Blotches on background

[AstroNebulee]

Hi
I am struggling to get rid of the blotches in the background in my images. I use startools 1.8 to process them but cannot get past the blotches. I realise may data isn't the best anyway and there are so many stars in the image too which doesn't help. I have tried everything startools has to offer, I know I'm doing it all wrong and very new at processing. If i could afford gradient xterminator I would. I do have topaz denoise but leaves the image looking to crunchy and I have an old version on photoshop cs4. Any pointers in my images would be gratefully received and I'm embarrased by them. This is just over 2 hours on IC 405 which I realise isn't enough data.

Cheers



Lee
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ekir8pa14qwtf ... d.fit?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d4eg867e2jjb7 ... .tiff?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3zxz1pht6j172 ... s.log?dl=0

[Mike in Rancho]

Well that is a bit blotchy alright.

Not to worry, I made lots of blotchy images early on. Lots!

What are the details here as far as rig, camera, filters, integration, calibration files, stacking? And what is meant by combined in your file name?

I wasn't aware of this target (will have to go look for it someday!), but it seems pretty cool. Also seems tailor made for narrowband or duoband, but perhaps that's just me. Perhaps with RGB stars if that's your thing. Just straight up RGB here, I take it?

It's possible you are trying to stretch out more than the data reasonably allows, among other things, and more time integrated will help as you won't be pushing the edge with other modules and chasing your tail.

I could go look through the log, though it's really big! What I do is have my current version distro folder pinned for when I right click to bring up Windows Explorer, for easy access. After I finish an image and close ST, I just rename the Startools.log to whatever I had been working on. ST will create a brand new Startools.log the next time you open it. I have a lot of logs though, so this makes it easier for me to organize and find the right one when needed. Plus the log file doesn't become giant.

Here's my moderately quick try with your dataset, just one time through. A great many stars here, as you note. A bit of color anomalies strewn about too that perhaps I didn't properly get all of in Wipe. Didn't want to possibly erase too much nebula though. I did use some vignetting option here.

ANebulee IC405 Combined ST8 1A.jpg (505.95 KiB) Viewed 2749 times

Masks were just automask so were deleted.

Code: Select all

-----------------------------------------------------------
StarTools 1.8.527MR2
Wed Apr 06 16:36:39 2022
-----------------------------------------------------------
File loaded [E:\ASTRO\2-ST FOLDER\astronebulee\IC405\Ic405 Combined.fit].
Image size is 4096 x 2792
--- 
Type of Data: Linear and was Bayered, but not whitebalanced
--- Auto Develop
Parameter [Ignore Fine Detail <] set to [Off]
Parameter [Outside RoI Influence] set to [15 %]
Parameter [RoI X1] set to [0 pixels]
Parameter [RoI Y1] set to [0 pixels]
Parameter [RoI X2] set to [4096 pixels (-0)]
Parameter [RoI Y2] set to [2792 pixels (-0)]
Parameter [Detector Gamma] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Shadow Linearity] set to [50 %]
--- Crop
Parameter [X1] set to [40 pixels]
Parameter [Y1] set to [27 pixels]
Parameter [X2] set to [4056 pixels (-40)]
Parameter [Y2] set to [2765 pixels (-27)]
Image size is 4016 x 2738
--- Bin
Parameter [Scale] set to [scale 50.00% / +2.00 bits / +1.00x SNR improvement]
Image size is 2008 x 1369
--- Wipe
Parameter [Synthetic Dark/Bias] set to [Off]
Parameter [Gradient Edge Behavior] set to [Absorb 50%]
Parameter [Synthetic Flats] set to [Vignetting]
Parameter [Sampling Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Gradient Falloff] set to [75 %]
Parameter [Synth. Bias Edge Area] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Gradient Aggressiveness] set to [95 %]
Parameter [Correlation Filtering] set to [1.0 pixels]
Redoing stretch of linear data
--- Auto Develop
Parameter [Ignore Fine Detail <] set to [1.8 pixels]
Parameter [Outside RoI Influence] set to [15 %]
Parameter [RoI X1] set to [0 pixels]
Parameter [RoI Y1] set to [0 pixels]
Parameter [RoI X2] set to [2008 pixels (-0)]
Parameter [RoI Y2] set to [1369 pixels (-0)]
Parameter [Detector Gamma] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Shadow Linearity] set to [50 %]
--- Contrast
Parameter [Expose Dark Areas] set to [Yes]
Parameter [Brightness Retention] set to [Off]
Parameter [Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Shadow Detail Size] set to [10 pixels]
Parameter [Locality] set to [50 %]
Parameter [Shadow Dyn Range Alloc] set to [30 %]
--- HDR
Parameter [Signal Flow] set to [Tracked]
Parameter [Quality] set to [Low]
Parameter [Gamma Shadow (Lift)] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Gamma Highlight (Tame)] set to [1.25]
Parameter [Gamma Smoothen] set to [20.0 pixels]
Parameter [Context Size] set to [35x35 pixels (1.74% image W, 2.56% image H)]
Parameter [Shadows Detail Boost] set to [30 %]
Parameter [Highlights Detail Boost] set to [30 %]
Mask used (BASE64 PNG encoded)
PSF samples used (1 PSF sample locations, BASE64 encoded)
VFMAAAEA2AdZBYEE5wE=
--- Spatially Variant PSF Deconvolution
Parameter [PSF Resampling] set to [Intra-Iteration + Centroid Tracking Linear]
Parameter [Synthetic PSF Model] set to [Circle of Confusion (Optics Only)]
Parameter [Sampled PSF Area] set to [15x15]
Parameter [Synthetic PSF Radius] set to [1.5 pixels]
Parameter [Synthetic Iterations] set to [Off]
Parameter [Spatial Error] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Deringing Fuzz] set to [27.5 pixels]
Parameter [Deringing Detect] set to [75 %]
Parameter [Dyn. Range Extension] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Linearity Cutoff] set to [85 %]
Parameter [Sampled Iterations] set to [8x]
Parameter [Deringing Amount] set to [0.90]
Mask used (BASE64 PNG encoded)
--- Color
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 [Matrix] set to [Identity (OFF)]
Parameter [Dark Saturation] set to [3.5]
Parameter [Bright Saturation] set to [4.5]
Parameter [Saturation Amount] set to [200 %]
Parameter [Blue Bias Reduce] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Green Bias Reduce] set to [1.30]
Parameter [Red Bias Reduce] set to [1.19]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Cap Green] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Highlight Repair] set to [8 pixels]
--- Super Structure
Parameter [Detail Preservation] set to [Linear Brightness Mask Darken]
Parameter [Compositing Algorithm] set to [Multiply, Gamma Correct]
Parameter [Brightness, Color] set to [Process Both]
Parameter [Brightness Retention] set to [Local Median]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Airy Disk Radius] set to [40 %]
Parameter [Gamma] set to [0.75]
Parameter [Detail Preservation Radius] set to [20.0 pixels]
Parameter [Saturation] set to [50 %]
Parameter [Strength] set to [100 %]
Mask used (BASE64 PNG encoded)
--- Shrink
Parameter [Mode] set to [Tighten]
Parameter [Halo Extend] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Iterations] set to [10]
Parameter [Regularization] set to [0.85]
Parameter [Color Taming] set to [2 pixels]
Parameter [De-ringing] set to [Off]
Parameter [Un-glow Strength] set to [Off]
Parameter [Un-glow Kernel] set to [Off]
--- Super Structure
Parameter [Detail Preservation] set to [Linear Brightness Mask]
Parameter [Compositing Algorithm] set to [Screen]
Parameter [Brightness, Color] set to [Only Color]
Parameter [Brightness Retention] set to [Off]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Airy Disk Radius] set to [40 %]
Parameter [Gamma] set to [0.50]
Parameter [Detail Preservation Radius] set to [20.0 pixels]
Parameter [Saturation] set to [150 %]
Parameter [Strength] set to [100 %]
--- Unified De-Noise
Parameter [Grain Size] set to [2.0 pixels]
Parameter [Walking Noise Size] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Walking Noise Angle] set to [0]
--- Unified De-Noise
Parameter [Scale 1] set to [99 %]
Parameter [Scale 2] set to [95 %]
Parameter [Scale 3] set to [95 %]
Parameter [Scale 4] set to [95 %]
Parameter [Scale 5] set to [50 %]
Parameter [Equalized Grain] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Scale Correlation] set to [20 %]
Parameter [Color Detail Loss] set to [50 %]
Parameter [Brightness Detail Loss] set to [50 %]
Parameter [Grain Dispersion] set to [6.0 pixels]
File saved [E:\ASTRO\2-ST FOLDER\astronebulee\IC405\ANebulee Ic405 Combined ST8 1A.tiff].

[AstroNebulee]

Hi Mike
Thank you for your advice. My set up is sw 72ed AzGti eq mode, asiair pro and zwo asi294mc pro, guided with zwo guidescope and 120 mcs.
It's 2 hours 21 mins integration time and shot over 2 nights (where the combined bit comes from) and is rgb with zwo ir uv cut filter.
I think it is just a case of overstretching now to try and reveal more nebulousity in the 'tail' part.
I tried a simple stretch alone in photoshop and the background was much better but not revealing the tail nebulousity much, so think this target needs a lot of integration time. It certainly is very star studded, way to many stars for a target I like to image as its hard to process out but thought I'd give it a go. As you say woukd probably benefit better from narrowband imaging.
Cheers
Lee

[AstroNebulee]

Just a refresh on my processing of IC405.
Autostretch, bin 50%,crop, in Wipe I set the correlation filter to 1 pixel and vignetting, not selected a roi and increased ignore fine detail in second autostretch, contrast, HD, sharp, sv decon just selected 1 star, colour using stars as samples, shrink in tighten mode with halo extend to 7 pixels, in super structure increased saturation to 170%,small noise reduction.
I'm gimp I did a star reduction, then photoshop for a high pass, then astroflat pro, small noise reduction with astro tools.
A lot of bits of software but happy with the process I'm getting.

Cheers
Lee