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[RCC] First light with Tak Baby Q - M16

Request for feedback M16 Messier Objects Deep Sky Nebula
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Andy Brown avatar
Andy Brown avatar
Hi guys,

I've been doing AP for almost a year now and have just bought my first proper scope - a Takahashi FSQ-85EDX - to replace my Canon 600mm lens. I'm happy with my acquisition methodology with my CEM70 but not so happy with my processing. I'm using good old DSS for stacking and Photoshop for processing. I can do basic stretching and colour manipulation and use the Astronomy Tools for cosmetic tweaks. My question is do I go to APP and/or PI or continue with PS?

Here's my M16 - about 3.5 hours with my ASI533MC-Pro and L-eXtreme. Your opinions please :-) 

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Elmiko avatar
Elmiko avatar
I think it turned out great! Stars are tight. Well resolved. I use PixInsight. It was the best purchase I made in this hobby. I like it because it does everything….pre processing and post processing.But if you already have PS. I've seen a lot of outstanding images using it. Mike
Colm O'Dwyer avatar
Colm O'Dwyer avatar
I use APP and PS. At least in APP you can calibrate, stack and stretch very effectively, and it removes issues with non-linear stretching as a manual process in PS for example. In PS, HLVG plugin to remove green bias and its internal tools are what I mostly use. The astronomy tool actions such as deep space noise reduction can  be effective. But with decent data to start with, APP is really very good and does photometric color calibration from first principles calculations (not needed an online database query). Second to none for light pollution correction and for mosaic stitching. My 2c.
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Andy Brown avatar
Andy Brown avatar
Colm O'Dwyer:
I use APP and PS. At least in APP you can calibrate, stack and stretch very effectively, and it removes issues with non-linear stretching as a manual process in PS for example. In PS, HLVG plugin to remove green bias and its internal tools are what I mostly use. The astronomy tool actions such as deep space noise reduction can  be effective. But with decent data to start with, APP is really very good and does photometric color calibration from first principles calculations (not needed an online database query). Second to none for light pollution correction and for mosaic stitching. My 2c.


Hi Colm,

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. I've just bought a year's licence for APP and run my first integration and it's SO much better than DSS. I already have HLVG and the Astronomy Tools Actions which I've used before. I'll let you know how the first processing run goes

Thanks and clear skies,

Andy
Colm O'Dwyer avatar
Colm O'Dwyer avatar
Sounds good. APP has a lot of hidden options, that appear as tick boxes in some tabs that are not necessary for a standard stack. It gives good option to remove dispersion (which most other software cannot do), and options to mix data form different scopes that is also excellent. I like the automatic options that analyse the frames and choose the rejection algorithms for you and its very good. Best of luck with it.
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