Wow, Robert! You have outdone yourself on this post. It is a treasure grove of information. Thank you so much for sharing it all with us.
I too feel the name Steve is a good name. Too often the science community is too quick to alienate the non-science community by creating an atmosphere of elitism. This tends to intimidate and push away the average person. (Purely my opinion.)
As for the photo, I have seen Scott do something similar called stacking. It is amazing how it brings out the details in the night sky. I do love how it has brought out the various star colors.
Thanks so much for a well done post and amazing photo.
Thanks. Appreciate you taking the time to have a read though it.
You are welcome. It was, actually, a very good and easy to comprehend post. I love when I can understand something better because someone has taken the time to get rid of jargon and lingo. It really helps to clear the way for appreciation and learning.
Ren
Thanks. Very kind of you.
With respect to stacking unfortunately you can't do it on when shooting an aurora other than for the foreground as it "averages" out the aurora from the sky and ends up removing it. It does work beautifully for astrophotography however.
Yeah, I remember now him showing me how the cars disappeared on one of his photos when he was stacking. I am assuming he already knows this, but it is a good reminder. What is the program you are using. I am not sure what he uses, but when I do my photos (nothing as amazing as yours) I use photoshop.
I use a range of software. Mostly Adobe Lightroom but also Photoshop when required. Sequator is good for star stacking. I also use Microsoft ICE for complex panoramic stitches.
Oh, okay, I haven't tried Lightroom, but Scott has. I think that is what he uses for the star photos. Thanks for sharing that.