Integration - advice on pixel rejection

[pluckas]

Hello,

I'm using a KAF-1001e at 1.2" per pixel. I've been experimenting with the Integration tool, and in particular the various pixel rejection algorithms. The quality of my CCD Camera and my calibration methods already provide very good artefact control, and in may ways the only obvious artefacts are blooms. As such, I'm yet to find a balance that I'm happy with - even tending towards leaving pixel rejection disabled.

I'm curious to know what others have found, particularly with a relatively large pixel scale such as this. It would be nice to remove the blooms, though I've noticed that it is possible to introduce noise quite quickly by using extreme settings for sigma rejection (which seems to be necessary for bloom removal).

Any advice or settings help would be very much appreciated.

Paul

[Juan Conejero]

Hi Paul,

Again, I overlooked this post; sorry for that.

For a detailed analysis --perhaps the best one I've seen-- on image integration and pixel rejection algorithms, I recommend you read Jordi Gallego's presentation on the subject:

http://astrosurf.com/jordigallego/articles.html

Here is a direct link to the corresponding .ppt file:

http://astrosurf.com/jordigallego/articles/Image_integration_JGallego.ppt

As for bloomings, don't try to remove them through normal pixel rejection, as this will damage your data. The correct way to reject bloomings is through observational techniques. Since your CCD is square (correct me if I'm wrong) you can easily remove bloomings by just rotating your camera 90 degrees for half of your acquisition sets. See this tutorial:

http://pixinsight.com/examples/NGC6914-CAHA/en.html

and jump to "Blooming suppression" from the menu at the left side.