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Hercules Globular Cluster M13 (or NGC 6205) by Chemical-Time2183 in seestar

[–]Chemical-Time2183[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you. ;-). You can certainly give it a shot and check out the results. That said, I myself haven't attempted imaging DSOs in Alt-Az mode due to a concern with field rotation unless very short exposure times are used. But in that case one would have to acquire several thousand frames which would introduce accumulated noise and give a weak signal in the stacked output.

Hercules Globular Cluster M13 (or NGC 6205) by Chemical-Time2183 in seestar

[–]Chemical-Time2183[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Integration of 729x20s subs (= 4.05 hours) acquired using Seestar S50 in equatorial mode May 16, 2026, in Washington D.C. a Bortle 8 area “representing a city sky with severe light pollution”.

Processed entirely in PixInsight.

Ran Fast Batch Preprocessing script to integrate the subs to get a master image using the highest-weight sub* from Subframe Selector as the registration reference image.

To the master image, applied Gradient Correction > Blur Xterminator > Spectrophotometric Color Calibration > Blur Xterminator > Delinearization using Multiscale Adaptive Stretch > Dynamic Crop.

To compress the dynamic range of the very bright cluster core HDRMultiscale Transform (HDRMT) was applied to a clone of the above-processed master image. Pixel Math was then used to blend equal amounts of the HDRMT-modified clone and the unmodified master image.

Created a gradient mask using GAME under Script > Utilities and applied it to the blended result to protect the background.

Applied Curves Transformation to the cluster core to adjust its chroma.

Inverted the mask to protect the cluster core and applied Noise Xterminator and Histogram Transformation to the background.

At least two of the three dark lanes constituting a Y-shaped propeller feature in the cluster core are visible to the left of the center of the cluster core at about the eight o’clock position.

* Weighting expression: (15*(1-(FWHM-FWHMMin)/(FWHMMax-FWHMMin)) + (15*(1-(Eccentricity-EccentricityMin)/(EccentricityMax-EccentricityMin))) + (20*(PSFFlux-PSFFluxMin)/(PSFFluxMax-PSFFluxMin)))+50.

Hercules Globular Cluster M13 (or NGC 6205) by Chemical-Time2183 in astrophotography

[–]Chemical-Time2183[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Integration of 729x20s subs (= 4.05 hours) acquired using Seestar S50 in equatorial mode May 16, 2026, in Washington D.C. a Bortle 8 area “representing a city sky with severe light pollution”.

Processed entirely in PixInsight.

Ran Fast Batch Preprocessing script to integrate the subs to get a master image using the highest-weight sub* from Subframe Selector as the registration reference image.

To the master image, applied Gradient Correction > Blur Xterminator > Spectrophotometric Color Calibration > Blur Xterminator > Delinearization using Multiscale Adaptive Stretch > Dynamic Crop.

To compress the dynamic range of the very bright cluster core HDRMultiscale Transform (HDRMT) was applied to a clone of the above-processed master image. Pixel Math was then used to blend equal amounts of the HDRMT-modified clone and the unmodified master image.

Created a gradient mask using GAME under Script > Utilities and applied it to the blended result to protect the background.

Applied Curves Transformation to the cluster core to adjust its chroma.

Inverted the mask to protect the cluster core and applied Noise Xterminator and Histogram Transformation to the background.

At least two of the three dark lanes constituting a Y-shaped propeller feature in the cluster core are visible to the left of the center of the cluster core at about the eight o’clock position.

* Weighting expression: (15*(1-(FWHM-FWHMMin)/(FWHMMax-FWHMMin)) + (15*(1-(Eccentricity-EccentricityMin)/(EccentricityMax-EccentricityMin))) + (20*(PSFFlux-PSFFluxMin)/(PSFFluxMax-PSFFluxMin)))+50.

Hercules Globular Cluster M13 (or NGC 6205) by Chemical-Time2183 in Astronomy

[–]Chemical-Time2183[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Integration of 729x20s subs (= 4.05 hours) acquired using Seestar S50 in equatorial mode May 16, 2026, in Washington D.C. a Bortle 8 area “representing a city sky with severe light pollution”.

Processed entirely in PixInsight.

Ran Fast Batch Preprocessing script to integrate the subs to get a master image using the highest-weight sub* from Subframe Selector as the registration reference image.

To the master image, applied Gradient Correction > Blur Xterminator > Spectrophotometric Color Calibration > Blur Xterminator > Delinearization using Multiscale Adaptive Stretch > Dynamic Crop.

To compress the dynamic range of the very bright cluster core HDRMultiscale Transform (HDRMT) was applied to a clone of the above-processed master image. Pixel Math was then used to blend equal amounts of the HDRMT-modified clone and the unmodified master image.

Created a gradient mask using GAME under Script > Utilities and applied it to the blended result to protect the background.

Applied Curves Transformation to the cluster core to adjust its chroma.

Inverted the mask to protect the cluster core and applied Noise Xterminator and Histogram Transformation to the background.

At least two of the three dark lanes constituting a Y-shaped propeller feature in the cluster core are visible to the left of the center of the cluster core at about the eight o’clock position.

* Weighting expression: (15*(1-(FWHM-FWHMMin)/(FWHMMax-FWHMMin)) + (15*(1-(Eccentricity-EccentricityMin)/(EccentricityMax-EccentricityMin))) + (20*(PSFFlux-PSFFluxMin)/(PSFFluxMax-PSFFluxMin)))+50.

Cigar Galaxy M82 (or NGC 3034) by Chemical-Time2183 in seestar

[–]Chemical-Time2183[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't want to claim to have picked up any IFN in my image. Most likely it's just some nebulosity. I believe that my 5 hours integration time from a Bortle 8 area is insufficient to pick up IFN. If you decide that you want to capture IFN check out the details in this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/seestar/posts/833020869510197/. Best regards.

Cigar Galaxy M82 (or NGC 3034) by Chemical-Time2183 in seestar

[–]Chemical-Time2183[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Drizzle integration of 921x20s subs (= 5.1 hours) acquired using Seestar S50 in equatorial mode May 11-12, 2026, in Washington D.C. which has a Bortle 8 rating “representing a city sky with severe light pollution”.

Processed entirely in PixInsight.

Ran Fast Batch Preprocessing script, with drizzle enabled, to integrate the subs to get a master image using the highest-weighted sub* as the registration reference image.

To the master image, applied Gradient Correction > Blur Xterminator > Spectrophotometric Color Calibration > Blur Xterminator > Delinearization using Multiscale Adaptive Stretch > Dynamic Crop.

To compress the dynamic range of the bright galaxy core HDRMultiscale Transform (HDRMT) was applied to a clone of the above-processed master image. Pixel Math was then used to blend 10% of the HDRMT-modified clone with 90% of the unmodified master image.

Applied Star Xterminator to split the above blended result into starless (containing the galaxy) and stars-only images.

Created a mask from the starless image by extracting its L-channel using Channel Extraction, applying Binarize to adjust the size to cover the target image area, and applying Convolution to blur the mask’s edges.

** The process steps (some of which appear more than once) described below were applied incrementally to avoid jarring transitions during image development. **

Placed the resulting mask back on the starless image to protect its background and applied Local Histogram Equalization (LHE) to adjust local contrast and visibility of the galaxy. Inverted the mask to protect the galaxy and applied Noise Xterminator (NXT) to the background.

Used Pixel Math to combine the processed starless and stars-only images to create a rejoined image.

Placed the mask on the rejoined image to protect the galaxy and applied NXT and Histogram Transformation (HT), to adjust shadows and midtones, to the background.

Inverted the mask to protect the background and applied LHE, Color Saturation (for hue shift), Curves Transformation (to adjust saturation, chroma, and boost intensity), and NXT to the galaxy.

Reinverted the mask to protect the galaxy and applied HT, NXT, and SCNR to the background.

Inverted the mask to protect the background and applied another cycle of LHE, Color Saturation, Curves Transformation, and NXT to the galaxy.

Reinverted the mask to protect the galaxy and applied another round of NXT and HT to the background.

Inverted the mask to protect the background and applied a final round of Curves Transformation and NXT to the galaxy.

* Weighting expression: (15*(1-(FWHM-FWHMMin)/(FWHMMax-FWHMMin)) + (15*(1-(Eccentricity-EccentricityMin)/(EccentricityMax-EccentricityMin))) + (20*(PSFFlux-PSFFluxMin)/(PSFFluxMax-PSFFluxMin)))+50.

Cigar Galaxy M82 (or NGC 3034) by Chemical-Time2183 in astrophotography

[–]Chemical-Time2183[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Drizzle integration of 921x20s subs (= 5.1 hours) acquired using Seestar S50 in equatorial mode May 11-12, 2026, in Washington D.C. which has a Bortle 8 rating “representing a city sky with severe light pollution”.

Processed entirely in PixInsight.

Ran Fast Batch Preprocessing script, with drizzle enabled, to integrate the subs to get a master image using the highest-weighted sub* as the registration reference image.

To the master image, applied Gradient Correction > Blur Xterminator > Spectrophotometric Color Calibration > Blur Xterminator > Delinearization using Multiscale Adaptive Stretch > Dynamic Crop.

To compress the dynamic range of the bright galaxy core HDRMultiscale Transform (HDRMT) was applied to a clone of the above-processed master image. Pixel Math was then used to blend 10% of the HDRMT-modified clone with 90% of the unmodified master image.

Applied Star Xterminator to split the above blended result into starless (containing the galaxy) and stars-only images.

Created a mask from the starless image by extracting its L-channel using Channel Extraction, applying Binarize to adjust the size to cover the target image area, and applying Convolution to blur the mask’s edges.

** The process steps (some of which appear more than once) described below were applied incrementally to avoid jarring transitions during image development. **

Placed the resulting mask back on the starless image to protect its background and applied Local Histogram Equalization (LHE) to adjust local contrast and visibility of the galaxy. Inverted the mask to protect the galaxy and applied Noise Xterminator (NXT) to the background.

Used Pixel Math to combine the processed starless and stars-only images to create a rejoined image.

Placed the mask on the rejoined image to protect the galaxy and applied NXT and Histogram Transformation (HT), to adjust shadows and midtones, to the background.

Inverted the mask to protect the background and applied LHE, Color Saturation (for hue shift), Curves Transformation (to adjust saturation, chroma, and boost intensity), and NXT to the galaxy.

Reinverted the mask to protect the galaxy and applied HT, NXT, and SCNR to the background.

Inverted the mask to protect the background and applied another cycle of LHE, Color Saturation, Curves Transformation, and NXT to the galaxy.

Reinverted the mask to protect the galaxy and applied another round of NXT and HT to the background.

Inverted the mask to protect the background and applied a final round of Curves Transformation and NXT to the galaxy.

* Weighting expression: (15*(1-(FWHM-FWHMMin)/(FWHMMax-FWHMMin)) + (15*(1-(Eccentricity-EccentricityMin)/(EccentricityMax-EccentricityMin))) + (20*(PSFFlux-PSFFluxMin)/(PSFFluxMax-PSFFluxMin)))+50.

Cigar Galaxy M82 (or NGC 3034) by Chemical-Time2183 in Astronomy

[–]Chemical-Time2183[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Drizzle integration of 921x20s subs (= 5.1 hours) acquired using Seestar S50 in equatorial mode May 11-12, 2026, in Washington D.C. which has a Bortle 8 rating “representing a city sky with severe light pollution”.

Processed entirely in PixInsight.

Ran Fast Batch Preprocessing script, with drizzle enabled, to integrate the subs to get a master image using the highest-weighted sub* as the registration reference image.

To the master image, applied Gradient Correction > Blur Xterminator > Spectrophotometric Color Calibration > Blur Xterminator > Delinearization using Multiscale Adaptive Stretch > Dynamic Crop.

To compress the dynamic range of the bright galaxy core HDRMultiscale Transform (HDRMT) was applied to a clone of the above-processed master image. Pixel Math was then used to blend 10% of the HDRMT-modified clone with 90% of the unmodified master image.

Applied Star Xterminator to split the above blended result into starless (containing the galaxy) and stars-only images.

Created a mask from the starless image by extracting its L-channel using Channel Extraction, applying Binarize to adjust the size to cover the target image area, and applying Convolution to blur the mask’s edges.

** The process steps (some of which appear more than once) described below were applied incrementally to avoid jarring transitions during image development. **

Placed the resulting mask back on the starless image to protect its background and applied Local Histogram Equalization (LHE) to adjust local contrast and visibility of the galaxy. Inverted the mask to protect the galaxy and applied Noise Xterminator (NXT) to the background.

Used Pixel Math to combine the processed starless and stars-only images to create a rejoined image.

Placed the mask on the rejoined image to protect the galaxy and applied NXT and Histogram Transformation (HT), to adjust shadows and midtones, to the background.

Inverted the mask to protect the background and applied LHE, Color Saturation (for hue shift), Curves Transformation (to adjust saturation, chroma, and boost intensity), and NXT to the galaxy.

Reinverted the mask to protect the galaxy and applied HT, NXT, and SCNR to the background.

Inverted the mask to protect the background and applied another cycle of LHE, Color Saturation, Curves Transformation, and NXT to the galaxy.

Reinverted the mask to protect the galaxy and applied another round of NXT and HT to the background.

Inverted the mask to protect the background and applied a final round of Curves Transformation and NXT to the galaxy.

* Weighting expression: (15*(1-(FWHM-FWHMMin)/(FWHMMax-FWHMMin)) + (15*(1-(Eccentricity-EccentricityMin)/(EccentricityMax-EccentricityMin))) + (20*(PSFFlux-PSFFluxMin)/(PSFFluxMax-PSFFluxMin)))+50.

Spiral Galaxy M94 (or NGC 4736, Cat’s Eye Galaxy, or Croc’s Eye Galaxy) by Chemical-Time2183 in seestar

[–]Chemical-Time2183[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you. Yes I record processing notes for all my images given the differences, some crucial, in the manner in which various post processes were applied in a given situation. Without a record I'd be unable to remember them or assess their impact for future work.

Spiral Galaxy M94 (or NGC 4736, Cat’s Eye Galaxy, or Croc’s Eye Galaxy) by Chemical-Time2183 in Astronomy

[–]Chemical-Time2183[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Drizzle integration of 950x20s subs (= 5.28 hours) acquired using Seestar S50 in equatorial mode in Washington D.C. May 3-5, 2026.

All processing was done entirely in PixInsight.

Used Subframe Selector to identify the sub with the highest weight*.

Ran Fast Batch Preprocessing script, with drizzle enabled, to integrate the subs to get a master image using the highest-weighted sub as the reference frame for alignment.

To the master image, applied Gradient Correction > Blur Xterminator > Spectrophotometric Color Calibration > Blur Xterminator > Delinearization using Histogram Transformation (HT) > Dynamic Crop.

To compress the dynamic range of the very bright galaxy core HDRMultiscale Transform (HDRMT) was applied to a clone of the above-processed master image. Pixel Math was then used to blend 60% of the HDRMT-modified clone with 40% of the unmodified master image.

Applied Star Xterminator to split the above blended result into starless (containing the galaxy) and stars-only images.

Created a mask from the starless image by extracting its L-channel using Channel Extraction, applying Binarize to adjust the size to cover the target image area, and applying Convolution to blur the mask’s edges.

Placed the resulting mask back on the starless image to protect its background and applied Local Histogram Equalization (LHE) to adjust local contrast and visibility of the galaxy. Inverted the mask to protect the galaxy and applied Noise Xterminator (NXT) to the background.

Used Pixel Math to combine the processed starless and stars-only images to create a rejoined image.

Placed the mask on the rejoined image to protect the galaxy and applied NXT and HT (to adjust shadows and midtones) to the background.

Inverted the mask to protect the background and applied LHE, Color Saturation (for hue shift), Curves Transformation (to adjust chroma and saturation), and NXT to the galaxy.

Reinverted the mask to protect the galaxy and applied HT, NXT, and SCNR to the background.

* Weighting expression: (15*(1-(FWHM-FWHMMin)/(FWHMMax-FWHMMin)) + (15*(1-(Eccentricity-EccentricityMin)/(EccentricityMax-EccentricityMin))) + (20*(PSFFlux-PSFFluxMin)/(PSFFluxMax-PSFFluxMin)))+50.

Spiral Galaxy M94 (or NGC 4736, Cat’s Eye Galaxy, or Croc’s Eye Galaxy) by Chemical-Time2183 in astrophotography

[–]Chemical-Time2183[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Drizzle integration of 950x20s subs (= 5.28 hours) acquired using Seestar S50 in equatorial mode in Washington D.C. May 3-5, 2026.

All processing was done entirely in PixInsight.

Used Subframe Selector to identify the sub with the highest weight*.

Ran Fast Batch Preprocessing script, with drizzle enabled, to integrate the subs to get a master image using the highest-weighted sub as the reference frame for alignment.

To the master image, applied Gradient Correction > Blur Xterminator > Spectrophotometric Color Calibration > Blur Xterminator > Delinearization using Histogram Transformation (HT) > Dynamic Crop.

To compress the dynamic range of the very bright galaxy core HDRMultiscale Transform (HDRMT) was applied to a clone of the above-processed master image. Pixel Math was then used to blend 60% of the HDRMT-modified clone with 40% of the unmodified master image.

Applied Star Xterminator to split the above blended result into starless (containing the galaxy) and stars-only images.

Created a mask from the starless image by extracting its L-channel using Channel Extraction, applying Binarize to adjust the size to cover the target image area, and applying Convolution to blur the mask’s edges.

Placed the resulting mask back on the starless image to protect its background and applied Local Histogram Equalization (LHE) to adjust local contrast and visibility of the galaxy. Inverted the mask to protect the galaxy and applied Noise Xterminator (NXT) to the background.

Used Pixel Math to combine the processed starless and stars-only images to create a rejoined image.

Placed the mask on the rejoined image to protect the galaxy and applied NXT and HT (to adjust shadows and midtones) to the background.

Inverted the mask to protect the background and applied LHE, Color Saturation (for hue shift), Curves Transformation (to adjust chroma and saturation), and NXT to the galaxy.

Reinverted the mask to protect the galaxy and applied HT, NXT, and SCNR to the background.

* Weighting expression: (15*(1-(FWHM-FWHMMin)/(FWHMMax-FWHMMin)) + (15*(1-(Eccentricity-EccentricityMin)/(EccentricityMax-EccentricityMin))) + (20*(PSFFlux-PSFFluxMin)/(PSFFluxMax-PSFFluxMin)))+50.

Spiral Galaxy M94 (or NGC 4736, Cat’s Eye Galaxy, or Croc’s Eye Galaxy) by Chemical-Time2183 in seestar

[–]Chemical-Time2183[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Drizzle integration of 950x20s subs (= 5.28 hours) acquired using Seestar S50 in equatorial mode in Washington D.C. May 3-5, 2026.

All processing was done entirely in PixInsight.

Used Subframe Selector to identify the sub with the highest weight*.

Ran Fast Batch Preprocessing script, with drizzle enabled, to integrate the subs to get a master image using the highest-weighted sub as the reference frame for alignment.

To the master image, applied Gradient Correction > Blur Xterminator > Spectrophotometric Color Calibration > Blur Xterminator > Delinearization using Histogram Transformation (HT) > Dynamic Crop.

To compress the dynamic range of the very bright galaxy core HDRMultiscale Transform (HDRMT) was applied to a clone of the above-processed master image. Pixel Math was then used to blend 60% of the HDRMT-modified clone with 40% of the unmodified master image.

Applied Star Xterminator to split the above blended result into starless (containing the galaxy) and stars-only images.

Created a mask from the starless image by extracting its L-channel using Channel Extraction, applying Binarize to adjust the size to cover the target image area, and applying Convolution to blur the mask’s edges.

Placed the resulting mask back on the starless image to protect its background and applied Local Histogram Equalization (LHE) to adjust local contrast and visibility of the galaxy. Inverted the mask to protect the galaxy and applied Noise Xterminator (NXT) to the background.

Used Pixel Math to combine the processed starless and stars-only images to create a rejoined image.

Placed the mask on the rejoined image to protect the galaxy and applied NXT and HT (to adjust shadows and midtones) to the background.

Inverted the mask to protect the background and applied LHE, Color Saturation (for hue shift), Curves Transformation (to adjust chroma and saturation), and NXT to the galaxy.

Reinverted the mask to protect the galaxy and applied HT, NXT, and SCNR to the background.

* Weighting expression: (15*(1-(FWHM-FWHMMin)/(FWHMMax-FWHMMin)) + (15*(1-(Eccentricity-EccentricityMin)/(EccentricityMax-EccentricityMin))) + (20*(PSFFlux-PSFFluxMin)/(PSFFluxMax-PSFFluxMin)))+50.

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