Problem with my QHY 533 color sensor?

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Hassaan Zaheer avatar
Hi,
I am using a QHY 533 color cooled camera,
i am seeing some weird banding around the edges.
Can some one identify the source of the issue.
I am using flats, darks and bias frames to calibrate the data.
The flats are working because all the dust motes present during imaging are removed.
You can see the banding on the bottom right and top left seems to be the worst. though the original banding shifts after meridian flip .
Tony Gondola avatar
I really don't see anything unusual there. It really looks like the usual stacking artifacts that you get when there is some drift between the frames. If you use NINA you can minimize that by invoking the "re-center on drift command" found in the advanced sequencer. I use that command to limit total drift to no more than 0.25 arc/min. but you can set any value that you like.
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Hassaan Zaheer avatar
Tony Gondola:
I really don't see anything unusual there. It really looks like the usual stacking artifacts that you get when there is some drift between the frames. If you use NINA you can minimize that by invoking the "re-center on drift command" found in the advanced sequencer. I use that command to limit total drift to no more than 0.25 arc/min. but you can set any value that you like.


I am talking about this artifact specifically.
I am doing a recentering after drift, this image is cropped before applying DBE.
andrea tasselli avatar
Does a single frame show it once it has been calibrated?
TiffsAndAstro avatar
Nothing odd I can see.
Tony Gondola avatar
Again, I see nothing unusual. It's a very dusty area so there's a lot of variation. You are going to see all sorts of ugly things when you stretch an image that much. How does your final image look?
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Hassaan Zaheer avatar
Tony Gondola:
Again, I see nothing unusual. It's a very dusty area so there's a lot of variation. You are going to see all sorts of ugly things when you stretch an image that much. How does your final image look?


after severe editing i can make it work.
ill post another image that highlights the problem much better.
Here you can see a pattern that shows around the border of the image.

Markice Stephenson avatar
Hassaan Zaheer:
Tony Gondola:
Again, I see nothing unusual. It's a very dusty area so there's a lot of variation. You are going to see all sorts of ugly things when you stretch an image that much. How does your final image look?


after severe editing i can make it work.
ill post another image that highlights the problem much better.
Here you can see a pattern that shows around the border of the image.


I had something weird like this happen when I started using my sharpstar Newtonian. Never occurred when using the same sensor/filter along with the RASA. After having done a channel extraction to troubleshoot further, it seemed to only impact the B channel. I've switched filters which yielded better results (Antlia L -> Optolong L), but didn't completely eliminate the problem. I also tried using 100 gain instead of 0 gain, which also didn't completely eliminate the problem but it did a better job at burying it. It doesn't happen with my narrowband filters, so maybe it's a stray light/reflection issue. Or an issue with the flat light source. Haven't been able to figure it out
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andrea tasselli avatar
Hassaan Zaheer:
after severe editing i can make it work.
ill post another image that highlights the problem much better.
Here you can see a pattern that shows around the border of the image.


*This has nothing to do with the sensor/camera. It has a lot to do with calibration/post-processing. Again, does it show on a single frame?
TiffsAndAstro avatar
Hassaan Zaheer:
Hi,
I am using a QHY 533 color cooled camera,
i am seeing some weird banding around the edges.
Can some one identify the source of the issue.
I am using flats, darks and bias frames to calibrate the data.
The flats are working because all the dust motes present during imaging are removed.
You can see the banding on the bottom right and top left seems to be the worst. though the original banding shifts after meridian flip .

was the moon about, beaming it's light polluting goodness in?
This looks surprisingly similar to what I got on M42 in dnb last night ;)
Hassaan Zaheer avatar
andrea tasselli:
Hassaan Zaheer:
after severe editing i can make it work.
ill post another image that highlights the problem much better.
Here you can see a pattern that shows around the border of the image.


*This has nothing to do with the sensor/camera. It has a lot to do with calibration/post-processing. Again, does it show on a single frame?


No it doesn't show up on a single frame.
Only when calibrated and stretched.
Hassaan Zaheer avatar
TiffsAndAstro:
Hassaan Zaheer:
Hi,
I am using a QHY 533 color cooled camera,
i am seeing some weird banding around the edges.
Can some one identify the source of the issue.
I am using flats, darks and bias frames to calibrate the data.
The flats are working because all the dust motes present during imaging are removed.
You can see the banding on the bottom right and top left seems to be the worst. though the original banding shifts after meridian flip .

was the moon about, beaming it's light polluting goodness in?
This looks surprisingly similar to what I got on M42 in dnb last night ;)


I have taken shots during full moon and no moon and the result is the same. 
it disappears when i use a duo narrowband filter.
andrea tasselli avatar
Hassaan Zaheer:
No it doesn't show up on a single frame.
Only when calibrated and stretched.


So there you go, it's the processing not the sensor.
Kristof Vandebeek avatar
What telescope and other accessories are you using?
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Al Lazuli avatar
i would suspect the issue here is that you are running gradient correction before cropping the stacking artifacts. crop about 10-20 pixels off each axis before running your gradient correction and this will likely disappear. try it and see
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Kyle Cerniglia avatar
Al Lazuli:
i would suspect the issue here is that you are running gradient correction before cropping the stacking artifacts. crop about 10-20 pixels off each axis before running your gradient correction and this will likely disappear. try it and see

This is it right here, the telltale sign is the very bright strip on the bottom edge of the image.

When you do background extraction, manually plot the points, don't use the auto-plotter, as it will get way too close to the edges, or get placed on stars.
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