LDN 564 and Dust Clouds in Serpens

LDN 564 and many swirling dust clouds in Serpens. This is the second of 3 images of this region that I have completed/am acquiring data for. The dynamic range of the current generation of Sony sensors really helps capture the shadows and reflections in the clouds. Also visible are a few bright reflection regions and a tiny bit of Hydrogen Alpha emission near the center of the frame. This image was a fun one to process!

 

- Location: Remote Observatory (Bortle 1, SQM 21.99) near Fort Davis, TX

- Total Exposure Time: 18.45 Hours

 

Equipment:

- Scope: Esprit 100ED w/ 1x Flattener

- Imaging Camera: QHY 268M

- Filters: Chroma L/R/G/B (36mm)

- Mount: Astro Physics Mach1GTO

- Guidescope: SVBony 50mm Guidescope

- Guide camera: ASI 120mm mini

- Focuser: Moonlite Nitecrawler WR35

- Accessories: Pegasus Ultimate Powerbox v2, QHY Polemaster, Optec Alnitak Flip Flat

 

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Software:

- N.I.N.A for image acquisition, platesolving, and framing

- PHD2 for guiding

- PixInsight for processing

 

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Acquisition:

- L: 191 x 3m

- R: 55 x 3m

- G: 61 x 3m

- B: 62 x 3m

- All images at Gain 56, Offset 25 (Readout mode 1) and -5C sensor temperature

- 20 flats per filter

- Master Dark & Bias from Library

- Nights: 5/1-5/3, 5/5, 5/7, 5/9, 5/27/22

 

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Processing:

 

- BatchPreProcessing to calibrate all images

- SubFrameSelector to reject/approve subs and weigh approved

- ImageIntegration with SFS weights

 

RGB Processing:

- DynamicCrop

- MureDenoise

- DynamicBackgroundExtraction

- StarAlign RGB master to Luminance

- ChannelCombination to combine to RGB color

- DynamicbackgroundExtraction for color gradient

- Unlinked STF for stretch to non-linear

- ColorMask script on greens, apply and invert mask

- SCNR green to remove green patches

- CurvesTransformation for saturation and hue adjustments

 

Lum Processing:

- DynamicCrop

- MureDenoise

- DynamicBackgroundExtraction

- GeneralizedHyperbolicStretch to bring to non-linear

- HistogramTransformation x3 for further stretch

- CurvesTransformation for contrast

 

Combined Processing:

- LRGBCombination with chrominance NR enabled to combine Lum and RGB

- CurvesTransformation via inverted RangeMask for contrast boost

- SCNR red @ 0.2 to slightly remove red hue

- CurvesTransformation for slight saturation boost

- Invert, SCNR Green @ 0.3, Invert back to remove magenta hue

- DynamicCrop to remove edges

- Save and Export

Done