Astro Pixel Processor – PekDar – Astrophotography Engineering

Astro Pixel Processor – Basic Tutorial (Step‑by‑Step Guide)

PekDar — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 17:22:56 +0000

The main goal of this Astro Pixel Processor tutorial is to provide you, with the ability to quickly stack photos using the APP program, in the shortest possible time with minimal the baggage of knowledge need. I share with you what I know. I have gained experience using the APP program on my own.

Remember that each photo of collected lights is different and the examples below, will not necessarily work for your collected photo lights. You should always look for the optimal settings and solutions for each lights. Please, note that I am not the Developer of the APP (Astro Pixel Processor), but only I’m user like you. I don’t know answer to every question that bothers you. Nor am I any representative of the APP Developer or its publisher.

APP provides flexible stacking algorithms compared to DSS, supports mosaics, gradient correction, and multi‑session integration. A great balance between simplicity and power.

M81 & M82 – A Study of Galactic Collision

PekDar — Sat, 25 Apr 2020 11:32:23 +0000

M81 and M82 – The Perfect Pair

In the constellation Ursa Major lies a pair of objects that serve as the “holy grail” for medium focal lengths. M81 (Bode’s Galaxy) and M82 (Cigar Galaxy) fit within a single field of view, offering an incredible contrast in structure. They are located about 12 million light-years away from Earth but are physically separated from each other by only 150,000 light-years.

This is my first photographic attempt to M81. I’ve collected a lot of photographic material (about 10 hours) but also a lot of it I had to removed due to windy nights and after the first pre-selection I had about 8 hours of photographic material. At the stage of stacking, another 30% had to remove of material remaining based on quality algorithm, which I finally stack together. At the last photo session I noticed that so far, each time I focused the image not well enough.

M81: The Grand Design

M81 is a textbook example of a “Grand Design” spiral galaxy.

The Core: The bright yellow center consists of old Population II stars. Deep within lies a supermassive black hole with a mass of 70 million Suns (for comparison: our Sgr A* is only 4 million).
The Arms: The blue spiral arms are home to young, hot stars forming within density waves.

M81 / NGC 3031 – Bode’s Galaxyy

Due to the coma around the frame, where M82 is located, I will have to plan a separate photo session for M82.

M82: Gravity’s Victim (Starburst Galaxy)

M82 looks completely different—like a tattered cigar. This is the direct result of a close encounter with M81 several hundred million years ago.

Starburst: Massive tidal forces from M81 “churned” the gas within M82, triggering a violent star formation process (known as a starburst). Stars are born here 10 times faster than in the entire Milky Way.
Red Jets: Images reveal “bursts” of red gas perpendicular to the disk. This is ionized hydrogen (H-alpha), driven into space by the stellar winds of thousands of supernovae.

The Advanced Challenge: IFN

The background around these galaxies is not perfectly black. It contains the Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN)—faint dust clouds belonging to our own Milky Way, illuminated not by a single star, but by the collective glow of the entire Galaxy. Bringing them out from the background requires dark skies and long integration times.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_81 , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82 , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_3077

Composition: Astro Pixel Processor (Linux),
Processing: GIMP + plug-ins (Linux),
Lights: 5[h] – ISO 1000,
Flats, Darks, Bias.

M66 Group Leo Triplet

PekDar — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 15:35:31 +0000

A M66 Group Leo Triplet is a small group of galaxies about 35 million light-years away[5] in the constellation Leo. This galaxy group consists of the spiral galaxies M65, M66, and NGC 3628.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Triplet

M65, M66, NGC 3628 – Leo Triplet

Flats didn’t work out as they should, but I somehow corrected it in the GIMP.

M65, M66, NGC 3628 – Leo Triplet with crops

Photos taken during night at 14/15-3.2020 near Bielsko-Biała city.

Composition: Astro Pixel Processor v1.077-6,
Processing: GIMP v2.10.14 + plug-ins (Linux),
Lights: 57 x 180[s], ISO-800,
Flats: 24 ISO-800,
Darks: 15 ISO-800,
Bias: 20 ISO-800

NGC6541 & M25

PekDar — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 22:16:17 +0000

NGC6541 (GCL 86 or ESO 280-SC4) – is a globular cluster in the southern constellation of Corona Australis. It is estimated to be around 14 billion years old. 6.3 [mag]. Distance from Sun 24,5 tly.

NGC6541 & M25

M25 (IC4725) – is an open cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Sagittarius. The cluster is located near some obscuring features, with a dark lane passing near the center. M25 is at a distance of about 2,000 light-years light-years away from Earth and is 67.6 million years old. The spatial dimension of this cluster is about 13 light-years across.

NGC 6541 Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_6541
M25 Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_25

Photos taken on June 2019.

Composition: Astro Pixel Processor,
Processing: GIMP v2.10.14 + plug-ins (Linux),
Lights: 10 x 90[s] ISO 1000,
Flats: 40 ISO-1000,
Darks: 17 ISO-1000,
Bias: 20 ISO-1000