Is it just me or does every deep space photo need way more processing than people admit?

I saw a raw stack from a friend's 12-inch telescope last week, and it looked like a blurry gray mess compared to the final shot he posted. Then I looked back at my own M31 image from 2021 and realized I spent 4 hours just on color balancing in PixInsight. So is the real skill in astronomy photography actually in the editing, or are we just covering up bad data with software tricks? What do you think?

2 comments

2 Comments

victor_perry9020d ago

Used to think good data was all that mattered, till I spent 3 nights stacking M51 and the raw result still looked like static on an old TV. Spent another 5 hours just pulling out the spiral arms with curves and masks... and that's when it clicked. Processing isn't covering up bad data, it's like developing film in the darkroom. My buddy's raw Orion Nebula looked completely blown out in the core, but after some careful stretching, all those faint outer dust lanes popped out. So yeah, the real skill is definitely in the editing, but only if you start with decent captures in the first place.

karen_shah5620d ago

Four hours on color balancing for one galaxy photo is wild, I'd have thrown my laptop out the window.