geeklee

Definitely worth clicking through for the full size version to really appreciate the detail in M100 and NGC 4312. Excellent Adrian.

Yeah, I was mainly angling for a look at a jpeg of the full size version - if you were happy with how it looks at the full size of course ☺️ 😉 I keep clicking on it to try and view a bigger version!

Do you need to use them regularly on the same monitor to keep it calibrated? If not, it feels like a great tool... to rent!

Lovely again @Rustang How does the full size one look - is it too noisy, hence resized/rescaled? This one certainly has more drama to it... deeper, harder contrasts. Fantastic.

Thanks Chris. Going by images here and on Astrobin there's so many different FOV options depending on your setup - all offering something unique and interesting. Maybe one for next year!

If you'd like any clarification, just come back - there are plenty of PI users on SGL 👍 Not sure if you have any of these, but books like "Inside PixInsight" and "Mastering PixInsight" both contain great "starter workflows". These are well described, straight forward work flows that let you utilise the basic tools to get to a point where you're ready to tackle more. Websites like Light Vortex Astronomy also contain things like this. The background extraction came to mind as you mentioned you still had some gradients. Your image above is looking good BTW, just with the bits you've done already 👍 🙂

Have you utilised one of the background extraction tools before the BackgroundNeutralization & ColourCalibration? This might be AutomaticBackgroundExtractor (ABE) to start with or DynamicBackgroundExtraction (DBE) if you're comfortable with that. The STF is acting on the pixel values at the time of application so anytime these change - for example a BackgroundNeutralization, ColourCalibration or Background Extraction (ABE/DBE) then STF can be reapplied. Really, anything being changed while the image is still linear will affect that original STF. An obvious one will be noise reduction (NR) - you'll apply NR, it'll look fine, then you'll apply STF again and wonder what's happened - always remember the STF is very aggressive and just applying a later stage STF stretch isn't always the best way forward (although great to test with when you're learning - you can still adjust it while its applied in HistogramTransformation). The triangle you mention applies the process in question (e.g. ColourCalibration). At this point the pixel values have likely been changed and the STF applied is based on older values. Hope this helps.

That's a good way to view without that green cast at the beginning with STF though 👍

Hi Simon - typically after a BackgrounNeutralization, you may need to apply ScreenTransferFunction again. Give this a go first and report back 👍 Remember, in PI the STF is non destructive, just an aggressive view of what the data could look like stretched.

Lovely Adrian - nice blending of the two data sets as well! I've always thought skull when seeing this rotated.

That looks fantastic again @Rustang Looking at the image, I hadn't realised it was bi-colour until reading the info above it! The "back" of the Pelican's head with the varying brightness in the swirling nebula looks amazing.

Very interesting Mike. I have experienced similar issues with a basic, powered USB3 port & 120MM-mini. I got down to the low ports during testing but not low enough! I'll aim to give ports 1 and 2 a try at some point - hopefully save that extra cable I ran...

I think you're doing a great job. The above is starting to show more of the outer cluster and looks great into the core, nice background and lots to look over at 1:1 without any artefacts etc (bar the stacking ones).

Very nice! That's come out great @scotty38 The tiny galaxy at 2'o'clock (edge of cluster) and the slightly larger one a little further out look good against the cluster. You've got a little bit of stacking artefacts around the edges that can be easily cropped off.

The starfield in this is beautiful. The variety of sizes and colour just light the whole image up.

Such an expansive wide field shot! Really enjoyable write up too and thanks for the inverted markup image that kept me on track 😅

Great stuff Wim. Time well spent and an excellent outcome. The enlarged crop doesn't do it (as much) justice - you should include the 1:1 version - awesome.

That's lovely @Stuf1978 Viewing at full size is recommended, there's some great details picked up in the small to mid size galaxies.

Thanks Wim. I was sure I'd read this about the limiting magnitude (with NGC catalogue), but couldn't find it within the Script for either. I'll go and read the documentation a bit closer.

Lovely image Adrian. That fine structure starting to come out around the core is stunning especially alongside the subtle processing of the ever fainter outer areas of the galaxy. Worth clicking through and looking at full resolution!

Thanks Paul. Good catch, it's a great area to look at too. There's a lovely little galaxy in the middle top (ish) of that group that has a tiny bit of detail. So little, yet so much

Thanks @scotty38 Sounds good, I'll keep an eye out for your image 👍 For the basics - If you've not used the annotation stuff before - the final image needs solved first with the ImageSolver script (under Scripts | Image Analysis). I tend to use the Search and use an object in the image, then fill out the focal distance and pixel size. I'm not always accurate with the date. example: Once solved, go to Scripts | Render and choose AnnotateImage. You'll have some catalogues already selected and can add more with the "+". Some may need additional data downloaded. Have a play about with how you want it to look and then go. If it's a final image you'll likely want to make sure "Apply STF before annotation" is unchecked. You can also change font sizes and colours of the different catalogues. Apologies if you knew all this already!

Absolutely. Even in the main image, it's hard to focus on everything that's in the background that might be another galaxy, but the annotated image helps enormously. It appears to - via the Process Console output during rendering. The numbers have a slight mismatch further down so I'm unsure which is accurate. Here's a quick couple of snippets from the console: There are some enormous catalogues available if you want to utilise additional disk space!

Fantastic @tomato M51 is looking great as well alongside the less common ones above it. Dual Esprit rig getting worked hard 😍

That looks great @StargeezerTim Love the star field surrounding the Iris - especially the colours.