m5

[alacant]

Hi everyone

This would be easy to process were it not for the alnitak-like fg star and was tempted by the layer mask route... Not sure we've got away with its taming, but have to love these type of clusters. Getting marginally better with each one. Maybe!

Tips on your way with globulars most gratefully received. Thanks for looking and clear skies.

700d on 250p ~90m @ ISO800

[ollypenrice]

The trick is to flatten the image effectively and not to clip it. Get it properly flattened before bringing in the black point. This is all about Curves, not Layer masking. In my view, of course. Just working on a screen grab, this would be my direction...

Olly

 

 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by ollypenrice

[alan potts]

Very nice image even so, just a little left wondering why in Getting Started in Imaging, your far from that.

Alan.

[alacant]

Thanks for the comments. It was the halo [1] around that darn star which was the main problem. Individual frames show almost nothing in the surroundings but stacking does its job perfectly by bringing out the faint glow. In the end, it was GIMP's burn and dodge which came to the rescue. 

Cheers and clear skies.

[1] Although most nights here are clear, being close to the coast we are dependent upon the airflow. Anything with an easterly component throws up haze, so a globular cluster with a foreground star was a poor choice for the imaging session. 

Edited June 11, 2019 by alacant