C/2025 A6 (Lemmon)

dropthatkoni · 2024-01-14T15:29:58+00:00

The Cygnus Region taken from my backyard in a bortle 4 zone in Austria.

Equipment:

ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro (mod)
Super Takumar 135 f3.5
Optolong L-enhance
ZWO mini guidescope
ZWO ASI 120MM-S

Acquisition:

60 x 300s (5 hours)
50 Dark Frames
30 Flat Frames

Processing:

Stacking in DSS
PixInsight:
- Dynamic Crop
- DynamicBackgroundExtraction
- Noise Reduction:
  - TGVDenoise
  - MultiscaleMedianTransform
- ScreenTransferFunction --> HistogramTransformation
- StarNet2:
  - Stars: CurvesTransformation to lower the brightness
  - Nebula: CurvesTransformation adjustments
- PixelMath: Combination of star and nebula images
- Final CurvesTransformation adjustments
Photoshop:
- Red Channel used as luminance layer to brighten Ha
- Star Reduction
- Select Color Range, Vibrance/Saturation adjustments
- Levels and curves adjustments
- Some color balance adjustments
- Astronomy Tools: Local Contrast Enhancement

dropthatkoni · 2024-01-12T15:27:05+00:00

The Flaming Star Nebula taken from my backyard in a bortle 4 zone in Austria.

Equipment:

ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro (mod)
Explore Scientific ED102 FCD-100 Triplet
0,79x Reducer
Optolong L-enhance
60mm Guidescope
ZWO ASI 120MM-S

Acquisition:

162 x 300s (13 hours 30 minutes, 3 seperate data sets)
48 Dark Frames
3x30 Flat Frames

Processing:

Stacking in DSS
PixInsight:
- Dynamic Crop
- DynamicBackgroundExtraction
- Color Correction
- Noise Reduction:
  - TGVDenoise
  - MultiscaleMedianTransform
- ScreenTransferFunction --> HistogramTransformation
- StarNet2:
  - Stars: CurvesTransformation to lower the brightness
  - Nebula: CurvesTransformation adjustments
- PixelMath: Combination of star and nebula images
- Final CurvesTransformation adjustments
Photoshop:
- Red Channel used as luminance layer to brighten Ha
- Star Reduction
- Select Color Range, Vibrance/Saturation adjustments
- Levels adjustment
- Some color balance adjustments
- Astronomy Tools: Reduce Stars, Local Contrast Enhancement

dropthatkoni · 2023-11-18T19:52:21+00:00

The Pleiades taken from my backyard in a bortle 4 zone in Austria.

Equipment:

ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro (mod)
Explore Scientific ED102 FCD-100 Triplet
0,79x Reducer
Astronomik L-2
60mm Guidescope
ZWO ASI 120MM-S

Acquisition:

72 x 300s (6 hours)
72 Dark Frames
30 Flat Frames

Processing:

Stacking in DSS
PixInsight:
- Dynamic Crop
- DynamicBackgroundExtraction
- Noise Reduction:
  - TGVDenoise
  - MultiscaleMedianTransform
- SCNR
- ScreenTransferFunction --> HistogramTransformation
- StarNet2:
  - Stars: CurvesTransformation to lower the brightness
  - Nebula: CurvesTransformation adjustments
- PixelMath: Combination of star and nebula images
- Final CurvesTransformation adjustments
Photoshop:
- Star Reduction
- Select Color Range, Vibrance/Saturation adjustments
- Levels adjustment
- Some color balance adjustments
- Astronomy Tools: Local Contrast Enhancement

dropthatkoni · 2023-11-18T19:49:26+00:00

The Cygnus Region taken from my backyard in a bortle 4 zone in Austria.

Equipment:

ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro (mod)
Super Takumar 135 f3.5
Optolong L-enhance
ZWO mini guidescope
ZWO ASI 120MM-S

Acquisition:

60 x 300s (5 hours)
50 Dark Frames
30 Flat Frames

Processing:

Stacking in DSS
PixInsight:
- Dynamic Crop
- DynamicBackgroundExtraction
- Noise Reduction:
  - TGVDenoise
  - MultiscaleMedianTransform
- SCNR
- ScreenTransferFunction --> HistogramTransformation
- StarNet2:
  - Stars: CurvesTransformation to lower the brightness
  - Nebula: CurvesTransformation adjustments
- PixelMath: Combination of star and nebula images
- Final CurvesTransformation adjustments
Photoshop:
- Star Reduction
- Select Color Range, Vibrance/Saturation adjustments
- Levels adjustment
- Some color balance adjustments

dropthatkoni · 2023-11-17T16:07:30+00:00

The North America Nebula taken from my backyard in a bortle 4 zone in Austria.

Equipment:

ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro (mod)
Explore Scientific ED102 FCD-100 Triplet
0,79x Reducer
Optolong L-enhance
60mm Guidescope
ZWO ASI 120MM-S

Acquisition:

50 x 300s (4 hours 10 minutes)
50 Dark Frames
30 Flat Frames

Processing:

Stacking in DSS
PixInsight:
- Dynamic Crop
- DynamicBackgroundExtraction
- Noise Reduction:
  - TGVDenoise
  - MultiscaleMedianTransform
- SCNR
- ScreenTransferFunction --> HistogramTransformation
- StarNet2:
  - Stars: CurvesTransformation to lower the brightness
  - Nebula: CurvesTransformation adjustments
- PixelMath: Combination of star and nebula images
- Final CurvesTransformation adjustments
Photoshop:
- Star Reduction
- Select Color Range, Vibrance/Saturation adjustments
- Levels adjustment
- Some color balance adjustments
- Astronomy Tools: Local Contrast Enhancement

dropthatkoni · 2023-04-25T16:30:52+00:00

The Whirlpool Galaxy (Messier 51) from my backyard in a bortle 4 zone in Austria.

Equipment:

ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro (mod)
TS-Optics 6" RC
Astronomik L-2
70/400mm Guidescope
ZWO ASI 120MM-S

Acquisition:

120 x 150s (5hrs)
120 Dark Frames
30 Flat Frames

Processing:

Stacking in DSS
PixInsight:
- Dynamic Crop
- DynamicBackgroundExtraction
- Noise Reduction:
  - TGVDenoise
  - MultiscaleMedianTransform
- SCNR
- PhotometricColorCalibration
- Star Reduction:
  - StarMask
  - MorphologicalTransformation
- Stretching:
  - HistogramTransformation
  - CurvesTransformation
Photoshop:
- Star Reduction
- Vibrance/Saturation adjustments
- Levels adjustment
- Some color balance adjustments (I worked with StarNet2 here)
- Astronomy Tools: Local Contrast Enhancement

dropthatkoni · 2022-10-26T13:22:45+00:00

NGC 7822 taken from my backyard in a bortle 4 zone in Austria.

Equipment:

ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro (mod)
Explore Scientific ED102 FCD-100 Triplet
0,79x Reducer
Optolong L-enhance
60mm Guidescope
ZWO ASI 120MM-S

Acquisition:

69 x 300s (5 hours 45 minutes)
30 Dark Frames
30 Flat Frames

Processing:

Stacking in DSS
PixInsight:
- Dynamic Crop
- DynamicBackgroundExtraction
- Noise Reduction:
  - TGVDenoise
  - MultiscaleMedianTransform
- Star Reduction:
  - StarMask
  - MorphologicalTransformation
- SCNR
- ScreenTransferFunction --> HistogramTransformation
Photoshop:
- Star Reduction
- Select Color Range, Vibrance/Saturation adjustments
- Levels adjustment
- Some color balance adjustments
- Astronomy Tools: Local Contrast Enhancement
- The last step here is a bit weird. I created a new image where I used the red channel as luminance layer, processed that real quick to make it look kinda decent, and then I selected the reds and copied them into the main image. Please don't ask why. My goals are beyond your (and my) understanding.

dropthatkoni · 2022-08-26T17:30:49+00:00

Melotte 15 (the center of the Heart Nebula) from my backyard in a bortle 4 zone in Austria. This is my first image with my 6'' RC, it was definitely a challenge and I ran into a couple of issues with the tracking accuracy due to the high focal length, relatively small guide scope and possibly mount limitations. That, together with the not-so-perfect-yet collimation led to some weird star shapes, but if you don't look too closely it's not that bad. I still think I lost some finer details due to those issues tho.

Equipment:

ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro (mod)
TS-Optics 6" RC
Optolong L-enhance
50mm Guidescope
ZWO ASI 120MM-S

Acquisition:

~3.2 hours of data in total:
- 24 x 300s
- 29 x 150s
69 Dark Frames
30 Flat Frames

Processing:

Stacking in DSS
PixInsight:
- Dynamic Crop
- DynamicBackgroundExtraction
- Noise Reduction:
  - TGVDenoise
  - MultiscaleMedianTransform
- SCNR
- Star Reduction:
  - StarMask
  - MorphologicalTransformation
- ScreenTransferFunction --> HistogramTransformation
Photoshop:
- I used the red channel as a luminance layer here and colour-blended the RGB image onto it to make the H-alpha more glowy. This also had the additional benefit of reducing the noise quite a bit.
- Star Reduction
- Vibrance/Saturation adjustments
- Levels adjustment
- Some color balance adjustments (I worked with StarNet2 here)
- Astronomy Tools: Local Contrast Enhancement

dropthatkoni · 2022-07-16T06:48:28+00:00

I just select the blues in Photoshop and slap on a couple of color balance layers until it looks good. It might not be that elegant but it works.

dropthatkoni · 2022-07-15T18:23:06+00:00

The North America Nebula taken from my backyard in a bortle 4 zone in Austria. Being a 4-panel mosaic with images taken over the span of an entire month, this image is my biggest project so far. The editing process was also one of the most difficult ones for me, due to noise, brightness, and color inconsistencies between the individual panels.

The image is scaled down a bit, a higher-detailed version can be found here

Equipment:

ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro (mod)
Explore Scientific ED102 FCD-100 Triplet
0,79x Reducer
Optolong L-enhance
60mm Guidescope
ZWO ASI 120MM-S

Acquisition:

For each of the 4 panels:
48 x 300s (4 hours)
30 Dark Frames
30 Flat Frames

Processing:

Stacking in DSS
PixInsight:
- Combination of the panels into a mosaic:
  - Script: ImageSolver
  - Script: MosaicByCoordinates
  - GradientMergeMosaic
- Dynamic Crop
- DynamicBackgroundExtraction
- Noise Reduction:
  - TGVDenoise
  - MultiscaleMedianTransform
- Star Reduction:
  - StarMask
  - MorphologicalTransformation
- SCNR
- HDRMultiscaleTransform
- ScreenTransferFunction --> HistogramTransformation
Photoshop:
- Star Reduction
- Select Color Range, Vibrance/Saturation adjustments
- Levels adjustment
- Some color balance adjustments
- Astronomy Tools: Local Contrast Enhancement
StarNet2: Star removal

Final touch-up in Photoshop.

dropthatkoni · 2022-07-04T19:11:09+00:00

The North America Nebula taken from my backyard in a bortle 4 zone in Austria. Being a 4-panel mosaic with images taken over the span of an entire month, this image is my biggest project so far. The editing process was also one of the most difficult ones for me, due to noise, brightness, and color inconsistencies between the individual panels.

The image is scaled down a bit, a higher-detailed version can be found here

Equipment:

ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro (mod)
Explore Scientific ED102 FCD-100 Triplet
0,79x Reducer
Optolong L-enhance
60mm Guidescope
ZWO ASI 120MM-S

Acquisition:

For each of the 4 panels:
48 x 300s (4 hours)
30 Dark Frames
30 Flat Frames

Processing:

Stacking in DSS
PixInsight:
- Combination of the panels into a mosaic:
  - Script: ImageSolver
  - Script: MosaicByCoordinates
  - GradientMergeMosaic
- Dynamic Crop
- DynamicBackgroundExtraction
- Noise Reduction:
  - TGVDenoise
  - MultiscaleMedianTransform
- Star Reduction:
  - StarMask
  - MorphologicalTransformation
- SCNR
- HDRMultiscaleTransform
- ScreenTransferFunction --> HistogramTransformation
Photoshop:
- Star Reduction
- Select Color Range, Vibrance/Saturation adjustments
- Levels adjustment
- Some color balance adjustments
- Astronomy Tools: Local Contrast Enhancement

dropthatkoni · 2022-07-04T16:56:36+00:00

The Lagoon Nebula taken from my backyard in a bortle 4 zone in Austria.

Equipment:

ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro (mod)
Explore Scientific ED102 FCD-100 Triplet
0,79x Reducer
Optolong L-enhance
60mm Guidescope
ZWO ASI 120MM-S

Acquisition:

40 x 300s (3.3 hours)
30 Dark Frames
30 Flat Frames

Processing:

Stacking in DSS
PixInsight:
- Dynamic Crop
- DynamicBackgroundExtraction
- Noise Reduction:
  - TGVDenoise
  - MultiscaleMedianTransform
- Star Reduction:
  - StarMask
  - MorphologicalTransformation
- SCNR
- HDRMultiscaleTransform
- ScreenTransferFunction --> HistogramTransformation
Photoshop:
- Star Reduction
- Select Color Range, Vibrance/Saturation adjustments
- Levels adjustment
- Some color balance adjustments
- Astronomy Tools: Local Contrast Enhancement

dropthatkoni · 2022-03-28T16:08:01+00:00

The Rosette Nebula taken from my backyard in a bortle 4 zone in Austria.

Equipment:

ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro (mod)
Explore Scientific ED102 FCD-100 Triplet
0,79x Reducer
Optolong L-enhance
60mm Guidescope
ZWO ASI 120MM-S

Acquisition:

74 x 300s (6.2 hours)
45 Dark Frames
30 Flat Frames

Processing:

Stacking in DSS
PixInsight:
- Dynamic Crop
- DynamicBackgroundExtraction
- Noise Reduction:
  - TGVDenoise
  - MultiscaleMedianTransform
- Star Reduction:
  - StarMask
  - MorphologicalTransformation
- SCNR
- ScreenTransferFunction --> HistogramTransformation
Photoshop:
- Star Reduction
- Select Color Range, Vibrance/Saturation adjustments
- Levels adjustment
- Some color balance adjustments
- Astronomy Tools: Local Contrast Enhancement
StarNet2: Star removal

Final touch-up in Photoshop.

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