Processing Question - Red Noise Reduction

[MTBehnke]

I'm new to AP and StarTools and am trying to understand if/how I can clean up the red noise that's across much of my image. My scope is getting collimated so over the last two nights I've been playing with a widefield of Veil Nebula taken with my modded Canon and a zoom lens. I used 60 x 150s lights plus 40+ flats and 40+ darks, stacked in DSS. My sensor temp has been around 93F when shooting and am wondering if that's what's causing it.

VEIL v2 small.jpg (229.38 KiB) Viewed 6026 times

The original FITS file (173MB) from DSS is at:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5JzO ... ERGb18wZWc

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

[MTBehnke]

Played around a bit more and made some progress.

First, found I had Per Channel Background Calibration turned on in DSS, so I restacked. Spent a lot more time with the Wipe module including masking out a few dust motes in my image and increasing the size of the dark anomaly filter. This allowed me to get rid of the major red bands. From there I just reprocessed my image until I got something a bit more pleasing.

VEIL v4 sm.jpg (190.38 KiB) Viewed 6016 times

I am missing some of the nebulosity between the eastern and western parts, but that may just require more integration time or more careful processing.

Feedback is welcome.

Mike

[Cheman]

Hi Mike
I had a go at your veil using the stack that you posted. If you want me to try the new stack, put up a link. I think I needed to bump up the blue a bit. I'm also including my workflow

Che

veil (Medium).jpg (357.66 KiB) Viewed 6004 times

File loaded [C:\Users\Che\Desktop\VEIL v1.0.FTS].
---
--- Bin
Parameter [Scale] set to [(scale/noise reduction 50.00%)/(400.00%)/(+2.00 bits)]
--- Crop
Parameter [X1] set to [4 pixels]
Parameter [Y1] set to [4 pixels]
Parameter [X2] set to [2381 pixels (-4)]
Parameter [Y2] set to [1585 pixels (-4)]
--- Wipe
Parameter [Mode] set to [Correct Color & Brightness]
Parameter [UNKNOWN] set to [Yes]
Parameter [Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [3 pixels]
Parameter [Drop Off Point] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Corner Aggressiveness] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Aggressiveness] set to [75 %]
--- Develop
Parameter [White Calibration] set to [Use Stars]
Parameter [Gamma] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Skyglow] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Digital Development] set to [86.14 %]
Parameter [Blue Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Green Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Red Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Headroom] set to [5 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [Off]
--- HDR
Parameter [Small Detail Precision] set to [Max]
Parameter [Channels] set to [Color Only]
Parameter [Algorithm] set to [Optimize Hard]
Parameter [Dark/Bright Response] set to [Full]
Parameter [Detail Size Range] set to [21 pixels]
Parameter [Noise Suppression] set to [Off]
--- Contrast
Parameter [Expose Dark Areas] set to [No]
Parameter [Compensate Gamma] set to [No]
Parameter [Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Aggressiveness] set to [75 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Headroom] set to [15 %]
--- Life
Parameter [Detail Preservation] set to [Linear Brightness Mask]
Parameter [Compositing Algorithm] set to [Multiply, Gamma Correct]
Parameter [Inherit Brightness, Color] set to [Off]
Parameter [Output Glow Only] set to [No]
Parameter [Airy Disk Sampling] set to [128 x 128 pixels]
Parameter [Airy Disk Radius] set to [8 pixels]
Parameter [Glow Threshold] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Detail Preservation Radius] set to [20.0 pixels]
Parameter [Saturation] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Strength] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
--- Develop
Parameter [White Calibration] set to [Use Stars]
Parameter [Gamma] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Skyglow] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Digital Development] set to [85.87 %]
Parameter [Blue Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Green Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Red Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Headroom] set to [5 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [Off]
--- Color
Parameter [Cap Green] set to [No]
Parameter [Bias Slider Mode] set to [Sliders Reduce Color Bias]
Parameter [Style] set to [Scientific (Color Constancy)]
Parameter [LRGB Method Emulation] set to [Straight CIELab Luminance Retention]
Parameter [Dark Saturation] set to [2.00]
Parameter [Bright Saturation] set to [Full]
Parameter [Saturation Amount] set to [200 %]
Parameter [Blue Bias Reduce] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Green Bias Reduce] set to [1.19]
Parameter [Red Bias Reduce] set to [1.71]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
--- Wavelet De-Noise
Parameter [Scale 1] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 2] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 3] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 4] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 5] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Scale Correlation] set to [3]
Parameter [Color Detail Loss] set to [12 %]
Parameter [Brightness Detail Loss] set to [12 %]
Parameter [Grain Size] set to [4.5 pixels]
Parameter [Read Noise Compensation] set to [Off]
Parameter [Smoothness] set to [75 %]
--- Magic
Parameter [Mode] set to [Tighten]
Parameter [Mask Grow] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Iterations] set to [1 pixels]
File saved [C:\Users\Che\Desktop\VEIL v1.0.tiff].
File saved [C:\Users\Che\Desktop\veil.jpg].

[MTBehnke]

Wow Che - much nicer than what I got - you kept more of the blue and also more of the red parts of the nebula. I played with the image some more this afternoon and couldn't get too much of an improvement. As I played with the image more I think that what I thought was mostly noise was in fact thousands of fainter stars in the image. Using magic to get rid of those seems to leave the reddish/brown splotchy areas - not sure if I can/should try and keep more of those stars.

I restacked a couple more times trying to get DSS to include more images. If you want to give it a go I think there's a wider band at the top you'll want to crop (and probably a similar one on the bottom). In the meantime I'm reading through your workflow - can see you did a number of things different than I had.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5JzO ... k5NQmdlaGM

Thanks!

Mike

[Cheman]

here's what I got this time. I think I like the color better, but also did not bring out quite as much of the nebulosity.

Che

VEIL v5.0 (Medium).jpg (348.24 KiB) Viewed 5997 times

StarTools 1.4.297
Wed Jul 27 22:32:28 2016
-----------------------------------------------------------
File loaded [C:\Users\Che\Desktop\VEIL v5.0.FTS].
---
--- Bin
Parameter [Scale] set to [(scale/noise reduction 50.00%)/(400.00%)/(+2.00 bits)]
--- Crop
Parameter [X1] set to [91 pixels]
Parameter [Y1] set to [108 pixels]
Parameter [X2] set to [2351 pixels (-34)]
Parameter [Y2] set to [1559 pixels (-30)]
--- Wipe
Parameter [Mode] set to [Correct Color & Brightness]
Parameter [UNKNOWN] set to [Yes]
Parameter [Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Drop Off Point] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Corner Aggressiveness] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Aggressiveness] set to [75 %]
--- Develop
Parameter [White Calibration] set to [Use Stars]
Parameter [Gamma] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Skyglow] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Digital Development] set to [86.41 %]
Parameter [Blue Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Green Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Red Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Headroom] set to [5 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [Off]
--- HDR
Parameter [Small Detail Precision] set to [Max]
Parameter [Channels] set to [Color Only]
Parameter [Algorithm] set to [Optimize Soft]
Parameter [Dark/Bright Response] set to [Full]
Parameter [Detail Size Range] set to [21 pixels]
Parameter [Noise Suppression] set to [Off]
--- Contrast
Parameter [Expose Dark Areas] set to [No]
Parameter [Compensate Gamma] set to [No]
Parameter [Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Aggressiveness] set to [75 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Headroom] set to [15 %]
--- Life
Parameter [Detail Preservation] set to [Linear Brightness Mask]
Parameter [Compositing Algorithm] set to [Multiply, Gamma Correct]
Parameter [Inherit Brightness, Color] set to [Off]
Parameter [Output Glow Only] set to [No]
Parameter [Airy Disk Sampling] set to [128 x 128 pixels]
Parameter [Airy Disk Radius] set to [8 pixels]
Parameter [Glow Threshold] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Detail Preservation Radius] set to [20.0 pixels]
Parameter [Saturation] set to [170 %]
Parameter [Strength] set to [111 %]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
--- Develop
Parameter [White Calibration] set to [Use Stars]
Parameter [Gamma] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Skyglow] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Digital Development] set to [87.50 %]
Parameter [Blue Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Green Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Red Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Headroom] set to [5 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [Off]
--- Color
Parameter [Cap Green] set to [No]
Parameter [Bias Slider Mode] set to [Sliders Reduce Color Bias]
Parameter [Style] set to [Scientific (Color Constancy)]
Parameter [LRGB Method Emulation] set to [Straight CIELab Luminance Retention]
Parameter [Dark Saturation] set to [2.00]
Parameter [Bright Saturation] set to [Full]
Parameter [Saturation Amount] set to [294 %]
Parameter [Blue Bias Reduce] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Green Bias Reduce] set to [1.19]
Parameter [Red Bias Reduce] set to [1.79]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
--- Wavelet De-Noise
Parameter [Scale 1] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 2] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 3] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 4] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 5] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Scale Correlation] set to [3]
Parameter [Color Detail Loss] set to [12 %]
Parameter [Brightness Detail Loss] set to [12 %]
Parameter [Grain Size] set to [4.5 pixels]
Parameter [Read Noise Compensation] set to [Off]
Parameter [Smoothness] set to [75 %]
--- Magic
Parameter [Mode] set to [Tighten]
Parameter [Mask Grow] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Iterations] set to [1 pixels]
File saved [C:\Users\Che\Desktop\VEIL v5.0.tif].
File saved [C:\Users\Che\Desktop\VEIL v5.0.jpg].

[MTBehnke]

Thanks Che - both are better than I've been able to do, but I learned from what you did. Thanks for your help!

My scope just got back from getting collimated so I better figure out my next targets.

Mike