First effort at Star Tools on M42

[jkopecky]

I am new to AP and even newer to Star Tools and therefore at a loss to determine if what I am getting is "correct". This image was taken with a Nikon D600 at prime on on a Nexstar 4 in alt/az mode. 40 lights, 15 sec exp. at 2500 ISO. Then stacked with DSS. It was then processed with Star Tools. The final image is as it came out of Star Tools, no additional processing. Thanks for your comments and any guidance you can provide.

John

[Burly]

Nice first effort

[admin]

You may or may not know this, but M42 is regarded as one of the more challenging objects to process and you've done a great job here!

The reason why it's considered harder to process is because of the massive variations in its dynamic range (very bright core, dim outer parts). The core is where many APers give up, or if not giving up, leave the core desaturated and white.

What's really nice about your image here is that not only have you managed to tame the core, you've brought out all the detail and color variations;
You're showing a distinctly different coloring in the core - which is correct; it's teal/green due to the reflection of the blue giants in its middle and the excitation of Oxygen (OIII).
Add to that that you're clearly showing that red 'serpentine' boundary at the lower border between core and rest of the wings, what's more, the dynamic range and color rendition is so good that you can see that it extends a long way to the right of the image into the rest of the nebula (keep in mind that the brightness variation is huge and that a lot of APers normally struggle with this!). Very well done!

If I had to guess, I'd guess you used deconvolution, however without a mask that masks out the brighter stars. Am I correct?

What does your processing log look like? (you can find it in the StarTools.log file)

[jkopecky]

Ivo

Thank you for you review of my image. I am not really sure of all the steps I took since I am still wandering around in the woods. However, I believe the log for that image is as follows:


File loaded [C:\Users\John J Kopecky\Desktop\orion 1-29-16 2500 15 sec\star tools try 5.TIF].
---
--- Crop
Parameter [X1] set to [289 pixels]
Parameter [Y1] set to [210 pixels]
Parameter [X2] set to [5810 pixels (-270)]
Parameter [Y2] set to [3837 pixels (-191)]
--- Bin
Parameter [Scale] set to [(scale/noise reduction 25.00%)/(1600.00%)/(+4.00 bits)]
--- Auto Develop
Parameter [Ignore Fine Detail <] set to [Off]
Parameter [Outside ROI Influence] set to [15 %]
--- Wipe
Parameter [Mode] set to [Correct Color & Brightness]
Parameter [UNKNOWN] set to [No]
Parameter [Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Drop Off Point] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Corner Aggressiveness] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Aggressiveness] set to [75 %]
--- Contrast
Parameter [Expose Dark Areas] set to [No]
Parameter [Compensate Gamma] set to [No]
Parameter [Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Aggressiveness] set to [75 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Headroom] set to [15 %]
--- HDR
Parameter [Small Detail Precision] set to [Max]
Parameter [Channels] set to [Brightness Only]
Parameter [Algorithm] set to [Optimize Soft]
Parameter [Dark/Bright Response] set to [Full]
Parameter [Detail Size Range] set to [21 pixels]
Parameter [Noise Suppression] set to [Off]
--- HDR
Parameter [Small Detail Precision] set to [Max]
Parameter [Channels] set to [Brightness Only]
Parameter [Algorithm] set to [Equalize]
Parameter [Dark/Bright Response] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Detail Size Range] set to [21 pixels]
Parameter [Noise Suppression] set to [Off]
--- Wavelet Sharpen
Parameter [Intelligent Enhance] set to [Yes]
Parameter [Scale 1] set to [49 %]
Parameter [Scale 2] set to [49 %]
Parameter [Scale 3] set to [50 %]
Parameter [Scale 4] set to [49 %]
Parameter [Scale 5] set to [50 %]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [8.0 pixels]
Parameter [Amount] set to [377 %]
Parameter [Small Detail Bias] set to [38 %]
--- Deconvolution
Parameter [Image Type] set to [Deep Space]
Parameter [Mask Behavior] set to [De-ring Mask Gaps, Hide Result]
Parameter [Radius] set to [3.3 pixels]
Parameter [Iterations] set to [16]
Parameter [Regularization] set to [1.63 (smoother, less detail)]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [10.7 pixels]
--- Filter
Parameter [Filter Mode] set to [Conservative Nudge]
Parameter [Sampling Method] set to [3x3 Average]
Parameter [Filter Width] set to [5]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
--- Life
Parameter [Detail Preservation] set to [Linear Brightness Mask]
Parameter [Compositing Algorithm] set to [Multiply, Gamma Correct]
Parameter [Inherit Brightness, Color] set to [Off]
Parameter [Output Glow Only] set to [No]
Parameter [Airy Disk Sampling] set to [128 x 128 pixels]
Parameter [Airy Disk Radius] set to [8 pixels]
Parameter [Glow Threshold] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Detail Preservation Radius] set to [20.0 pixels]
Parameter [Saturation] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Strength] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
--- Fractal Flux
Parameter [Brightness Mask Mode] set to [Off]
Parameter [Algorithm] set to [Modulate Unsharp Mask]
Parameter [Negative Flux] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Positive Flux] set to [500 %]
Parameter [Detail Filter] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Filter Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Filter Radius] set to [1.5 pixels]
Parameter [Filter Amount] set to [200 %]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Brightness Mask Power] set to [1.00]
--- Color
Parameter [Cap Green] set to [No]
Parameter [Bias Slider Mode] set to [Sliders Reduce Color Bias]
Parameter [Style] set to [Scientific (Color Constancy)]
Parameter [LRGB Method Emulation] set to [Straight CIELab Luminance Retention]
Parameter [Dark Saturation] set to [2.00]
Parameter [Bright Saturation] set to [Full]
Parameter [Saturation Amount] set to [200 %]
Parameter [Blue Bias Reduce] set to [1.41]
Parameter [Green Bias Reduce] set to [1.38]
Parameter [Red Bias Reduce] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
--- Wavelet De-Noise
Parameter [Scale 1] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 2] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 3] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 4] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 5] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Scale Correlation] set to [3]
Parameter [Color Detail Loss] set to [12 %]
Parameter [Brightness Detail Loss] set to [12 %]
Parameter [Grain Size] set to [3.6 pixels]
Parameter [Read Noise Compensation] set to [3.22 %]
Parameter [Smoothness] set to [75 %]
--- Color
Parameter [Cap Green] set to [No]
Parameter [Bias Slider Mode] set to [Sliders Increase Color Bias]
Parameter [Style] set to [Scientific (Color Constancy)]
Parameter [LRGB Method Emulation] set to [Straight CIELab Luminance Retention]
Parameter [Dark Saturation] set to [9.90]
Parameter [Bright Saturation] set to [9.90]
Parameter [Saturation Amount] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Blue Bias Increase] set to [1.15]
Parameter [Green Bias Increase] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Red Bias Increase] set to [1.06]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
File saved [C:\Users\John J Kopecky\Desktop\orion 1-29-16 2500 15 sec\star tools try 5 star tool version.tiff].
--- Wavelet De-Noise
Parameter [Scale 1] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 2] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 3] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 4] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 5] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Scale Correlation] set to [3]
Parameter [Color Detail Loss] set to [20 %]
Parameter [Brightness Detail Loss] set to [20 %]
Parameter [Grain Size] set to [3.0 pixels]
Parameter [Read Noise Compensation] set to [Off]
Parameter [Smoothness] set to [75 %]
File saved [C:\Users\John J Kopecky\Desktop\orion 1-29-16 2500 15 sec\star tools try 5 star tool version sa.tiff].

Prior to this image I have been working on M42 for about 1 month since I got my scope, using a combination of Photoshop Elements and Nikon NX2, and have processed this same stack several times. However, this image is the first using only Star Tools, which I found intimidating but fun to use. The lecture that you did that is posted on the web was very valuable since only after seeing that did I have any sense of how the program worked and how to use its features. I will continue to work with this data-set using Star Tools as a baseline and will use the results to compare with other series of M42 images that I collect as weather permits.

Thanks for the encouragement. I hope to have better results to post in the near future.

John

[jkopecky]

Ivo

Here is the same image with some Photoshop processing to the Star Tools version to pull out the rest of the nebulosity.

I assume this is possible within Star Tools but I have not been able to get there yet.

John