Milky Way Processing

Questions and answers about processing in StarTools and how to accomplish certain tasks.
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szymon
Posts: 61
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2019 11:33 am
Location: London

Milky Way Processing

Post by szymon »

I'm currently on holiday, and most of the places we've visited so far have either had no night-time (Iceland -- there was seriously no darkness at all, not just no astronomical darkness but no actual darkness!), or have been bortle 9 light polluted (big cities like Boston, Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal), or have been cloudy (St John's, Bar Harbour). But then yesterday we were in a forest outside Killington, Vermont, with Bortle 3 skies and no clouds! The view was absolutely wonderful, and of course I had to try a little photography.

I tried a number of methods with the kit I had available, and I think this is about the best of the data I got. This is using a Baader nano-tracker, polar aligned using an attached laser pointer, on a generic tripod with two ball mounts, holding an (unmodified) Canon 6D and a Canon 17-40 f/4L wide open at 17mm F4, ISO 1600. Exposures are 3 minutes long using an external intervalometer (in fact the exif shows them as 3 minutes 3 seconds each), and there are 10 exposures stacked together in Deep Sky Stacker.

Now, I'm processing it in StarTools and I simply can't seem to get the colours looking "real". The processed output is (in my opinion) quite nice, but it seems false. What can I do to get the image looking more realistic?

Raw stack:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/npeb37ft4lz7d ... d.fts?dl=1

Processed:
Image
szymon
Posts: 61
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2019 11:33 am
Location: London

Re: Milky Way Processing

Post by szymon »

Sorry, I meant to add the log of what I did.

-----------------------------------------------------------
StarTools 1.5.358
Mon Aug 05 05:38:32 2019
-----------------------------------------------------------
File loaded [C:\Users\szymon\Desktop\SharpCap Captures\Autosave002.fts].
Image size is 5496 x 3670
---
Type of Data: Linear and was Bayered, but not whitebalanced
--- Auto Develop
Parameter [Ignore Fine Detail <] set to [Off]
Parameter [Outside RoI Influence] set to [50 %]
Parameter [RoI X1] set to [0 pixels]
Parameter [RoI Y1] set to [0 pixels]
Parameter [RoI X2] set to [5496 pixels (-0)]
Parameter [RoI Y2] set to [3670 pixels (-0)]
--- Develop
Parameter [White Calibration] set to [Use Stars]
Parameter [Gamma] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Skyglow] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Digital Development] set to [63.36 %]
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]
--- Bin
Parameter [Scale] set to [(scale/noise reduction 25.00%)/(1600.00%)/(+4.00 bits)]
Image size is 1374 x 917
Mask used (BASE64 PNG encoded)

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

--- Wipe
Parameter [Mode] set to [Correct Color & Brightness]
Parameter [Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [6 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 [81.08 %]
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]
--- Auto Develop
Parameter [Ignore Fine Detail <] set to [Off]
Parameter [Outside RoI Influence] set to [50 %]
Parameter [RoI X1] set to [0 pixels]
Parameter [RoI Y1] set to [0 pixels]
Parameter [RoI X2] set to [1374 pixels (-0)]
Parameter [RoI Y2] set to [917 pixels (-0)]
Mask used (BASE64 PNG encoded)

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

--- Wipe
Parameter [Mode] set to [Correct Color & Brightness]
Parameter [Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [5 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 [80.51 %]
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 [3.8 pixels]
--- 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 [8.30]
Parameter [Bright Saturation] set to [Full]
Parameter [Saturation Amount] set to [200 %]
Parameter [Blue Bias Reduce] set to [1.19]
Parameter [Green Bias Reduce] set to [1.07]
Parameter [Red Bias Reduce] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
--- Wavelet De-Noise
Parameter [Filter Type] set to [Distance Weighted Outlier Rejection]
Parameter [Grain Size] set to [3.2 pixels]
--- Wavelet De-Noise
Parameter [Scale 1] set to [95 %]
Parameter [Scale 2] set to [95 %]
Parameter [Scale 3] set to [95 %]
Parameter [Scale 4] set to [95 %]
Parameter [Scale 5] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Scale Correlation] set to [6]
Parameter [Color Detail Loss] set to [11 %]
Parameter [Brightness Detail Loss] set to [9 %]
Parameter [Grain Dispersion] set to [6.0 pixels]
Parameter [Non-linear Response <] set to [Off]
Parameter [Smoothness] set to [80 %]
File saved [C:\Users\szymon\Desktop\SharpCap Captures\widefield.tiff].[/code]
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admin
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Re: Milky Way Processing

Post by admin »

I replicated your workflow and it appears the problem stems from conscious tweaks you are making from the baseline defaults;

Specifically;
  • You opt for a conservative manual stretch
  • You appear to change the default color balance to somehting that is very green (use MaxRGB mode if you are color calibrating on a screen that is less than ideally calibrated), significantly subduing the many red/pink/purple HII areas.
  • You opt for very heavy noise reduction that further removes color and detail.
It's also probably a good idea to crop the stacking artifacts StarTools is telling you about upon load.

I don't personally think, you need any noise reduction at the scale you posted (I skipped it entirely). That said, I used a slightly tweaked Isolate preset in the Life module (these are the default settings in the Life module as of 1.5). This has the effect of pusing back noise and "busyness" and refocuses attention on larger scale structures.
widefield.jpg
widefield.jpg (833.47 KiB) Viewed 4715 times
Log as follows;

Image size is 5496 x 3670
---
Type of Data: Non-linear sRGB source <-- NOT TRUE (it's Linear!)
--- Bin
Parameter [Scale] set to [(scale/noise reduction 25.00%)/(1600.00%)/(+4.00 bits)]
Image size is 1374 x 917
--- Auto Develop
To see what we got. We can see heavy vignetting, trees obscuring parts of the image, stacking artefacts.
--- Crop
Cropping away stacking artefacts.
Parameter [X1] set to [10 pixels]
Parameter [Y1] set to [6 pixels]
Parameter [X2] set to [1366 pixels (-8)]
Parameter [Y2] set to [911 pixels (-6)]
Image size is 1356 x 905
--- Wipe
My first instinct is to do a Vignetting preset Wipe.
This helps visualise any dark anomalies (including giving the trees a nice outline).
I'm going to Keep this result so it is easier to create a mask - I'll use Restore later to restore the image state back to linear un-wiped.
--- Auto Develop
To visualise the linear Wiped data.

This is the mask I used;
Mask used (BASE64 PNG encoded)

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Now I restore (Restore button) the dataset to its 'Original' state. This keeps the Crop and Mask intact. It's a little bit like time-travel where you have "seen the future" and change the past for a better outcome.

--- Wipe
Vignetting preset. I always try to tweak the [Corner Aggressiveness] parameter (here set to [96 %]) to as low as I can before Vignetting kicks in again.
--- Auto Develop
Like you, I tried an AutoDev, but AutoDev is having trouble locking onto the background nebulosity as the huge number of stars are just so prominent.
--- Develop
Parameter [Digital Development] set to [90.81 %]
Parameter [Blue Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Green Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Red Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [3.6 pixels]
--- Color
I mostly trust StarTools' default color balance. MaxRGB shows its a tad on the green side.
In a Milkyway shot like this you'll want all the usual suspects (e.g. HII areas) accounted for in purple, pink and red. The stars should show all color temperatures.
Parameter [Cap Green] set to [To Yellow]
Parameter [Dark Saturation] set to [4.00]
Parameter [Bright Saturation] set to [4.00]
Parameter [Green Bias Reduce] set to [1.35]
Parameter [Red Bias Reduce] set to [1.32]
--- Life
Foreground star "busyness" is a common problem in widefields. The Isolate preset is a perfect antidote to this. I felt adventurous and had it change the color/saturation a little as well.
Parameter [Inherit Brightness, Color] set to [Off]
Parameter [Saturation] set to [150 %]

I turned Tracking off without noise reduction. And that's it!

Hope this helps achieving what you are after!
Ivo Jager
StarTools creator and astronomy enthusiast
szymon
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Re: Milky Way Processing

Post by szymon »

That’s brilliant! Less is clearly more. Thank you for the explanation!
almcl
Posts: 263
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2015 7:15 pm
Location: Shropshire. UK

Re: Milky Way Processing

Post by almcl »

Wow! I learned quite abit from this thread, thanks to both of you for posting and sharing, very helpful.

One question though, if I might?

Ivo,
why did you choose 'Non-linear sRGB source' for the data? Which (if I've understood correctly) was a DSS fits file from a stack of Canon raw files? This is the same as the data I generate and until now I had thought we should use 'Linear, was not Bayered, or was Bayered + white balanced' (option 1 on the list). Not denying how effective this was, but rather wondering if I should change this part of my work flow?
Skywatcher 190MN, ASI 2600 or astro modded Canon 700d, guided by OAG, ASI120, PHD2
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Re: Milky Way Processing

Post by admin »

almcl wrote:Wow! I learned quite abit from this thread, thanks to both of you for posting and sharing, very helpful.

One question though, if I might?

Ivo,
why did you choose 'Non-linear sRGB source' for the data? Which (if I've understood correctly) was a DSS fits file from a stack of Canon raw files? This is the same as the data I generate and until now I had thought we should use 'Linear, was not Bayered, or was Bayered + white balanced' (option 1 on the list). Not denying how effective this was, but rather wondering if I should change this part of my work flow?
Ha! Good catch!
It's an old habit I have from years ago when I was still running on a 4GB AMD Phenom iI X4. Keeping Tracking off while performing binning and cropping was a little bit faster and avoided running out of physical memory when opening huge datasets.
After binning (and sometimes cropping), I turn it on. Except that it wasn't logged fo some reason.... (seems I have a bug)
Excellent catch! :D
Ivo Jager
StarTools creator and astronomy enthusiast
almcl
Posts: 263
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2015 7:15 pm
Location: Shropshire. UK

Re: Milky Way Processing

Post by almcl »

Ah! Hadn't realised tracking could be 'turned on' like that, learning so much from this thread!

Thanks.
Skywatcher 190MN, ASI 2600 or astro modded Canon 700d, guided by OAG, ASI120, PHD2
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