Abell 85 - Supernova Remnant SHO (starless and cropped versions inside)

This has been very challenging to process area where the stars were so dominant. Star/starless separation early on with lots of tonal improvements and color tweaks.

Since the stars are such major part of the frame, it did look very unnatural with just the starless layer, so believe it or not the stars actually contribute to the perceived sharpness and level of details of the photo. As such my main version is with dimmed, but not removed stars (the stars layer was blended in the end on top of the starless version).

My 2nd version here is 'almost starless' (stars are almost invisible) for the same reason, as without a hint of stars it doesn't look as great.

I've also added a cropped version which is more focused on the SN remnant.

I might later add a completely different approach to the photo, with different colors and tones.

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CTB 1 / Abell 85 or LBN 576 is a very faint Supernova Remnant in the constellation of Cassiopeia. It is located approximately 9780 light years away, spans approx 98 light years in diameter and is thought to be around 10,000 years old. [SkyAndTelescope]