Deep Sky Imaging: Workflow 3

Abstract

Image processing starts before the first photons are collected. If that rings true, please remember to credit me with saying it; if not, well, I’m sure another imager must have said it first. Truthfully, it is essential to study our prey before pulling the trigger. Reviewing professional images will give a good idea of what can be achieved when hardware, seeing, and light pollution aren’t limiting factors, despite the fact that professional images aren’t always processed with aesthetics in mind. Amateur images, on the other hand, will give more realistic expectations, and hopefully spur us to do better! However there is a balance. Spending too much time obsessing before processing, in my opinion, is a bad idea – preconceived notions of what a galaxy or nebula should look like tends to stifle creativity.