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M8 (Lagoon Nebula)

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Image Details:

Camera: Mofidied Canon Digital Rebel (300D): Hutech (no filter)

Mount: Celestron AS-GT

Scope: Celestron C8-N (8" f/5 Newtonian)

Configuration: Prime Focus

Additional Optics: Celestron/Baader Multi Purpose Coma Corrector (MPCC)

Filter: None

Effective Focal Length: 1000mm

Effective Focal Ratio: f/5

Exposure: 24 x 4min @ ISO 200

Total Exposure: 1hrs, 36min

Date: 8/3/2005 9:52:18 PM PDT (start)

Location: Saratoga, CA, USA

Acquisition: DSLRfocus

Focus: DSLRFocus

Dithering: Manual

Guiding: GuideDog via Philips ToUcam Pro II (840k) through Orion ST80 w/ Celestron 2x "Kit" Barlow

Processing:

• IRIS: Dark subtraction, registration
• JimP: Flat field, Kappa-Sigma Stacking, White balance, ASINH stretching
• Photoshop: Levels, cropping, JPG conversion

Image Description:

This is another Team Saratoga™ image, using Rich's modified 300D and my C8-NGT. This is a pretty spectacular object and one of our better images, in my humble opinion. Compare the current image with the one I captured a year ago with an unmodified camera, and before I knew what I was doing. No camparison. This is the full frame, shrunk for display on the web. A full-resolution image is also availble. North is up.

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December: Test shots with new scopes/mounts

Dec 21: TMB 80/480 Arrives!

Dec 3: AP1200 Arrives!

Nov 30: TMB 152/1200 Arrives!

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NGC 6772 (Planetary Nebula)

Image Details:

Camera: SBIG ST-2000XM

Mount: Takahashi NJP

Scope: Takahashi Mewlon 180

Configuration: Prime Focus

Additional Optics: n/a (Prime)

Filter: Astrodon LRGB I-Series Filters

Effective Focal Length: 2160mm

Effective Focal Ratio: f/12

Exposure: L: 6 × 16min (1×1); RGB: 6 × 4min (3×3)

Total Exposure: 2hrs, 48min

Date: 9/13/2007 9:04 PM PDT (Start)

Location: Saratoga, CA, USA

Acquisition: CCDSoft

Focus: CCDSoft

Dithering: Manual

Guiding: Self Guided

Processing:

• IRIS: Dark subtraction, registration, gradient removal
• JimP: Flat field, Kappa-Sigma Stacking, White balance, LRGB combine, ASINH stretching
• Neat Image: Noise Reduction
• Photoshop: cropping, JPG conversion

Image Description:

This is NGC 6772, a planetary nebula n the constellation of Aquila. Maybe this one should be called “The Ugly Planetary” — or maybe it just needs more exposure or less binning. <grin> This is an LRGB composite, with the Luminance binned 1×1 and the color data binned 3×3. I probably won't bother to bin the color data in the future. North is up.

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December: Test shots with new scopes/mounts

Dec 21: TMB 80/480 Arrives!

Dec 3: AP1200 Arrives!

Nov 30: TMB 152/1200 Arrives!

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M11 (Wild Duck Cluster)

Click to see high-res version.

Image Details:

Camera: Canon Digital Rebel (300D)

Mount: Celestron AS-GT

Scope: Celestron C8-N (8" f/5 Newtonian)

Configuration: Prime Focus

Additional Optics: n/a (Prime)

Filter: None

Effective Focal Length: 1000mm

Effective Focal Ratio: f/5

Exposure: 26 x 20sec @ ISO 400

Total Exposure: 0hrs, 8min

Date: 7/21/2004, 12:10am

Location: Saratoga, CA, USA

Acquisition: DSLRfocus

Focus: DSLRFocus

Dithering: None

Guiding: None

Processing:

• IRIS: Dark subtraction, flat frame, registration, and Kappa-Sigma stacking
• Photoshop: Sligth crop, image scale (1/4 x), JPG conversion

Image Description:

The Wild Duck Cluster is a fairly interesting Open Cluster (as opposed to a Globular Cluster) in the constellation of Scutum. It makes for a very nice view through the eyepiece of a decent telescope, where, apparently, the stars take on the "V Shape" of a flock of flying ducks. Ummm, yeah.

I was careful in the aquisition and processing chain not to clip (saturate) any of the stars in order to preserve their color. This is a crop of the full size frame. A higher-resolution image is also available. North is up.

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December: Test shots with new scopes/mounts

Dec 21: TMB 80/480 Arrives!

Dec 3: AP1200 Arrives!

Nov 30: TMB 152/1200 Arrives!

Links:

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PLN85+4.1 (HII Region)

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Image Details:

Camera: SBIG ST-2000XM

Mount: Astro-Physics 1200GTO

Scope: AP Starfire 160EDF APO Refractor

Configuration: Prime Focus

Additional Optics: n/a (Prime)

Filter: Astrodon LRGB I-Series Filters

Effective Focal Length: 1200mm

Effective Focal Ratio: f/7.5

Exposure: 9 × 32min @ -20°C (Hα); 8 × 8min @ -20°C (RGB)

Total Exposure: 8hrs, 0min

Date: 7/23/2010 (Hα), 8/4/2010 (RGB)

Location: Saratoga, CA, USA

Acquisition: CCD Commander

Focus: FocusMax

Dithering: CCD Commander

Guiding: Self Guided

Processing:

• IRIS: Registration, gradient removal
• JimP: Dark subtraction, Flat field, Kappa-Sigma Stacking, White balance, ASINH stretching
• Photoshop: Hα and RGB combining, JPG conversion

Image Description:

This is PLN85+4.1, an HII region in the constellation of Cygnus. I thought this was a Planetary Nebula, cuz that’s what TheSky said it was, but upon further review and research, including Anthony Ayiomamitis’ excellent image and writeup, it's just a glowing cloud of HII. Oh well. Hα and RGB combined in Photoshop using the “Lighten” method, which worked better than the other methods I tried. Mouse over for the Hα-only version. A higher-resolution image is also available. North is up.