WIP 2022 Cygnus Mosaic Project - 2 Panels (Butterfly, Sadr and Crescent) (Danny Lee)

WIP 2022 Cygnus Mosaic Project - 2 Panels (Butterfly, Sadr and Crescent)

I've collected data for three panels now and I had a go at processing the resulting L shaped image without much success. I was probably going about it all wrong but I think the black 1/4 of the image was throwing me off. Anyway, I had a hankering to process something so set about combining the newly acquired panel (the left of this image) with the Crescent region.

I learnt a few new things related to mosaics this time around and had fun along the way:

1) The angles of the panels given by Telescopius are actually quite important, I didn't think they would be as they only differ by a few degrees. I spent an hour taking some test shots of the 3rd panel and then doing a quick check using PixInsight’s star alignment tool to see if it lined up nicely, time well spent. Surprisingly just a single 5 min sub was enough for star alignment to tell me if I was lined up correctly. A bit of trial and error with the rotator on the Redcat meant I wouldn't be left with any wedge shaped gaps when I combined the panels.

2) I had a few issued getting the star alignment tool to match the stars between the two panels and then register their positions in the mosaic. I think Cygnus being so full of stars was causing the issue, raising the log sensitivity option under star detection from -1 to around +0.5 fixed that issue for me.

One nice thing about processing panels as I go is that I have some time to reflect on the last image I produced and make changes the next time I try. Looking at my last combination I thought it was a little too orange, too saturated for my taste and I didn't stretch the stars layer enough and it almost had the look of a starless image which wasn't intended. I tried to change that this time.

Thanks for looking, just need the data for the 4th panel and I'll be able to put all 4 into one image.

ZWO ASI 2600MC PRO
William Optics CAT Series
WO Redcat 51 Group
The OSC Club (One Shot Camera)
UK Astro-Imaging

Deep Sky

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Status	Basic failed
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	6025071
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