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"Achro Saturn Blues" (& other colours!)

Kokatha man

By Kokatha man
in Imaging - Planetary

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Kokatha man

Kokatha man

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Well, lately I've been struggling with very poor seeing and the ongoing traumas of trying to get a S/W 6" achromat to produce reasonable images of Saturn and the Titan transits we've been having down here.....another one coming up on Monday evening (2 days ahead) so I was hoping my efforts with the achro and some image scale courtesy of the 5X powermate would yield half-acceptable results.....:)

All my recent results have been absolutely woefull and I really didn't think the 6" could handle the image scale of 5X vis a vis sufficient brightness for said (with opposition well past and Saturn in the worst area of the sky for my spot to boot) as well as the ongoing travails of getting the planet onscreen with a 5X barlow.....:)

I converted a GSO 8 X 50mm finderscope into a 45 X 50mm one with the addition of a GSO 3X "ED" barlow and an I.R. ep (12.5mm) which still needs some extra slight modification to ensure it is locked absolutely rigid in its holder once I align it and the main scope.....but it is so good that now I don't muck around using an eyepiece to get the planet centred etc.....I just bung the 5X powermate in and the Toucam (840k) and sight it in the 45 X 50mm and there it is on the lappy screen.....I'm quite proud of this little increase in sophistication and ease....!B)

Anyway, I think I've dispelled my qualms re the 6" achro handling the 5X p/mate and realize just how much seeing varies the image quality.....this image suffers from the achro's absolute difficulties trying to reproduce planet colours appropriately (CA and my Achilles heel in colour adjustment in CS3!!!:eek:;):eek:) but I am somewhat pleased re the hope and potential it has given me.....

I've certainly achieved better, sharper detail on the disk and rings with the same scope before BUT at considerably smaller scale (2.5X barlow).....if the seeing plays along on Monday evening I am hoping to grab something half-decent with the transit.....and my new 45 X 50mm finder makes targetting planets onscreen with the 5X powermate a real breeze - this image has been reduced to 85% 0f the original size....!:blob1:

post-16205-133877365725_thumb.jpg

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Kokatha man

Kokatha man

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.....yes, i must admit your tweaking makes it look more acceptable.....the 2nd image is the actuall full image scale with Long Tom and the 5X powermate.....that first image was reduced to 85%....!

Last night with Jupiter was hilarious because the capture was still on monochrome from the Moon avi's we finished with.....too stupid/tired to realize or even posit the question in our brains "why have we no colour....?":icon_scratch::):icon_scratch::):rolleyes:

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Kokatha man

Kokatha man

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Hi CW.....I'd appreciate a little explanation of the adjustments you've made to the image if you would be so kind.....I seem to have next-to-nfi re correcting (or improving significantly) my own images out of the achro in this department....!

Any assistance would be kindly appreciated!:):D:D

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Kokatha man

Kokatha man

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Ooo! Couldn't resist having a bash at that one.......... Sliders Rule O.K! ;)

.....if I can "twist your arm" once more with my request CW (and obviously others would be interested in a generalized way!).....is this with "colour balance" or "hue and saturation" or both in CS2/3.....and is it the results of tweaking the sliders of one or both these adjustments a single time - or do you make some minor adjustments and then go back over them again in iterations to get to the final image colours.....pretty please....!:):confused::eek::D:D:icon_salut::):icon_salut:

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Kokatha man

Kokatha man

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Give it a whirl Km ..there's always the "undo" button.. and the original image is left as-is if you "save as" and give the new version a new/altered name :eek:

.....most of 'em don't even get to that stage Russ, they end up (as they should!!!) just being deleted for the horrificly garish or surreal colour-compositions they become....!:):);):evil6::eek:

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Cloudwatcher

Cloudwatcher

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Sorry I couldn't get back to you guys earlier. Bit of a busy time at the moment......... No.1 son's birthday yesterday No.2 son's birthday tomorrow.

However,never let it be said I don't know where my priorities lie :eek: ...... so here's a quick 'flat pack furniture' type instruction layout ....... only one side done for quickness.

Image 1..... Background isolated and inverted then brightness slider moved to the right to clear the 'clutter'.

Image 2...... 'Re-inverted' image with initial Color Balance sliders used.

Image 3..... Hue/Saturation sliders employed and Gaussian Blur applied then Auto Contrast,faded to suit.

Image 4..... The rest is up to individual taste.... use the Variations facility,darken or lighten specific areas with the Dodge or Burn tools,sharpen or blur....... the permutations are nigh limitless. :) (If I'm working on someone else's image I try to keep within reasonable limits. :))

Anyway,hope you all have a happy Easter Day but don't eat too many choccy eggs! ;)

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Kokatha man

Kokatha man

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Thanks CW.....a bit of a learning session in store for me with these controls - though I've used a couple of them on other objects and have a general grasp of both the controls used and the procedure followed....a good "handle" for me to sit down and familiarize myself a bit more with them and "play" with these images.....who knows. I might learn something, even acquire some new skills/insights.....thank you kindly for taking the trouble to answer as comprehensively as you have.....it is much appreciated.

Too late re the Easter over-indulgences admonitions though.....down here we have chocolate bilbies, and I'm afraid the addictive nature of the delicious dark chocolate one that I greedily devoured has now left me quite billious....!:):icon_puke_r::)

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omneferuss

omneferuss

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Thanks CW :) ..that separating of background and object looks to be key in remedying the "CA blues..and reds..and.." :) A nice n concise lil Tute that, and cleverly presented. Now I need to find that facility in a free software to try it...

It might be time I bit the bullet and load The Gimp !

Hehehe.. toe-dipping only increases the hesitations Km.. we gotta dive right in mate!

You'll be doing swimmingly in no time ..in fact, you'll need to beware of it absorbing all of your time once you've found your stroke, I'll bet! ;)

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