[sit-rep]

we often wonder whether they are "real", and just as often the best answer varies.

...and now they are telling how to think... funny... just how many times have I said this about APOD!! lmao

[Delta 21]

Nothing like an admission of guilt, eh?

[dragnet2]

Besides the possible added star spikes, what is not real or does not actually exist in the image, besides enhancing the existing data? I would guess the software he used to process the image allowed him to pull all the data possible from the image. I would say on this image it's pretty much as you'd see it from a planet in that neighborhood.

I think you're forgetting, this really nice shot was the result of nearly 20 *hours* of exposure time! This allowed him to collect a ton of data to process out. And this is the exact reason why people collect so many hours of data and why tracking is so critical. It makes for spectacular deep space images.