Help with improving detail in the nebula while leaving small stars alone

[pluckas]

Hello,

I've been using a combination of Morphological Transformation for 'star shaping' using information from this excellent discussion:

http://pixinsight.com/forum/index.php?topic=500.msg2052#msg2052

... before (or after) the use of the ATrousWaveletTransformation tool in order to improve the detail on small nebula features.

In both I'm using the StarMask tool to protect either the stars or background (depending on which of the above I'm doing).

I'm having a hard time trying to isolate the very small stars from being affected when I apply a small amount of positive bias on layer one when using the ATrousWaveletTransformation tool. I've tried various parameters to create the best star mask, including using the AWT tool to create the mask in the first place. In all cases, when I start to manipulate the bias on layer one (with mask activated) I see a bunch of small stars starting to 'sharpen' before my eyes.

I'd certainly appreciate any tips or best practice on tackling this.

Paul

[pfile]

i wonder if the new RangeSelection module could be employed to get the smaller stars? then again they are probably kind of dim, so maybe not.

i'd think that the AWT-generated mask should pick up all the stars. did you try doing an MT on the mask ('opening') to increase the size of the small stars in the mask? you could also smooth the mask a little after doing the MT, again with AWT.