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 | We can now make a single levels adjustment to bring the low level detail up in brightness without clipping the highlights. The image has the black level already set; adjust the center arrow to a point toward the top of the bulk of the histogram. This applies a power law (gamma correction exponent is shown in the center box) to the image data, providing a natural tone scale mapping. It will bring the near-black noise up however, which will be addressed in the next step.
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| One more operation, apply a curves layer. Adjust the contrast to bring out the details in the nebula, but don't let the curve clip. Attenuate the noise at black. The highlights can be adjusted for the desired brightness while avoiding the harsh edges that result from saturation.
 
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| For comparison, an attempt to match the same appearance from the single 300 sec exposure. There is no way to recover the overexposed core of the nebula.
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