2020.11.13 – Soul Nebula
Gear
- Telescope – Meades 70mm Series 6000 Refractor
- Main Camera – ZWO ASI294MC Pro
- Filter – Optolong 2″ L-Enhance
- Mount – HEQ5
- Guide Scope – ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope
- Guide Camera – ZWO ASI290MM
- Controller – ZWO ASIAir Pro
Acquisition
- 47 Light Images at 120 gain, 300s exposure
- 30 Dark Images
- 200 Bias Images
- 62 Flats
The Soul Nebula. AKA LBN 667. AKA SH2-199. An emission nebula to be around 7500 light years away.
For some reason it took me 4 tries processing this image. The first attempt I over adjusted on the curves. Everything that followed after the over curve adjustments resulted in a flushed, cloudy mess. I just wasn’t satisfied with the results I was getting on my second and third attempt processing.
On the fourth attempt I adjusted the curves for red, green, and blue individually. That really helped in keeping all 3 colors under control. The red is still a bit dominate using the L-Enhance but it’s not as bad as my first attempt which I will keep un-posted and maybe trash.
Another change in my current process is I minimized stars before I did some adjustments using Camera Raw Filter. In Camera Raw Filter I do some noise reduction and slight curve adjustments. I like the slight touches and results when doing changes in that filter.
Processing Steps in Photoshop:
- Color Balance
- Individual red, green, blue curve adjustments
- Gradient correction using GradientXTerminator
- Saturation Boost
- Vibrance Boost
- Noise Reduction using Astronomy tool – Space Noise Reduction action
- Noise Reduction using Astronomy tool – Deep Space Noise Reduction action
- Sharpening
- Minimized stars in Photoshop, 2 rounds
- Minimized stars using Astronomy tool – Make Stars Smaller action
- Noise reduction and curve adjustment in Camera Raw Filter
- Astronomy tool – Enhanced DSO and Reduce Stars action
- Astronomy tool – Less Crunchy More Fuzzy
- Smart Sharpen filter
- Luminosity overlay
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