IC434 - SHO reprocessed

[Adreneline]

I decided to take my SHO data and reprocess without using Starnet. It is really difficult to control the strong blue halos and after a lot of experimenting and reworking this is about as good as it is going to get with my processing skills.

Captured with RedCat 51 and Astronomik filters, unguided on CEM25-EC. All frames 180s.

Preprocessed in APP, processed in PI with use of StarMask and MorphologicalTransformation and multiple incremental HistogramTransformation followed by ColourSaturation. Then into Affinity for careful and minimal noise reduction and a little more colour boost - hopefully I've not over done it!

As ever C&C welcome.

Thanks for looking.

Adrian

[geeklee]

Hi Adrian - I like the extra dust you've brought out in the surrounding area and honestly prefer some of the stars, especially having a few more in the field (controversial!)

Comparing to the previous SHO version, it feels like some of the fine detail has been lost though - those wispy layers beside the horse's head and the fine structure in the flame nebula are subdued (seen easier clicked through below). 

  

As before though, a cracking capture and image 👍

Edited January 10, 2021 by geeklee

[Adreneline]

2 minutes ago, geeklee said:

Comparing to the previous SHO version, it feels like some of the fine detail has been lost though - those wispy layers beside the horse's head and the fine structure in the flame nebula are subdued (seen easier clicked through below).

Hi Lee,

Thank you for the comments and observations. I rather fear this is all down to my inept processing skills. Starnet allows you to draw out more detail in one respect at the expense of stars; reintroducing those stars is a skill I still have to master, or certainly improve on!

I think "must try harder" would be a fair comment on my Report. Now where have I seen that before 🤔

Thanks again - I'll have another go.

Adrian

[geeklee]

1 minute ago, Adreneline said:

Starnet allows you to draw out more detail in one respect at the expense of stars; reintroducing those stars is a skill I still have to master, or certainly improve on!

I find the exact same challenge and have also tried unsuccessfully with various methods of reintroducing removed stars.  Using Affinity Photo, I managed to adapt one of Ollie's recent tutorials using several layers (original, starless, original) in PS and got much better results than previously.  For this particular FOV I find the very bright stars can leave squared artefacts in StarNet that are challenging to overcome.

[Adreneline]

38 minutes ago, geeklee said:

those wispy layers beside the horse's head and the fine structure in the flame nebula are subdued

I've used a bit of HDRM to try to recover the detail, trying not to be too heavy handed ....

... which has also slightly subdued the colour - perhaps no bad thing!

It's a good way to pass the time in lockdown on a wet and dreary day.

Thanks again for your comments and help.

Adrian

[geeklee]

5 hours ago, Adreneline said:

Thanks again for your comments and help.

I'm starting to feel like I'm having a go now!  😅 

Looking at the comparison I think the detail was lost earlier in the process - that version from the earlier thread has such delicate detail in these two areas (and across the whole image of course) that I don't think can be recovered with any sort of HDR / contrast tool late in the current version.  If you're in PixInsight, maybe running back through History Explorer can find the same detail and work out which step reduced it?

I've purposely left these at 1:1 because they look so good:

They're all lovely, detailed images but the SHO one in the original thread had that subtle detail - a real stand out part for me.  It was awesome at 1:1 viewing (seen above)

[Adreneline]

16 minutes ago, geeklee said:

I'm starting to feel like I'm having a go now!  😅

Hey! Not at all. I'm starting to feel like I need to stop trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!

I really appreciate the comments - that's why I put the image on the forum in the first place - and I am just grateful you are taking the time to give me some valuable help and feedback.

I think the best thing is leave it for a few days and try again. I thought I'd try something with the 'complete' masters rather than the 'starless' masters to see if I could make the stars look more natural; I think (hope) I have but at the expense of detail in the nebula. You are absolutely right that the detail in the nebula has been reduced.

Perhaps I should post the masters and see what others can make of them.

Really appreciate your time Lee.

Adrian