15th Feb 2024: Astro Pixel Processor 2.0.0-beta29 released - macOS native File Chooser, macOS CMD-Q fixed, read-only Fits on network fixed and other bug fixes
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Hi fellow Astrophotographers,
after moving from the city to the suburb I am now happy to image broadband targets again. This is around 5 hours from my new garden. I was only able to image M33 before it hit it's peak and I think the resolution took a hit because of that. The change of correctors shows a work in progress. The Schmidt Newtonian never got a dedicated Corrector for it's remaining Coma and astigmatism and I am still figuring out the spacing after 2 years. The Paracorrs Illumination is much better than the Maxfield's. Both coma correctors work at around 5mm less of spacing between corrector and sensor right now. CS,
Ben
Acquisition details:
- Meade SN8
- NEQ 6 pro
- Sony A7rIIa
- Mgen II
- acquisition date 3rd of September in Sankt Augustin - Germany
- TS-MAxfield Coma Corrector 0.95X
- 67 x 2 min lights
- 8 x flat
- 20 x darks
- 25 x bias
- acquisition date 8th of September in Sankt Augustin - Germany
- ParaCorr PLU 1.15X
- 39 x 5 min lights
- 24 x flats
- 20 x darks
- 25 x bias
Post processing steps:
- Stacked in APP with all auto settings except for dynamic distortion correction turned on
- remove light pollution in APP
- star color calibration in APP
- worked on colors in Lightroom and used eliptical luminance masked adjustments to tame the background
- starsize reduction in Photoshop with starmask created with threshhold adjustment layer on top of difference layer of the image and a descratched version of the image. The actual star size reduction was done with a minmum filter.
- final touch ups and cropping in Lightroom
Tip; open the image in a new tab, it shows the full uploaded resolution.
Very nice! I see what you mean with the slightly stretched stars in the corners, but I have to say.. that's on the professional tweaking level already. 🙂 So great to be able to move to darker places, I totally get that. When I lived in NZ and now in Denmark (on a dark island), it makes for all the difference.
Thanks for sharing!
