Deep Sky M45 repro

[Larry]

Hello everyone!
I took the dive into Pixinsight recently and I've been running some of my older data to try to familiarize myself with it. I can't remember how much integration time this was, but I do know I took 180" exposures which is probably too long for this target. I also printed myself some anti-spike masks that I will use when I try it again this year.

Here's my smash-and-grab approach at processing.
Thanks for looking and I could use all the help I can get so, C&C welcome.

 

[Tracy]

Nothing wrong with that.... in fact, rather jealous!

AllI know is that you guys have gotten me cursing mother nature.... I'm sitting here with all these new toys, and, being a night owl that is normally up all night, I keep going out and all I got are those "beautiful" clouds running around.

 

[OhNo]

Great balance of light to dust. Some tool in Pix that are often overlooked are Color Calibration and Color Saturation. Not that you needed those on this image. I know which scope you used but what camera? OSC Mono we needs ta know!

 

[Larry]

Nothing wrong with that.... in fact, rather jealous!

AllI know is that you guys have gotten me cursing mother nature.... I'm sitting here with all these new toys, and, being a night owl that is normally up all night, I keep going out and all I got are those "beautiful" clouds running around.

Sorry to hear about your clouds. I suffer from them quite frequently here but I did manage to set up tonight! Thanks for the compliment!

Larry

 

[Larry]

Great balance of light to dust. Some tool in Pix that are often overlooked are Color Calibration and Color Saturation. Not that you needed those on this image. I know which scope you used but what camera? OSC Mono we needs ta know!

Thanks! I did use color calibration and I did the sharpening in curves. Pretty sure I clipped the blacks though... I need to figure out the Histogram Transformation part...

Larry

 

[OhNo]

I don't use Histogram Transformation much. I tend clip when I do. I use Curves Transformation. And I always try and remember "Less is More"!

Pix is a little funny in the sharpening department. I occasionally use deconvolution, especially if the stars aren't sharp due to focus or poor conditions. I used it today on last nights IC63 data. Stars were terrible, not so terrible now.

 

[OhNo]

Now Larry here is the hard part. lets see the factory original of M45!

 

[Larry]

I don't use Histogram Transformation much. I tend clip when I do. I use Curves Transformation. And I always try and remember "Less is More"!

Pix is a little funny in the sharpening department. I occasionally use deconvolution, especially if the stars aren't sharp due to focus or poor conditions. I used it today on last nights IC63 data. Stars were terrible, not so terrible now.

I meant "saturation" not "sharpening" in curves... Geez...

 

[Larry]

Now Larry here is the hard part. lets see the factory original of M45!

The StarTools version? It's pretty awful...

 

[OhNo]

C'mon! Hmmm I remember someone over a year ago was pushin' yo buttons to give Pix a try. What was that dudes name?!?!

 

[Larry]

C'mon! Hmmm I remember someone over a year ago was pushin' yo buttons to give Pix a try. What was that dudes name?!?!

Yeah... Honestly, if I had tried to get a grip with PI right out of the gate, I would have probably given up on this silly hobby... The ONLY thing good about PI is the result... It's the most convoluted software I've ever tried to use! So much so that it actually pisses me off to a degree... NOTHING needs to be this complicated! Thankfully, there are some awesome dudes making scripts like the EZ processing suite and Bill's star reduction that take a lot of the guesswork out of some of it. I'll figure it out but, man... It's painful!

 

[OhNo]

Yup. A 20 year old could spend their lifetime and not get it all figured out! One tool I use a lot is StarNet ++. But I am running a old computer. The new version just wouldn'y work on this 'puter. I made a post on the pix forum and within 10 minutes the Japanese guy was sending me a PM. He asked what "puter I was using and sent me a link to his old beta program which I still use. That is the other thing no one mentions, the value of of a newer high HP 'puter.......

 

[Tracy]

The StarTools version? It's pretty awful...

Don't say that!!!! Are you just trying to force me to buy PixInSight?

 

[OhNo]

Mmmm Hmmm But I'd settle to see a image right outta your rig! (I imagine you are too, Mr Cloudy)

 

[Tracy]

Hit the PixInSight website up.. you'd really think someone wanting almost $300 for a software would be doing more than PayPal.... still debating to get it through even before I start capturing anything.

 

[Larry]

Don't say that!!!! Are you just trying to force me to buy PixInSight?

StarTools is actually very good and surprisingly fast with nice data. I've produced some very nice images with it. On the other hand, I've had to scrap a lot of data due to reflections, light pollution etc that I can manage much better with PI. I would recommend StarTools starting out. It is easy to use and will give you an idea of what all the "modules" actually do. I couldn't imagine starting out with PI. It is the most counterintuitive software I've ever used. It takes quite a while to figure it out.

 

[Larry]

BUT... If you're going to end up buying PI eventually, the exchange rate is favorable. It was 1:1 when I bought it.

 

[Tracy]

BUT... If you're going to end up buying PI eventually, the exchange rate is favorable. It was 1:1 when I bought it.

It's pretty much the same right now...... but with trying to learn all the equipment (and no, I didn't start out "easy"... apparently I jumped directly into the deep end of the pool, it might be overload. In need to spend time on StellarMate and Astroberry, and I can use the simplistic aspects of StarTools right now and maybe get some decent output on the front end.

One issue I have... why is software at that level processed through PayPal..
I would expect them to actually have a shop set up to process payments via regular credit card.

I currently have to decide for some new features for the site (a link page that allows users to link to other sites) or more astro related toys.

 

[Larry]

This hobby is really split into two parts. Acquisition and processing. For acquisition, are you using a Raspberry Pi? If so, I can't help you there... I use a Windows 10 mini PC. For processing I use APP for stacking (which cost $65 / year) PI and, sometimes Topaz DeNoise ($80)... There are so many ways to do it and get decent results. The biggest thing is to not have unrealistic expectations. I was totally thrilled with my first images captured with a DSLR stuffed into a 10" dobsonian.

 

[Tracy]

This hobby is really split into two parts. Acquisition and processing. For acquisition, are you using a Raspberry Pi? If so, I can't help you there... I use a Windows 10 mini PC. For processing I use APP for stacking (which cost $65 / year) PI and, sometimes Topaz DeNoise ($80)... There are so many ways to do it and get decent results. The biggest thing is to not have unrealistic expectations. I was totally thrilled with my first images captured with a DSLR stuffed into a 10" dobsonian.

Have two.. one 4GB unit running Astroberry designated for the Celestron, and then an 8GB unit running the latest StellarMate OS with a 4TB external drive attached.

As for really happy.. this is from the ONLY clear night since I got the cameras (in this case an ASI585MC)... and I was capturing using FireCapture.. and trying to learn it. I only had about 22mm of backspace, and with the Celestron I understand I need to have around 105mm (I have adequate spacers now for that).
The NexStar 8se was purchased with the primary intent of solar astro capture. This is honestly the actual 3'rd image in a 25 image capture run.

Image from first series of the Moon

• Tracy
• August 13, 2022

This was taken with a NextStar 8se and an ASI585MC camera. I only have 22mm of backspace on the...

For my normal computer stuff, I use a Mac Mini with 16GB RAM and a 1TB hard drive with a 4TB external attached...but I have a headless Dell unit with 64GB RAM , a 512 GB NVMe SSD (operating system), a 2TB SSD and a 14TB external WD hard drive that I plan to do any stacking/processing on.
Unluckily that computer only has an Intel UHD 630 onboard video card. It should actually be MORE than proficient as it's certified for 4K playback.

 

[Larry]

That's actually quite good for a first image. Much better than my first moon pics! Keep at it. It will come.

Larry