IC434 Horsehead Nebula (Paul Macklin)

IC434 Horsehead Nebula

Revision title: Reprocessed

First serious attempt on the Horsehead Nebula with the 8" EdgeHD. Overall happy with the progress!

Overall processing (original versions):

Process and integrate in AstroPixelProcessor (1.083 beta 3) as normal
Calibrate background, but don't calibrate stars
Photoshop: Auto tone, auto contrast, auto color, then background/contrast, levels, curves, and a slight nudge on vibrance
Minimal smoothing in Topaz to deal with graininess: 1% / 0% / 0% / 0%.
Final auto-tone, contrast, color in photoshop.

Overall processing (newest version):

Process and integrate in AstroPixelProcessor (1.083) as normal
Calibrate background, calibrate star color (adaptive black body & extinction)
Reduce star size (75% size, 75% brightness)
Export with saturation, neutralize-BG enabled
Photoshop: Auto tone, auto contrast, auto color, then background/contrast, levels, curves (usually auto or linear contrast), and a slight nudge on vibrance. Adjust color balance as needed (this time: 25,-25,25)
Minimal smoothing in Topaz to deal with graininess: 1% / 1% / 0% / 0%.
Final curves (linear contrast) in photoshop.

Original
B
C
D
Final
E

B

Title: Increased to 5 hours, better processing

Description: I added 2 more hours of data, and worked to improve the processing a bit to better bring out the clouds and preserve more detail around NGC2023

Uploaded: ...

C

Title: Added 18 x 10 min, improved processing

Description: This revision adds 3 hours of 10 minute exposures, after correcting a slight image train tilt.

It also has some improved processing, with a crop more suitable to photo printing.

I think some of the fainter nebulosity is now starting to show through. And I'm absolutely loving the finalized star reducer in AstroPixelProcessor 1.083!

Uploaded: ...

D

Title: Crop in on the Horsehead

Description: A close-in crop on IC434.

Uploaded: ...

E

Title: Reprocessed

Description: Reprocessed with improved technique.

Uploaded: ...

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Nebulas - Higher Focal Length

	Distinct awarded users	Total awarded images
Image of the day
Top picks
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	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Deep sky
Solar system
Extremely wide field
Star trails
Northern lights
Noctilucent clouds
Landscape

	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Backyard
Traveller
Own remote observatory
Amateur hosting facility
Public amaeteur data
Professional, scientific grade data
Mix of multiple sources
Other
Unknown

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	6880681
PixInsight job	MCAYAX27UL1VDOOEDZ5M2YKAYN92AD5J
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	05h41m00s.465
RA (top/left)	05h40m10s.392
RA (top/right)	05h40m08s.948
RA (bottom/right)	05h41m50s.582
RA (bottom/left)	05h41m52s.510

Dec (center)	-02°27′29″.50
Dec (top/left)	-02°14′37″.26
Dec (top/right)	-02°39′59″.99
Dec (bottom/right)	-02°40′20″.100
Dec (bottom/left)	-02°14′58″.27

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