A Review of Galaxy Season and OSC Processing

So that was Galaxy Season, huh? I got all of 4 targets completed in 4 months. Here we review the images (at the end of the video) and the performance of the Antlia TriBand Ultra filter and the ZWO ASI294MC OSC camera. I'm using the Celestron C9.25 with the focal reducer. See what you think!

[@robertosaragoni2218]

Awesome results

[@Ronbo765]

Beautiful images

[@Aero19612]

It’s either those pictures or pictures of clouds. Much appreciated, but I’ve got a lot of work to do to improve my galaxy processing. Nice that the Antlia TriBand picks up the Ha, but it may lack in blue. Maybe I’ll get a chance to get some pics with the LPRO. Thanks for watching!

[@bullshitvendor]

very nice images, James! Thanks for sharing.

[@Aero19612]

Haha. I was just happy to see the stars again. I take what I can get. Thanks for watching!

[@anata5127]

This is superb video. Those are essential topics. I used to run DBE on RGB combined. Nowadays, I run on individual channels, and then again on combined RGB. I use massive square size (50-100) and high tolerance for RGB. Works much better. My FWHM gradually improved last 6-8 months. Now, I almost always get FWHM

[@Aero19612]

Haha! If I rejected all subframes with an eccentricity less than 0.5, I wouldn’t have any images. At the EQ6-R mount level, you’re gonna get eccentricity = 0.6 for long focal lengths. You have a high-end mount and are getting great results from it. Thanks for watching!

[@anata5127]

@@Aero19612 Yes, when I used tuned (by me) AVX, rejection threshold was 0.65. Now, if it is above 0.5, then it was wind >12-13 mph. Yes, mount is excellent. When I got it, Comec CEO told me “most simple to use mount”. Now, I understand what he meant. I suspect that it could have something else besides encoders.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thanks for the video, James. Yup, clouds galore here in Savannah too. And now, it is so hot, it's hard to set up without getting soaking wet from sweat. Good looking galaxies. I particularly like that Leo Triplet. I liked that technique on how you eliminated that background noise. I just might have to try that too.

[@Aero19612]

Hey Pat, Agree. The Leo Triplet turned out best. I’ll go back and re-process the other galaxies. I’ve got plenty of room for improvement in my OSC/galaxy processing technique. I imagine your humidity situation is worse than mine here. I can take higher temps but, for me, the humidity is the killer. Try to stay “cool” as much as possible and make use of any clear skies you get! Thanks for watching!

[@Dennis-tf2cs]

I had a light leak with my filter drawer as well. Just using electrical tape for now to block the leaks. Good information!! Thanks

[@Aero19612]

Hey Dennis. Do you have the older version of the ZWO filter drawer. They apparently re-designed it because of the light leakage. I have the newer one and, as it turns out, my gradient is not caused by light leakage. Might be a legit gradient. Just blast it with DynamicBackgroundExtraction and you're good to go.

[@MrGuilletv]

Thanks for the video James. Waiting for the reducer backfocus video!

[@Aero19612]

Thanks for watching! I’ve got an “emergency” video to put out first, the we’ll discuss back focus again. Can’t seem to get away from that topic.

[@MrDirtyRod]

Awesome info on running DBE on the individual OSC channels. I spent hours yesterday trying to solve that same problem with one of my images.

[@Aero19612]

Haha! Give it a shot and see if it helps you out. Thanks for watching!

[@johnmacdougall4545]

What an interesting idea - take the stars from the 25% stack and the color from the 100% stack...thanks for opening up a completely logical and yet totally creative workflow

[@Aero19612]

Give it a try, John. Who knows, I may have just invented a new way to waste time and not produce better images. Let me know what you think if you give it a spin. Thanks for watching!

[@deep_space_dave]

I was happy I was able to catch the blue comet and the M101 supernova. Now that I have a mono camera I was able to get the Cygnus Loop but now been cloudy (and smokey) ever since! That's a great idea to split the channels to fix the odd gradient! Hope the conditions are better where you are as I am still waiting near Chicago! Thanks and Clear Skies!

[@Aero19612]

Thanks for watching, Dave! Yeah, that darn gradient was giving me fits until I realized that you have to split the image into its colors to deal with it. Had some good skies for about 2 weeks. Under clouds and wind now and for the next few days. But no smoke! I think…

[@kevinburke8608]

With DBE, you may want to reduce the smoothing factor with that many sample points so that the gradient removal is a bit more aggressive. It may be better at taking out the variations over shorter distances across the image. It's using a spline fitting for the gradient.

[@Aero19612]

Hey Kevin, Yeah, it’s always a balance between smooth background model and a more aggressive model that might take some of your target away. So far, I’m leaning toward a smooth model, bit different images often require different approaches. Thanks for watching!

[@kevinburke8608]

Like your vids, we have a similar equipment path and I have to understand "the why" to learn things which you go over very well.@@Aero19612

[@jesuschrist2284]

At least siril stacks clouds for me

[@Aero19612]

The most useful feature ever, haha