDtools, CCDSoft, CCDops, CCDInspector, CCDCap... Now CCDStack... geez... I need a program called CCD_Does-all-the-hard-work-for-you-all-in-one-program
Good stuff mate – you’re really getting on top of your equipment, procedures and processing, despite the very ordinary weather we’ve been having. I look forward to more from Alex’s drought busting toys once the weather fines up!
Yes I think its all starting to come together! I look forward to learning more about the gear and perhaps adding a filter wheel into the mix once I've got this camera under control... There is still a few little glitches to iron out... Self guiding seems to work rather inconsistently, some nights its flawless, some nights it just wont guide.. I assume this is something I'm doing wrong rather than a hardware issue.. Hopefully I can get some assistance this weekend at Cambroon from someone who has more experience with the self guided sbig's..
Hahh.. Astroimaging is so different to EVERYTHING! I've been into photography as a hobby since I was 16, I've learnt more about photoshop in one year of astro imaging than I did in 8 years of photography So much to learn... Its all good fun though!
Not having a dig at Fred, just explaining my laziness! 
