Ring Nebula RCW104 surrounding WR75. Big version here This image is with narrowband filters and is very dim and was difficult to process. Not oft imaged, it took over 120 hours of exposure time to get to this a bit noisy effort. The ring nebula (OIII, mapped to blue) is very tenuous. This is in a busy starfield so only bright stars are shown for clarity (in RGB).
Taken on my RCOS 10" RC Scope at f9, SBIG STXL6303E Camera and PME mount at itelescopes Siding Spring Observatory.
Processed with CCDstack, Star Tools and Photoshop.
Several processing features in Startools made processing this possible which would have been very difficult indeed with regular linear processing all other apps use!.
Fred,
Great image of obviously a difficult target
Well done indeed
I’m an avid Startools user, I’d be interested in what processing modules and settings you used in lieu of other software
Cheers
Martin
Thanks Marc, Yes its been a while, life gets in the way sometimes!, always collecting data though (the luxury of remote imaging). Now,finally, I have time to process, so more pics to come soon
Its the ability to reprocess anything at anytime that helped me (nonlinear processing), like global stretch from scratch and decon etc at any time down the track. The locality setting in the contrast module was an eye opener!. PI for instance cant get close to this with its linear processing. The noise tracking while you stretch etc is so cool , makes final noise reduction so easy without masks and monster effort.
Its the ability to reprocess anything at anytime that helped me (nonlinear processing), like global stretch from scratch and decon etc at any time down the track. The locality setting in the contrast module was an eye opener!. PI for instance cant get close to this with its linear processing. The noise tracking while you stretch etc is so cool , makes final noise reduction so easy without masks and monster effort. Im a Startools fan boy, so take with a pinch of salt, but the old school linear processing PI does (albiet very powerfull) just doesnt cut it anymore IMO.
Fred,
Thanks
I’ve been pushing the Startools wheelbarrow on IIS for years
Only a few takers
Some folk avoid using it due to having a computer with an old processor and not much Ram ( it does need a powerful computer to process in an efficient and timely manner )
As far as noise mitigation on poor data it’s unbelievable and the new Super Structure module is a real game changer ( hate that word but applicable)
I think Ivo is still ironing out some minor bugs with V1.8 , can’t wait for the stable version
Cheers
Martin
I have used Startools at times and I like it too. I'll have to get the latest version and learn it better.
Greg.
Thanks Greg
well, with remote imaging, capture isn't that hard, just click and go, but over processing the way i do took far too long, frustrating at times.
Despite the slightly clunky UI, Startools does take a bit of learning to get its full benefit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy01
Cool target Fred, welcome back!
Marathon effort too, 120 hrs
Looks a tad black clipped though - did you see Don Goldman's version?
Not many other versions of this out there, it's seriously feint!
Thanks Andy
Yes, the black is clipped. The red background although real just looked a bit excessive, i probably should have left it. Dons pic looks quite different and more natural, its mostly RGB, I was after a different look. Other than being very dim, perhaps its not a popular target because its in a very busy starfield which makes it hard to see the ring nebula and other detail generally.
That's astonishing Fred! Just had a look at ours from 2018. The field is awash with myriad tiny stars making it all but impossible to see the nebula. But you have succeeded superbly. It looks extremely beautiful.
Thanks for your kind words Mike. I used your image for reference actually, it one of the best out there and of course processed more naturally. I can understand those that wouldn't like the star removal and my butchery generally, but I think it shows the nebula nicely.
Fred,
Thanks
I’ve been pushing the Startools wheelbarrow on IIS for years
Only a few takers
Some folk avoid using it due to having a computer with an old processor and not much Ram ( it does need a powerful computer to process in an efficient and timely manner )
As far as noise mitigation on poor data it’s unbelievable and the new Super Structure module is a real game changer ( hate that word but applicable)
I think Ivo is still ironing out some minor bugs with V1.8 , can’t wait for the stable version
Cheers
Martin
Yes it does require fast PC with reasonable RAM, and a good GPU (i now have a RTX 2070 super) to get things done in a timely manor, nothing takes a long time now . The tracking and noise reduction with it is magic on noisy data, probably the best feature of startools. Ive played with the super structure module a bit, it does look promising.
- did you see 
. The tracking and noise reduction with it is magic on noisy data, probably the best feature of startools. Ive played with the super structure module a bit, it does look promising.
