This is a work in progress but I wanted to share my attempts to remove the unwanted RGB flares from the bright stars in this image of the Rosette Nebula centred on NGC 2239; 79 x 5min subs using my 10in F5 (via a Starizona LF SCT reducer) and an ASI071 MC Pro (OSC) camera on a CEM60 mount:
processing history
04) Local histogram equalization 10 3.8 80 0
03) DDP 95 10 0 50 50 0 0
02) Histogram stretch 65535 10414 133812 -5 0
01) Deconvolution Richardson Lucy 15 2 80 0
(sigma sum stacking plus darks and flats)
I used the Starnet 2.01 plugin to remove the stars from the above image:
processing history
05) Plugin
04) Local histogram equalization 10 3.8 80 0
03) DDP 95 10 0 50 50 0 0
02) Histogram stretch 65535 10414 133812 -5 0
01) Deconvolution Richardson Lucy 15 2 80 0
I then subtracted the Starnet produced image from original image to produce an image with the stars only and then used the Mask tool /brush to draw a mask around the offending star flares and then (mostly) removed them using the Filters->statistical->erosion filter to greatly reduce the intensity of the flares. I then added the Starnet produced image to the repaired image to create a new image without the flares:
processing history
13:53:17 Normalization scale Preprocessing07S.fit
13:44:09 Add image Preprocessing07NS.fit
13:43:18 Erosion 15 1 [Mask]
13:41:41 Erosion 15 1 [Mask]
13:36:37 Subtract Preprocessing07NS.fit
13:36:13 Normalization scale Preprocessing07NS.fit
13:28:37 Local histogram equalization 10 3.8 80 0
13:25:42 DDP 95 10 0 50 50 0 0
13:23:55 Histogram stretch 65535 10414 133812 -5 0
13:23:24 Deconvolution Richardson Lucy 15 2 80 0
The repair isn't perfect and I suspect that there's a better way to remove the flares but this procedure gives a good first impression and points the way forward.
