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M45 - Any better?


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I went back to the original unprocessed FITS and did the following:-

 

Crop

Gradient adjustment (using GraXpert)

In PI

  • SpectroPhotometric Colour Calibration
  • BlurX
  • Stretch with BB scripts
  • Star Removal
  • Against 'Starless' - Multiscale Median Transform noise reduction against 8 layers

In PS CC

  • Selective NR using NoiseX against the outer frame.
  • Stretch of starless image to bring out fainter nebulosity
  • Local contrast adjustment
  • Make stars smaller against Star layer image
  • Boost saturation of stars through Match Colour in Star layer image
  • Merge stars to starless using screen
  • Flatten image and export.

 

Here is the finished article in two versions. One without star reduction, the other with. I haven't messed around with this one any near as much as I did with the other posting and I feel happier about it but at this stage I'm snow blind and needs objective input from others as to whether it's any different and/or better (and which version for that matter)?

 

Tony

 

Without star reduction:-

 

M45-redcat.png.a6e988967926bb347c891ddabdcdf122.png

 

 

With star reduction:-

 

M45-redcat-RS.png.6d2b281dacb1e54bc1e18f8426ee1a6b.png

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Tony, thats a significant improvement, IMHO, the Pleiades are well defined and the molecular clouds aslo have more definition.

For my perference I like the version without star reduction works better as the brighter stars help define the dust rather than in emission nebula when stars can overwhelm the nebula.

You've put a shift in with this process and it shows,

Bryan

 

 

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4 hours ago, Astrobdlbug said:

Tony, thats a significant improvement, IMHO, the Pleiades are well defined and the molecular clouds aslo have more definition.

For my perference I like the version without star reduction works better as the brighter stars help define the dust rather than in emission nebula when stars can overwhelm the nebula.

You've put a shift in with this process and it shows,

Bryan

 

 

Thanks Bryan, that’s music to my ears! 😊👍

 

Tony

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I don't know or understand many of the technical terms used but I can say I prefer the image without star reduction.

I don't think removing or muting the stars in the background undermines the target at all. In fact I think M45 looks very slightly blurred in the second image. The contrast between the stars and the nebulosity is really important and I think that stands out a little more in your first rendition.   Gary

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