Valentine Rose SH2-174 or the Ghost Nebula

 Posted: Jan 27th, 2026
Technical Info
Telescope/Lens: Askar 71F
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
Mount: JUWEI 14
Guide Scope: Askar 32 f4
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI120MM Mini
Software: Siril, StarNet++
Accessories: CAA, EAF, EFW, ASIAIR MINI, Askar Reducer x 0.75, Gemini PowerBox
Exposure:
60 x 300" ISO/Gain: 100 - Optolong L-eXtreme
Orange, Bortle 6 zone:
 Samara, Russia
 Jan 26th, 2026
5 h 0 m
201
Resolution: 2950x2070 px
Scale: 4145 KB
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Comments

I noticed many of your photos are quite dark. Are you cutting the histogram heavily?
27 Jan, 2026 Reply
Poppy8micro Replied to Robert Nik
I'm having a battle with my monitor; maybe the adaptive brightness is messing with my head. I need to try on another one.
27 Jan, 2026 Reply
Sergeich Replied to Poppy8micro
If nothing else works, you can always edit photos on your smartphone in some Lightroom app, tweaking them until they look decent—like I had to do before I upgraded my laptop :D And as a rule of thumb: turn off anything adaptive, automatic, or pre-configured whenever possible. Your friendly captain.
27 Jan, 2026 Reply
Poppy8micro Replied to Sergeich
Thanks for the advice, I'll think of something!
27 Jan, 2026 Reply
Robert Nik Replied to Poppy8micro
How do you process your photos?
28 Jan, 2026 Reply
Poppy8micro Replied to Robert Nik
The foundation of everything is Siril and its internal scripts, including the internal scunet, starnet, and graxpert. I try not to leave it at all. Only at the final stage do I adjust the color a bit in Lightroom. But my skills are still a bit above average. I'm learning.
28 Jan, 2026 Reply
Poppy8micro Replied to Robert Nik
Veralux tried it, but pixel math works better for me—it doesn't leave artifacts and doesn't add noise in the blue channel.
28 Jan, 2026 Reply
Robert Nik Replied to Poppy8micro
How do you get a non-linear image from a linear one?
28 Jan, 2026 Reply
Poppy8micro Replied to Robert Nik
Generalized hyperbolic is the main method, and all four depending on the situation, using Asinh only for the black point sometimes.
28 Jan, 2026 Reply

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