Going Crazy on the Christmas Tree Nebula

[astronomynut]

Ivo, I posted the photo to Astrobin. I put in the description a note giving you credit for the processing help. I thought it was the right thing to do, considering the processing was actually done by you

I did go ahead and redo two more of my photos, M78 and M45, and got better results, but still need to work on them again, as I learn just how all the different modules and sliders affect the photo. I am starting to understand things a bit better now.

Thanks again, Caley

[Cheman]

I am following the standard sequence of processing that is in the Tutorials section, but one function I have not been able to puzzle out, and that is Masking specific areas. All I can manage to do is do Auto, Stars, Do, and the other functions provided with each button. But I understand that you can somehow pick areas out manually to prevent Wipe from wiping those areas.

Caley, glad you are making progress. To answer this part of your question....In the mask module, at the bottom, you can select from different selection methods. Toggle thru until you see the Lasso option. Now you will be able to draw around areas in your image and select them. There are other useful options here. Try them out. Ivo calls the selected areas Blobs. If you have done an auto-stars-do for example, you can then individually select a star blob and shrink or grow just that blob.

One thing about the Grow Blob option (Ivo...are you listening ) if you select a round area (star) and continually grow it, it no longer stays round but takes on a diamond type shape. I'm hoping Ivo can change this to stay round, or maintain the original shape
Che

[astronomynut]

My goodness! I sure am not very smart. I should have figured that out myself by going through every slider to see what it showed. Teaches me to be so intimidated by something that has more than one button or slider. Thanks again

I'm not revisiting my M42 that got good marks for just having done the processing in DSS. I am wondering just what it will look like with the knowledge I acquired.

Caley

[Cheman]

Hi Caley
Just checked out your Astrobin. I think you are getting some nice images. I especially like your M42. The only thing I would comment on is the brighter stars, but this is something we all have to cope with.
Che

[astronomynut]

Not a clue as to how to reduce the size of the brighter stars.

I've also had someone mention that I should find a way to have the Trapzium shown, but again, that is something beyond my understanding in the processing area.

I'm sure that eventually I will learn these, but it just will take time. Caley

[admin]

One thing about the Grow Blob option (Ivo...are you listening ) if you select a round area (star) and continually grow it, it no longer stays round but takes on a diamond type shape. I'm hoping Ivo can change this to stay round, or maintain the original shape
Che

This came up before (can't for the life of me find where). The issue with this is predictability of which pixels will be selected next. What, for example, is the 'shape' of a single pixel? Is it round? Square? Which neighboring pixels will be selected next? Short of defining a vector shape, which kind of starts defeating the purposes of *pixel* masks, there is no real way to modify shapes (as there is no concept of a 'shape')...

[Cheman]

The only time it really concerns me, is when I'm trying to select a star with a very large halo. I can continue to use the lasso tool as best I can

[astronomynut]

Gentlemen, Happy New Years!

Both of you are talking a foreign language at the moment. I am not even part of the way to where I start to worry about such things.

I'm finding just how important your data is, when you try to develop it with Star Tools. My very early efforts in AP were, needless to say, pathetic, but I guess we all start in the pathetic area, unless we are just gifted. Tried to reprocess those images, and they actually came out worse than what I accomplished with DSS and WLPG and GIMP. I think a lot of my problems were that I didn't understand a key portion of the data we take, that being Darks. For the most part, those early photos had the darks taken at the end of my sequence, which was to take all my Lights, then Bias, Darks and finally Flats. Back then I hadn't even taken Flats, as I didn't know how to do those.

Now I am building a collection of Darks by specific ISO/Exposure Time/Temperature. I know many would say that is a waste of time, but my latest photos have been my best when I matched exactly the Darks to the lights. In other words, if I had one Light with a temperature of 25C, five of 27C, and 15 of 29C, that are the temperatures I give in those ratios. Not sure if DSS balances things out with the Masters, but things seem to be looking nicer.

But I am still trying to learn just how much data I need for the Lights for a specific object. It seems that for some, more is not always better, while some just never seem to have enough.

Anyway, I've a start in understanding processing. Now I need to put a lot of little things together, and keep trying to improve. Thanks for the help. Caley