M12 was the second target in my attempt to do an automated acquisition of 3 globulars on a moonlit night. I had to intervene a bit to find the target (plate solving issues), but then everything worked. This image was far easier to process than the M4 I did first, probably because it was a lot farther from the Moon and therefore the gradients were much less pronounced. This is way better than my 2012 effort. I guess maybe I have learned a few things in the interim.
Date: 18 Jun 2016
Subject: M12, Gumball Globular Cluster
Scope: AT8IN+High Point Scientific Coma Corrector
Filter: Baader Planetarium Fringe Killer
Mount: EQ-6 (EQMOD)+PEC
Guiding: Orion ST-80 + Antares 0.5x focal reducer + DSI Ic + PHD 2.6.1.1 (Win 10 ASCOM)
Camera: DSI IIc, no chiller CCD 15 °C
Acquisition: Sequence Generator Pro 2.5.1.14 with Nebulosity 4.0.4 ASCOM camera driver
Exposure: 58x120 s
Stacking: Neb 4, bad pixel map, bias included, 33 flats, match histograms, trans+rot align, Neb 4 40-60%tile stack.
Processing: StarTools 1.4.316: Crop; Wipe; Develop: 82.37%; HDR
ptimize; Color:Scientific, 300% saturation, red bias reduce 1.20; Deconvolute: 3.0 pix; Track: Smoothness 87%, 4.5 pix;. Photoshop CS6 + Astronomy Tools: Levels & Curves (several cycles); Unsharp mask; Increase star color; Astroframe.
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