Lunar 4 panel mosaic, 127 MAK + QHY5LII-M

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turfpit
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Location: UK
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Lunar 4 panel mosaic, 127 MAK + QHY5LII-M

#1

Post by turfpit »

Full resolution image here https://www.astrobin.com/full/400167/0/?nc=user. Taken 09th April 2019, around 21:00 BST.

lunar-mosaic-4-panel.jpg
lunar-mosaic-4-panel.jpg (31.2 KiB) Viewed 1608 times

Equipment: Celestron AVX mount, Skywatcher 127 MAK, QHY5LII-M, TS 0.5x reducer.
Capture: each panel was captured in SER format, 1280x960, MONO16, 2ms exposure, gain=6, offset=10, 1 minute (~800 frames). Sharpcap 3.2 used for capture, with histogram set to 60% saturation. Capture was at 15fps.
Processing: each panel was stacked in Autostakkert 3, best 20% with 'Sharpened' selected. The 4 panels were stitched using Microsoft Image Composite Editor (ICE). Stitched image was loaded into Nebulosity, applied Curves > Contrast and Sharpen > Laplacian sharpen filter.

Offset was set to the minimum value possible and exposure adjusted to give ~60% saturation of the histogram.
Capture.JPG
Capture.JPG (86.67 KiB) Viewed 1608 times
Dave

[QHY5LII-M]
Output Format=SER file (*.ser)
Binning=1x1
Capture Area=1280x960
Colour Space=MONO16
Pan=0
Tilt=0
Force Still Mode=Off
Enable Live Broadcast=Off
USB Traffic=0
Speed=1
Offset=1
Amp Noise Reduction=On
Frame Rate Limit=Maximum
Gain=6
Exposure=2
Timestamp Frames=Off
Contrast=0
Brightness=0
Gamma=1
Banding Threshold=35
Banding Suppression=0
Apply Flat=None
Subtract Dark=None
#Black Point
Display Black Point=0
#MidTone Point
Display MidTone Point=0.5
#White Point
Display White Point=1
TimeStamp=2019-04-09T19:47:32.2587683Z
SharpCapVersion=3.2.5926.0
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turfpit
Posts: 1779
Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2017 8:13 pm
Location: UK
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Re: Lunar 4 panel mosaic,

#2

Post by turfpit »

These are the steps taken in Microsoft Image Composite Editor. Stack the SER files first, then stitch, then enhance the final image.

Step 1 > Import
import.JPG
import.JPG (29.65 KiB) Viewed 1607 times

Step 2 > Stitch
stitch.JPG
stitch.JPG (53.56 KiB) Viewed 1607 times

Step 3 > Crop
crop.JPG
crop.JPG (47.11 KiB) Viewed 1607 times

Step 4 > Export
export.jpg
export.jpg (50.84 KiB) Viewed 1607 times

Dave
BlackWikkett
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Re: Lunar 4 panel mosaic, 127 MAK + QHY5LII-M

#3

Post by BlackWikkett »

Very nice Dave!
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turfpit
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Location: UK
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Re: Lunar 4 panel mosaic, 127 MAK + QHY5LII-M

#4

Post by turfpit »

Cheers Wickett.

A good return on 4 minutes of capture with modest equipment. Stitching with Microsoft ICE is effortless.

Dave
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