StarXTerminator vs NeuralStarRemover (new-beta1) - Forums

Topic starter

Oct 22, 2023

I wanted to compare the just now released beta1 release of SNR by NeuralCelestia with the well known and excellent StarXTerminator on a rather difficult target - SH2-136. It contains a lot of stars, one extremely large star, one hidden by the nebula and another large one in the nebula.

Both SW did not perform their removal action to 100%, SNR did not remove one of the larger stars and left instead of the stars small blotches, SXT removed that very same star and left larger blotched. Both results need a larger amount of afterwork to make it usable - what is to be expected.

My personal preference remains with SXT, but that is my opinion only. And to be fair - the new version is the very first beta release.

Judge yourself.... :-)

CS,
Georg

The upper screenshot is the new SNR software and the lower screenshot is SXT

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Tom Marsala

Oct 22, 2023

Both are impressive results! But after how well sxt cleaned up my m33 shot (and you know how many stars there are there) I don't know if I'll ever need anything else. Unless, of course, Russell improves on it.
Great comparison! And thanks for doing the legwork!
Abundant clarity,
Tom

Georg N. Nyman

Topic starter

Oct 22, 2023

Thanks - my interest in testing that new SW is because if you eliminate stars from a stack, those residuals remain and they need quite some time to get rid off (more or less). If you eliminate the stars from a RGB image, those residuals usually have a somehow different color than the surrounding area which makes correction even more time consuming - if you go for a more or less perfect starless image.
I was wondering if that new SW would do it better….nope, not at all, despite the claim - we use AI for removing all stars…. let´s see if the upcoming releases will improve it. But currently, I am very happy with the SXT…
CS
Georg

Michael E.

Oct 23, 2023

Hi Georg
Sorry if my post appears to be somewhat off-topic, but it seems that you are using a QHY camera (without a built-in UV/IR-Cut filter) and you haven't explicitly included such a filter in your imaging setup.
I've come to this conclusion based on the noticeable microlensing artifacts around Theta Cepheus in your image. I'm sure that no star-removal tool will be able to handle this.
I recommend trying out this filter. It took me a while to understand that this was also the case with my images (see also this topic)

cs, michael

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Georg N. Nyman

Topic starter

Oct 23, 2023 · Edited: Oct 23, 2023

Michael E.:
Hi Georg
Sorry if my post appears to be somewhat off-topic, but it seems that you are using a QHY camera (without a built-in UV/IR-Cut filter) and you haven't explicitly included such a filter in your imaging setup.
I've come to this conclusion based on the noticeable microlensing artifacts around Theta Cepheus in your image. I'm sure that no star-removal tool will be able to handle this.
I recommend trying out this filter. It took me a while to understand that this was also the case with my images (see also this topic)

cs, michael

Hi Michael,

thanks a lot for your feedback - I read your thread and posts....very interesting! I shall look at it into detail!

CS
Georg

Brian Puhl

IOTD Staff

Oct 23, 2023

Looks to me to be very similar results to Starnet. Those splotchy leftovers are why I don't use starnet anymore.