In a recent project with my friend @Eric Coles (coles44) , we decided to process the Pillars of Creation data from the James Webb Space Telescope.  My version of the MIRI data is shown above.  I found this image to be hauntily beautiful and was very excited with the results.  As with my NIRCam version, I am sharing my process for creating this image.  In some ways this was much easier than the NIRCam data, but it did pose some additional challenges.

Acquiring the data
All data from the JWST are publicly available (as is data from HST, Spitzer, etc.).  To acquire it, simply go to https://mast.stsci.edu/portal/Mashup/Clients/Mast/Portal.html.  At the top, enter the target name, in this case M16, and press search.  When the list is displayed, filter it by selecting JWST in the “Mission” listing on the left.  A list of downloads will be shown.  This image is created using the MIRI data (identified in the “Instrument” column).  Download the files whose name ends in the following:
F770W
F1500W
F1130W
These names are the names (and frequencies) of the narrow band filter used.  In each of these downloads you will find a FITS file with the data.  You now have the data necessary to produce the image.

Processing
With this NIRCam, we had data from 5 filters to combine.  Here I am only using data from 3 filters, so RGB combination in PixInsight will be used to create the RGB image.  However, there is another challenge with this data that forces us to use PhotoShop once again.  The MIRI cameras seem to have LOTS of bad pixels.  Well, maybe it isn’t bad pixels, but that is what it looks like to me.  If you have a better explanation, please educate me.  More on this below.  On to the process.

1.    Open the images in PixInsight.  Rename them F770W, F1500W, and F1130W as shown above for convenience.
2.    Use DynamicCrop to crop all but the square-ish area with the majority of the image.  I completely removed all of the external tidbits.
3.    Combine the individual channels with ChannelCombination.  I placed F1500W in Red, F1130W in Green, and F770W in Blue.
4.    Use BackgroundNeutralization with a preview from an empty area.
5.    Stretch the image using HistogramTransformation.
6.    You will see a lot of areas in the image that look like this:

I don’t know another way to address this than to repair it in PhotoShop.  Export the image as a 16 bit tiff file and open it in PhotoShop.  Use the lasso tool to encircle small areas of bad pixels and use Content Aware Fill to replace them.  I avoided doing large areas so that I was keeping as much of the original image as possible.  This is quite time consuming and repetative, but not at all difficult.
7.    Save the repaired image and re-load it in PixInsight.
8.    (Optional) Extract the luminance from the image and process it as you normally would. I extracted the stars, then used HDRMultiscaleTransform, LocalHistogramEqualization, and MultiscaleLinearTransform to sharpen the nebula and then put the stars back in.  Then re-combine it with the original image.
9.    Perform final processing as you normally would.  I adjusted curves and saturation a bit, and I flipped the image horizontally, as well as a few other finishing touches.

About MIRI Stars
With the mid-range IR filters, the stars are reduced significantly.  What is left are not very attractive.  The color of the smaller stars is unusual, and the larger stars show the unique diffraction pattern of the JWST, along with red rings and green centers.  I considered removing them completely, or possibly using an L image from the NIRCam data to put stars in, but in the end decided to leave them in place as they are in the original data.

Please take a look at Eric Coles’ results and read about his processing method, which is slightly different than my approach.  And please let me know if you try this procedure.  I would love to see your results.

Best.
Tim.