Cocoon Nebula: the LRGB processing workflow

Cocoon software checklist

Required to follow the recorded LRGB workflow. These tools are not all needed just to open the masters. Software and licenses are not included with membership.

• PixInsight with ChannelCombination, ScreenTransferFunction (STF), SpectrophotometricColorCalibration (SPCC), GradientCorrection, and MultiscaleAdaptiveStretch available. Install the catalog resources required by SPCC, including Gaia DR3/SP, following PixInsight’s instructions.
• RC Astro’s PixInsight tools, installed and licensed: BlurXTerminator for correction and sharpening (recorded: 2.0.4 / AI 4), NoiseXTerminator for noise reduction (2.3.3 / AI 3), and StarXTerminator for star separation (2.3.11 / AI 11).
• ImageBlend from Cosmic Photons for the luminance/colour blend (recorded: 2.7). Add the publisher’s repository in PixInsight and check for updates.

Optional experiments

DarkStructureEnhance and CurvesTransformation appear only in the separate Hα finishing experiments. They are not required for the supplied LRGB baseline. Hα data is not included.

Versions above record the original session, not minimum requirements or a guarantee of identical results in newer releases. The PixInsight version was not recorded; check that the named processes are available before joining. Four XISF masters total approximately 547 MiB; allow additional space for working copies and intermediate images. Calibration, alignment, and stacking are already complete; you do not need to repeat them.