The Little Dumbbell Nebula gets its name because it kinda looks like a tinier version of the Dumbbell Nebla M27 (yes, a different palette was used for this pic). It’s really tiny compared to the uncropped FOV. I’m a lot happier with this attempt at it, compared to my 2019 pic of M76 with the same equipment. I know It’s a bit out of season rn but I needed something to shoot at the start of the night. The nebulosity itself is false color, but the stars are true color RGB. Captured over 10 nights in Feb/Mar 2024 from a bortle 9 zone (I could only get a couple hours max per night on it.
duplicated each image and removed stars via StarXterminator. Ran DBE with a shitload of points to generate background model. model subtracted from original pic using the following PixelMath (math courtesy of /u/jimmythechicken1)
$T * med(model) / model
Narrowband Linear:
Blur and NoiseXTerminator
StarXterminator to completely remove stars (to be later replaced by the RGB ones)
ArcsinhStretch to slightly stretch nonlinear
iHDR 2.0 script to stretch each channel the rest of the way.
I’m still kinda upset that it clouded over at the last minute during the 2017 eclipse. I had my camera set up to take a bunch of exposures for HDR throughout totality, and this was really the only one that turned out. Hopefully it’ll be clear this time and I can get a proper HDR image, but I’m not looking forward to driving 6+ hours back home (not including eclipse traffic).
Also for anyone else who saw the last eclipse, did the dumb lizard part of your brain freak out a little when you saw stars out at 2pm or was it just me?
Kinda as a joke I designed a house for astrophotography in sweethome 3D. You can also export the whole 3D house model into unity and upload it to VRChat to actually walk around inside it
I got an email from reddit to the address for one of my old Reddit logins. The text, in part, when visiting the URL they provided (had to be logged in, not all of my old handles could see it):...
I had started off with getting a $20 Craigslist telescope for just pics of the moon/planets, but after that I decided to dive into DSOs. I used my mom’s DSLR and bought a 6" f/4 newtonian and used Orion Sirius mount. Been using that same scope/mount combo all these years while upgrading everything else around them, like getting an autoguider, mono cam, moonlite focuser, pixinsight, etc.
There are USB powered dew heaters on amazon for pretty cheap, and work just fine for small lenses. I think I got mine for $15 a few years ago, and I already had a battery pack laying around. In a pinch you could use some non-reusable iron oxide hand warmers rubber banded to the lens, which could give a couple hours of warmth.
In terms of trackers the cheapest I’ve seen is the Nyx tracker at $130, but I know some people have managed to DIY them for a little cheaper. I’ve never used one so I cant speak for how well it works, but I imagine you’ll at least be able to get some longer exposure times if it’s polar aligned well.
It is a bad quality photo taken from a mobile. The circle that surrounds the moon is formed by the refraction of the moonlight when passing through ice crystals present in the atmosphere. At times surrounding the moon itself you can see a circular rainbow (they all are, but we see only half of the solar rainbow). This phenomenon...
So I shot the Bubble Nebula in true-color last year, but I decided to shoot it again this past month in false color. It really helps to show the extended nebulosity, and gives me and excuse to compare my image to Hubble’s. This false color image uses the SHO palette, where the sulfur-ii wavelength is mapped to red, hydrogen-alpha to green, and oxygen-iii is blue. I’m really happy with how the colors turned out on this one. There’s also a number of other nebulae and a star cluster in frame. Captured over 14 nights in Jan/Feb 2024 from a bortle 9 zone (I could only get a couple hours max per night on it.
duplicated each image and removed stars via StarXterminator. Ran DBE with a shitload of points to generate background model. model subtracted from original pic using the following PixelMath (math courtesy of /u/jimmythechicken1)
$T * med(model) / model
Narrowband Linear:
Blur and NoiseXTerminator
Duplicated the images before stretching to be used for separate stars-only processing
Slight stretch using HistogramTransformation
iHDR 2.0 script to stretch each channel the rest of the way.
Stars Only Processing:
PixelMath to combine star images (SHO palette)
SpectroPhotometricColorCalibration (narrowband working mode)
StarXTerminator to make stars only image form each channel
SCNR > invert > SCNR > invert to remove greens and magentas
ArcsinhStretch + HT to stretch nonlinear - to be combined later with starless pic
Nonlinear:
PixelMath to combine stretched Ha, Oiii, and Sii images into color image (SHO palette)
StarXterminator to remove stars
HistogramTransformations to tone back the greens and apply a more aggressive stretch to red and blue channels
Shitloads of Curve Transformations to adjust lightness, hues, contrast, saturation, etc
LRGBCombination with stretched Ha as luminance
DeepSNR
more curves
ColorSaturation to bring up the blues in the bubble
LocalHistogramEqualization
even more curves
MLT for chrominance noise reduction
Pixelmath to add in the stretched stars only image from earlier
This basically re-linearizes the two images, adds them together, and then stretches them back to before
So I shot the Bubble Nebula in true-color last year, but I decided to shoot it again this past month in false color. It really helps to show the extended nebulosity, and gives me and excuse to compare my image to Hubble’s. This false color image uses the SHO palette, where the sulfur-ii wavelength is mapped to red, hydrogen-alpha to green, and oxygen-iii is blue. I’m really happy with how the colors turned out on this one. There’s also a number of other nebulae and a star cluster in frame. Captured over 14 nights in Jan/Feb 2024 from a bortle 9 zone (I could only get a couple hours max per night on it.
duplicated each image and removed stars via StarXterminator. Ran DBE with a shitload of points to generate background model. model subtracted from original pic using the following PixelMath (math courtesy of /u/jimmythechicken1)
$T * med(model) / model
Narrowband Linear:
Blur and NoiseXTerminator
Duplicated the images before stretching to be used for separate stars-only processing
Slight stretch using HistogramTransformation
iHDR 2.0 script to stretch each channel the rest of the way.
I’ve never actually used Siril, but for the longest time Pixinsight has been considered the be all and end all for deep sky processing, and I decided to dive completely into it once I moved on from photoshop. There’s also a number of processes and scripts made by the community just for pix which have become essential for some of my workflows, like BlurXterminator (paid), and a bunch of pixelmath expressions from the guys in the discord.
It’s taken me several years to get to this point, and honestly I’m still continuing to learn new techniques and improve my processing to this day. I’ve never actually added up how much all my equipment costs, because then I’d have to give an honest answer when my family asks. I did buy a lot of it on the used market, and I haven’t really upgraded anything since covid and astronomy gear prices shot up. Most of my images I take from my apartment balcony, which has horrific light pollution. A couple times a year I’ll head out to a dark site like the Deerlick Astronomy Village for a weekend. If there are any astonomy clubs in your town they’ll tell you what dark sites are best near you.
I’m not sure how much of a ‘guide’ I could be, but I can help give advice and constructive criticism if you need it! If you use discord there’s also a ton of beginner info and people able to help out in ours (link in the sidebar).
Probably should’ve gotten more exposure time on this, but it was already way out of season. Captured over several nights in January 2024, from a Bortle 9 zone
duplicated each image and removed stars via StarXterminator. Ran DBE with a shitload of points to generate background model. model subtracted from original pic using the following PixelMath (math courtesy of /u/jimmythechicken1)
$T * med(model) / model
**Narrowband Linear:
Blur and NoiseXTerminator
Duplicated the images before stretching to be used for separate stars-only processing
STF applied via histogramtransformation to stretch nonlinear
Stars Only Processing:
StarXTerminator to make stars only image form each channel
PixelMath to combine star images (SHO palette)
SpectroPhotometricColorCalibration (narrowband working mode)
SCNR Green
ArcsinhStretch + HT to stretch nonlinear - to be combined later with starless pic
Nonlinear:
PixelMath to combine stretched Ha, Oiii, and Sii images into color image (SHO palette)
Invert > SCNR > invert > SCNR to remove greens and magentas
Shitloads of Curve Transformations to adjust lightness, hues, contrast, saturation, etc
LRGBCombination with stretched Ha as luminance
more curves
NoiseXterminator
LocalHistrogramEqualization (at small and large scales to target varying structures)
MLT for large scale chrominance noise reduction
Extract L --> LRGBCombination for smaller scale chrominance noise reduction
Pixelmath to add in the stretched stars only image from earlier
This basically re-linearizes the two images, adds them together, and then stretches them back to before
M76 - The Little Dumbbell Nebula (live.staticflickr.com)
PSA: There was a total solar eclipse over North America *yesterday*
PLEASE do not look at the sun unless you are wearing proper eclipse glasses....
we do a little coating (lemmy.world)
Lemmy, have you used free software to design your dream home?
This is just for messing around to see in digital form the house that I dream of in my head. Is there a truly free one that does a decent job?...
M87 emits a 5000 light year jet of plasma from its core (mbin.grits.dev)
Has anyone else received the Direct Share Program email for Reddit's IPO?
I got an email from reddit to the address for one of my old Reddit logins. The text, in part, when visiting the URL they provided (had to be logged in, not all of my old handles could see it):...
Share your astrophotography progress to me! I'm super interested, and as a noob, I want to know what my limits might be.
Hey all!...
Preventing lens condensation on a small compact camera - workaround for heating mantles? + Looking for super cheap tracker (DIY?)
For the pros here, who have equipment worth tens of thousands of moneys, this may sound like a troll post, but trust me, it isn’t :D...
Lunar Halo (mander.xyz)
It is a bad quality photo taken from a mobile. The circle that surrounds the moon is formed by the refraction of the moonlight when passing through ice crystals present in the atmosphere. At times surrounding the moon itself you can see a circular rainbow (they all are, but we see only half of the solar rainbow). This phenomenon...
The Bubble Nebula in SHO [OC] (live.staticflickr.com)
DWB 111 - The Propeller Nebula (live.staticflickr.com)
Mildew is proud of his work (lemmy.world)
[KSP1] Topping off before the big burn (lemmy.world)
Flash photography used to be pretty wild | Technology Connections [33:52] (www.youtube.com)