Adreneline

Great colours, framing and detail. A winner! Adrian

Very nice image with great detail. You don't say which software you are using for processing your data. I was advised by SGL members not to replace the Luminance with Ha as you will likely as not get very 'pink' results. Far better is to blend the Ha in with the Red data with a Lighten blend (some recommend Screen) as this will give you increased detail and a more balanced output. You need to experiment with the opacity of the Ha to determine the best result. HTH

Sorry - I misunderstood. I can't see that would make any difference. Once the filter glass is in the light path then a few millimetres backwards or forwards has no effect - it's all down to the thickness of the glass. Hope you manage to get it sorted. Adrian

I've used that approach when trying to fine tune to establish the spacer thickness I need BUT the image train will droop unless you are really careful and then you'll have a whole new problem to solve. Mixing filter brands inevitably means compromise somewhere. Because I tend toward NB I decided that I'd compromise with the LRGB; I just wasn't prepared to buy new LRGB filters. Rotating the filter in the holder won't change anything - the refractive index of the filter is a function of the glass used and not it's rotational position. Introducing a medium in the light path will push the focal point away from the lens hence the need to move the sensor away by ~1/3 the thickness of the filter. It took me ages and loads of trial and error (and mainly error) to get the best position with the Samyang. It pays off in the end though. Good luck. Adrian

I use a mix of Baader LRGB and Astronomik LHOS in my 8-position filter wheel and the focus position for the Baader compared with the Astronomik is significant. I have opted to have the Astronomik focus within the 'L' with the Baader focussing someway before the 'L'. I understand the Baader filters are ~3mm thick and the Astronomik are ~2mm thick; this difference in thickness will have an effect on lens focus position. Recognising the introduction or removal of 0.15mm spacer can make a significant difference in the focus position with the Samyang it is not surprising that a change of filter thickness will also change things. The lens to sensor spacing (nominally 44mm) will change by approximately 1/3 of the thickness of the filter. Other than the fact that a filter may have some sort of anti-reflective coating on one side I can't see it makes any difference which whay round they go. I have found the Astronomik filters to be more 'parafocal' than the Baader when using them with the Samyang 135mm. Interestingly when using the Astronomik with my RedCat they are exactly parafocal - the LHOS all focus in exactly the same position. HTH Adrian

I think you've got them - that's a very good image Adam - I wish I'd taken it! I love the colour and the detail you've captured. Adrian

I use an iOptron CEM25-EC, ZWO ASI1600MC, EAF, EFW, ASIair Pro + Hitec Astro Dew Controller with a single dew strap on my RedCat. With the mount slewing and camera on and cooling this is the current being drawn from my 12V 200W switched mode PSU (set to 12.5V output): I don't use the power outputs on the ASIair Pro. I use a 4 way fan-tail with a single 12V supply cable from the psu (ASIair, EAF, 1600, mount). The dew strap power cable is separate. I don't use a guide camera but the extra load if I had one would be insignificant. I can't see how I would ever get to anywhere close to 6 amps. I accept a bigger mount may draw more power but I still can't see reaching the limit. I suggest you buy yourself a little power meter connected to the psu output so you can monitor what is going on in real time. Adrian

Sorry - forgot that. For RGB I understand it is best to combine whilst still linear, whereas for narrowband I have found it's best to combine once stretched.

An inspiring image - brilliant job - flaw or no flaw - I'm for the big picture. Adrian

Yes, that's correct. Magenta is the complementary colour to Green. I think basically any colour is good in a narrowband image but Magenta doesn't appear in the spectrum so I personally think it's fair to remove it - unless of course you are a fan of Magenta.

Ooops - hit Submit accidently. If you Invert the image - apply SCNR - and then re-invert the image the halos disappear. Hope this is of interest.

Hope you don't mind me saying but there is a really easy way to fix magenta halos in PI.

I really like the almost 3D nature of the Bubble. Can I ask which processing software you use? Adrian

I'm no PI expert but before doing DBE or ABE I would: use StarAlignment to ensure all the components are aligned and registered use DynamicCrop to ensure all edge artefacts are removed. use ABE with Subtraction use BackgroundNeutralization to try to 'even up' the background space followed by ColourCalibration create a CIE-L mask to focus on the background and use MLT to reduce noise only in the background use HT for an initial incremental stretch (with the mask removed) use MLT (less aggressive) with a new CIE-L mask for further background noise reduction use ACDNR with the same mask to focus on the background to further remove noise. After all that you should have something to allow you move forward on the galaxies themselves to bring out the detail and colours, again with suitable masks. I have used the LightVortex tutorials and found them very helpful. HTH Adrian

Thanks Mick. I was pleased with how much IFN was revealed - I am sure it was all down to the exceptionally clear conditions. Adrian

Hi Alan, Thank you. Well I would be very happy to have a go but there are others on this forum with far more skill than me at this IFN stuff. Maybe if you open a thread in the Image Processing forum I'm sure plenty will be up for having a go. Adrian

Thank you Tristan. It came out better than I expected but still plenty of "room for improvement" me thinks - the story of my life! Adrian

Thank you Francis. I know the 294/135 is massively oversampled but sometimes you have to focus on the big picture Adrian

Thank you! I think the extremely clear conditions made all the difference - and the fact it is pretty dark round here (Bortle 3). Adrian

We've had two exceptionally clear nights here (two iss clearly two too many - the clouds are back!) so thought I'd have another go at the IFN in the vicinity of M81 & M82. This is 20 x 300s + 20 x 180s using my ASI294MC + Samyang 135mm - unguided. The image is totally processed in PI except for a final cosmetic use of the Affinity Burn Tool to address the overexposure in M81 and M82. I'm thinking about pairing the ASI294MC with my Samyang 85mm to see what that will produce - just need another clear night. Thank you for looking. As always C&C welcome. Adrian

Very nice Tristan - love the colours. Adrian

I also have a preference for this colour scheme - I'm not really into garish images. This is a really great image with lots of detail and depth - very nice. Adrian

Whenever I see this galaxy @mackiedlm I am reminded of the first time I imaged it with some beginner / inadequate setup ages ago and spent some considerable time in PS trying to remove that 'smudge' across the leading edge of the galaxy before I realised it was meant to be there! Your image does that 'smudge' true justice. A great image. Adrian

Hi Elly, Like a lot of people I use several different software packages. I tend to pre-process in AstroPixelProcessor because I like the interface - it's a bit like DSS in some respects. I tend do all my main post-processing in PixInsight, certainly noise reduction, background extraction (i.e. gradient removal) and stretching to non-linear. I use Affinity Photo for cosmetic adjustments - getting rid of little blemishes and enhancing colour selectively (I used to use PS but as CS6 no longer runs on my Mac I've moved to Affinity). I use Dfine2 (a very old free version) to do a final bit of noise reduction on some images, but not all. I think once you've pre-processed (calibrated, registered and integrated) then the "less is more" approach is often the best; it's too easy to go too far in search of that last photon. Finally as Steve has already said there is no substitute for lots of data - the more the better! Good luck. Adrian P.S. I used to use an IDAS UV/IR cut filter but gave up on it sometime ago. I now use Astronomik L2 (with osc camera) and L3 (with my mono camera) filters and find they are much kinder to my data. I'm sure others have different views and experiences.

Hi Elly Everyone struggles to contain stars in this region - especially Alnitak. You've done very well to keep it in check. Personally I'm not a fan of introducing star spikes where none existed. If your imaging with any sort of reflector then spikes are to be expected but not with a refractor as you are using. If you really want to add spikes there are a number of plugins for the likes of PS that will add them for you. As for containing very bright stars/regions some people go for the range of exposures approach and then combining using masks and the like in PS/GIMP etc. Some use HDR approaches as well. I've had a very quick go at processing your master stacked image. There is quite a lot of noise which I'm struggling to contain whilst at the same time pulling out the colour. I am sure someone will greater skills than me can do much better. HTH Adrian