IC342 and star masks - opinions

[Dave_D]

So i've been fiddling about with pixinsight star masks (inbetween banging my head against the wall figuring this program out) and just want opinions as to whether i'm heading in the right direction as far as post-processing goes. Always thought my stars were coming out as nasty blobby things... still a bit of a noob at it but practice makes perfect i guess.

without using star masks

with star mask

[Daniel-K]

i like the galaxy and sky in the first one and the stars in the 2nd one are alot nicer. all you need to do now is put them together and hey presto

[sologuitarist61]

The sky background is darker (? too dark?) with the star mask and it particularly stops the 'glare' from those stars overlying the galaxy. It also appears to give more detail to the galactic centre as well which then appears to be split in two by a dust lane! However both images are great.

[Dave_D]

yeah i overclipped it a bit... tbh it was just a messing about session, wasn't too bothered about the final result, more concerned with how stars are turning out

[Dave_D]

i like the galaxy and sky in the first one and the stars in the 2nd one are alot nicer. all you need to do now is put them together and hey presto

that's what I was hoping for