M42, NGC 1976, Sh2-281 Composite
Photo description / processing
It turns out the reducer can eat away detail. Here is a composite from two stacks with different filters and different focal lengths. The goal was to bring back the sharpness from the old image into the shot with the reducer. I must admit that I couldn't fully restore the sharpness. The SNR improved significantly in the center of the frame, leaving a noisy border, and I had to get creative with a mask to fix the bug. The colors mixed interestingly from the different filters; I wanted to adjust the color to be closer to the last version. Some Herbig-Haro objects were partially lost, which is unfortunate, but as a learning process, it turned out quite engaging. In short, it's possible, but not advisable. I think that's enough M42 for now. Sorry for the photo spam—I just posted a similar one recently. P.S. The shot with the reducer was also taken in terrible seeing for my location.
Technical information
- Telescope/Lens
- Askar 71F
- Camera
- ZWO ASI533MC Pro
- Mount
- JUWEI 14
- Guide Scope
- Askar 32 f4
- Guide Camera
- ZWO ASI120MM Mini
- Accessories
- CAA, EAF, ASIAIR MINI
- Software
- Siril, GraXpert, Lightroom, StarNet++
- Location
- Самара, Россия
Light pollution
Orange, Bortle 6 zone
- Date taken
Exposure
- 22 × 180″ · ISO/Gain: 100 · Optolong Moon and Skyglow 1.25 ·
- 117 × 60″ · ISO/Gain: 100 · L-Pro ·
Total exposure: 3 h 3 m
NGC 1976
Jan 10th, 2026 · UTC · Moon information 52% · >15° / Astronomical night: 8.75 h









Comments
A reducer is always a compromise...
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