anyone want a go?

[Steve1976]

This is my first tracked widefield and I'm really disappointed. I did an auriga shot earlier this year and it was without tracking and much better. This was 10 subs (90 seconds at ISO 800) and 5 darks. I'm assuming that the terrible light to the right of the pic is light pollution and not the milky way Still can't get rid of it.

Anyone fancy a go at salvaging it? First pic is my terrible effort at processing (I'm still learning!) and the second is pretty much what came out of DSS. Any comments on how to process this much obliged

[GrantEb]

Here's my go with the JPG.

You could upload the RAW file, as out of DSS, which would be better. try dropbox or similar.

[Steve1976]

wow thats very cool! What did you do in PS if you don't mind me asking?

To be honest for some reason I'm having to convert my files to TIFF in DSS. It doesn't seem to like my RAW files. It only gives me part of the full image otherwise

[GrantEb]

I used Gradient Xterminator, and then just set the black point using Levels.

You can download a 30 day trial of GX.

[Steve1976]

Grant lovin this grad xtr. Just downloaded free trial and had a play -

Yours is better off course but this seems like such a great tool. Is there any way to achieve the same effect without this extra plug in? Is it worth the extra cash? How does it compare to Astronomy Tools which I've just seen?

sorry for all the q's!

[GrantEb]

That looks a lot better. (It is better than mine, there's lots of colour in yours now)

I have only ever used GX, so can't comment on the AT's.

[Steve1976]

Think I might just have to buy this anyway, thanks a lot mate!

[chrismills]

Fantastic image, especially once the gradient has been corrected. Are you using the EQ3 for tracking and what lens did you use? Also, does anyone know how to achieve a similar gradient correction in photoshop.

Chris

[GrantEb]

Chris, Gradient Xterminator is a plugin for PS.

[Cornelius Varley]

Here is a link to a useful tutorial on gradient removal in Photoshop Fleming astrophotography gradient removal tutorial

Peter

[Trull]

Hi Steve

I'd try a load more subs, aim for 80-120 in total, then try again. The grey glow to the right looks more like amp glow from your camera to me. What does your stacked dark frame look like? I'd bet that it has this on it... in which case you simply subtract this from the RAW files and stack the result from there... caker. And I'd reckon a better result.

[Steve1976]

Chris - yeah its the EQ3 and i used the nifty-fifty for this one. I was mainly just testing my polaraligning and so I didnt want to go longer than 90 seconds.

Peter - thanks a lot that looks great. No doubt i will have some questions after having a better gander

Trull - yeah more subs would have been way better. Next time when I'm polar aligned better....

How do you subtract the master dark from the RAW files (I'm only using TIFF files at the mo due to DSS not accepting my RAW files for some reason)?

[Trull]

Using Nebulosity, I'd take the virgin RAW frames and pre-process them with your stacked dark and bias frames. Then stack these frames, and see how things were from there. Of course I have a Neb bias, but I'm sure this procedure would work in DSS or whatever, if you mean a walkthrough there's plenty in the fine user manual and Google is your friend...

[Steve1976]

Had another go. I think its better than my last effort but I'm not happy about the spikes

[GrantEb]

That looks very good, just loose the spikes, IMO.

So now more and more subs, and youré away...

[Revs]

My effort in Lightroom...

[Tadakun]

I buckled and purchased gradientXterminator and I'll say it's worth the cash. astrophotography isn't cheap in any sense. Just think of it as an investment .

Btw I like your shot a lot.

[JamieDay]

I am awful at processing images, they usually look worse than the original image. Lots of practice I suppose.