Removal of Spikes from Reflector Telescope Images
- astronomynut
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 4:12 am
- Location: Twentynine Palms, California, USA (High Desert)
Removal of Spikes from Reflector Telescope Images
I was wondering if there is a way to remove the spikes from the images I will soon be taking through my Third Planet Optics RC8 telescope. I know some people love seeing those spikes. I am not one of those people. I like round stars. I feel the spikes are distracting, especially the very bright to medium bright stars that occasionally pop up in images. Caley
- Amaranthus
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Re: Removal of Spikes from Reflector Telescope Images
Best best is to use the "Synth" module - this allows you to modify the stars in various ways, including removing or modifying diffraction spikes, and even completely replacing your originals. YMMV.
Long-time visual observer, now learning the AP dark arts...
Re: Removal of Spikes from Reflector Telescope Images
Removing diffraction spikes completely is pretty difficult and YMMV indeed with the tools available (Heal and Synth). The best answer is - unfortunately - "use a refractor"...
There are nice aspects of having diffraction spikes though. They can help with color calibration, converying color temperature and give a better sense of stars' luminosities. But then, I'm one of those weird people that actually like them...
There are nice aspects of having diffraction spikes though. They can help with color calibration, converying color temperature and give a better sense of stars' luminosities. But then, I'm one of those weird people that actually like them...
Ivo Jager
StarTools creator and astronomy enthusiast
StarTools creator and astronomy enthusiast
- astronomynut
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 4:12 am
- Location: Twentynine Palms, California, USA (High Desert)
Re: Removal of Spikes from Reflector Telescope Images
Thanks so much. Guess I will have to live with the spikes. I only got the 8" RC so that I could get a bit more focal length to make some of these tiny objects a bit bigger. Even some of the Messier objects are small, and my 102 APO refractor just barely lets me see them well enough for me to extract a little structure. Caley
- Amaranthus
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- Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2014 4:42 pm
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Re: Removal of Spikes from Reflector Telescope Images
You can always drizzle-stack your APO images to improve their pixel resolution. I managed to image a fairly small planetary nebula at 480mm focal length, thanks to drizzling! http://www.astrobin.com/125368/
Long-time visual observer, now learning the AP dark arts...