NGC 1333

[Rodd]

5 minutes ago, gorann said:

Rodd,

I think it is generally a great image but you have taken out more dust and detail than the data can support without showing all that noise. If you just back off a bit in brightness, like in Wim's version, it is a really fine image. I have found that I often go too far in trying to get as much structure and dust out of the dark areas as possible and then, when I am about to give up on the image, I back off in brightness, and it often turns out to be a quite agreeable image. Still, it is worth to see where the limit is and then back off, having to realize that the dust that you can see in there is just too noisy to be presentable. Possibly, about half way between your bright version and Wim's darker one would be quite nice. Here is a 40:60 mix between yours and Wim's version after I applied a bit noise reduction to yours.

EDIT: and I also turned down the magenta saturation a bit

 While Wim's and your versions are far better than the one I posted--the darks are too dark (black)  which is not natural--its seriously clipped.  If my data can only produce the above--It is not enough for me to spend that kind of time.  Its just not what it should be.  Someday I will try this target again and shoot only when the target is high in the sky--or in the west (darkest part of sky for me).  I will be very careful to get good data.  Someday my nemesis shall fall!  Thanks for all the feedback.

Rodd

[Rodd]

30 minutes ago, gorann said:

EDIT: and I also turned down the magenta saturation a bit and suppressed the lower end of the green i curves in PS

Heres a previous attempt that I thought had too much noise control.  Maybe I should have gone with this one, huh?  I thought it was too dark--but I guess that is what is needed.  By the way--how do you turn down magenta--PI doesn't have magenta.

Rodd

[tooth_dr]

That last one is great Rodd, looks natural. You are very critical of your work but I guess this is what drives you to produce really high end, exceptional images. 

[Rodd]

2 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

That last one is great Rodd, looks natural. You are very critical of your work but I guess this is what drives you to produce really high end, exceptional images. 

Thanks Tooth dr.  Here's with a touch of saturation in the bright area.  I think I have to go with this one.  I suppose I am overly critical of my work.  Sometimes I wish I wasn't!

Rodd

 

[Rodd]

Thank God That's Over!!!

[gorann]

Yes Rodd, those two last ones are much better and you should be pleased. Very easy to turn down magenta in PS but I have no idea how to do it in PI since I have just bought PI and tried one or two things there (like stacking and DBE). I am sure Wim can tell you. By the way, it looks to be a bit too much magenta down in your left bottom, but maybe it should be like that?

Anyway, I got my triple rig shooting away now and have done the meridian flip so I am off to sleep for a few hours.....

[Rodd]

1 hour ago, gorann said:

Yes Rodd, those two last ones are much better and you should be pleased. Very easy to turn down magenta in PS but I have no idea how to do it in PI since I have just bought PI and tried one or two things there (like stacking and DBE). I am sure Wim can tell you. By the way, it looks to be a bit too much magenta down in your left bottom, but maybe it should be like that?

Anyway, I got my triple rig shooting away now and have done the meridian flip so I am off to sleep for a few hours.....

If by triple you mean 3 scopes...you are a mad man!!!  Wow.  I thought 2 was bad.  Anyway--thanks for your help.

 

Rodd

[gorann]

Well, two of the refractors are quite small and are usually termed telephoto lenses. See this link:

 

[wimvb]

6 hours ago, Rodd said:

By the way--how do you turn down magenta--PI doesn't have magenta.

Color saturation tool. It's in the "intensity transformations" process menu. You can tweak any colour by adding markers to the curve, and moving them up or down.

[Rodd]

41 minutes ago, wimvb said:

Color saturation tool. It's in the "intensity transformations" process menu. You can tweak any colour by adding markers to the curve, and moving them up or down.

I think I know what that is.  Thanks!

Rodd

[Rodd]

1 hour ago, gorann said:

Well, two of the refractors are quite small and are usually termed telephoto lenses. See this link:

 

Still--thats amazing.  You don't have weight issues.  They are on 1 mount?  Computer controlled?  It gets complicated.  Do you dither?  

Rodd

[gorann]

7 hours ago, Rodd said:

Still--thats amazing.  You don't have weight issues.  They are on 1 mount?  Computer controlled?  It gets complicated.  Do you dither?  

Rodd

They are on a Sky Watcher EQ8 go-to mount that should be able to handle 50 kg (or maybe a bit less for imaging). I think I have under 20 kg hanging there. I did have some guiding issues last night but I think that had to do with poor polar alignment (the ground under my concrete pillar shifts a bit when it starts freeing solid this time of the year). So, more things to adjust before next imaging session. Still, I now have plenty of data to play with until next time.