Contains:  Solar system body or event
2017 Total Solar Eclipse (HDR Composite), Andrew Klinger

2017 Total Solar Eclipse (HDR Composite)

2017 Total Solar Eclipse (HDR Composite), Andrew Klinger

2017 Total Solar Eclipse (HDR Composite)

Equipment

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Acquisition details

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Description

The Great American Solar Eclipse

Observed and imaged on August 21st, 2017 from Sainte Genevieve, MO. (Totality of 2min 40sec)

This High-Dynamic-Range composite of the corona consists of 11 different exposure times ranging from 1/1000" to 1".

Equipment:

OTA: William Optics GT81 w/0.8x reducer (382mm fl at f/4.7)

Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G (HEQ-5)

Imaging camera: Canon t3i (unmodified)

Software:

EQMOD

SETnC (automated camera control for eclipse imaging)

Photoshop

PixInsight

Acquisition:

ISO100

1/1000"

1/500"

1/250"

1/125"

1/60"

1/30"

1/15"

1/8"

1/4"

1/2"

1"

PreProcessing:

Photoshop:

Opened each exposure as a layer and manually aligned them all to each other.

Exported each aligned exposure as a TIFF.

PixInsight: (my take on the "Mean Stacking" method)

Used ImageIntegration tool with Average combination, no PixelRejection, no Normalization, and ignoring Weights and any NoiseEvaluation to stack all of the exposures together as an effective HDR.

Processing:

PixInsight:

DynamicCrop

HistogramTransformation x3 (using RangeMasks to essentially perform a masked stretch)

PixelMath equation "1-(1-$T)*(1-$T)" in conjunction with a RangeMask to push the outer corona details

HDRMultiscaleTransform with a scale of 9 layers

CurvesTransformation for slight contrast

UnSharpMask to sharpen outer corona with a RangeMask, and then inverting the RangeMask to sharpen the inner corona

LocalHistogramEqualization with an L mask to increase contrast and details in outer corona, then doing same thing but with a RangeMask to only work on inner corona.

CurvesTransformation for slight contrast

ACDNR for slight noise reduction

Export as TIFF

Photoshop:

Added the earthshine moon as a crop from my 1" exposure.

Histogram transformation followed by curves on the moon layer to show contrast in the moon.

UnSharp tool on the moon layer to sharpen moon features

Dust and Scratches with a 2pixel radius on the moon layer.

Final curves adjustment on the moon layer.

Flatten layers

MatchColor with a mask to saturate the prominences.

Flatten and export

Comments

Histogram

2017 Total Solar Eclipse (HDR Composite), Andrew Klinger