Preprocesing problem with "Incompatible image geometry"

[pfile]

did you do BackgroundNeutralization and ColorCalibration on the PI result? the colors are usually there, they just require calibration and saturation increases...

rob

[STEVE333]

Rob - Thanks for the continued help.

I did both BackgroundNeutralization and ColorCalibration.  However, after normal processing, when I increase the saturation using Curves the colors start getting over-saturated, but, still no red stars.  I'll give it another try.

In the Format Explorer I've been using the Pure Raw choice with the options as shown in the attached picture.  Are these settings OK? Are there any other settings I need to consider?

Steve

[pfile]

i think those settings are fine... can you post the integrated file?

rob

[STEVE333]

Rob - Below is a link to the PI stacked image.  I use Dropbox so seldom I always forget how to use it.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/74i3yvq2m6owrbs/Stacked.fit?dl=0

Steve

[bmhjr]

Steve,

Hope you dont mind.  I took a crack at this.  This is a great image and it looks like it has lots of color. This is quick and dirty just to see color.  No noise reduction or careful anything.

Linear Fit with blue as reference channel
2 Passes of DBE subtract
Background Nuetralization with 1 preview with no stars.  Use the ROI setting and set upper limit to 0.0034
Color calibration with same above preview as background with upper limit 0.0031.  A new preview around galaxy as target reference.  Disable structure
Mild color SAT with Curves before stretch
Masked Stretch with 0.125 target level
More Color SAT with the Color Saturation process
Mild LHE to add contrast.

Thanks for the great data!  Here is a close up crop

Bill

[pfile]

the red is still there - but i did deliberately enhance it. i can post the project if you are interested and it's not too huge.

[msmythers]

Steve

I'm with rob on this. The color is there but a good background neutralization/color balance is a must.

Mike

[STEVE333]

Bill, Rob and Mike - Thank you all for taking the time to process this.  These examples definitely give me hope for my PI stacked image.

Rob, if you want to post the project that would be great.  It will be a learning experience for me. 

Steve

[pfile]

OK here is a zipfile... it's only ~450MB, owing to the fact that i cropped the image before i started working on it.

loading the history explorer on the various images will show you how each mask was constructed, what was done to the main image, etc.

https://goo.gl/rCzktP

rob

[STEVE333]

Thanks Rob - I've downloaded the Project and will start learning how to "use it".

I've stacked all 125 of my 5 min exposures for M51 using the approach you supplied.  All images stacked, and, the stars look about as sharp as for the stack of 83 images (the stack you processed).  Haven't had a chance to process it yet.

I'm also trying StarAlignment with a Noise reduction setting (in Star Detection section) of 1 rather than the default value of 0 (Hot pixel removal still set at 2).  Hoping to get sharper and more colorful stars, especially the small stars.

Steve

[STEVE333]

Rob - I'm not able to open your XOSM file.  When I try to open it I get the error message "Not an XOSM version 1.0 file".

I'm running ver 1.08.03 of PI.  When I run newer versions my Dell Backup/Recovery software causes problems.

Steve

[Juan Conejero]

Hi Steve,

Please note that you are using an obsolete, unsupported version. The problem on Dell machines is very easy to fix.

[STEVE333]

Thanks Juan - I uninstalled my current version, and, installed the latest version.  I followed the instructions to disable the Use native file dialogs option.  So far all is working OK.  I am now able to load the Project file.

Steve

[STEVE333]

Wanted to finish up this thread by posting my first image using the PI Preprocessed steps outlined in this thread. The image is a crop of my M51 with 10+ hours. The data was collected over 4 nights.  The data is 125 x 5 min exposures grouped into two groups with corresponding Darks.

Thanks again to Rob and the others for the help and support.

Steve

[pfile]

thumbs up!

looks great, thanks for posting it.

rob