Feedback Request: 2 different versions of my Rho-Region Mosaic

Hi Michael,

First off I want to say Bravo for a 30 panel mosaic! I just did a 10 panel on Orion and I can’t imagine the amount of time processing 30 panels!

I like the second version better, w/o star reduction. I like the framing and overall look and feel to the image. I am guilty of oversharpening and I think this image may be a touch oversharpened. I like the hues but a touch oversaturated. I typically don’t respond to these types of posts because I feel there are many folks in the AB community that are better qualified to respond, however, I really like this image and wanted to give the respected feedback.

I can’t wait to see your next big project!

CS, Tim

Tim Ray · Dec 6, 2025, 05:09 PM

Hi Michael,

First off I want to say Bravo for a 30 panel mosaic! I just did a 10 panel on Orion and I can’t imagine the amount of time processing 30 panels!

I like the second version better, w/o star reduction. I like the framing and overall look and feel to the image. I am guilty of oversharpening and I think this image may be a touch oversharpened. I like the hues but a touch oversaturated. I typically don’t respond to these types of posts because I feel there are many folks in the AB community that are better qualified to respond, however, I really like this image and wanted to give the respected feedback.

I can’t wait to see your next big project!

CS, Tim

Thank you Tim for this feedback! There was no star reduction change between the 2 version (it might look different due to the reduced background dust), but I definitely get the feedback about “oversaturated” and also a bit “oversharpened”.

@andera: Thank you again! I will reprocess it (not now but soon; need some break from that project :D ) and consider both your feedback. Maily less saturation and a bit less sharpening.
The Revision D of the V2 edit was already downsampled even more (it is now 10MB. original resolution is 30K x 25K pixels) => I now made it the final version, so I think this is now fine for viewing at an acceptable zoom level?

Thanks,
Michael

Not to take anything away from what you’ve accomplished here. it’s an amazing example of dedication to the craft and pushing the limits. That said, it got me to wondering. Since images like this need to be down-sampled so much to be viewable on a typical screen, is it really worth it when you could get nearly the same resolution and coverage with a 6 hour total LRGB integration with a full frame camera and a tiny 30mm f/5 instrument. It seems that it’s only really worth doing if you’re making a print large enough to show it. I’m wondering if you have any plans to make a print with the full resolution data at some point. That would be fascinating to see!

And yes -will try a print after reprocessing it :)