I took the data for this two nights ago, during a near-full moon, which is always a bad idea, but we only get so many clear, good seeing, good transparency nights in Western PA.Images:
- Lights: 80 x 180s @ -10C, 0 gain, 100 offset
- Darks: 40 x 180s from library
- Bias: 40 from library
- Flats / Darkflats: 20 taken prior to capture using an EL panel
Processing:
- Crop, DBE x 2, Background neut, color correction
- Light noise reduction using NoiseXTerminator in linear mode
- EZ Tools stretch
- Arcsinh stretch to "overexpose" the image a bit, to force out some colors M31
- Extracted stars using StarNet2
- Created an M31 mask using GAME script
- Local histogram equalization (lightly) on M31
- Galaxy processing: combination of histogram, curves (individual colors + sat), and colorsaturation to emphasize oranges and blues, dark structures enhance script. VERY minor processing in Topaz DeNoise and Sharpen (not sure how I feel about using Topaz - has to be a very light touch otherwise looks artificial)
- Star processing: EZ Star reduce X 2, histogram to further lighten the stars
- Combined stars + M31
So, I definitely want to try this again if we're lucky enough to get clear skies during a new moon in a couple of weeks.Happy to take any feedback / suggestions!
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