One of the more advanced and challenging workflows is to remove the stars from astronomical images. Why would you do this? Stars are part of the deep sky image.
An astro photo, especially nebula photos, takes on a whole new look when the stars are removed. You are able to see more detail and more structure.
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Thor’s Helmet (NGC 2359 or SH2-208) is an emission nebula in Canis Major located 12 thousand light years away. At the center of the round bubble is a Wolf-Rayet star, that is thought to be at the early stages of a supernova. This is similar to what is happening in the Bubble Nebula. The Wolf-Rayet type star is what is making this nebula shine.
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The first thing you do with astrophotography image processing is to calibrate your images with flats, darks and dark flats. This process should remove dust donuts, vignetting and other issues you have might in the optical train.
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The Horsehead Nebula (1,375 light years away) is a located at the left-most star of Orion’s belt. Orion has a lot of interest for the astrophotographer, mostly because of M42 – The Orion Nebula (which can be seen with the naked eye).
The Horsehead Nebula is a dark nebula, in that the dust is so thick that it blocks visible light. The structure around the Horsehead Nebula is lit by the bright star located below and left of the horse’s head in the image.
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