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It's storage car season on the North Shore Scenic and GN 400 leads DMIR 193 and a dozen or so cars past my only sun spot of the day at Palmers. A thank you as always to Dave Schauer for the timely info.
So...this is kinda normalized for me but what might be the most famous SD45 leading a Missabe SD18 on a freight train that isn't a photo freight. Ridiculous.
Target: IC405 IC410 Flaming Star and Tadpoles Mosaic
The Flaming Star Nebula is an emission and reflection nebula in the constellation Auriga.
The Tadpole Nebula was named because it hosts tadpole-shaped small dense knots of dust and gas that give birth to young stars
Gear:
• Mount: ZWO AM5
• Main Cam: ZWO ASI294MM Pro @ gain 120 and 4F
• Guide Cam: ZWO ASI120MM Mini with Askar OAG
• Telescope: Askar 103APO w/ 0.6x reducer/flattener - 420mm f/4
• Filter: Antlia EDGE Antlia SHO 4.5nm
Acquisition:
Panel 1
• Light frames: Sii 31 ea. 5min frames
• Light frames: Ha 33 ea. 5min frames
• Light frames: Oiii 31 ea. 5min frames
Panel 2
• Light frames: Sii 32 ea. 5min frames
• Light frames: Ha 31 ea. 5min frames
• Light frames: Oiii 42 ea. 5min frames
• roughly 8 hours per panel
• Sessions: 20, 21, and 22-Nov-2024
• Moon: 20 days old, 60%, 60 deg from target
• Location: Houston Backyard ~ Bortle 8/9
Pixinsight Processing - SHO MOSAIC
• Auto DBE
• Linear Fit to Sii
• Assemble Panel 1 and Panel2 channels
• Image Solver
• Mosaic by Coordinates
• Trim Mosaic Tile
• Photometric Mosaic (average)
• Dynamic Crop, Auto ABE, Image Solver
• BTX, STX
• Stars, NB to RGB Stars Combination script with star stretch
• Starless, revert image back to having stars
• Stretch using HT_Stretch_Unlinked pixel math script
• LRGB Combination into SHO pallet
• Invert, SCNR to fix magenta stars
• Narrowband Normalization
• NTX
• HT to set black point, Curves for color balance, Saturation
Photoshop Processing
• Starless
• Levels color balancing
• ACR highlights, black point, clarity, color mixer, noise reduction
• Stars
• Curves, Dust and Scratches to reduce stars
• Watermark
Target: IC63 Ghost of Cassiopeia.
About 550 light-years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia lies IC 63, a fitting nebula for Halloween time.
Also known as the ghost of Cassiopeia, IC 63 is being shaped by radiation from a variable star, Gamma Cassiopeiae, which is slowly eroding away the ghostly cloud of dust and gas.
Gear:
Mount: ZWO AM5
Main Cam: ZWO ASI294MC Pro @ gain 121 and 14F
Guide Cam: ZWO ASI120MM Mini with ZWO 30mm f/4 scope
Lens: Sigma 150-600 @ 575
Filter: Antlia ALP-T 5nm Ha and Oiii
Acquisition:
Light frames: Best 60 of 84 5 minute subs totalling 5 Hr integration
Sessions: 01-Nov-23
Location: Houston Colorado County, Texas
Bortle: 5
Moon: 87%, 60degrees off target
Processing
• PI - Subframe selector, WBPP
• GraXpert background
• PI SPCC
• PI Russel Croman - BXT NXT STX
• PI Starless Edits
○ Bill Blanshan Mike Cranfield Narrowband Normalization Tool
○ GHS Stretch
○ Curves
• PI Stars Edits
○ Arcsinh Stretch
○ SCNR, Invert and SCNR
○ Curve Saturation
• PS ACR Black point, Highlights, Clarity, Dehaze
• PS Selective Colors
• PS Screen stars layer, copy stars layer/brighten it/mask in selective stars
• PS Watermark
NGC 281, also known as IC 11, SH2-184, and more commonly known as the “Pacman Nebula,” is an emission nebula located 9,100 light-years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia.
This image results from 8 hours of narrowband data and is rendered in the SHO Hubble Palette.
The initial data was collected over two nights ending on October 22nd. That collection cycle was interrupted due to illness. Three of the projects whose data was collected on those nights had enough integration that I could process the images. However, this one was still pretty short for the S2 filter. So I waited until I had a chance to add to the data set. Finally, on November 23, we had a clear night, and I was able to add about 3 hours more data to this project.
This image was shot on my Astro-Physics 130mm f/8.35 APO telescope platform, which uses a ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro camera, and is supported by an IOptron CEM60 Mount.
When I looked at the data for this project, I discovered a very strange artifact that I have never seen on this platform before - in fact, I have not seen it on any platform. I ended up having a series of concentric circles located in the lower-left corner of the image and a strange mottled noise across the rest of the image field. This pattern was not seen in the flats or the darks and was evident in every sub and master regardless of filters. It was also constant across all three evenings where data was collected.
In dealing with this, I ended up having the background sky much darker than I would have preferred, but all is not bad, as I think it does add to the "Snap" and the drama of the image.
This is also the first image I tried using Bill Blanshan's new SHO Normalization script on.
All details are in the post below.
The full story behind this image, along with a detailed processing walkthrough, can be found at:
cosgrovescosmos.com/projects/ngc281-pacman-nebula-11-23-22
A video of the blink analysis for this data is also available if interested:
Finally, a video on my YouTube channel provides a high-level view of the processing strategy for this image:
Please consider liking and following my fledgling YouTube channel! ( If nothing else you can laugh at my attempts to learn the video side of things!)
Thanks for looking!
Pat
NGC 2264 is the designation number of the New General Catalogue that identifies two astronomical objects as a single object: the Cone Nebula, and the Christmas Tree Cluster.
All of the objects are located in the Monoceros constellation, near Orion and are located about 2300 light-years from Earth.
-Equipment-
Scope: TS-Optics 94/414 EPDH (414mm focal)
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -15°C gain 101 offset 49
Guiding: ZWO OAG
Guiding camera: ZWO ASI 120MM
Mount: Skywatcher AZ-EQ6
Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme
-Acquisition-
Light : 60x300s
Total integration time 5h
Dark: 34x300s Flat-50 Bias-100
Date : 9 February 2022
Location : France-Alsace Bortle 4/5
-Software-
Carte du Ciel, N.I.N.A, Phd2 , PoleMaster and PixInsight
Ez Processing Suite from darkarcon
darkarcon website : darkarchon.internet-box.ch:8443/
-Pre Processing each panels in PixInsight-
Image Calibration
Cosmetic Correction
Debayer
Subframe Selector
Star Alignement
Local Normalization
Image Integration
Drizzle x2
Dynamic crop
-Processing
DBE master Light
Split L,R,G,B layer from Master light
__L__
Ez_Deconvolution
Ez_Soft Streatch
UnsharpedMask
LocalHistogramEqualization
__RGB__
Linear Fit
BackgroundNeutralization
PhotometricColorCalibration
Ez_Soft Streatch
Starnet++
CuvesTransformation with mask
SCNR star mask
Bring back stars with PixelMath
__LRGB__
LRGBCombination
Ez_Denoise
Final CurvesTransformation
DarkStructureEnhance Script
Save as jpg
Clear Skies !
A modernization of the Adventurers: Dino Island set 5920 "Island Racer", my very first Lego car set. Adventurers has long been one of my favorite themes for its period setting, and Sam Sinister’s "Island Racer" is one of my favorite sets in the theme. In this design homage, the form has been normalized to be closer to real-world styling of the era, with the inclusion of details such as bumpers, front cycle fenders, and a hood ornament.
More photos available in the build album. Many thanks to the Lego Car Blog for their post about this build!
©2020 Chris Elliott, All Rights Reserved.
Find me also on:
IC 443 also known as the Jellyfish Nebula is a galactic supernova remnant in the constellation Gemini, at 5000 Light years from Earth.
IC 443 may be the remains of a supernova that occurred 3,000 - 30,000 years ago.
-Equipment-
Scope: TS-Optics 94/414 EPDH (414mm focal)
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -25°C gain 101 offset 49
Guiding: ZWO OAG
Guiding camera: ZWO ASI 120MM
Mount: Skywatcher AZ-EQ6
Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme
-Acquisition-
Light : 124x300s
Total integration time 10h
Dark: 34x300s Flat-50 Bias-100
Date : 4 March 2022
Location : France-Alsace Bortle 4/5
-Software-
Carte du Ciel, N.I.N.A, Phd2 , PoleMaster and PixInsight
Ez Processing Suite from darkarcon
darkarcon website : darkarchon.internet-box.ch:8443/
-Pre Processing each panels in PixInsight-
Image Calibration
Cosmetic Correction
Debayer
Subframe Selector
Star Alignement
Local Normalization
Image Integration
Drizzle x2
Dynamic crop
-Processing
DBE MasterLRGB
___RGB layer___HOO
Split RGB channels to build Ha and Oiii
Ha=R Oiii= B*0.3+G*0.7
EZ_Soft Stretch
HOO combination with Foraxx formula
R=Ha
G=((Oiii*Ha)^~(Oiii*Ha))*Ha + ~((Oiii*Ha)^~(Oiii*Ha))*Oiii
B=Oiii
Starnet++ for remove stars and build a mask nebula
Color Saturation
Curves Tansformation
Saturate stars for push up stars color
SCNR star mask
Bring back the stars with PixelMath
___L layer___
Ez_Deconvolution
Ez_Soft Stretch
Local Histogram Equalization with nebula mask
UnsharpedMask with nebula mask
___LRGB___
Ez_Denoise
Final Curve Transformation
Annotation
Save as JPG
Clear skies !
Despite quite high amount of hits, it is quite difficult to capture Myotis mystacinus while drinking, probably due to parallel midge hunting (midges hatch from the puddle most frequently just after sunset).
Photo 4 contains a lot of natural evening light, most of the photos were taken within first 2 hours after sunset.
Photos 1,2 and 4 were taken using Canon 5D2 + Takumar 300/4 combination, rest using Canon 5DSR + 100-400L2. All photos are "normalized" to same magnification, there are probably some youngsters at the party.
Very Close, Very Bright, Very Young
(South is Up)
The Omega Nebula is about 5000 light years away in the Sagittarius Arm of our Milky Way galaxy. Our solar system is located in the Orion Spur; a small branch of spiral arm extending off the Sagittarius Arm, so we are practically neighbors. The object is bright but not naked eye visible in our light-polluted Savannah skies, best viewed with a pair of binoculars or a small telescope. Omega is an active star forming region jam packed with newly formed young stars whose powerful ultraviolet radiation is responsible for electrifying the region. Astronomers estimate that Omega is just one million years old, encompassing one of the youngest star clusters known.
As to the “south up” comment, sites like Wikipedia, space.com and NASA often present astro photos in a north up configuration by convention. I have strayed from that custom because I believe the yellow/orange structure looks best on the right hand side of the image, balancing nicely with the red/orange globes of gas on the lower left and the vast emptiness of space at the top of the picture.
You won’t likely see another image of Omega sporting the colors you see here. I used a combination of HSO color mapping, narrowband normalization, color masking and narrowband hue combination in Pixinsight to create this result. The many permutations within each process resulted in hours of trial and error experimentation. My goal was to enhance the wispy weblike structure on the right. It was a real “eureka” moment when I finally achieved the result I was after.
I used three minute exposures for each of the narrowband filters, ending up with about 95 individual frames shot over three nights. Skies were clear but I had to reject more than a dozen images due to high humidity and poor seeing conditions.
I’ve learned to normalize quitting things that aren’t bringing me joy. We already have too many necessary things to do that aren’t exactly enjoyable (work, appointments, errands, etc.). Why clutter up my life more with things that aren’t necessary unless if I truly enjoy them?
Notebook from Soul Flower, bandana from Bandits Bandanas.
Saint-Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601,911 residents as of 2021, with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area. Saint-Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents.
The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020.
The name day of Peter I falls on 29 June, when the Orthodox Church observes the memory of apostles Peter and Paul. The consecration of the small wooden church in their names (its construction began at the same time as the citadel) made them the heavenly patrons of the Peter and Paul Fortress, while Saint Peter at the same time became the eponym of the whole city. When in June 1703 Peter the Great renamed the site after Saint Peter, he did not issue a naming act that established an official spelling; even in his own letters he used diverse spellings, such as Санктьпетерсьбурк (Sanktpetersburk), emulating German Sankt Petersburg, and Сантпитербурх (Santpiterburkh), emulating Dutch Sint-Pietersburgh, as Peter was multilingual and a Hollandophile. The name was later normalized and russified to Санкт-Петербург (Saint-Petersburg).
The historic architecture of Saint-Petersburg's city centre, mostly Baroque and Neoclassical buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries, has been largely preserved; although a number of buildings were demolished after the Bolsheviks' seizure of power, during the Siege of Leningrad and in recent years. The oldest of the remaining building is a wooden house built for Peter I in 1703 on the shore of the Neva near Trinity Square. Since 1991 the Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments in Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast have been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
A Mirror Image (in a plane mirror) is a reflected duplication of an object that appears almost identical, but is reversed in the direction perpendicular to the mirror surface. As an optical effect it results from reflection off from substances such as a mirror or water.
It is also a concept in geometry and can be used as a conceptualization process for 3-D structures. Two-dimensional mirror images can be seen in the reflections of mirrors or other reflecting surfaces, or on a printed surface seen inside-out. If we first look at an object that is effectively two-dimensional (such as the writing on a card) and then turn the card to face a mirror, the object turns through an angle of 180° and we see a left-right reversal in the mirror. In this example, it is the change in orientation rather than the mirror itself that causes the observed reversal.
Another example is when we stand with our backs to the mirror and face an object that's in front of the mirror. Then we compare the object with its reflection by turning ourselves 180°, towards the mirror. Again we perceive a left-right reversal due to a change in our orientation. So, in these examples the mirror does not actually cause the observed reversals.
Saint-Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601,911 residents as of 2021, with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area. Saint-Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents.
The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020.
The name day of Peter I falls on 29 June, when the Orthodox Church observes the memory of apostles Peter and Paul. The consecration of the small wooden church in their names (its construction began at the same time as the citadel) made them the heavenly patrons of the Peter and Paul Fortress, while Saint Peter at the same time became the eponym of the whole city. When in June 1703 Peter the Great renamed the site after Saint Peter, he did not issue a naming act that established an official spelling; even in his own letters he used diverse spellings, such as Санктьпетерсьбурк (Sanktpetersburk), emulating German Sankt Petersburg, and Сантпитербурх (Santpiterburkh), emulating Dutch Sint-Pietersburgh, as Peter was multilingual and a Hollandophile. The name was later normalized and russified to Санкт-Петербург (Saint-Petersburg).
The historic architecture of Saint-Petersburg's city centre, mostly Baroque and Neoclassical buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries, has been largely preserved; although a number of buildings were demolished after the Bolsheviks' seizure of power, during the Siege of Leningrad and in recent years. The oldest of the remaining building is a wooden house built for Peter I in 1703 on the shore of the Neva near Trinity Square. Since 1991 the Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments in Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast have been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Target: NGC1499 The California Nebula in the Hubble pallet
The California Nebula is an emission nebula located in the constellation Perseus. Its name comes from its resemblance to the outline of the US State of California (in this composition on it's side). It is almost 2.5° long on the sky compared with the the moon at 1/2°. It lies at a distance of about 1,000 light years from Earth. While evaluating individual images that were stacked, I found I had captured a 200km diameter asteroid 13 Egeria. It's located to the left and down from the brightest star, above and between the close by 2 bright
Gear:
• Mount: ZWO AM5
• Main Cam: ZWO ASI294MM Pro @ gain 120 and -10C
• Guide Cam: ZWO ASI120MM Mini with Askar OAG
• Telescope: Askar 103APO w/.8x reducer - 560mm f/5.4
• Filter: Antlia EDGE Antlia SHO 4.5nm
Acquisition:
• 4 Panel Mosaic
• Roughly 4.5 hours integration each panel
• Sessions: 29, 30, and 31-Dec-2024
• Moon: n/a
• Location: Houston Backyard ~ Bortle 8/9
• Location: Austin Backyard ~ Bortle 8/9
Pixinsight Processing - SHO MOSAIC
• Assemble Panels
• Image Solver
• Mosaic by Coordinates
• Trim Mosaic Tile
• Photometric Mosaic (average)
• Crop, Auto ABE, Image Solver
• BXT, SXT
• Stars Only
• NB to RGB Stars Combination script with star stretch
• Starless
• Revert image back to having stars
• Stretch using HT_Stretch_Unlinked pixel math script
• LRGB Combination into SHO pallet
• Invert, SCNR to fix magenta stars
• Narrowband Normalization SHO
• NXT
• HT to set black point, Curves for color balance, Saturation
Photoshop Processing
• Starless
• Levels color balancing
• ACR highlights, black point, clarity, color mixer, noise reduction
• Stars
• Curves, Dust and Scratches to reduce stars
• Watermark
-Equipment-
Scope: TS-Optics 94/414 EPDH (414mm focal)
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -15°C
Guiding: ZWO OAG
Guiding camera: ZWO ASI 120MM
Mount: Skywatcher NEQ5
Filter: Optrolong L-eXtreme
-Acquisition-
Light : 131x300s (11h)
Dark-100x300s Flat-50 Bias-100
Date : 9, 10, 11 November 2021
Location : France-Alsace Bortle 4/5
-Software-
Carte du Ciel, N.I.N.A, Phd2 , PoleMaster and PixInsight
Ez Processing Suite from darkarcon
darkarcon website : darkarchon.internet-box.ch:8443/
-Pre Processing each panels in PixInsight-
Image Calibration
Cosmetic Correction
Debayer
Subframe Selector
Star Alignement
Local Normalization
Drizzle x2
Dynamic crop
-Processing
DBE master Light
Split L,R,G,B layer from Master light
__L__
Ez_Deconvolution
Ez_Denoise
Ez_Soft Streatch
UnsharpedMask
LocalHistogramEqualization
__RGB__
Linear Fit
BackgroundNeutralization
PhotometricColorCalibration
Ez_Soft Streatch
Starnet++
CuvesTransformation with mask
A lot of curves...
SCNR star mask
Bring back stars with PixelMath
__LRGB__
LRGBCombination
Final CurvesTransformation
Ez_Star Reduction
Save as jpg
Clear Skies !
On May Day (5/1/10) there was a Homes Not Jails action to occupy an abandoned school at 16th and Mission in San Francisco. The goal is to set up a Free School and community space.
The police shut down the street even though the ten buildings being occupied were not obstructing traffic and it turned into a street party
This was part of a campaign to normalize the use of abandoned buildings and gain community support.
TS-Optics Photoline 140mm f/6.5
ToupTek ATR2600C
iOptron CEM70G
Antlia Tri Band RGB Pro 2"
TS-Optics TSFlat3
49 frames - 300 sec
Moon 77%
Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight · Stefan Berg Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy (N.I.N.A. / NINA)
Pixinsight NarrowBand Normalization - Palette SHO
Crop of flic.kr/p/2oZQ87j
Western Veil is a part of the Cygnus Loop, a large supernova remnant (SNR) in the constellation Cygnus.
This nebula is located aroud 2400 light years from Earth 😮
Full resolution on www.astrobin.com/77ml6b/0/
Ha= 64x300s
Oii= 62x300s
R=15x30s
G=12x30s
B=12x30s
Total time : 10h49'
-Pre Processing-
Image Calibration
Cosmetic Correction
Debayer
Subframe Selector
Star Alignement
Local Normalization
Image Integration
Drizzle x2
-Processing-
Star Alignment
Dynamic Crop
Dynamic Background Extractor
Linear Fit Oii to Ha
___L layer___Ha
BlurXterminator
NoiseXterminator
EZ Soft Stretch
___RGB layer___SHO
EZ Soft Stretch Oiii
Combine Ha and Oiii in Pixel Math (ForaxX palette)
R=(Oiii^~Oiii)*Sii + ~(Oiii^~Oiii)*Ha
G=((Oiii*Ha)^~(Oiii*Ha))*Ha + ~((Oiii*Ha)^~(Oiii*Ha))*Oiii
B=Oiii
CurveTransformation
Color Saturation
Final Curves
NoiseXterminator
Save as JPEG
Clear skies !
normal is a setting on the microwave
“The normalization principle means making available to all people with disabilities people patterns of life and conditions of everyday living which are as close as possible to the regular circumstances and ways of life or society.”
Normalization involves the acceptance of people with disabilities, with their disabilities, offering them the same conditions as are offered to other citizens. It involves an awareness of the normal rhythm of life – including the normal rhythm of a day, a week, a year, and the life-cycle itself. It involves the normal conditions of life – housing, schooling, employment, exercise, recreation and freedom of choice. This includes “the dignity of risk”, rather than an emphasis on “protection”.
The theory of Social Role Valorisation is closely related to the principle of normalization, having been developed with normalization as a foundation
Très bonne nouvelle pour Pistache : depuis l'augmentation de son traitement il y a un mois, ses valeurs thyroïdiennes se sont normalisées (même si à la limite supérieure) et elle est repassée tout juste au-dessus de 3kg. C'est toujours trop peu, mais ça fait du bien de savoir que son poids est remonté plutôt qu'une fois de plus descendu.
Very good news for Pistache: since the increase in her treatment a month ago, her thyroid values have normalized (even if at the upper limit) and she is again just over 3kg. It's still too little, but it's good to know that her weight has gone up rather than once again down.
The Wester Veil with more data 7,5h
This is the first time I use this method on pixinsight, (HOO combination).
-Equipment-
Scope: TS-Optics 94/414 EPDH (414mm focal)
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -5°C
Guiding: ZWO OAG
Guiding camera: ZWO ASI 120MM
Mount: Skywatcher EQ5
Filter: Optrolong L-eXtreme
-Acquisition-
Light : 90x300s (7,5h) at Gain:101 Offset:49
Dark,Flat,Offset
Date : Take on 5 night from 06/13/2021 to 07/12/2021
Location : France-Alsace Bortle 4/5
-Software-
Carte du Ciel, N.I.N.A, Phd2 , PoleMaster and PixInsight
All Processing in Pixinsight
Use EZ_Processing Suite(by darkarchon) in Pixinsight
ForaxX Color combination thecoldestnights.com/
-Pre Processing-
Image Calibration
Cosmetic Correction
Debayer
Subframe Selector
Star Alignement
Local Normalization
Drizzle x2
Crop the black bands from the stacking
-Processing-
Dynamic Background Extraction
Split RGB Channels
Combine 70% of green and 30% of blue into 'Oiii'
Rename R to Ha
EZ_SoftStretch Ha and Oiii
Pixelmath: HOO combination with ForaxX expressions
R = Ha
G = ((Oiii*Ha)^~(Oiii*Ha))*Ha + ~((Oiii*Ha)^~(Oiii*Ha))*Oiii
B = Oii
Curve Transformation ( RGB/K, Hue, Saturation,...)
SCNR (Green 40%)
EZ_HDR
EZ_Star Reduction
Clear skies !
edit: wow, this just keeps blowin' up on tumblr. cool.
ngc1977 - running man nebula.
all data collected with lightbuckets.com 12" R-C telescope (LB-0003) in rodeo, new mexico.
L(R:G:B) = 48m(20m:20m:20m)
Luminance: 6x8min, stacking with deepskystacker. masked stretch in pixinsight 1.5, then 5 more stretches which were HDR fused in enfuse. next, cleanup of geosynchronous satellites in photoshop. finally, dark structure enhancement, atrous wavelet sharpening and noise reduction in pixinsight 1.5.
RGB: 5x4min per channel. masked stretch in pixinsight 1.5, then 8 stretches fused with enfuse. then histogram peak normalization and curves in pixinsight 1.5 again. cleanup of satellites in photoshop. slight sharpening with atrous wavelets, and noise reduction in pixinsight 1.5.
Luminance+RGB merge with pixinsight 1.5. cleanup of CCD artifacts in photoshop.
minor tweaks in lightroom 2.0
comments: i got all the way to the end of this and realized that i wish i had sharpened the luminance channel a whole lot more. also i've probably stretched the RGB data a bit too much for the exposure lengths.
these geosynchronous satellites are really killing me.
Night falls on the Aegerisee (Lake Aegeri, Switzerland). Looking south towards Canton Schwyz and the Urner Alps one can also see the lights of the famous village of Mortgarten on the left edge of the lake. Above the village hovers the Morgartenberg. On the right, the Wildspitz looms. Behind the Wildspitz (not visible obviously), high up, is the Dufour museum, dedicated to the Swiss general and engineer, Guillaume Henri Dufour, who is perhaps more known for being instrumental in founding the International Red Cross.
A layer of fog occupies the middle distance at the foot of the Glarner alps, threatening to pour over a pass into the Aegerisee (and this happens quite a lot!)
A PS-CC stitched 4 shot pano, but images are direct from camera. I decided against normalizing the histogram to preserve the dark atmosphere of the evening. The photos were taken hand-held.
Nikon D850, AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G
Van den Bergh 123, LBN 96, 97, 98, & LDN 570, 571, 572, 573, 576, and 578 imaged in LRGB. I am a sucker for dark nebulae and have been itching to get going on the projects I have planned for this year. The nights are getting shorter and thus I had to spend a lot of them acquiring the necessary data, as the MW core doesn't rise until the early morning.
These guys are located close to the core of the Milky Way in the constellation Serpens. The reflection nebulae dispersed throughout the swirling dust give such wonderful color variation against the rich, bright background of the Milky Way clouds.
- Location: Remote Observatory (Bortle 1, SQM 21.99) near Fort Davis, TX
- Total Exposure Time: 20.85 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
------------------------------------------------------------
Software:
- N.I.N.A for image acquisition, platesolving, and framing
- PHD2 for guiding
- PixInsight for processing
-------------------------------------------------------------
Acquisition:
- L: 213 x 3m
- R: 74 x 3m
- G: 69 x 3m
- B: 61 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: 4/1-4/9, 4/25, 4/29/22
--------------------------------------------------------------
Processing:
- BatchPreProcessing to calibrate all images
- SubFrameSelector to reject/approve subs and weigh approved
- ImageIntegration with SFS weights
RGB Processing (apply to each master and then combine):
- DynamicCrop
- MureDenoise
- DynamicBackgroundExtraction
- StarAlign RGB masters to Lum
- ChannelCombination to combine to RGB
- HistogramTransformation for stretch
- CurvesTransformation for contrast and saturation
Luminance Processing:
- DynamicCrop
- MureDenoise
- Duplicate image
- Starnet2 & DynamicBackgroundExtraction on starless Lum to obtain background model
- PixelMath to partially subtract normalized background model from original Lum: 0.5*$T+0.5*($T-bg+med(bg))
- GeneralizedHyperbolicStretch for initial stretch
- HistogramTransformation x3 for further stretch
- CurvesTransformation for contrast
- StarAlign lum to RGB
Combine Lum and RGB and further processing:
- LRGBCombination with chrominance noise reduction enabled
- HistogramTransformation for slight contrast
- CurvesTransformation for slight hue shift to reduce green
- CurvesTransformation for slight stretch
- DynamicCrop to remove edges
- Save and Export
It's not the best time here for astrophotography, the nights are short the summer solstice approaches.
But I managed to have 3 hours of data on the Western Veil
The Western Veil (also known as NGC 6960) is a part of the Cygnus Loop a large a supernova remnant whose explosion dates back 10.000 years.
The Western Veil is a nebula made of ionized gas and dust located about 1,400 light years from Earth
-Equipment-
Scope: TS-Optics 94/414 EPDH (414mm focal)
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -5°C
Guiding: ZWO OAG
Guiding camera: ZWO ASI 120MM
Mount: Skywatcher EQ5
Filter: Optrolong L-eXtreme
-Acquisition-
Light : 36x300s ( 3h ) at Gain:101 Offset:49
Dark,Flat,Offset
Date : Take on 3 night 06/13-15/2021
Location : France-Alsace Bortle 4/5
-Software-
Carte du Ciel, N.I.N.A, Phd2 , PoleMaster and PixInsight
All Processing in Pixinsight
Use EZ_Processing Suite(by darkarchon) in Pixinsight
-Pre Processing-
Image Calibration
Cosmetic Correction
Debayer
Subframe Selector
Star Alignement
Local Normalization
Drizzle x2
Crop the black bands from the stacking
-Processing-
Linear Fit
Channel Combination
DBE
EZ_Deconvolution
Background Neutralization
Photometric Color Calibration
SCNR (green 50%)
EZ_Denoise
EZ_Soft Strech
EZ_HDR
Curves Transformation with mask on nebula for Saturation, Hue and K channel
EZ_Star Reduction
Clear skies !
Saint-Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601,911 residents as of 2021, with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area. Saint-Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents.
The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020.
The name day of Peter I falls on 29 June, when the Orthodox Church observes the memory of apostles Peter and Paul. The consecration of the small wooden church in their names (its construction began at the same time as the citadel) made them the heavenly patrons of the Peter and Paul Fortress, while Saint Peter at the same time became the eponym of the whole city. When in June 1703 Peter the Great renamed the site after Saint Peter, he did not issue a naming act that established an official spelling; even in his own letters he used diverse spellings, such as Санктьпетерсьбурк (Sanktpetersburk), emulating German Sankt Petersburg, and Сантпитербурх (Santpiterburkh), emulating Dutch Sint-Pietersburgh, as Peter was multilingual and a Hollandophile. The name was later normalized and russified to Санкт-Петербург (Saint-Petersburg).
The historic architecture of Saint-Petersburg's city centre, mostly Baroque and Neoclassical buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries, has been largely preserved; although a number of buildings were demolished after the Bolsheviks' seizure of power, during the Siege of Leningrad and in recent years. The oldest of the remaining building is a wooden house built for Peter I in 1703 on the shore of the Neva near Trinity Square. Since 1991 the Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments in Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast have been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Clear night ! Let's go for the wizard nebula
The Wizard Nebula or NGC7860 is a emission nebula at a distance approximatly 85 000 light years from the sun.
The nebula spend ~20 light-years with an elongated shape and an extended tail.
Age estimates range from 4 to 11.9 million years
Feel free to ask a question and all criticism are welcome 👍
-Equipment-
Scope: TS-Optics 94/414 EPDH (414mm focal)
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -5°C
Guiding: ZWO OAG
Guiding camera: ZWO ASI 120MM
Mount: Skywatcher EQ5
Filter: Optrolong L-eXtreme
-Acquisition-
Light :151x300s ( 12,6h ) at Gain:101 Offset:49
Dark-100x300s Flat-30 Bias-100
Date : Take on 2 night 2/3 september 2021
Location : France-Alsace Bortle 4/5
-Software-
Carte du Ciel, N.I.N.A, Phd2 , PoleMaster and PixInsight
-Pre Processing in PixInsight-
Image Calibration
Cosmetic Correction
Debayer
Subframe Selector
Star Alignement
Local Normalization
Drizzle x2
Crop the black bands from the stacking
-Processing
DynamicBackgroundExtractor
RGB layer
Split RGB channels
Ha=R Oiii= B*0.3+G*0.7
EZ_Soft Stretch
HOO combination with Foraxx formula
R=Ha
G=((Oiii*Ha)^~(Oiii*Ha))*Ha + ~((Oiii*Ha)^~(Oiii*Ha))*Oiii
B=Oiii
Starnet++ for remove stars and build a mask nebula
Color Saturation
Curves Tansformation (K,saturation,hue)
Saturate stars for push up stars color
SCNR with star Mask for remove green stars
Bring back the stars with PixelMath
L layer
Ez_Denoise
Ez_Soft Stretch
Local Histogram Equalization with nebula mask
UnsharpedMask with nebula mask
LRGB
Final Curve Transformation
EZ_Star Reduction
Save as BMP 32bit file
Clear skies !
Forse dovremmo cominciare a chiamare le cose con il loro nome.
Ogni volta che vediamo alberi abbattuti, boschi distrutti, habitat naturali cancellati, dovremmo riconoscere che si tratta di una privazione.
Non solo per gli animali, che perdono i loro ambienti, le loro “città”, ma anche per noi.
Ogni volta che il verde viene sostituito dal grigio, perdiamo qualcosa di fondamentale:
– perdiamo fresco,
– perdiamo ossigeno,
– perdiamo biodiversità,
– perdiamo equilibrio ecologico,
– perdiamo salute.
E quello che otteniamo in cambio non è progresso, ma degenerazione.
Aumentano la frenesia, il rumore, l’inquinamento, la solitudine, il caos.
Aumentano la paura, l’ingiustizia, i problemi psicologici e fisici.
E tutto questo lo stiamo normalizzando, come se fosse inevitabile.
È ora di cambiare punto di vista:
smettere di vedere il cemento come un segno di crescita
e iniziare a capire che ogni metro quadrato di natura perso
è un passo verso la malattia, non verso il benessere.
La verità è semplice: la vita esiste perché questo pianeta è verde e blu.
Se fosse stato un pianeta grigio “cemento”, noi non saremmo mai esistiti.
L’equilibrio e l’armonia tra le cose non sono un lusso: sono la condizione stessa della vita.
Maybe it's time we start calling things by their real name.
Every time we see trees felled, forests destroyed, natural habitats wiped out, we should recognize it for what it is: a deprivation.
Not just for the animals, who lose their environments — their “cities” — but for us as well.
Every time green is replaced by gray, we lose something essential:
– we lose coolness,
– we lose oxygen,
– we lose biodiversity,
– we lose ecological balance,
– we lose health.
And what we get in return is not progress, but degeneration.
Frenzy, noise, pollution, loneliness, and chaos increase.
Fear, injustice, psychological and physical illnesses grow.
And we’re normalizing all of this — as if it were inevitable.
It’s time to shift our perspective:
to stop seeing concrete as a symbol of growth,
and to start understanding that every square meter of lost nature
is a step toward illness, not well-being.
The truth is simple: life exists because this planet is green and blue.
If it had been a grey “concrete planet,” we would never have existed.
Balance and harmony among things aren’t a luxury —
they are the very foundation of life.
Target: IC1848 Soul Nebula
Dual narrowband filter image of the Soul nebula. It was processed using the Pixinsight Narrowband Normalization process HOO pallet that I find allows the Oiii to come out. This does change the Ha Reds to a shade that I then correct in PS using selective colors. IC1848 was nicknamed the Soul Nebula likely due to the neighboring Heart Nebula IC1805.
Gear:
Mount: ZWO AM5
Main Cam: ZWO ASI294MC Pro @ gain 121 and 8F
Guide Cam: ZWO ASI120MM Mini with ZWO 30mm f/4 scope
Telescope: Askar 103APO w/ 0.6x reducer/flattener - 420mm f/4
Filter: Antlia ALP-T Dual Narrowband 5nm Ha and Oiii
Acquisition:
Light frames: 120 3min subs for 6hr 00Min integration
Sessions: 23-Oct-2024
Moon: 21 days old 51% 63 deg from target
Location: Houston Backyard ~ Bortle 8/9
Processing
• Pixinsight Auto DBE
• Pixinsight SPCC, BTX, STX, NXT
• Pixinsight Statistical stretch, HT to balance background if needed
• Pixinsight Narrowband Normalization HOO, Lightness Ha, Blend Mode 1 Amount 0
• Pixinsight HT black point and balance channels, Curves for saturation
• Pixinsight Stretch Stars using - Star Stretch
• Pixinsight HT black point color balance, Saturation Curves
• Photoshop ACR contrast, black point, clarity, dehaze
• Photoshop Selective Colors, ACR, D&B
• Photoshop Screen stars, duplicate layer/black mask/reveal select stars
• Photoshop Final curves, watermark
NGC 2903 is a field barred spiral galaxy about 30 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. NGC 2905 is a bright star cloud within this galaxy. The small diffuse galaxy to the left is UGC 5086 at 18mag.
Object: NGC 2903
Optics: Celestron 9.25 F6.3
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R
Camera: ZWO ASI 071MC Pro @-20°C, Gain=0
Exposure: total ~2h, RGGB 30x240sec, 300 Bias, 60 Darks, 40 Flats
Date: 2019-02-24
Location: Schwaig
Capture: Sequence Generator Pro
Guiding: Off-Axis, ASI120MM, PHD2
Image Acquisition: Stephan Schurig
Image Processing: Stephan Schurig
AstroPixelProcessor 1.071: Calibration, Registration, Normalization, Integration, Remove Light Pollution, Background Calibration, Star Colors Correction, Auto Digital Development
Photoshop 20.0.4: Curves, Exposure (Offset), Nik Dfine 2 Denoise (Color Noise), Masked Nik Dfine 2 Denoise (Contrast Noise), Star Shrink, Starless Masked Smart Sharpen, Masked Color Balance, Masked Dynamic (Dynamic, Saturation)
Remarks: ASI 071MC Pro made available by Teleskop-Service, Ransburg
The Pelican Nebula (also known as IC 5070) is an emitting nebula located about 2000 years from the earth.
It is very extensive in the sky, about 2.5 times the diameter of the Moon.
-Equipment-
Scope: TS-Optics 94/414 EPDH
(414mm focal)
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -15°C
Guiding: ZWO OAG
Guiding camera: ZWO ASI 120MM
Mount: Skywatcher EQ5
Filter: Optrolong L-eXtreme
-Acquisition-
Light : 95x300s ( 8h ) at Gain:101 Offset:49
Dark-100x300s Flat-30 Bias-100
Date : Take on 5 night 05/24+30+31/2021 06/01+02/2021
Location : France-Alsace Bortle 4/5
-Software-
Carte du Ciel, N.I.N.A, Phd2 , PoleMaster and PixInsight
-Pre Processing in PixInsight-
Image Calibration
Cosmetic Correction
Debayer
Subframe Selector
Star Alignement
Local Normalization
Drizzle x2
Crop the black bands from the stacking
-Processing-
_L Layer_
DBE
EZ_Deconvolution
EZ_Denoise
EZ_Soft Stretch
Unsharp Mask
_RGB Layer_
Linear Fit
Channel Combination
DBE
Background Neutralization
Photometric Color Calibration
SCNR (green 50%)
EZ_Soft Strech
_LRGB_
LRGB Combination
Curve Tranformation
Color Saturation
Clear skies !
Inspiration
My Fashion Icon is Lisa Fonssagrives. She was the first true Supermodel, working in the 1940s and 50s with very famous fashion photographers and featuring many times on Vogue front covers. Lisa was a ballet dancer and sculptor before being discovered as a model. I resonate with her desire to combine fashion with artistry to showcase designs and stylings. Lisa was groundbreaking at a time when models were mostly walking mannequins in fashion houses.
The photo I chose was Lisa photographed by Horst for a Vogue 1940 cover. I like vintage fashion and I also like to add twists and unexpected touches to outfits I style. I made the challenge dress, based on the dress in the photograph, but I added original touches in the silk waist sash, applique back design, and also ornate Azoury shoes. I also made my poses today, inspired by poses in vintage photos.
---------------------------
Stylecard
Bom and mesh Dress made and textured by model using full perm mesh skirt from Meli Imako and full perm mesh bow from Pira
Naomi Turban (edited) - Diram
Ingrid Stockings - Likz
Sybil Bento Gloves - Chiffon
Ostrich Feathers for Turban made by Model
Cigarette Case made by Model
Nayomi Gartner and Paris earrings, En Tournant bracelet by Lazuri (some worn on turban) ,
Paramour necklace - Rise Design (with additional 'emerald' bead prim made by model)
Happiness Does Not Wait shoes - Azoury
Jessica Vintage eyebrows - .elei.
other makeup - Lelutka, MAOER, Sap
Hair - Dice by Stealthic
All poses made by model based on 1940s and 1950s pose reference
--------------------------------------------
Original reference Photo link below:
Target: SH2-159 Lobster Claw Nebula
This nebula lies between the constellations of Cassiopeia and Cepheus. In the upper right is the beginnings of the Bubble Nebula that I recently imaged. I used a dual narrowband filter (Ha and Oiii) and processed this as a HOO pallet with the reds indicating Hydrogen and blues Oxygen.
Gear:
Mount: ZWO AM5
Main Cam: ZWO ASI294MC Pro @ gain 121 and 8F
Guide Cam: ZWO ASI120MM Mini with ZWO 30mm f/4 scope
Telescope: Askar 103APO w/ 0.8x reducer/flattener - 420mm f/4
Filter: Antlia ALP-T Dual Narrowband 5nm Ha and Oiii
Acquisition:
Light frames: 91 5min subs for 7hr 35Min integration
Sessions: 09-Oct-2024
Moon: 8 days old 35% 111deg from target
Location: Houston Backyard ~ Bortle 8/9
Processing
• Pixinsight Auto DBE, BTX, STX
• Pixinsight split starless channels, NXT
• Pixinsight Create HOO channels
• Ha = R • Oiii = .5*B+.5*G
• Pixinsight Statistical stretch
• Pixinsight Create HOO image
• R = Ha
• G = ((Oiii*Ha)^~(Oiii*Ha))*Ha + ~((Oiii*Ha)^~(Oiii*Ha))*Oiii
• B = Oiii
• Pixinsight Narrowband Normalization HOO, Lightness Ha, Blend Mode 1 Amount 0
• Pixinsight HT black point and balance channels, Curves for saturation
• Pixinsight Stretch Stars using - Star Stretch
• Pixinsight HT black point color balance, Saturation Curves
• Photoshop ACR contrast, black point, clarity, de haze
• Photoshop Selective Colors, ACR, channel D&B to balance colors
• Photoshop Screen stars, duplicate layer/black mask/reveal select stars
• Photoshop Final curves, watermark
I love the juxtaposition of the dark nebulosity in Taurus with the bright Pleiades. Once I figured out mosaics, I knew this would be my second after Orion.
This is a mosaic of 5 different panels taken on two nights, Oct. 2, 2019 and November 20, 2020, 188 x 1 minutes of imagery. All subs were taken with my Fuji X-T10 and Samyang 135 mm on the iOptron SkyTracker Pro. Each sub is 60 seconds, taken at ISO 1600 with the Samyang 135mm open to f2.
I used the same process as that of my previous mosaic of Orion: I integrated individual panels using DeepSkyStacker, and used the 'remove light pollution' tool of Astro Pixel Processor to flatten integrations, which had substantial vignetting from being shot at f2. These flattened panels were then mosaiced with Astro Pixel Processor using the process outlined here: www.astropixelprocessor.com/part-3-register-normalize-int.... Curves adjustment, star reduction, and color tweaking were then done with GIMP. This image is downscaled to 70% of the original mosaic.
Starless verison
Original image : flic.kr/p/2mDTTGu
-Equipment-
Scope: TS-Optics 94/414 EPDH (414mm focal)
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -5°C
Guiding: ZWO OAG
Guiding camera: ZWO ASI 120MM
Mount: Skywatcher NEQ5
Filter: Astronomik L
-Acquisition-
Light :Panel-1 60x300s
Panel-2 60x300s
Panel-3 52x300s
Panel-4 60x300s
Dark-100x300s Flat-50 Bias-100
Date : Take on 2 night 05 September2021
and 10 October 2021
Location : France-Alsace Bortle 4/5
-Software-
Carte du Ciel, N.I.N.A, Phd2 , PoleMaster and PixInsight
Ez Processing Suite from darkarcon
darkarcon website : darkarchon.internet-box.ch:8443/
-Pre Processing each panels in PixInsight-
Image Calibration
Cosmetic Correction
Debayer
Subframe Selector
Star Alignement
Local Normalization
Drizzle x2
Dynamic crop
-Build the 4 panel mozaic
It's my first 4 panel mosaic so I follow this tutorial from Amy Astro www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0f8Tl_kC0A
-Processing
DBE master Light
Split L,R,G,B layer from Master light
__L__
Ez_Deconvolution
Ez_Denoise
Ez_Soft Streatch
Ez_HDR
UnsharpedMask with mask
__RGB__
Linear Fit
BackgroundNeutralization
PhotometricColorCalibration
Ez_Soft Streatch
Starnet++
CuvesTransformation with mask
A lot of curves...
Bring back stars with PixelMath
__LRGB__
LRGBCombination
Final CurvesTransformation
Ez_Star Reduction
DarkStructureEnhance script
Starnet++ for remove stars
Save as jpg
Clear Skies !
Maybe we shouldn't normalize it for humans either. Every other media form shuns it. Why not photography?
It's kind of personal. Smoking killed my father.
Imagination/Photoshop/unspecified combinations of AI software for source material.
Playing with settings, light and shadow. Definitely in need for a new GPU! Lets hope prices will normalize soon :(
This wide angle shot required some distortion adjustment in processing. Framing the Washington Monument near the right edge caused the obelisk to stretch toward the upper right corner. I used Transform Warp in PS to pinch the right hand corners to normalize the appearance of the monument. Healing brush filled in the upper right corner and the bottom right corner was cropped away.
Shoulder getting better. Six weeks post-op, the physical therapist still has me doing hand slides up the door jamb and other gentle isometrics to restore mobility. Still no lifting or movement using the muscle, but life is finally starting to normalize. Sling no longer required 24-7. Typing at the computer only a little painful now. I even drove a car for the first time in six weeks yesterday. Slooooow progress, but progress nonetheless. I won't be able to do night photography for months yet, but I'm still sitting on some good unseen work that I'll continue to trickle out to you . . . along with upcoming good news about more new books . . .
The Black Fin
A shaved, primered and rusty 1957 Lincoln premier, an unfinished custom, stored at Pearsonville, with reflected red and purple and white from above, minute-and-a-half-long exposure.
Redwood Trail, Spring Morning. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Lush spring vegetation along a trail through coastal redwood forest, Northern California.
Early one June morning this year we parked the car and strolled along a trail into a coast redwood grove that is close enough to the Pacific that you pass people hiking to the water and you encounter fog forming over the coast hills. Not all redwood forests are this moist, but here the conditions create especially lush growth, and on this morning the drifting fog softened the light and muted more distant subjects, though it still had a bit of a directional quality.
On this visit I thought a lot about the difference between what the camera records and what the eye and mind see in the redwoods. When opening files from photography in the redwoods, the colors often seem more dull than the memory. Several possible explanations exist, but I’ve long had an idea about how our visual system accommodates different kinds of lighting, essentially normalizing them in ways that aren’t captured by the camera. This time I made a point of stopping and thinking long and hard about the way the colors looked to me while walking through the forest, and I realized that our visual system’s normalization process compensates for the bluish light and tells us that the colors are warmer than they objectively are. To my mind, it is more important that a photograph express what I saw in the place than it is that it achieve some standard of objective color balance that essentially lies about what I experienced… and what you see here is true to my experience in the redwoods.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
Saint-Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601,911 residents as of 2021, with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area. Saint-Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents.
The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020.
The name day of Peter I falls on 29 June, when the Orthodox Church observes the memory of apostles Peter and Paul. The consecration of the small wooden church in their names (its construction began at the same time as the citadel) made them the heavenly patrons of the Peter and Paul Fortress, while Saint Peter at the same time became the eponym of the whole city. When in June 1703 Peter the Great renamed the site after Saint Peter, he did not issue a naming act that established an official spelling; even in his own letters he used diverse spellings, such as Санктьпетерсьбурк (Sanktpetersburk), emulating German Sankt Petersburg, and Сантпитербурх (Santpiterburkh), emulating Dutch Sint-Pietersburgh, as Peter was multilingual and a Hollandophile. The name was later normalized and russified to Санкт-Петербург (Saint-Petersburg).
Palace Bridge (Dvortsoviy Most), a road- and foot-traffic bascule bridge, spans the Neva River in Saint Petersburg between Palace Square and Vasilievsky Island. Like every other Neva bridge (except for Big Obukhovsky Bridge), it is drawn by night, making foot travel between various parts of the city virtually impossible. The bascule span was designed by an American firm, the Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company, and built by the French firm Société de Construction des Batignolles between 1912 and 1916.
The total length of Palace Bridge is 260.1 metres, width is 27.8 metres. It is actually composed of five spans, the southernmost joining Palace Embankment between the Winter Palace and the Admiralty and leading to Palace Square.
The engine which opens up 700 ton of each bridge flights consists of motors, huge gears (some of which are still the original ones) and thousand-ton counterweights. The mechanism works reliably, but sometimes small incidents occur. In October 2002 one of the gear teeth broke off: consequently the drawing was halted in the middle, and ship passage was delayed.
I am having computer problems with my iMac. May be getting a new one. So please bear with me. I am using my notebook to normalize things a bit. Thanks for your patience. :-)
The Pacman nebula or NGC 281 is a bright emission nebula in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia.
NGC 281 is estimated at 9200 light years from us and is 48 light years wide.
-Equipment-
Scope: TS-Optics 94/414 EPDH (414mm focal)
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -5°C
Guiding: ZWO OAG
Guiding camera: ZWO ASI 120MM
Mount: Skywatcher NEQ5
Filter: Optrolong L-eXtreme
-Acquisition-
Light :167x300s ( 14h ) at Gain:101 Offset:49
Dark-100x300s Flat-50 Bias-100
Date : Take on 5 night 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 september 2021
Location : France-Alsace Bortle 4/5
-Software-
Carte du Ciel, N.I.N.A, Phd2 , PoleMaster and PixInsight
I use the ForaxX palette for HOO combination
ForaxX website : thecoldestnights.com
And the Ez Processing Suite from darkarcon
darkarcon website : darkarchon.internet-box.ch:8443/
-Pre Processing in PixInsight-
Image Calibration
Cosmetic Correction
Debayer
Subframe Selector
Star Alignement
Local Normalization
Drizzle x2
Dynamic crop
-Processing
DynamicBackgroundExtractor the master_LRGB
___RGB layer___
Split RGB channels for build Ha and Oiii
Ha=R Oiii= B*0.3+G*0.7
EZ_Soft Stretch
HOO combination with Foraxx formula
R=Ha
G=((Oiii*Ha)^~(Oiii*Ha))*Ha + ~((Oiii*Ha)^~(Oiii*Ha))*Oiii
B=Oiii
Starnet++ for remove stars and build a mask nebula
Color Saturation
Curves Tansformation (K,saturation,hue)
Saturate stars for push up stars color
SCNR with star Mask for remove green in stars (OSC camera)
Bring back the stars with PixelMath
___L layer___
Ez_Deconvolution
Ez_Denoise
Ez_Soft Stretch
Ez_HDR
Local Histogram Equalization with nebula mask
UnsharpedMask with nebula mask
___LRGB___
Final Curve Transformation
DarkStructureEnhance script
EZ_Star Reduction
Save as BMP 32bit file
Clear skies !
Honor Princess Carrie Fisher
Normalize mental illness and its treatment
Take life less seriously
Destroy a fascist regime
18-Dec-14 -8C/17.6F. Cold outside or should I say cool? This sparrow made the best of it by letting the sun hit his back. The reason I am showing this less than exotic creature is because I fell in love with the light in this scene, especially the way the sun lit up the dried out needles of the cedar. Also, what I thought was kind of neat is that you can actually see the sparrow’s breath off to the right of his beak.
Off to something completely different. Alberta, Land of the Wild Rose, the official flower. And as well the official opposition party in the Legislature. Well, used to be. Nine of their fourteen remaining members, including the leader, just crossed the floor to join the ruling “Progressive” Conservatives. Even though I would have never voted for the ultraconservative Wild Rose group, they did provide an essential service in a democracy, such as an effective and very vocal opposition. And how would you feel as a voter who voted for one of these guys (non-gendered term) ? And the justifications coming out of their mouths, I should be as good at writing as these guys are at flapping their mouths. Apparently anything can be justified, even the murder of 148 people, most of them children in Pakistan. Do I equate the two, no, not really, just saying ...
And off to my favorite topic, gas prices and their relationship to quality. They have been dropping at dizzying rates and I for one was glad to be able to still be able to fill my tank at 89.9 cents where I already began to suspect the quality of the product and now we are at 80.9 cents. I am going to have to postpone any major trips until the price rises again because I suspect I will be doing major damage to my vehicle gassing up at these prices. We all know by now that quality is directly related to price, see Under the Boardwalk .
What the heck is this world coming to? But there is actually a bit of good news on the horizon and that is the pending normalization of relations between the States and Cuba. I will now be able to fly to Cuba (Canadians were able to do this before, so wait for it) and buy a really old car in Cuba, transport it to (here it is) the States and drive it all the way in the Middle of the Road to Canada unmolested by American customs. Isn’t that great? I think my Christmas wishes are coming true. I am not sure how my wife feels about trying to store another clunker in the garage. Hmmm …
Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), a display of the effects produced by firework devices.
Fireworks take many forms to produce the four primary effects: noise, light, smoke, and floating materials (confetti for example). They may be designed to burn with colored flames and sparks including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and silver. Displays are common throughout the world and are the focal point of many cultural and religious celebrations.
Fireworks are generally classified as to where they perform, either as a ground or aerial firework. In the latter case they may provide their own propulsion (skyrocket) or be shot into the air by a mortar (aerial shell).
Modern colored fireworks were invented in Europe in the 1830s. Modern skyrocket fireworks have been made since the early 20th century.
Saint-Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601,911 residents as of 2021, with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area. Saint-Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents.
The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020.
The name day of Peter I falls on 29 June, when the Orthodox Church observes the memory of apostles Peter and Paul. The consecration of the small wooden church in their names (its construction began at the same time as the citadel) made them the heavenly patrons of the Peter and Paul Fortress, while Saint Peter at the same time became the eponym of the whole city. When in June 1703 Peter the Great renamed the site after Saint Peter, he did not issue a naming act that established an official spelling; even in his own letters he used diverse spellings, such as Санктьпетерсьбурк (Sanktpetersburk), emulating German Sankt Petersburg, and Сантпитербурх (Santpiterburkh), emulating Dutch Sint-Pietersburgh, as Peter was multilingual and a Hollandophile. The name was later normalized and russified to Санкт-Петербург (Saint-Petersburg).
Here is the beautiful region around the Lagoon nebula embedded in the Mike Way near its core. I have seen it with my naked eye from the Gila National Forest in New Mexico, but this narrowband image is from my light polluted back yard in north central Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
The Lagoon Nebula (top center), approximately 4,100 light years from Earth, is a bright emission nebula in the constellation Sagittarius, spanning about 110 by 50 light-years. It appears as a glowing cloud of ionized hydrogen gas with a distinct hourglass shape at its core, where intense star formation occurs. The nebula contains dark Bok globules—dense clouds of gas and dust where new stars may form—and is illuminated by the hot, young O-type star 9 Sagittarii. Its bright core is visible to the naked eye under dark skies, with a reddish hue in photographs due to hydrogen-alpha emission.
The Lagoon Nebula was first recorded by Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna before 1654, who noted it as a nebulous object. Charles Messier included it in his catalog as M8 in 1764, describing it as a "nebula with a star." Its detailed structure was later revealed through telescopic observations and photography.
The Trifid Nebula, (left center), about 5,200 light years from Earth, is a striking combination of an emission nebula, a reflection nebula, and a dark nebula. It spans about 40 light-years and is named for its three-lobed appearance, caused by dark dust lanes (cataloged as Barnard 85) that divide the glowing gas. The emission nebula glows red due to ionized hydrogen, while the reflection nebula appears blue from scattered starlight. A prominent open cluster of young stars lies at its center, with the triple star system HD 164492 energizing the nebula.
Charles Messier discovered the Trifid Nebula in 1764, cataloging it as M20. Its intricate structure, particularly the dark lanes, became clearer with improved telescopes in the 19th century, and its full beauty was revealed through modern astrophotography.
I used my Takahashi Epsilon 160 ED telescope, Chroma 3 nm filters and a QHY600M camera on a Astro-Physics Mach 2 mount to make this image. It was built from 17 hr 40 min of narrowband data and 45 min of RGB data (primarily for star color) Collected over 7 nights in May, 2025. The image is displayed as HOO blended with SII over an RGB background with RGB stars. The fits files were pre-processed with WBPP in PixIsight using sky flats and darks and included Local Normalization and Drizzle (not yet implemented for this image, however). The RGB files were edge cropped, combined, plate solved, color balanced with SPCC, stars extracted, ArcSinh stretched and saved as a 16 bit TIFF for screening in Photoshop. The starless RGB file was GradientCorrected, and stretched with HistogramTransformation using auto ScreenTransferFunction setting. The narrow band files were edge cropped (alignment to RGB maintained), deconvolved (BlurX), stars extracted, GradientCorrected, stretched by HistogramTransformation from auto STF, intensity balanced with HDRMT and saved as 16 bit TIFF files.
The TIFF files were opened as layers in Photoshop and each layer converted to a group enabling independent adjustment layers such as curves, hue/saturation, brightness/contrast, luminosity masks, and a host of AI assisted tools like the Remove Tool for cleaning up residuals from star removal. The starless RGB layer was placed on the bottom of the stack and served as a fill in a BlendIF mode, the RGB stars were put on top, and the narrowband layers were sandwiched in between. All but the bottom layer were set to Screen Blend Mode. Levels adjustment layers were used to set the black, white, and midpoint levels of each layer. Hue/Saturation was used to colorize the narrowband layers. I like using Photoshop for the final tasks in constructing an image since it provides very fine control and non-destructive editing in real time. PixInsight is by far my choice for calibrating, integrating, RGB channel combination, gradient correction, sharpening, stretching, plate solving, and noise reduction.
RPO_Epsilon_M8_HOOS_RGBStars_18hrs_250530_RQFugate_Rev3_6400