Wild Duck Cluster (M11)

Wild Duck Cluster (M11)

Captured the Wild Duck cluster after our Public Star Party and Peck Farm Park,

CAPTURE INFO

Bandwidths:

R, G, B, L

Date Captured:
June 6 & June 10, 2021, Batavia, IL (Bortle 7/8)

GUIDING NOTES:

Good, averaging ~0.7 RMS

IMAGE CALIBRATION (PixInsight)

Weighted Batch Preprocessing
- Lights, Darks, Flat Darks, Bias
- Cosmetic Correction
- Stats
  - L (30) 15 second subs
  - R (20) 60 second subs
  - G (20) 60 second subs
  - B (20) 60 second subs

Normalize Scale Gradient > Star Alignment of each channel

NON LINEAR PROCESSING (PixInsight)

1. Dynamic Crop of each channel
2. Automatic Background Extraction
3. Linear Noise Reduction to each channel using MultiscaleLinearTransform
4. Another Linear Noise Reduction using MultiscaleLinearTransform
5. Linear fit RGB to L

LINEAR PROCESSING (PixInsight)

1. Easy Soft Stretch script on each channel
2. RGB Combine
2. SCNR
4. Blurred RGB stars using Convolution
3. Starnet++ to remove the stars and create a image of the stars
4. (Starless Image) Used Curves to reduce the background skyglow/light pollution.
10. (Stars Image) Decreased star brightness by 10%
11. (Stars Image) Increased saturation of the stars using ColorSaturation
12. Added stars to the background using PixelMath
13. Made image ready for the web using ICCProfileTransformation

EQUIPMENT

Optics: SGO 6" f/4 Imaging Newtonian @ 610mm FL
        Baader 2" Coma Corrector

Camera: ZWO 294mm Pro (mono)

Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 position, .36" filters

Filters: 
 - L (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )
 - R (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )
 - G (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )
 - B (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )

Mount: 
- Losmandy GM811
- RAEXT EXTENSION DOVETAIL
- Losmandy 12" Tripod Extension
- Losmandy SADDLE PLATE FOR G-11 MOUNT
- Losmandy 16" UNIVERSAL DOVETAIL PLATE
- Losmandy LW Tripod
- Alt-AZ/Elevation Tensioning bolts and washers (Michael Herman's)

Guiding: 

- ZWO 120mm mini (red filter)
- Agena 60mm f/4 (240mm FL) Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
- PHD2 Software (2.6.9 Dev 5)
  - Multistar option
  - RA algorithm:  Predictive PEC
  - Dec algorithm: Resist Switch
  - Used previous calibration
  - Dither: Small, every 3 frames

Acquisition: 

- ASI Air Pro