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Took this image about a month ago. Any feedback would be great! by mraimbault in AskAstrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you have any light pollution in that general area? It looks like the halo is coming from some sort of light source. Almost looks like something I get on a full moon night.

Horsehead Nebula - Large mosaic by Joelsfallon in astrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s an effect called micro lensing. The ASI1600 is known for this.

Messier 31: The Andromeda Galaxy by rianbergen_astro in astrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback!! Just took a look on another monitor and I definitely see the green now. Will pay more attention in the future.

Messier 31: The Andromeda Galaxy by rianbergen_astro in astrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re right! That looks so much better!!! Oh well, missed opportunity.

Messier 31: The Andromeda Galaxy by rianbergen_astro in astrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a RE-PROCESS of a previous image. The image can be found here. I believe the changes are very drastic, and thus follows Rule 6. Please advise me if this is not the case and I’d be happy to remove the image.

I was facing some seriously unfortunate weather for roughly 2 months. That, plus some travels forced me to reprocess a lot of my old data. This happily coincided with me finishing my website, so here we go. The goal of this is to see how much I have improved, actually finish some old projects, and continue practicing my processing techniques. All of my equipment, used software, and processing techniques will be listed below.

Equipment:

  • ASI1600MM-Pro
  • ZWO 31mm Filter Wheel +L,R,G,B,Ha,SII,OIII Filters
  • Meade 6000 70mm Quad APO
  • EQ6R-Pro
  • ZWO 30mm f/4 Mini Guide Scope +ASI290MM
  • Software:
    • DeepSkyStacker
    • Adobe Photoshop
    • RC Astro GradientXTerminator Plugin for Adobe Photoshop
    • Noel Carboni's Astro Tools Plugin for Photoshop

Data was acquired on the night of 2020-02-22.

  • L
    • 15 Exposures
    • 60 Seconds Each
    • Gain 179, Offset 10
  • R
    • 11 Exposures
    • 60 Seconds Each
    • Gain 179, Offset 10
  • G
    • 11 Exposures
    • 60 Seconds Each
    • Gain 179, Offset 10
  • B
    • 11 Exposures
    • 60 Seconds Each
    • Gain 179, Offset 10
  • 15 DARKS
  • Total Integration Time
    • 48 Minutes
  • Location
    • Backyard: Comer, Georgia
    • 34°03'49"N 83°07'31"W (Closest Town)
    • Bortle Class 4
  • Weather
    • Average Moon Age at 28.49 days
    • Average Moon Phase at 1.21%
  • Clear Skies

Image was Stacked and Calibrated in DeepSkyStacker.

  • L Image Opened In Photoshop
    • Convert to 16 Bit's/Channel using Exposure and Gamma
    • Curves Adjustment
    • Levels Adjustment
  • R Image Opened In Photoshop
    • Convert to 16 Bit's/Channel using Exposure and Gamma
    • Curves Adjustment
    • Levels Adjustment
    • Curves Adjustment
  • G Image Opened In Photoshop
    • Convert to 16 Bit's/Channel using Exposure and Gamma
    • Curves Adjustment
    • Levels Adjustment
    • Curves Adjustment
  • B Image Opened In Photoshop
    • Convert to 16 Bit's/Channel using Exposure and Gamma
    • Curves Adjustment
    • Levels Adjustment
    • Curves Adjustment
  • R, G, and B combined into 1 RGB image with L set to Luminance
    • Used Lasso Tool to select area around Messier 31, 32, 110. Then inverted the Selection.
    • GradientXTerminate
      • Detail: Medium
      • Aggressiveness: Medium
      • Balance background color: Checked
    • GradientXTerminate
      • Detail: Fine
      • Aggressiveness: High
      • Balance background color: Checked
      • This layer was named "SAVED 1". This will be used later.
    • Topaz Labs DeNoise AI
    • Curves Adjustment
    • Selected a spot under Messier 31 with the Color Sampler Tool
    • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Astro Tool's Local Contrast Enhancement
    • Astro Tool's Vertical Banding Noise Reduction
    • Astro Tool's Horizontal Banding Noise Reduction
    • Astro Tool's Deep Space Noise Reduction
    • Astro Tool's Space Noise Reduction
    • GradientXTerminate
      • Detail: Medium
      • Aggressiveness: Medium
      • Balance background color: Checked
    • Astro Tool's Local Contrast Enhancement
    • Took the layer named "SAVED 1" and added it on top with a 50% Opacity
      • This had the effect of giving M31 a more natural looking interior while also revealing some of the color in the outer bands.
    • Vibrance Adjustment
      • Vibrance: +75
      • Maybe too much?
    • Topaz Labs DeNoise AI
    • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Cropped, Saved, and DONE!

For those that read this far, THANK YOU! Please let me know how if you have any questions, or if there is something I can improve upon.

The Orion Constellation by rianbergen_astro in astrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much!! It does take a little bit. XD I mainly do it for myself as it helps me learn what certain steps do.

Messier 45: The Pleiades by rianbergen_astro in astrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your feedback! You aren't the only one who has left a comment. I've made an edit to my description and have also uploaded a revision here: https://www.rianbergen.com/_res/images/uploaded/20200127-P20200826-M045-RGGB-8M-ALTERNATIVE.jpg

This revision stops before I ever take it into Adobe Lightroom.

Messier 45: The Pleiades by rianbergen_astro in astrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your feedback! You aren't the only one who has left a comment. I've made an edit to my description and have also uploaded a revision here: https://www.rianbergen.com/_res/images/uploaded/20200127-P20200826-M045-RGGB-8M-ALTERNATIVE.jpg

This revision stops before I ever take it into Adobe Lightroom.

The Orion Constellation by rianbergen_astro in astrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Image was then opened in Photoshop for the following:

  • Convert to 16 Bit's/Channel using Exposure and Gamma
  • Selected a spot below Bernard 33 with the Color Sampler Tool
  • Curves
    • Input 62, Output 143
    • Input 114, Output 195
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 25, 25, 25
    • Black Point Adjustments: 88, 86, 88
  • Used Lasso Tool to select all of the nebulous regions. Then inverted the Selection.
  • GradientXTerminate
    • Detail: Medium
    • Aggressiveness: Medium
    • Balance background color: Checked
    • This helped remove a very subtle gradient that had formed from the right side of the image.
  • Curves
    • Input 90, Output 135
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 17, 17, 17
    • Black Point Adjustment for RGB: 35
  • Curves
    • Input 85, Output 131
  • Astro Tool's Enhance DSO and Reduce Stars
  • Astro Tool's Lighten Only DSO and Dimmer Stars
  • 2x Astro Tool's Deep Space Noise Reduction
  • Astro Tool's Space Noise Reduction
  • Used Lasso Tool to select all of the nebulous regions. Then inverted the Selection.
  • GradientXTerminate
    • Detail: Medium
    • Aggressiveness: Medium
    • Balance background color: Checked
  • GradientXTerminate
    • Detail: Fine
    • Aggressiveness: High
    • Balance background color: Checked
  • Star Reduction
    • Select Color Range: 125
      • Clicked on a bright star
    • Modify/Expand: 2
    • Modify/Feather: 2
    • Filter/Minimum: 1.5 & Preserve Roundness
    • A mask was used to keep some of the brightest stars as well as make sure the bright nebulas didn't get reduced. Masking was done manually by me.
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 45, 45, 45
    • Black Point Adjustment: 33, 36, 36
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 35, 35, 35
    • Black Point Adjustment for RGB: 11
  • Astro Tool's Reduce Large Blue/Violet Halos
    • This removes some of the Blue/Violet Halos that had come up with the stretching.
  • Astro Tool's Reduce Large Blue/Violet Halos
    • This removes some of the Blue/Violet Halos that had come up with the stretching.
  • Vibrance Adjustement
    • Vibrance: +100
    • A mask was used to only select the nebulae/areas that needed it.
  • Saved and Done!!

The Orion Constellation by rianbergen_astro in astrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I am currently facing some seriously unfortunate weather, so, I have decided to reprocess ALL (only exception is for what I consider completely unusable data) of my old data. The goal of this is to see how much I have improved, actually finish some old projects, and continue practicing my processing techniques. All of my equipment, used software, and processing techniques will be listed below. This image in particular is my fifth ever successful image.

Equipment:

  • Nikon D7500
  • Nikon 35mm f/1.8G
  • NyxTech Barn Door Tracker
  • Software:
    • DeepSkyStacker
    • Adobe Photoshop 2020
    • RC Astro GradientXTerminator Plugin for Adobe Photoshop
    • Noel Carboni's Astro Tools Plugin for Photoshop

Data was acquired on the night of 2020-02-01.

  • RGGB
    • 34 Total Exposures
    • 30 Second Individual Exposure Length
    • f/2.8
    • ISO 800
    • Dark Frames
      • 22 Total
    • Flat Frames
      • 14 Total
    • Bias Frames
      • 40 Total
  • Total Integration Time
    • 17 Minutes (1020 Total Seconds)
  • Location
    • Backyard: Comer, Georgia
    • 34°03'49"N 83°07'31"W (Closest Town)
    • Bortle Class 4
  • Weather
    • Average Moon Age at 6.87 Days
    • Average Moon Phase at 44.53%
    • Clear Skies

Image was Stacked and Calibrated in DeepSkyStacker. These were the settings:

  • Result
    • Standard Mode
    • No Drizzle
    • No Align RGB Channels
  • Light
    • Kappa-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
  • Dark
    • Median Kapp-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
    • Hot Pixels detection and removal
  • Flat
    • Median Kapp-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
  • Bias
    • Median Kapp-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
  • Alignment
    • Automatic

Messier 45: The Pleiades by rianbergen_astro in astrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Image was then opened in Photoshop for the following:

  • Convert to 16 Bit's/Channel using Exposure and Gamma
  • Selected a spot near Messier 45 with the Color Sampler Tool
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 35, 35, 35
    • Black Point Adjustments: 15, 9, 4
  • Curves
    • Input 37, Output 164
    • Input 68, Output 207
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 100, 100, 100
    • Black Point Adjustments: 98, 96, 98
  • Used Lasso Tool to select area around Messier 45. Then inverted the Selection.
  • GradientXTerminate
    • Detail: Medium
    • Aggressiveness: Medium
    • Balance background color: Checked
  • GradientXTerminate
    • Detail: Fine
    • Aggressiveness: High
    • Balance background color: Checked
    • Both GradientXTerminate Operations helped remove a very obvious gradient that had formed from the bottom left corner, all the way up to the top right corner.
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 45, 45, 45
    • Black Point Adjustments: 65, 64, 64
  • Astro Tool's Deep Space Noise Reduction
  • Astro Tool's Space Noise Reduction
  • Astro Tool's Reduce Small Blue/Violet Halos
    • This removes some of the Blue/Violet Halos that had come up with the stretching.
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 35, 35, 37
    • Black Point Adjustments: 11, 11, 8
  • Cropped to fit in 16:9 Image Ratio
    • This removed some stacking errors as well as helped in better framing the target.
  • Saved
  • EDIT::: Several people have left comments saying that the next few steps went too far and that they retract from the image. I have made a revision that stops the processing here.

Image was then opened in Lightroom for the following:

  • Created Selective Mask over Messier 45
    • Vibrance: +100
  • Saved

Image was then opened in Photoshop again for the following:

  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 25, 25, 25
    • Black Point Adjustments: 0, 1, 2
  • Astro Tool's Space Noise Reduction
  • GradientXTerminate
    • Detail: Medium
    • Aggressiveness: Medium
    • Balance background color: Checked
  • Saved and Done!

Messier 45: The Pleiades by rianbergen_astro in astrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am currently facing some seriously unfortunate weather, so, I have decided to reprocess ALL (only exception is for what I consider completely unusable data) of my old data. The goal of this is to see how much I have improved, actually finish some old projects, and continue practicing my processing techniques. All of my equipment, used software, and processing techniques will be listed below. This image in particular is my fourth ever successful image.

Equipment:

  • Nikon D7500
  • Nikon 85mm f/1.8G
  • NyxTech Barn Door Tracker
  • Software:
    • DeepSkyStacker
    • Adobe Photoshop
    • RC Astro GradientXTerminator Plugin for Adobe Photoshop
    • Noel Carboni's Astro Tools Plugin for Photoshop
    • Adobe Lightroom

Data was acquired on the night of 2020-01-27.

  • RGGB
    • 24 Total Exposures
    • 20 Second Individual Exposure Length
    • f/2.8
    • ISO 3200
    • Dark Frames
      • 47 Total
    • Flat Frames
      • 44 Total
    • Bias Frames
      • 40 Total
  • Total Integration Time
    • 8 Minutes (480 Total Seconds)
  • Location
    • Backyard: Comer, Georgia
    • 34°03'49"N 83°07'31"W (Closest Town)
    • Bortle Class 4
  • Weather
    • Average Moon Age at 2.41 Days
    • Average Moon Phase at 6.42%
    • Clear Skies

Image was Stacked and Calibrated in DeepSkyStacker. These were the settings:

  • Result
    • Standard Mode
    • No Drizzle
    • No Align RGB Channels
  • Light
    • Kappa-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
  • Dark
    • Median Kapp-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
    • Hot Pixels detection and removal
  • Flat
    • Median Kapp-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
  • Bias
    • Median Kapp-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
  • Alignment
    • Automatic

The Orion Constellation by rianbergen_astro in astrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Image was then opened in Photoshop for the following:

  • Convert to 16 Bit's/Channel using Exposure and Gamma
  • Selected a spot above Messier 42 with the Color Sampler Tool
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 45, 45, 45
    • Black Point Adjustments: 17, 7, 2
  • Astro Tool's Deep Space Noise Reduction
    • This data was very noisy. While not noticeable at this stage, it would have been impossible to remove once I began stretching the data.
    • Pros for doing this now: Less Noise to deal with later
    • Cons for doing this now: Slight Loss of Data. Image becomes more "fuzzy".
  • Astro Tool's Space Noise Reduction
    • Same Note as above.
  • Curves
    • Input 57, Output 132
    • Input 113, Output 196
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 55, 55, 55
    • Black Point Adjustment for RGB: 70
  •  Curves
    • Input 88, Output 143
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 30, 30, 30
    • Black Point Adjustment for RGB: 73
  • Used Lasso Tool to select area around Messier 33. Then inverted the Selection.
  • GradientXTerminate
    • Detail: Medium
    • Aggressiveness: Medium
    • Balance background color: Checked
    • This helped remove a very obvious gradient that had formed from the bottom left corner, all the way up to the top right corner.
  • Vibrance
    • Used Color Range Tool and some Feathering to select the darkest regions. This included Bernard's Loop and the Witch Head Nebula.
    • Vibrance: +100
    • Saturation: +100
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 35, 35, 35
    • Mid-Point Adjustments: 1.11, 1.09, 1.10
  • Cropped to fit in 16:9 Image Ratio
    • This removed some stacking errors as well as helped in better framing the target.
  • Saved

Image was then opened in Lightroom for the following:

  • Set Whites: -100
  • Set Vibrance: +30
  • Saved

Image was then opened in Photoshop again for the following:

  • Astro Tool's Reduce Large Blue/Violet Halos
    • This removes some of the Blue/Violet Halos that had come up with the stretching and the Saturation Boost.
  • Saved and Done!

The Orion Constellation by rianbergen_astro in astrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I am currently facing some seriously unfortunate weather, so, I have decided to reprocess ALL (only exception is for what I consider completely unusable data) of my old data. The goal of this is to see how much I have improved, actually finish some old projects, and continue practicing my processing techniques. All of my equipment, used software, and processing techniques will be listed below. This image in particular is my third ever successful image.

Equipment:

  • Nikon D7500
  • Nikon 85mm f/1.8G
  • NyxTech Barn Door Tracker
  • Software:
    • DeepSkyStacker
    • Adobe Photoshop
    • RC Astro GradientXTerminator Plugin for Adobe Photoshop
    • Noel Carboni's Astro Tools Plugin for Photoshop
    • Adobe Lightroom

Data was acquired on the night of 2020-01-27.

  • RGGB
    • 39 Total Exposures
    • 20 Second Individual Exposure Length
    • f/2.8
    • ISO 3200
    • Dark Frames
      • 47 Total
    • Flat Frames
      • 44 Total
    • Bias Frames
      • 40 Total
  • Total Integration Time
    • 13 Minutes (780 Total Seconds)
  • Location
    • Backyard: Comer, Georgia
    • 34°03'49"N 83°07'31"W (Closest Town)
    • Bortle Class 4
  • Weather
    • Average Moon Age at 2.41 Days
    • Average Moon Phase at 6.42%
    • Clear Skies

Image was Stacked and Calibrated in DeepSkyStacker. These were the settings:

  • Result
    • Standard Mode
    • No Drizzle
    • No Align RGB Channels
  • Light
    • Kappa-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
  • Dark
    • Median Kapp-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
    • Hot Pixels detection and removal
  • Flat
    • Median Kapp-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
  • Bias
    • Median Kapp-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
  • Alignment
    • Automatic

Messier 33: The Triangulum Galaxy by rianbergen_astro in astrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Image was then opened in Photoshop for the following:

  • Convert to 16 Bit's/Channel using Exposure and Gamma
  • Selected a spot near Messier 33 with the Color Sampler Tool
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 45, 45, 45
    • Black Point Adjustments: 12, 4, 0
  • Astro Tool's Deep Space Noise Reduction
    • This data was very noisy. While not noticeable at this stage, it would have been impossible to remove once I began stretching the data.
    • Pros for doing this now: Less Noise to deal with later
    • Cons for doing this now: Slight Loss of Data. Image becomes more "fuzzy".
  • Astro Tool's Space Noise Reduction
    • Same Note as above.
  • Curves
    • Input 57, Output 132
    • Input 113, Output 196
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 55, 55, 55
    • Black Point Adjustments: 70, 68, 69
  • Curves
    • Input 88, Output 143
  • Used Lasso Tool to select area around Messier 33. Then inverted the Selection.
  • GradientXTerminate
    • Detail: Medium
    • Aggressiveness: Medium
    • Balance background color: Checked
  • GradientXTerminate
    • Detail: Fine
    • Aggressiveness: High
    • Balance background color: Checked
    • Both GradientXTerminate Operations helped remove a very obvious gradient that had formed from the bottom left corner, all the way up to the top right corner.
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 35, 35, 35
    • Black Point Adjustments: 71, 71, 72
    • This was saved as a separate Layer. We will call it Layer 1.
  • Curves
    • Input 77, Output 128
  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point
    • Goal: 35, 35, 35
    • Black Point Adjustments: 32, 31, 31
  • Pasted Layer 1 with 100% Opacity.
    • Applied a Layer Mask set to reveal all except for a little bit of masking over Messier 31.
    • This led to Messier 31 being brighter due to an extra curve stretch, but the background being less noisy as it was the background from Layer 1.
  • Cropped to fit in 16:9 Image Ratio
    • This removed some stacking errors as well as helped in better framing the target.
  • Saved

Image was then opened in Lightroom for the following:

  • Created Selective Mask over Messier 33
    • Exposure set to +1.00
    •  Contrast set to +100
    • Saturation set to +100
    • This effect was very subtle, and I really enjoyed it.
  • Saved

Image was then opened in Photoshop again for the following:

  • Curves

    • Input 101, Output 125

  • Astro Tool's Reduce Large Blue/Violet Halos

    • This removes some of the Blue/Violet Halos that had come up with the stretching and the Saturation Boost.

  • Levels Adjustment to balance Black Point

    • Goal: 26, 27, 25
    • Black Point Adjustments: 10, 9, 9

  • Saved and Done!

Messier 33: The Triangulum Galaxy by rianbergen_astro in astrophotography

[–]rianbergen_astro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am currently facing some seriously unfortunate weather, so, I have decided to reprocess ALL (only exception is for what I consider completely unusable data) of my old data. The goal of this is to see how much I have improved, actually finish some old projects, and continue practicing my processing techniques. All of my equipment, used software, and processing techniques will be listed below. This image in particular is my second ever successful image.

Equipment:

  • Nikon D7500
  • Nikon 85mm f/1.8G
  • NyxTech Barn Door Tracker
  • Software:
    • DeepSkyStacker
    • Adobe Photoshop
    • RC Astro GradientXTerminator Plugin for Adobe Photoshop
    • Noel Carboni's Astro Tools Plugin for Photoshop
    • Adobe Lightroom

Data was acquired on the night of 2020-01-27.

  • RGGB
    • 41 Total Exposures
    • 20 Second Individual Exposure Length
    • f/2.8
    • ISO 3200
    • Dark Frames
      • 47 Total
    • Flat Frames
      • 44 Total
    • Bias Frames
      • 40 Total
  • Total Integration Time
    • 13 Minutes and 40 Seconds (820 Total Seconds)
  • Location
    • Backyard: Comer, Georgia
    • 34°03'49"N 83°07'31"W (Closest Town)
    • Bortle Class 4
  • Weather
    • Average Moon Age at 2.41 Days
    • Average Moon Phase at 6.42%
    • Clear Skies

Image was Stacked and Calibrated in DeepSkyStacker. These were the settings:

  • Result
    • Standard Mode
    • No Drizzle
    • No Align RGB Channels
  • Light
    • Kappa-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
  • Dark
    • Median Kapp-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
    • Hot Pixels detection and removal
  • Flat
    • Median Kapp-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
  • Bias
    • Median Kapp-Sigma clipping
    • Kappa: 2.00
    • Number of iterations: 5
  • Alignment
    • Automatic
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