This is to illustrate the power of image processing.
Image #1 is an unprocessed image from a AVI stack.
Image #2 is the result of stacking in Registax 6. A mild wavelet treatment has been applied.
Image #3 is Image # 2 touched up in GIMP. only levels have been adjusted.
I have now processed dozens on AVIs in my short time as an astronomy hobbyist but I am still amazed at the difference between raw images and the final result.
Aha! When I first looked there was an image missing, this makes more sense now Huge difference.
I think I prefer the less contrasty pre-levels adjusted image better.
Simon, I have also had similar feedback from another IC member who though that there was too much point black resulting in some loss of details in the terminator. I agree.
I have gone back to my original picture which is of better quality than the one posted here (#3). It's not as much 'in your face' as picture #3, which, the more I look at it, the more it looks like a dog's breakfast. Something has definitely been lost in the transfer but there is also too much contrast (generally I thing all my photos have too much contrast, I think, to compensate for their grainy texture).
I have attached 3 different versions with less contrast. Are they any better? which one do you prefer (#4, #5, #6)? I have reduced the size of the files for ease of upload. I hope the quality hasn't suffered too much.
Huge difference.
