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Got into a heated chat about editing deep space images from my backyard in Phoenix
Last week I spent three hours stacking shots of the Orion Nebula from my Bortle 5 sky. I boosted the saturation to make the colors pop, like I saw on a forum. My friend who works at Lowell Observatory said that's 'making space art, not science' and ruins the real data. But I think if it gets people excited about the stars, what's the harm? Where do you draw the line between pretty pictures and honest astronomy photos?
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sam_anderson6mo ago
Your friend is right, it ruins the data.
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webb.jordan6mo ago
Man, isn't it the worst when that happens? It feels like all that work just goes down the drain in a second. I've been there before and it's just so frustrating. What are you even supposed to do after that, start all over?
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eric_murphy366mo ago
Your friend at Lowell has a point about data, but most people just want to see something cool. It's like @webb.jordan said about work going down the drain, but here the work still makes a nice picture. The line gets fuzzy everywhere, not just with space photos. Look at how people edit their vacation shots or even food pictures. Everyone tweaks reality a bit to share a better story. If a bright nebula gets someone to look up, that seems like a win.
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