Solar processing challenge

this is the main message area for anything solar :)
Post Reply
Photosbykev

Solar processing challenge

Post by Photosbykev »

I've posted this else where but would value the input from some hard core imagers :)

This image is a stack of 180 frames from 900 frames processed in Registax v6. Pretty poor to say the least



The video clip was taken with clouds flying across the sun so at best the seeing was 1/5 with all the ground shadows having very soft edges hence the very low contrast in the image.

I would be interested to see what you can process out of the image. The 16-bit TIF image (1.45Mb) can be downloaded from here
http://www.photosbykev.com/misc/01-LOHA ... tacked.tif

Details of the processes applied would be of interest to me and no doubt to others.

I've posted my output in the next message


Photosbykev

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by Photosbykev »

This version is the result of:



1. exporting from Registaxv6 as a 16 bit FITS file

In PixInsight
2. Running the Dynamic background Extraction function to reduce the corner vignetting
3. Applying a curves adjustment to lift the midtones
4. 20 interations of the deconvolution function

In Photoshop
5. High pass filter overlay using a hard light blend.
6. Save to jpg (max quality)

and a side by side comparison



User avatar
swisswalter
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 17948
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 4:28 am
Location: Switzerland
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact:

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by swisswalter »

Hi Kevin

I'm surpised what you extracted from this mushy stack, a great job. I wonder why there are vertical streaks at right side lower corner


Only stardust in the wind, some fine and some less fine scopes, filters and adapters as well. Switzerland 47 N, 9 E, in the heart of EUROPE :)

from 7 am - 7 pm http://www.nanosys.ch

from 7.01 pm - 6.59 am http://www.wastronomiko.com some times vice versa ;)
Photosbykev

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by Photosbykev »

The vertical lines are the edges of some of the frames selected for stacking I think, there is also a hint of horizontal lines at the bottom of the frame which makes me think this ?? or maybe artifacts from the sensor? Hopefully the first lol

Normally I wouldn't of bothered setting up the scope in these conditions but I was desperate to check that I could see anything through the modded scope. This type of result quickly finds its way into the trash bin but with the bad weather I had a play and was pleasantly surprised.

regards
Kev Lewis


User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42270
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20424 times
Been thanked: 10243 times
Contact:

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by marktownley »

Yeah, completely agree with Walter - when you look at the orginal and look at the outcome it is very surprising!

I should have a bit of time this evening to have a play with this and see what I can get - I did try briefly late last night, though my mind was more geared towards sleeping at that point...

The lines are the edges of frames are a result of the stacking process - there has been 'movement' between frames - maybe wind shudder? - especially given the image scale you're working at... As there's only 190 frames the noise to signal ratio is quite high and so something like this will show up easily, especially where there's been extensive stretching of the image in post processing. In avistack you can select 'minimum area' in the frame stacking stage and it remove this artefact.


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34560
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17667 times
Been thanked: 8788 times

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by Montana »

Wow, I think you have done an amazing job already! that would be hard to beat.

Regards
Alexandra


NandoPG

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by NandoPG »

Hi,
There you have my modest contribution.

1- In Photoshop I brought the contrast using the Photomatix, a HDR plugin.
2- Then in Astraimage I run a LR deconvolution fitted by Moffat function to pre-sharp the image. The parameters are:
PSF Size: 4.3 pixels
Moffat PSF Size: 2.73 pixels
Iterations: 10

3- Then back to photoshop:
Final sharpening using Smart Sharp filter
Masked noise reduction using Noise Ninja filter
Convedrsion to jpg

Fernando





User avatar
solarchat
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 4359
Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2014 3:10 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA USA
Has thanked: 83 times
Been thanked: 1315 times
Contact:

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by solarchat »

Ooooh, I love a challenge....and that image was definitely a challenge... Did you record that avi through a fish tank? :)


Anyway, a little smart sharpen followed by the bandaid fix in CS5, then some more unsharp mask, level adjustment, Ramsden orange fire curves and oulla'

a bit soft but I like it that way.




Stephen W. Ramsden
Atlanta, GA USA
Founder/Director Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project
http://www.solarastronomy.org
Ken Crawford

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by Ken Crawford »

Hi,
There you have my modest contribution.

1- In Photoshop I brought the contrast using the Photomatix, a HDR plugin.
2- Then in Astraimage I run a LR deconvolution fitted by Moffat function to pre-sharp the image. The parameters are:
PSF Size: 4.3 pixels
Moffat PSF Size: 2.73 pixels
Iterations: 10

3- Then back to photoshop:
Final sharpening using Smart Sharp filter
Masked noise reduction using Noise Ninja filter
Convedrsion to jpg

Fernando





I like how you preserved the details in the shadow areas by not blowing them out and turning them pure black. Nice job!

I was going to use the same Decon but my trail period ran out. I have paid the fee but not recieved my serial number yet!


Ken Crawford

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by Ken Crawford »

In avistack you can select 'minimum area' in the frame stacking stage and it remove this artefact.

Thanks for the tip! I need more of these stacking process tips for sure!


User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42270
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20424 times
Been thanked: 10243 times
Contact:

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by marktownley »

[quote] In avistack you can select 'minimum area' in the frame stacking stage and it remove this artefact.

Thanks for the tip! I need more of these stacking process tips for sure!

Avistack in this situation only stacks the areas that occur in all frames that are being stacked, so your final image may well be slightly smaller than the area of the chip pixel wise, but atleast you know what is there has the same signal to noise ratio across all parts of the image. I don't know if Registax has this feature, i'm only a avistack kind of a chap...


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
Photosbykev

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by Photosbykev »

Yeah, completely agree with Walter - when you look at the orginal and look at the outcome it is very surprising!

I should have a bit of time this evening to have a play with this and see what I can get - I did try briefly late last night, though my mind was more geared towards sleeping at that point...

The lines are the edges of frames are a result of the stacking process - there has been 'movement' between frames - maybe wind shudder? - especially given the image scale you're working at... As there's only 190 frames the noise to signal ratio is quite high and so something like this will show up easily, especially where there's been extensive stretching of the image in post processing. In avistack you can select 'minimum area' in the frame stacking stage and it remove this artefact.

Thank you Mark, that would make sense as the wind was bouncing the scope all over the place. Registax has a similar feature to select the minimum region but I didn't use it on this one.


Photosbykev

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by Photosbykev »

Hi,
There you have my modest contribution.

1- In Photoshop I brought the contrast using the Photomatix, a HDR plugin.
2- Then in Astraimage I run a LR deconvolution fitted by Moffat function to pre-sharp the image. The parameters are:
PSF Size: 4.3 pixels
Moffat PSF Size: 2.73 pixels
Iterations: 10

3- Then back to photoshop:
Final sharpening using Smart Sharp filter
Masked noise reduction using Noise Ninja filter
Convedrsion to jpg

Fernando





as Ken pointed out you managed to get some gradation in the darker areas which helps the image alot. I'll revisit the DBE function in PixInsight and see if I can tone down the agressiveness which blocked some of the darker grey levels in my version. I use Photomatrix for HDR work but I hadn't consider it for solar work :)


Photosbykev

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by Photosbykev »

Ooooh, I love a challenge....and that image was definitely a challenge... Did you record that avi through a fish tank? :)


Anyway, a little smart sharpen followed by the bandaid fix in CS5, then some more unsharp mask, level adjustment, Ramsden orange fire curves and oulla'

a bit soft but I like it that way.




nah the fish tank is much cleaner ;) I like the terminology "Ramsden orange fire curves" very apt.


User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42270
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20424 times
Been thanked: 10243 times
Contact:

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by marktownley »

Here's my take on it Kev... :)


01-LOHA_180oof900_stacked by Mark Townley, on Flickr


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
Photosbykev

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by Photosbykev »

Here's my take on it Kev... :)


01-LOHA_180oof900_stacked by Mark Townley, on Flickr
Nice work Mark, maybe a touch too dark for my liking but the detail is there :)

This is my Take 2 on it after reading the various comments



User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42270
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20424 times
Been thanked: 10243 times
Contact:

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by marktownley »

Ta mate, yeah I agree, on reflection it (mine) is a touch on the dark side. Fun to have a play around on a different image though :)


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
oortcloud2012

Re: Solar processing challenge

Post by oortcloud2012 »

That was fun Mark. I tried my bag of tricks and couldn't get close to what you achieved...this thread is a keeper...thanks for posting.


Post Reply