NGC 281 Pacman Nebula

 Posted: Apr 8th, 2023
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NGC
IC
HD
Technical Info
Telescope/Lens: Sky-Watcher BKP2001
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Mount: EQ6R-PRO
Guide Scope: Guide Scope 60240
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI120MC-S
Software: ASIair, Pixinsight, Photoshop
Accessories: Sharpstar 0.95x MPCC, ASIair Plus
Exposure:
74 x 180" ISO/Gain: 121 - L-eXtreme 1.25"
White zoneLight Pollution:
 Murino, Russia
 Apr 7th, 2023
3 h 42 m
1380
Moon age 97%
Resolution: 3819x2546 px
Scale: 3602 KB
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Comments

The nebula looks decent, but the stars need more work—their color is completely lost due to overexposure. Possible approaches: masks, star removal, and separate processing.
9 Apr, 2023 Reply
Anatolii Replied to Smirnov Andrey
Thanks for the advice) When I process the stars separately from the nebula, I often get artifacts from starnet++ or noise around the stars. My stars always lose their color. I always shoot through a filter since I'm in the city. In this photo, I'm more concerned about the background. It seems to have patches of light and dark. I've seen this in others' work too. I haven't figured out how to fix it yet.
9 Apr, 2023 Reply
Smirnov Andrey Replied to Anatolii
First: don't hesitate to touch up the background after star removal using brushes, cloning, and other tools. It's not a crime! Second, regarding the background—try the free program GraXpert: https://www.graxpert.com/
9 Apr, 2023 Reply
Smirnov Andrey Replied to Anatolii
And what filter do you shoot through? I also mostly shoot from the city. I use classic narrowband filters: OIII, Ha, SII. I gave up on CLS a long time ago after the city replaced mercury streetlights with LEDs.
9 Apr, 2023 Reply
Anatolii Replied to Smirnov Andrey
Since I have a color camera, I use an l-eXtreme filter. The oxygen signal often needs to be boosted, as there's no way to capture it separately.
9 Apr, 2023 Reply
Anatolii Replied to Smirnov Andrey
Thanks, I'll take a look))
9 Apr, 2023 Reply
Smirnov Andrey Replied to Anatolii
There is a topic on the astronomy forum:
https://astronomy.ru/forum/index.php/topic,205615.msg5735006.html#msg5735006
9 Apr, 2023 Reply
Anatolii Replied to Smirnov Andrey
It looks very promising))
9 Apr, 2023 Reply

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