Clarkey

7 hours ago, Tommohawk said:

 there are huge gradients such that judging colour balance is tricky.

You can remove light pollution and gradients on the individual stacked images before combining. This may make the colour balance easier. I think you can redo the gradients on the stacked image too (but I'm not 100% sure on that).

7 hours ago, Tommohawk said:

So not sure that using the number of subs as a guide to RGB ratios would be effective with my setup.

Maybe the file data on the stacked images contains the total duration? Not sure. I generally have similar amounts of RGB so the colour balance is normally neutral. However, on some targets I have used 4 or 5 to one in the colour balance, so again I don't think there are hard and fast rules.

If you balance the multipliers in the RGB combining as suggested then you may still find if you calibrate the star colours the whole hue of  the photo can change. Personally I find APP too blue once the star colour calibration is carried out. However, you can use the sliders in the star calibration tool to adjust the ratios of the different colours moving away slightly from the 'standard model' used in APP. Generally I now leave the RGB ratios proportional to the number of subs and then 'tweak' the colours in the star colour module. I find this gives then best 'natural' look to the stars and the galaxy.

Great image though.👍

There was a similar post to this question recently and my answer is the same. I look at BBC, Met office, Metcheck and clear outside and take an average. I then ignore this and look outside!

More seriously, I find the Met office forecast best for where I live - but it is far from perfect. As I live between multiple areas of high ground, predicting the weather is always a challenge.

Really great image. I like the processing too. Not 'overdone'.

Might put this on my list for next year.

Great result.

I'm not really sure of the merits of using Ha or Lum for the Luminance layer but sometime the Ha gives tighter stars. I also find the contrast with the dust/dark is better. However, like all AP, try different options and see which is best. What works for one target is poor on others. I got a good result with this one merging a starless and a starred image to enhance the contrast. I've tried this on some other nebulae and it just did not work.

Thanks to all for the multiple replies to the original post. I think I will get a better PC - but maybe not up to the specifications recommended by PI. Even using some of the software now takes a lot of time, even with my 'quick' computer. My main issue is that when learning or tweaking photo's if I have to keep repeating processes to see the differences, it does get time consuming.

On 12/04/2021 at 07:57, jager945 said:

To both of you, please feel free to share a stacked typical night's worth of data with me (here, via the ST forums, PM, whatever works for you). Along with that, a StarTools rendition that you're not happy with and - optionally - some other image that you do like. I'd be happy to give you any pointers.

Thanks for the reply Ivo. I have actually gone back to using Startools in combination with APP and Affinity after reading some posts on the ST forum. My results have improved hugely just by altering my early processing - generally using a manual stretch after binning and cropping. ST works reasonably well with my existing hardware - it is a little slow with some of the more processor intense operations, but tolerable for now. From the perspective of getting detail out of the images it does exceed the other software I have tried by a fair margin. This was an image I reprocessed in ST with a bit of tweaking in Affinity. It is probably my best to date. (I have only been imaging since last summer). The colour is a bit strong but that is due to the computer I am using for processing - the screen is awful!

Sounds like a faulty connection somewhere. Does it disconnect at exactly the same amount of time or does it vary? For example, if you connected and moved nothing, does it stay connected? Also, if not other kit is connected does it work OK? I have used NINA with the EQDIR cable on and HEQ5 and AZ-EQ6 and both have been fine. The only time I have had problems like this is either a dodgy connection or something else overriding the connection through the USB hub.

4 hours ago, Hughsie said:

This last 24 hours Vlaiv has presented a critique of my image far and above anything I have received so far

Vlaiv has critically assessed some of pictures in the past and it is something I am always grateful for. I am relatively inexperienced and technically far from expert and this sort of help is really appreciated. I would add more constructive criticism myself - if I was a bit cleverer🤪

Nice M82 - that's as critical I can manage at 10pm!!

Pretty good for 2 hours data in NB👍 Well done.

26 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

background is just a little too dark for me

Yes I am inclined to agree. Due to some poor flats during the first two sessions, under-stretching the background gave me a 'cleaner' image, but the black point is probably a bit too close for comfort. I don't use PS so the numbers you have quoted don't mean much to me!

35 minutes ago, oldfruit said:

Nothing to add except wow! What a lovely detailed mage. The detail in the spiral arms is excellent with all the knots and dark lanes. This really is a superb image

Thanks for your kind reply.

About a month ago I managed 3 nights on M51 - albeit over a full moon. Although I got a reasonable result, I always felt there should be more given the 17 hours of data.

Anyway I have now had a go at re-processing an I think the result is much better. The JPEG is a bit poor resolution but overall the picture is much more 'absorbing'

As always critical comment welcome.

On 06/04/2021 at 12:52, irtuk said:

ASI1600MM pro Mono with filter sets but

I have the ASI 1600MM which I purchased last year with the full filter set. I have been impressed with it - but I was moving from a DSLR too so it was going to be a big improvement. I think some of the newer camera's have better sensors to the point it is a noticeable performance difference. I still think I would go with mono if I was to chose again - mainly for NB, although the gap between mono and colour is pretty small. There are the nights where I have got 3 of the four channels before the cloud has rolled in - this is when I wished for OSC! I have learnt to rotate my filters more for exactly this reason.

PS. Don't start a OSC / mono debate. It can get a bit heated🤣

2 hours ago, Graham Darke said:

Not sure how black point adjustment works in StarTools. It always seems to produce a black background. 

One of problems I have with ST is that I never get a black background! I seem to get lots of noise instead.... Despite changing settings and watching Ivo's videos I never get clean results. Lots of detail, but much noisier than any other processing.

Nice image though. I wish I could get this detail in such a short time.

12 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Ps isn't £30 per month

Oops my mistake.

On 09/04/2021 at 01:27, The Lazy Astronomer said:

Not to tell you how to spend your money, but rather drop anywhere from £1k to £5k+ on high spec new PC components* (plus the £200ish on Pixinsight), stick with what you've got and focus on learning how to get the most out of the software on your images. Startools, for example, is very simple to begin using but (as with most things) to get the best out of it you really need to learn what it's doing and how to find the optimum settings for your data.

I have used Startools and really like some of the functions for teasing out detail. I just struggle to get a good background as it seems to pull detail from noise. But I think you have summed up my dilemma in terms of how much is me and how much is the limitations of the software.

10 hours ago, discardedastro said:

Storage performance and CPU performance are the two big ticket items for PI, though having enough RAM to take advantage of both is also important. NVMe solid-state PCIe disks for your working files (I still use spinning disks for bulk storage), a CPU with a few cores (AMD these days are by far the best bang-for-buck for PI and other multithreaded applications), and at least 32G of RAM are all ideal. But I did for a long while use PI on an old Intel 2600K with 16G of RAM; upgrading to NVMe made a huge difference. Going from that to my current rig (an AMD 3950X w/ 32G RAM and faster NVMe disks) delivered a pretty major performance boost because of the much greater volume of faster CPU cores, but it doesn't enable any more functionality - just takes less time when you hit "go" on a process!

Thanks for your very detailed reply. I think my current PC has similar specifications to your old one but with a slightly faster processor. I'll maybe do the PI trial during the summer to see how I get on with it. If I feel the benefit (on a slow PC) then I will invest in a new computer. To be honest I really could do with a new monitor now, regardless of the software I am using!

I need some guidance from the numerous Pixinsight users on the forum. Currently I image process using various bits of software including APP, Startools, Affinity plus a few minor add-ins. Although I am still learning the whole processing workflows, I feel that the images I am producing are not as good as I would like given the amount of integration time. I am seriously considering Pixinsight as this seems to be the best option for processing. I also object to spending £30 a month on PS on principle. However......

Having checked the specifications for the system requirements for PI it would require me to buy a new PC for the processing. Although I have a reasonable PC, it does not meet the recommended requirements for PI. So not only would I have to buy the software but I would need a new computer too. My question is this. Is the improvement with PI, is it worth the cost of a new PC? I do sort of need a new PC anyway, but this would require quite a good specification and higher cost.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Ian

4 hours ago, ultranova said:

There's normally a fairly strong blue  hue to most of the galaxy

for some reason there does not seem to be none.

Probably my poor processing. I think when I put it through APP star colour calibration it tends to go blue for most things. I probably undid the blue a bit too much. Ooops!

New version below - now with blue!!

Having had a couple of clear(ish) nights without a full moon for a change, I managed to get a go on M101. The conditions were not as good as I had hoped with only average seeing from a Bortle 6 location. What was more pleasing is that I did not make any of my usual cock-ups and everything worked🥳

This was 3.5 hours of luminance, 75 minutes per channel of RGB and 2 hours of Ha taken with an ASI1600MM. Processing was done with APP and Affinity. Constructive comment and advice appreciated. I feel I should be getting more detail from the amount of integration time, but maybe I am expecting too much.

Nice detail. I am halfway through my M101 just waiting for a night to complete the Ha. If it looks as good as this one I'll be happy. Perhaps I need a dual rig too. (n+1 rule applies)😁

44 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

April 1st was 3 days ago my friend.

That's what I thought when I saw the forecast😆

It was one of most incredible things I have seen. In the 20 years I have been in Cumbria it is unheard of. THREE, yes THREE clear nights in a row. No I did not really see a unicorn, but I might as well have - they are more common, believe me😄

Having managed to capture the Sunflower and improve my M106 (in another post), two nights ago I managed six hours on NGC 4565, the Needle galaxy. 3 hours of luminance plus an hour each of RGB. Processed in APP and Affinity. Last night I did the Pinwheel, but I need some more data before releasing to the masses!!

Critical comment and feedback welcome as always.

The flats settings in NINA can be a bit odd. Looking at the LED panel from the photo it does not look too dim. Try reducing the max exposure to something like 10 seconds and increase the minimum to 0.1. Also change the step size to 0.1. I am always getting 'to bright' warnings but I just tweak the values an it normally works. It is a software quirk. Also if you do flats in multi mode it on lets you do 50% of ADU regardless of the % you request.

Great image. Is it me or does it look like someone laughing??

It looks like I have a run of three nights in a row of dark skies - yes I know, it has not happened yet and forecasts are just that. Anyway....

I had 3 1/2 hours before the full moon last night so I took advantage of the Bortle 6 'darkness' and used it on M63, the Sunflower Galaxy. 3 min subs, 30 mins of RGB and 2 hours of luminance. Taken on the RC8 with an ASI1600m, processed in APP and Affinity.

As there was still a couple of hours after moon rise, I decided to use this time to add Ha data to M106 from a previous session as advised by MartinB. Certainly brought out some of the highlights. This was 5 hours of LRGB plus the two extra Ha. Processed as above.

CC and feedback welcome.