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Astrophotography @lemmy.world lefty7283 @lemmy.world

Messier 40

5
5 comments

  • Yes, this is an actual Messier object. These two stars are by far the most awe-inspiring, and sexy objects in space.

    Captured on April 25th, 2021 from a Bortle 6 zone.

    Places where I host my other images:

    Instagram | Flickr

    Equipment:

    • TPO 6" F/4 Imaging Newtonian

    • Orion Sirius EQ-G

    • ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro

    • Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector

    • ZWO EFW 8x1.25"/31mm

    • Astronomik LRGB+CLS Filters- 31mm

    • Astrodon 31mm Ha 5nm, Oiii 3nm, Sii 5nm

    • Agena 50mm Deluxe Straight-Through Guide Scope

    • ZWO ASI-120MC for guiding

    • Moonlite Autofocuser

    Acquisition: 2 hours 44 minutes (Camera at Unity Gain, -15°C)

    • Lum - 128x120"

    • Red - 18x120"

    • Green - 18x120"

    • Blue - 18x120"

    • Darks- 30

    • Flats- 30 per filter

    Capture Software:

    • Captured using N.I.N.A. and PHD2 for guiding and dithering.

    PixInsight Processing:

    • BatchPreProcessing

    • StarAlignment

    • Blink

    • ImageIntegration

    • DynamicCrop

    • AutomaticBackgroundExtraction

    Luminance:

    • EZ Denoise

    • ArcsinhStretch + histogramtransformation to bring nonlinear

    RGB:

    • ChannelCombinaiton to combine monochrome R, G, B stacks into color image

    • PhotometricColorCalibration

    • Slight SCNR

    • HSV Repair

    • ArcsinhStretch + histogramtransformation to bring nonlinear

    Nonlinear:

    • LRGBCombination with stretched L as luminance

    • Several CurveTransformations to adjust lightness, contrast, colors, saturation, etc.

    • ACDNR

    • EZ StarReduction

    • NoiseGenerator to add noise back into star reduced areas

    • Final Curves

    • Annotation

  • M40 was a mistake actually. Messier was looking for a previously reported nebula in the area and only saw this optical double. He marked it as M40 anyways.