Re-worked Iris - any better?

[gorann]

I posted a version of this Iris data about a month ago and got a lot of responses (than you all!) including some critical comments regarding the brown/yellow dust around the blue nebula looking more like gas than dust. I could see the point and I have now spend this cloudy Sunday reprocessing it completely. I think it is improved (gas -> dust) but then I spend so much time starring at my different versions (the one posted here is saved version 38) that I probably lost any objectivity, so all comments are most welcome.

Totally 39 x 8 min (= 5.2 hours - presently clouds prevent any chance of getting more ). ES 5" ED apo, Canon 60Da with natural cooling (-2 °C in the air) on EQ8. SQM=21.1. Home obsy in Värmland, Sweden 60°N.

Here is the old tread:

 

[wimvb]

Doing a side by side comparison, this one is better. In the last version of your previous thread, some parts of the dust were over saturated. In this version you also have better control over the stars. The bright nebula seems exactly the same. Is this due to PS masking/blending?

Thanks for sharing. It seems I'm looking at the same clouds as you, just from another direction.

Ha det gott

[gorann]

Tack Wim!

You are spot on in your analysis. I have worked on the dust and the star control, while I was satisfied with the bright nebula, so I protected that with PS masking (or rather brought it back after I had an overhaul of the rest).

Cheers