It's very subtle, and the difference becomes more apparent with further processing. You can also see the slight color cast represented in the histograms. If I draw a small selection around the very top and bottom of the rings in Photoshop, these are the color histograms for those regions. You can see how there is slightly more red on the right tail of the histogram corresponding to the top of the rings, and slightly more blue at the right edge of the histogram for the bottom of the rings. This reflects the subtle visual difference. I find that if you use the FC ADC tool, which increases image saturation, and then adjust the gain way up, you can easily see this coloration in the live window. Then, by adjusting the ADC to eliminate it, you can prevent this problem from happening. But to be fair, your situation with a 15 degree elevation planet is quite difficult, and your image is very good.
Top of rings:
histo_top.jpg
Bottom of rings:
histo_bottom.jpg
Wow! Thanks Tom, that’s amazing. My one concern is my ability to eyeball the difference in colour in the ADC mode of FC while over-saturating. How accurate is one’s own judgement? I mean mine..
Shame, I thought the dancing balls were definitive.
If only there was a way to analyse the histograms of the top and bottom of the planet in real time like the way you did in post.
Kevin