Flying objects enhancement

In addition to automatic detection, classification and alignment according to the radiant, Nebulb also allows you to apply specific enhancements to the meteors so that they stand out more in the final image.

For this purpose, Nebulb has a series of controls that allow you to "develop" the meteors, so that these flying objects appear in the image in the way you like best. These adjustments work in a similar way to those of the image development, but applied in a particular way for the meteors.

When photographing a meteor shower, it must be taken into account that each meteor is different from the others, both in terms of the position in the sky where it appears, as well as in terms of its length and intensity. Because of the great difference in the intensity with which the meteors shine, enhancement settings are particularly useful to ensure that all the meteors are clearly visible and that the final image has the greatest possible visual impact.

Image on which have been merged all the meteors captured (about 300) during the night of the maximum activity of the 2023 Perseids. As can be seen, there are some very intense meteors that look very good, but there are many more that are hardly visible due to their low intensity.

Darkness

With this control it is possible to underexpose the sky (up to 5 stops) so that the fainter meteors stand out more.

Darkening the sky makes the fainter meteors more visible.

IMPORTANT: Although what you see when you apply this setting is that the sky gets darker, this has nothing to do with light pollution reduction. What this setting does is decrease the exposure to the sky, so that the meteors stand out more against the sky.

Exposure

With this control it is possible to increase the exposure level of the meteors by up to 5 steps, making it possible to get all the meteors, even the faintest ones, to show up well.

The only factor to be taken into account when applying this setting (as with image development) is that if the exposure is increased too much, the most intense meteors may lose color and become whiter than they really were.

Increasing the exposure (by 3.5 stops in this example) makes all the meteors stand out much better against the sky and the effect of irradiance from the meteor shower radiant is better appreciated.

Equalization

Unlike the "Exposure" setting, which applies equally to all meteors, equalization allows you to increase the exposure selectively (depending on the intensity level of each meteor). Thus, raising the equalization increases the exposure more for weak meteors and less for intense meteors.

Therefore, this adjustment equalizes the intensity of the meteors, i.e., it enhances the weaker meteors while preserving the brightness and color of the more intense ones.

By applying an equalization (in this case to the maximum), the weaker meteors are equalized with the more intense ones, so that all of them can be appreciated well. The advantage of the "Equalization" setting is that it perfectly maintains the intensity and color of the brightest meteors (because they are not affected).

ADVICE: It is usually better to adjust the "Equalization" first and then the "Exposure", as this first equalizes the intensity of all meteors, so that a smaller increase of the exposure is usually sufficient for all meteors to stand out well.

Thickness

When Nebulb detects a meteor, in addition to determining its exact position in the sky, it also obtains its dimensions (length and thickness). That said, by means of this control it is possible to modify a little the thickness of the mask that Nebulb uses to merge the real image of the meteors on the sky image.

The default value of this control (0) is usually adequate for most occasions. However, if you want the meteors to be a little more stylized you can decrease this slider and if you want them to be a little thicker you can increase it.

Here are some examples of the use of this control:

The default thickness value (0) is usually adequate in most cases because the meteors are merged with the most accurate mask possible.

Reducing the thickness makes the meteors appear a little more stylized.

By increasing the thickness Nebulb slightly widens the mask for merging the meteor image over the sky image, so it looks as if the meteors are thicker (due to previously applied increased exposure and equalization).

IMPORTANT 1: This adjustment does not modify the thickness of the meteors, it only allows to slightly modify the thickness of the mask used to merge the original image of the meteor on the background image of the sky.

IMPORTANT 2: Increasing the thickness tends to generate more natural results when low exposure values are applied, while decreasing the thickness tends to work better when high exposure values are applied.

Glow

With this control it is possible to apply a glow around the meteors to generate an effect similar to the halo that meteors have naturally when they shine in the sky.

Also, the glow effect is more visible the more intense the meteor is (just like in reality).

Image in which the meteors have been merged without having applied any glow.

By applying a low level of glow it is already possible to observe a certain natural halo around the most intense meters.

When the glow value is increased this effect becomes much more visible in the most intense meteors and begins to be observed in the rest.

IMPORTANT: The "Glow" adjustment aims to achieve a more natural blending of the meteors on the sky image, but in each case the "optimum" value depends very much on the intensity of the captured meteors, as well as on the user's perception and taste. For this reason it is possible to adjust this control between 0 (no glow is applied) and 100 (maximum glow is applied).

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