Just had to share this with you... no noise reduction, no post-processing other than a mild stretch and saturation.
I originally started this project back about 5 years ago when I got my CCD, but, due to not having a permanent setup and lack of automation meant that I never really captured the appropriate data for it. Not to mention manually focusing an f/5 telescope with a 55 micron critical focus zone.
Anyway, I think last year's data capture was my third attempt when I was automated.
I have been so desperate to see colour in all my monochrome processing of this that I hurriedly put this together yesterday when I had some spare time.
This originally started out as a 8-panel mosaic but as I ran out of time capturing the necessary data for the last two panels, it has been downsized to a meagre 6 panels. Did I mention I'm currently working on another 9-panel monster? I just wish the clouds/rain would bugger off!
This has a lot of issues with it, and, I think I know how to rectify them, so will hopefully spend some time this weekend sorting it out.
I'm just so happy to finally see colour in this project that I had to share with you what I've done so far.
So, a pretty long project then H? Hey, you should have included the exact period of time to the nearest hour that you have been working on this, in the post title
Although displayed far too small to appreciate properly, t'is lookin pretty good for a work in progress H, so I'll keep a keen eye out for the finished product
The teaser shot you've published here looks absolutely delightful. We can already see lovely colour and contrast, and beautiful processing of the dust.
Nice going H. Great to see you haven't given up on this one - wondered how it was going
Incidentally, the last (recent) data I've got to process is a small area around rho oph - only a tiny fraction of what you have here. Love the yellows and reds you have BTW.
That looks like a pretty seamless mosaic H. The images size could be bigger in my opinion but as it stands it gives a fairly good overview on my screen. I like the colour but think maybe the blues could be pushed a little harder. There is some reflection nebulosity in the area that should be showing up a little better. How are you going to deal with the panels that had the cover slip issue on them? I can see 4 of them in the image.
For all the dramas you have had with this project it looks very nice at present.
Good on you Humi. Looking good. I did a similar one a few years ago and the trouble I had was some of the panels didn't overlap properly leaving a V shaped gap so be careful of that when doing large numbers of panels.
Also it was easy to get lost and wonder where a panel fitted. It can become like a jigsaw puzzle wondering where a piece fits. So good labelling was critical.
One approach to mosaics that works and is a lot easier is to process each panel the same way then make an LRGB to the same point of processing then save as a TIFF and form the mosaic using a mosaic program like PT Gui or others. Then do repair any slightly mismatched seams and final colour.
I believe I've resolved the severe issues in the red channel (I could go into detail, but, suffice to say, shooting multiple panels across multiple months is bound to give you grief). I'm learning so much about the power of PixInsight as I've been working on this. I'm being an absolute stickler and viewing the image at 1:1 resolution, and, anywhere I find a disjointed seam or overlapping partial stars causing issues with the GradientMergeMosaic module, I fix up the offending star/panel and then go about merging again.
I think I've come up with a bulletproof method for building distortion-free mosaics now, and, I just can't wait to have it complete.
Green channel completed last night.
Greg, I take care and give sufficient overlap to avoid the dreaded Vs. I made a mistake recently on a four panel mosaic of the SMC and had to shoot again with a greater overlap. I believe the closer you are to the pole, the greater the overlap needs to be. When shooting east/west, you can get away with about 5% overlap. I shoot 7.5-10% as a minimum, though. An instrument rotator would be handy. I've got a Tak-o-meter, but, just need to find time to install it and get a third RoboFocus motor.
Hey, you should have included the exact period of time to the nearest hour that you have been working on this, in the post title 
GO FIX THAT UP EH 
