u/Skorpid1

Seestar S50 EQ
Bortle 6,4
Processed in Siril
Captured >22h, kept 19h for processing

I noticed NGC 7000 is completely taking over the sub today (those S30 Pro widefields look awesome!). So here is my contribution: a zoomed-in 22-hour deep dive into the Cygnus Wall.

Since the feed is full of standard RGB shots today, I decided to go with the classic Hubble (SHO) palette. I actually used this target to test my new custom script for the first time, which makes separating and dialing in the gold and cyan tones much easier while keeping the background clean. I'll share the script in a separate post soon. 🔭

The complete 16-step processing breakdown is like always attached in the third image for anyone interested in the details. ✨

Clear skies! 🌌

Hey everyone!
I spent the last few months gathering a bigger dataset on M33 (The Triangulum Galaxy) using the Seestar S50 in EQ mode. Out of over 22 hours of raw data captured from my Bortle 6 backyard, 19 hours and 39 minutes (20s single frames) made it into the final stack.
My main focus for this processing run was keeping the faint outer spiral arms smooth while preserving full detail in the core and highlighting the bright star-forming region NGC 604 (the prominent pink/magenta nebula in the upper arm).
I’ve also attached my full 17-step Siril workflow poster for anyone interested in the processing chain!
Would love to hear your thoughts and feedback! 🎨

Clear skies! 🌌

Hey everyone!

I recently wrapped up a long-term project on IC 5146 (The Cocoon Nebula) in Cygnus. Gathering data from December 2025 through July 2026, I captured over 22 hours of raw frames with the Seestar S50 under Bortle 6 skies, leaving 14h 14m of clean integration after stacking.
I created two different renditions and would love your feedback on which version you prefer:

Natural RGB (True Color): Preserves the classic pinkish-red emission glow of H-alpha hydrogen gas, framed by soft reflection nebulae and dark dust lanes.

Pseudo-SHO (Hubble Palette Look): Processed via VeraLux Alchemy. Since the Seestar records OSC broadband data, this remapping translates the dominant H-alpha signals into warm golden/amber tones while shifting blue/OIII-rich components to striking cyan hues. It sacrifices true color to boost structural contrast and reveal depth within the gas clouds.

Which rendition draws you in more—the classic natural red or the high-contrast gold & blue?

Clear skies to everyone 🌌

Acquisition & Technical Data 🔭.
Target: IC 5146 (Cocoon Nebula) | Cygnus.
Distance: ~2,780 ly | Magnitude: 7.2.
Telescope: Seestar S50.
Sky Quality: Bortle 6.
Total Raw Integration: 22h 1m (3,673 x 20s frames).
Stacked Data: 14h 14m (2,562 frames).
Timeframe: Dec 2025 – Jul 2026.

Wo kommt der denn her gefahren??

Since the Last Update, I have terrible problems with Hot pixel in my captures. I did the hot pixel recalibration at least 10 times now on different days, I even went in my pitch black cellar and did it there, still hot pixel right the next picture I took in the cellar.

And now this strange stripe/banding picture after around 1:30h (eq mode) capturing. I captured the same target earlier the night without any problem (beside the hot pixel). Is my machine broken?

Lens is clear, cloudless sky, captured the targets before

Gear: Seestar S50
Integration: 2393 frames x 20.0s (13h 17m 40s total)
Processing: Siril

Hey everyone,

For my latest project, I decided to hunt down another rarely captured target. 🌌

NGC 4395 is a chaotic dwarf galaxy, and because of its ultra-low surface brightness, you really don't see it imaged very often, and when you do, it often falls victim to heavy over-processing and over-brightening.
I wanted to avoid that. My goal was to make its beautiful, chaotic spiral structure clearly visible while maintaining its naturally faint luminosity and delicate colors, without blowing out the highlights. It took me quite a few different processing attempts to strike that perfect balance. (The original edit was even fainter, but it’s too dark for Reddit compression and smartphone screens)

The biggest challenge was the signal-to-noise ratio. The galaxy's brightness hovers just barely above the background noise floor, meaning that both I and the processing scripts had to fight hard to separate the actual signal from the background without destroying the faint outer halos.
To help tame the noise and coax out the structural details, this was also my very first time taking the RC-Astro tools (BlurXT, NoiseXT, StarXT) for a spin using their trial period. They definitely had their work cut out for them with this data! 🔭

I’m really happy with how it finally turned out. Let me know what you think of the edit! 💫

Gear: Seestar S50
Integration: 2393 frames x 20.0s (13h 17m 40s total)
Processing: Full step-by-step Siril workflow attached in the fourth image

Hey everyone,

For my latest project, I decided to hunt down another rarely captured target. 🌌

NGC 4395 is a chaotic dwarf galaxy, and because of its ultra-low surface brightness, you really don't see it imaged very often, and when you do, it often falls victim to heavy over-processing and over-brightening.
I wanted to avoid that. My goal was to make its beautiful, chaotic spiral structure clearly visible while maintaining its naturally faint luminosity and delicate colors, without blowing out the highlights. It took me quite a few different processing attempts to strike that perfect balance. (The original edit (picture 3) was even fainter, but it’s too dark for Reddit compression and smartphone screens)

The biggest challenge was the signal-to-noise ratio. The galaxy's brightness hovers just barely above the background noise floor, meaning that both I and the processing scripts had to fight hard to separate the actual signal from the background without destroying the faint outer halos.
To help tame the noise and coax out the structural details, this was also my very first time taking the RC-Astro tools (BlurXT, NoiseXT, StarXT) for a spin using their trial period. They definitely had their work cut out for them with this data! 🔭

I’m really happy with how it finally turned out. Let me know what you think of the edit and the workflow! 💫

Here is my latest project: the interacting Cocoon Galaxy (NGC 4490 and NGC 4485). I captured a total of nearly 20 hours with the Seestar S50 and used 16 hours for editing.

Why “rare”? Because the first hours it was just a small blurry “cotton” ball on my screen and I understood why there are so few pictures of it in our subreddit, on the first and second glance it doesn’t seem to be worth the time.

For this image, I deviated from my usual routine and tested a few new tools, which turned into quite a learning experience.
Right at the beginning, I tried the SyQon denoising tool in the free version of Prism. Just like in past attempts, it did not work well with my data, so I only applied it very subtly at the very start. I also experimented with the other tools from SyQon during the processing steps.

A huge challenge this time was star removal. StarNet++ mainly failed because it kept deleting parts of the smaller companion galaxy, NGC 4485, thinking it was a star. To fix this, I tried Darkstar from Cosmic Clarity instead, and it did a fantastic job separating the stars without damaging the galaxy structures too much.

My main goal was to bring out the bright blue starburst regions and faint details of filaments and knots from this cosmic collision without bloating the cores.

The final image is the second slide and my complete 16-step workflow diagram is on the third slide. I would love to hear your thoughts if it was worth collecting the 20
hours!

🔭 SeeStar S50 - EQ - 20sec

🌆 Bortle 6,4 - 20h raw data

👨‍**💻 100% Siril-on**ly

I spent the last three evenings working on this M27 dataset, and I honestly almost lost my mind. I tried about 87 different processing steps in total, constantly going back and forth, deleting steps, and redoing them until I finally reached this result.

Two things were incredibly frustrating and challenging:

First, the stretching was a nightmare. Normally I use the beloved VeraLux Hypermetric stretch. But a normal stretch did not work at all. It required a multi-stage process carefully using Asinh stretching, GHS stretching, and very careful histogram blackpoint adjustments just to keep the balance.

The hardest part was the outer wings 🪽. They are sitting barely above the background noise floor, and M27 is located right in a nebulous zone. Trying to bring out those faint wings without turning the background sky into a messy, colorful carpet was exhausting. I am really proud that the wings are visible now without looking overstretched like it happens so often and easily.

Second, the colors were unique 🟥🟩🟦. Normally, a quick green removal fixes things, but with this image, green removal completely destroyed the fine details. I had to leave it out entirely and manage the color balance differently.

Sadly I can't add the flowchart, as only one picture is allowed, but in my posting in r/Seestar it shows the clean 17 steps that actually worked, but it does not show the hours of hitting the undo button before that *(**and my angry wife in the background)*

Also, skipping the green removal after SPCC was a tough decision, but it was the only way to protect the data in the faint outer structures.

I am very happy with the outcome of the wings, the clear and bright red ionized H-alpha the turkis OIII colours on the bubble and I hope you enjoy it like I do 😊

Clear skies to all of you! 🌌

🔭 SeeStar S50 - EQ - 20sec

🌆 Bortle 6,4 - 20h raw data

👨‍💻 100% Siril-only workflow added

I spent the last three evenings working on this M27 dataset, and I honestly almost lost my mind. I tried about 87 different processing steps in total, constantly going back and forth, deleting steps, and redoing them until I finally reached this result.

Two things were incredibly frustrating and challenging:

First, the stretching was a nightmare. Normally I use the beloved VeraLux Hypermetric stretch. But a normal stretch did not work at all. It required a multi-stage process carefully using Asinh stretching, GHS stretching, and very careful histogram blackpoint adjustments just to keep the balance.

The hardest part was the outer wings 🪽. As you can see in the workflow image, they are sitting barely above the background noise floor, and M27 is located right in a nebulous zone. Trying to bring out those faint wings without turning the background sky into a messy, colorful carpet was exhausting. I am really proud that the wings are visible now without looking overstretched like it happens so often and easily.

Second, the colors were unique 🟥🟩🟦. Normally, a quick green removal fixes things, but with this image, green removal completely destroyed the fine details. I had to leave it out entirely and manage the color balance differently.

The flowchart in the third image shows the clean 17 steps that actually worked, but it does not show the hours of hitting the undo button before that *(*and my angry wife in the background)

If you look at Step 7 and Step 11, you can see where the main stretching battles happened. Also, skipping the green removal after SPCC (normally Step 3) was a tough decision, but it was the only way to protect the data in the faint outer structures.

I am very happy with the outcome of the wings, the clear and bright red ionized H-alpha the turkis OIII colours on the bubble and I hope you enjoy it like I do 😊

Clear skies to all of you! 🌌

Hi everyone! 👋

As I got some DMs asking for it, here it is:

We've all been there: you proudly share your finished astrophoto, and people immediately (and rightfully!) ask for your processing steps. To avoid the hassle of piecing together a workflow sheet in Photoshop, GIMP, or Canva every single time, I built a small, free tool: StarLog Workflow 🌌

With this (Windows based) program, you can arrange and export your individual processing steps (e.g., from the raw stack to background extraction, color calibration, all the way to the final Lightroom finish) into a clean, professional collage in no time. It’s perfect for showcasing your work on AstroBin, Reddit, or social media.

(I personally, as I can’t remember things for a long time, use it to have a later guide for the next object and where to tweak a little bit)

What the app does & how it helps you 🚀

- Save Time: No more manual arranging of images and text in graphic design software.

- FITS Support: The app reads FITS files directly and offers built-in automatic stretching (either via an internal Python/PyAstropy routine or directly through a Siril integration).

- Native Frame Cropping: You select your crop area in the first step (reference image) – and all subsequently loaded intermediate steps are automatically cropped and zoomed to match that exact same framing!

- Full Flexibility: Add as many steps as you like, rearrange them using up/down arrows, adjust the number of columns and spacing in the settings, and even add a nice background image if you want.

- Save Workflows: You can save your current progress as a ⁠.swp⁠ project file and pick up exactly where you left off later.

How it works (Quick Guide) 🛠️

1 Select Reference Image: Load your master FITS file into Step 1 and choose your desired framing via "Pick Frame on FITS".

2 Document Your Steps: Add further stages of your process using "+ ADD WORKFLOW STEP" (e.g., after GraXpert, after Siril stretch, etc.), select the path to the respective file, and write a short description (max. 60 characters).

3 Customize (Optional): In the settings (⚙️), you can change the column layout, adjust spacing, or fine-tune the automatic stretching.

4 Export: Click "CREATE WORKFLOW" in the bottom right corner to generate a finished image file of your entire workflow, ready to share!

This tool is completely free and made for the community. I would absolutely love to hear your feedback, suggestions for improvement, or new ideas!

Download Link: https://github.com/StarLog-Skorpid/StarLog-Workflow/releases 📥

Clear Skies! ✨🔭

- Targets: 🌌 NGC 5033, 🌌 Holmberg VIII, ⭐️** Supernova SN2025mv**n

- Telescope: 🔭 ZWO Seestar S50 - EQ Mode - 20 sec

- 🌃 Bortle 6,4

- 💾 Stacked Data: 4393 x 20s frames (~24h 24m total integration)

- 👨‍**💻 Software: 100% Siril-only via internal scrip**ts

I just finished processing my latest project on NGC 5033, logging a total of 24 hours and 24 minutes of data. What struck me the most during the final stages was the intense, deep color profile of the galaxy itself, the Contrast between the golden core and the dust transitions came out beautifully.

A massive highlight in this dataset is the supernova SN2025mvn. clearly visible right near the center of the galaxy as bright spot (right side of the core on the first picture). Spotting an exploding star like that always adds a completely different layer of awe to the whole imaging process and makes the long integration nights totally worth it (I wanted to stop at 20 hours but forgot to add the first sessions to my StarLog logbook and instead of 19 hours (like seen on the picture) I summed up 30 hours 😄*)*

For this project, I wanted to change up my usual processing routine a bit and try a few new workflows inside Siril. Instead of rushing into sharpening the whole frame, I took a much gentler approach this time to keep the galaxy looking natural and soft where it needs to be.

Aside from the main target, there is also a neat bonus sitting way down in the southern part of the frame: the peculiar and active dwarf galaxy Holmberg VIII. Seeing that faint, blue star-bursting structure resolve alongside the main spiral is amazing.

- Targets: 🌌 NGC 5033, 🌌 Holmberg VIII, ⭐️ Supernova SN2025mvn

- Telescope: 🔭 Seestar S50 - EQ Mode - 20 sec

- 🌃 Bortle 6,4

- 💾 Stacked Data: 4393 x 20s frames (~24h 24m total integration)

- 👨‍**💻 Software: 100% Siril-only via internal scripts**

I just finished processing my latest project on NGC 5033, logging a total of 24 hours and 24 minutes of data. What struck me the most during the final stages was the intense, deep color profile of the galaxy itself, the Contrast between the golden core and the dust transitions came out beautifully.

A massive highlight in this dataset is the supernova SN2025mvn. clearly visible right near the center of the galaxy as bright spot (right side of the core on the first picture). Spotting an exploding star like that always adds a completely different layer of awe to the whole imaging process and makes the long integration nights totally worth it (I wanted to stop at 20 hours but forgot to add the first sessions to my StarLog logbook and instead of 19 hours (like seen on the picture) I summed up 30 hours 😄)

For this project, I wanted to change up my usual processing routine a bit and try a few new workflows inside Siril. Instead of rushing into sharpening the whole frame, I took a much gentler approach this time to keep the galaxy looking natural and soft where it needs to be. I've attached the full 21-step flowchart as the fourth image if you want to see the exact sequence.

Aside from the main target, there is also a neat bonus sitting way down in the southern part of the frame: the peculiar and active d****warf **galaxy Holmberg VIII (**Z179-42 on the annoyed third picture). Seeing that faint, blue star-bursting structure resolve alongside the main spiral is amazing.

Technical details and the new workflow tweaks are in my comment below!

S50 - Bortle 6,4 - EQ - 20 sec. - Siril only

A while ago I was scrolling through this sub and the official Seestar app looking for inspiration, and noticed that NGC 4274 is practically a ghost town. The very few images out in the official SeeStar community-site look like blurry smudges. I took that as a personal challenge, sacrificed about 20 hours under the stars, and ended up with 14.5 hours of clean, stacked data after culling the bad frames.

I wanted to find out if this target is actually a hidden gem or just a waste of storage space. So I did this for all Of us 😉.

(Spoiler: Personally, seeing those dust lanes wrapping tightly all the way into the galaxy's core and that colorful little additional galaxy NGC4253 you can see in the table (third picture) and in the big second picture right side up, made it not a complete waste of runtime.).

Since the high integration time gave me a good clean signal-to-noise ratio, I decided to use this project for a little experiment.

If you swipe to the fourth image, you'll see a strict side-by-side workflow comparison. I wanted to see how different Wavelet Transformation strengths affect the final result as the numbers putting there always feel so random.

Branch 'A' uses very mild wavelets with (0,5 / 1,2 / 1,15 / 1,1 / 0,9 / 1), while branch 'B' goes heavy (0,5 / 1,5 / 1,4 / 1,4 / 0,9 / 1).

The interesting thing is, during the first few steps afterwards, you can barely spot a difference. It looks identical. But it’s a total butterfly effect—once the stretching and denoising kick in later down the line, the paths diverge noticeably . For a fair test, every single step after the wavelets used the exact same mathematical settings.

Full processing breakdown with direct comparison like always on picture 4.

Sadly Reddit picture compression kills some details, looks much smoother on my monitor)