<imgcaption 1|EOS 200D, Tokina f/2.8, 11mm, ISO3200, 6 x 120 seconds, processed from RAW>{{:blog:photography:night:2021_10_25:final_2.jpg?550|}}</imgcaption><imgcaption 1|EOS 200D, Tokina f/2.8, 11mm, ISO3200, 1 x 120 seconds, uncorrected JPEG>{{:blog:photography:night:img_3759.jpg?550|}}</imgcaption>
<imgcaption 1|EOS 200D, Tokina f/2.8, 11mm, ISO3200, 6 x 120 seconds, processed from RAW>{{:blog:photography:night:2021_10_25:final_2.jpg?550|}}</imgcaption><imgcaption 1|EOS 200D, Tokina f/2.8, 11mm, ISO3200, 1 x 120 seconds, uncorrected JPEG>{{:blog:photography:night:img_3759.jpg?550|}}</imgcaption>
+
There was a fairly lurid coloured moon this night, so I also switched out to my only other lens available my 105mm Sigma macro:
+
<imgcaption 1|EOS 200D, Sigma f/2.8, 105mm, ISO200, 1 x 1/60 seconds at f11, processed from RAW>{{:blog:photography:night:2021_10_25:img_3788.jpg?550|}}</imgcaption><imgcaption 1|EOS 200D, Sigma f/2.8, 105mm, ISO200, 1 x 1/60 seconds at f11, centre crop>{{:blog:photography:night:2021_10_25:img_3788_centre_crop.jpg?550|}}</imgcaption>
==== Image Processing Notes ====
==== Image Processing Notes ====
Since this was my first time stacking and processing multiple images, it took a while until I found a solution that **(a)** worked properly on Linux, **(b)** I was comfortable with and **(c)**, was happy with the output from.
Since this was my first time stacking and processing multiple images, it took a while until I found a solution that **(a)** worked properly on Linux, **(b)** I was comfortable with and **(c)**, was happy with the output from.
-
First I tried [[https://siril.org/|Siril]], but I just couldn't get to grips with the interface - I found it entirely unintuitive. Then I tried [[http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html|DeepSkyStacker]] which, although Windows only, seemed to load and run via //Wine//, but ended up crashing repeatedly when processing images. Eventually I looked at [[https://www.hnsky.org/astap.htm|ASTAP]] which did everything I wanted and was clearly laid out.
+
First I tried [[https://siril.org/|Siril]], but I just couldn't get to grips with the interface - I found it entirely unintuitive **and** the tutorial to stack your images just would not run - throwing an error about a line in the pre-processing script which made no sense.
+
+
Then I tried [[http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html|DeepSkyStacker]] which, although Windows only, seemed to load and run via //Wine//, but ended up crashing repeatedly when processing images.
+
+
Eventually I looked at [[https://www.hnsky.org/astap.htm|ASTAP]] which did everything I wanted and was clearly laid out.
I tried loading images into the applications as the came from the camera, but all of my results were over-exposed, suffering varying levels of optical aberrations and just generally didn't look particularly great - even though stacking brought out far more detail than I had seen before.
I tried loading images into the applications as the came from the camera, but all of my results were over-exposed, suffering varying levels of optical aberrations and just generally didn't look particularly great - even though stacking brought out far more detail than I had seen before.
//The chromatic aberration settings are likely particular to my lens which is of course in this case is the ultra-wide 11mm Tokina. At 11mm and f/2.8 it has quite bad chroma in the corners of the image. It would likely not need such aggressive settings stopped down, or at the other end of it's focal length (16mm).//
**2. Save as TIFF, 16bit. Load into GIMP and apply gradient as below in the direction of any light pollution**
**2. Save as TIFF, 16bit. Load into GIMP and apply gradient as below in the direction of any light pollution**
Line 57:
Line 65:
**4. Let ASTAP do the stacking, along with any dark, flat and bias images.**
**4. Let ASTAP do the stacking, along with any dark, flat and bias images.**
-
**5. In the resulting stacked image, if the star colours look //off//, try another stacking/colour de-mosaic algorithm, or try the 'Fix or correct image colours' option from the tools menu.**
//For me, the best results were with the AstroSimple option and Sigma Clip stacking options as above.//
+
+
**5. In the resulting stacked image, if the star colours look //off//, try another stacking/colour de-mosaic algorithm, or try the 'Autocorrect image colours' option from the tools menu.**
**6. Export as TIFF from ASTAP and load back into your image editor of choice. I used Rawtherapee to do final image/colour enhancements; playing with the colour and black/white highlight balance.**
**6. Export as TIFF from ASTAP and load back into your image editor of choice. I used Rawtherapee to do final image/colour enhancements; playing with the colour and black/white highlight balance.**