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Name: Sean Walker Date: 09/15/04 Object: M33
Details:
Telescope: Luminance Data - 6" f/4 Vega Maksutov-Newtonian
RGB Data - 5" f/6 Maksutov-Newtonian
Camera: Luminance Data – SBIG ST-10XE
RGB Data – SBIG ST-8XE
Exposure: Luminance Data - 180 minutes
RGB Data - 60:60:60 minutes
Location: Luminance Data - Elizabeth, IL
RGB Data - Methuen, MA
Date: Luminance Data – September15, 2004
RGB Data – August 22, 2004

Processing:
Images calibrated, DDP stretched and color combined in Maxim DL 4.05, with additional processing in Adobe Photoshop: high-pass filtering and final color adjustments

Although these images were taken with Maksutov-Newtonian telescopes, wires were added in front of the meniscus to add diffraction spikes for artistic preference
Name: Jim Dixon Date: 04/15/05 Object: M64
Details:
Telescope: 8 inch SCT @ f/5.0
Camera: SAC-8
Exposure: 46 – 30 second images
Location: Wye Mountain, AR

Processing:
Used AstroVideo for capture, AIP4WIN for initial processing and
Photoshop for final processing.
Name: Jason Hissong Date: 04/03/05 Object: M3 in Canes Venatici
Details:
Telescope: Celestron Ultima 2000 @ f/3.3 using Meade focal reducer
Camera: ST7E
Exposure: 11x120s frames
Site location: My suburban backyard in Hilliard, OH

Processing:
Frames were calibrated with an average dark, and a median
combined flat in ImagesPlus 1.72. The frames were then adaptive-add combined in ImagesPlus 1.72. Digital Development was done in ImagesPlus 1.72. Curves and level adjustment was done in Photoshop 5. Sharpening and hot pixel removal done in Photoshop 5. Exported to JPG using Irfanview.
Name: Allen Gilchrist Date: 04/08/05 Object: M83
Details:
Telescope: C-14 with a Celestron 0.63 focal reducer
Camera: SBIG ST-10XME
Exposure: Luminance 39 x 60 seconds binned 2x2,
Red and Green each 20 x 60 seconds, binned 3x3
Blue 37 x 60 seconds, binned 3x3
Site location: Houston Astronomical Society observatory near Columbus, Texas

Processing:
All data were calibrated, registered, stacked, and resampled to match the luminance in AIP4WIN. Levels and Curves adjustments, color compositing, final image resampling and cropping were done in PhotoShop-CS.
Name: Dale Cupp Date: 03/26/05 Object: NGC1977
Details:
Telescope: Celestron NexStar 11GPS
Camera: ST-237A w/ Hyperstar @ f/1.9 LRGB
Exposures: 15 @ 30 Sec each channel
Location: Tucson, AZ

Processing:
Image obtained using CCDOPS (Auto Grab), Processed with MaxIm DL (stretched and filtered) and Photoshop 6.
Name: S. John Theodossy Date: 08/10/04 Object: M57
Details:
Telescope: Meade 8"LX200GPS @f10
Camera: SAC8, filters: L (Celestron LPR), R (Wratten25), G (Wratten56),
B (Wratten80A)
Exposure: L: 2x40 seconds, 4x20 seconds, 8x10 seconds, 16x5 seconds;
RGB: 20x20 seconds each channel
Site location: Walnut Creek, CA

Processing:
L channel - each duration group aligned and stacked in Stellar Magic 7.5.
Groups were then combined in AstroVideo using the Log addition feature.
4 iterations of Van Cittert deconvolution with PSF 4.
Curves & histogram adjusted in Photoshop CS to maximize detail.

 RGB channels - each color group was aligned and stacked in Stellar Magic 7.5, and then aligned to each other. The RGB composite was assembled in Photoshop CS, colors manually balanced, and then combined with the L channel. Final noise reduction and sharpening filters applied in Neat Image 4.0.
Name: Mike Sidonio Date: 04/04/05 Object: M104 - The Sombrero Galaxy
Details:
Telescope: Meade 12” LX200 GPS @ F5 using Optec NGW 0.5X focal reducer
Camera: StarlightXpress SXV-H9 CCD camera
Exposure: LRGB = 92:12:12:12minutes in 4 minute sub-exposures (all
binned 2X2)
Site location: Mt Campbell Observatory Googong, Australia

Processing:
Pre processing and DDP in Astroart3. Colour balance, unsharp mask, smoothing and gradients worked on in Photoshop 6. Image resampled from 72pix/inch to 216pix/inch in Photoshop 6.

Additional Thoughts:  Two crossed sticks were placed in front of the objective during the exposure to produce diffraction spikes on bright stars for aesthetic purposes – well I like’em!

Name: Alan Smith Date: 05/09/05 Object: Globular Cluster M92
Details:
Telescope: Celestron C11 @ f 4.6, CI-700 mount
Camera: SBIG ST237A
Exposure: LRGB: 8:4:4:3 minutes
Site location: My backyard

Processing:
One minute subframes were stacked in MaxIm. DDP applied to the L plane before the LRGB combine.

Name: Chip Gentry Date: 06/06/05 Object: M51
Details:
Telescope: NexStar GPS 11
Camera: ST-402ME
Exposure: 40X30sec exposure,
Location: Austin, TX,

Processing:
The average of 10 flats, 5 flat dark frames and 5 dark frames for the light frames applied to each 30 second light exposure. Frames aligned and average combined using CCDSoft. Contrast adjusted using Maxim DL DDP.
Name: Tom Diana Date: 04/15/05 Object: M100
Details:
Telescope: C11 @ f/6.5
Camera: SBIG ST9-XEI and CFW8 (w/Goldman filters)
Exposures: Luminance: 75 minutes; RGB: 20 minutes each
Location: Backyard observatory in southeastern Minnesota,

Processing:
Images were focused, acquired, reduced and combined using CCDSoft. The luminance and RGB images were aligned using RegiStar and combined in Photoshop CS. Several iterations of Levels and Curves were applied while occasionally masking the core area. The final image was slightly cropped and sharpened (Unsharp Mask). Gaussian Blur was applied through a channel mask to reduce noise.


Name: Bill Slivinski Date: 02/04/05 Object: M82
Details:
Telescope: C-9.25 with Celestron's f/6.3 reducer
Camera: ST-7 ME
Exposure: L: 20 x 2 minutes + 12 x 3 minutes (76 minutes); R: 20 x 1 minute;
G: 20 x 1 minute; B: 20 x 1.5 minutes
Site location: Antares, AZ
Any Other Pertinent Information: Mount = EQ-6


Processing:
Auto-dark subtract at imaging time with CCDSoft,
flat-field corrected, median combined in CCDSoft, 2 iterations in CCDSharp
of the luminance channel, light Gaussian Blur in Photoshop of the color
channels, colors merged in Photoshop, luminance added in Photoshop, several iterations of curves and levels adjustment in Photoshop, small unsharp mask to summed file.
Name: Teuwen Karel Date: 02/01/05 Object: M51
Details:
Telescope: C-14 with Celestron 0.63x focal reducer
Camera: SBIG ST10XME
Exposure: Luminance: 192minutes; RGB 100:100:100minutes, binned 2x2
Location: near Turnhout in very light polluted surroundings


Processing:
All data were calibrated and stacked in Maxim DL, applied DDP in Maxim DL. The luminance was added to the RGB in Photoshop CS. Also performed in Photoshop were: curves and levels adjustments, selective unsharp masking, contrast and saturation adjustments. I then used Neat Image for noise reduction.
Name: Carl Burton Date: 06/17/05 Object: NGC 6445
Details:
Telescope: Celestron C-14
Camera: ST-8XE
Exposure: HaLRGB: 80:60:30:30:30 minutes
Site location: Ypsilanti MI

Processing:
All images were calibrated in Maxim DL then DDP applied. LRGB combined in Maxim then moved to Photoshop CS for combining Ha+R channel to create new R channel. Substituted new Ha+R for R in LRGB, then added Ha as L layer. Also curves, level, and unsharp masking were performed in Photoshop CS. Noise removal was Neat Image.
Name: Christopher Porada Date: 06/12/05 Object: M57 - Ring Nebula
Details:
Telescope: Celestron Ultima 8 PEC with Celestron focal reducer at f6.
Camera: Meade DSI
Exposure: 30 exposures of 30 seconds each
Site location: My backyard in Reno, NV

Processing:
Images aligned and combined automatically with AutoStar.
The aligned and combined image was processed in Photoshop. The main processing was to use the auto contrast feature for each of the individual color channels and then adjust the brightness of the resultant composite until I liked how it looked. I also applied a mild Gaussian blur to the blue channel to smooth some of the ”noise” and then applied a slight “unsharp mask” filter to the composite to bring out detail.

Additional Thoughts: This was a very clear night with great transparency, once the moon set. The only problem was the sporadic wind gusts, which made it hard to get enough images before the scope would vibrate and ruin everything.
Name: Iver Riise Date: 05/02/05 Object: M63
Details:
Telescope: Meade LX-90 8"SCT
Camera: Starlight MX-716
Exposure: Luminance-35x2minutes: Red-8x2minutes: Green-8x2minutes:
Blue-8x4minutes; RGB binned 2x2
Site location: Monterey County


Processing:
In AstroArt 3- acquired, aligned, combined, Log stretch, Color combine; Photoshop CS- Curves; Neat- Noise reduction
Name: Patrick L. Colestock Date: 12/04 Object: Horsehead Nebula in Orion
Details:
Telescope: 14” Celestron SCT
Camera: SBIG 2000XM CCD camera
Exposure: LRGB: 10 minutes through each filter
Site location: Santa Fe, NM
Any Other Pertinent Information: All exposures auto-guided

Processing:
Images reduced with MAXIM DL including dark frame subtraction and flat-field adjustment. Composite created with Photoshop 7.0.

Additional Thoughts: Most difficult issue was in leveling light pollution of deep images made on separate nights.
Name: Ted Wilbur Date: 12/14/04 Object: M1 - Crab Nebula
Details:
Telescope: LX200 10" Classic @ f/6.3 using Agos adapter
Camera: SBIG ST8i
Exposure: LRGB: 90:45:45:90 minutes, using 5 minute sub-exposures
Site location: Oxford, Massachusetts
Any Other Pertinent Information: scale = 1.18 arcseconds per pixel

Processing:
CCDSoft for image acquisition, image reduction using
dark frames and dark-subtracted flats, image alignment and median combines of each channel. Initial levels and curves adjustments using Photoshop. DDP and Richardson-Lucy deconvolution using ImagesPlus. Final LRGB channel alignment using Picture Window. LRGB color combine in CCDSoft. Final adjustments including cropping and mild unsharp performed using Photoshop.
Name: Andjelko Glivar Date: 05/28/05 Object: M81
Details:
Telescope: Celestron 9.25 at f/3.3 (Meade focal reducer)
Camera: Celestron SBIG Pixcel 237 CCD
Exposure: Luminance: 45 minutes; RGB: 20 minutes Red and Green; Blue: 30
Minutes; 2x2 binning
Site location: Donja Stubica, Croatia

Processing:
Images were acquired, aligned and combined using CCDOPS and CCDSoft v5.
Final LRGB image was processed in Photoshop CS.
Name: Frank S Barnes III Date: 11/09/04 Object: NGC891
Details:
Telescope - C14 with Celestron 0.63 Reducer/Corrector
Camera - SBIG ST-8XE
Exposure - LRGB 280:60:90:60 : L = 28 x 600seconds;
Red and Blue = 6 x 600 seconds; Green = 9 x 600s
Site location - My Backyard Observatory in Rock Hill, SC
Any Other Pertinent Information - Taken over several nights which were clear
with still air. Started the color exposures after NGC 891 crossed the meridian.
Color was binned 2x2 and Luminance was binned 1x1. Second night was steadier than the first night so I let CCDAutoPilot capture 5 hours of Luminance and was able to use most of it.

Processing:
Image Processing Applied: CCDSoftV5 for image acquisition; Maxim DL v4 for
image calibration (25 flats each LRGB, dark subtracted and median combined, 40 bias frames median combined, 30-600s darks median combined). Dead/hot pixel removal, alignment, normalization, color combining, unsharp on Luminance using CCDSharp 2 iterations. Photoshop CS for final color balance, LRGB combine and jpg conversion.

Additional Thoughts: Using CCDAutopilot to refocus automatically every 30 minutes during the long luminance exposures really helped get the detail on this one.
Name: Adam Stuart Date: 11/06/04 Object: M1 - Crab Nebula
Details:
Telescope: 10" LX200 Classic at f/6.3
Camera: Starlight Xpress HX916
Exposure: HaRGB: 180:50:50:50 (H-alpha=12 x 15 minutes; R:G:B = 5 x 10
minutes each) RGB binned 2x2
Site location: Miami, FL
Any Other Pertinent Information: Guided by SBIG STV with piggybacked
Stellarvue SV78-S. Astronomik H-alpha (13nm)

Processing:
Acquired and processed with Astroart 3.0. I blended the H-alpha and Red channel 30:70. Mild unsharp mask in Astroart, and slight Curves in Corel Photopaint 8.0. I used Ray Gralak's pre-beta 11 Sigma Combine to stack each channel.
Name: Dennis Persyk Date: 03/24/05 Object: Rosette Nebula
Details:
Telescope: Takahashi E-160
Camera: SXV-H9
Exposure: H-alpha = 5 x 20 minutes; binned 2x2 Site location: Hampshire, IL
Any Other Pertinent Information: guided with MX716 on NP 101; Seeing Pickering 3, Transparency 5, VLM 2.5 (full moon); Schueler H-alpha 10 nm filter; Binned 2x2

Processing:
Stacking in MaximDL, average combine in MaximDL, histogram stretch in ImagesPlus, a few hot pixels removed by hand in PhotoShop (smudge tool)

Additional Thoughts: This was taken under the light of a full moon just 64 degrees away. The H-a filter is a wonderful light pollution filter. I only wish there were more emission nebulae up there!
Name: Eddie Trimarchi Date: 04/24/05 Object: The Tarantula Nebula
Details:
Telescope: Intes MN61 - 6" f/6 Maksutov-Newtonian
Camera: SBIG ST10XE
Exposure: HaRGB = 190:40:40:40 minutes (310 minutes total)
Site location: The Tin Shed Observatory, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Any other pertinent information: The image covers 56 x 38 arcminutes. A
Schuler 10nm Hydrogen-alpha filter was used for the Luminance channel.

Processing:
The images were captured with Maxim DL/CCD V3
then calibrated, aligned and combined by filter with Mira AP V6. The RGB
images were brought together with Maxim and scaled by applying the standard
weighting of R,G,B = 1.2, 1.0, 1.6 to the individual colour channels. PixInsight Standard Wavelet processing was used to remove small-scale noise and set the levels in the Ha image. The RGB and Ha images were then combined in Photoshop in LAB mode.

Additional Thoughts: Hydrogen-alpha luminance really brings out the fine
chaotic structure in the nebula, but makes it difficult to accurately represent the colour. Some minor tweaks were made wih PixInsight to both luminance and colour channels in order to get the final Ha+RGB blend to reflect the original RGB image colours as closely as possible while not muting the Ha detail.
Name: Rick Krejci Date: 04/07/05 Object: M81
Details:
Telescope: 8 inch Vixen VC200L @ f/6.3
Camera: SBIG ST-2000XM
Exposure: Luminance: 24x5minutes; RGB 8x2minutes each
Site location: Ada, Ml
Any Other Pertinent Information: AP 400GTO mount.

Processing:
All images captured, dark subtracted, flat-field, aligned, color combined in MaximDL. Luminance Layering, level and curves adjustment, unsharp masking in PhotoShop CS.
Name: Albert Saikaley Date: 06/04/05 Object: M51
Details:
Telescope: C-11 with Celestron 0.63x focal reducer
Camera: SBIG ST10XME with AO7
Exposure: Luminance: 125minutes; RGB 25:25:38 minutes, binned 2x2
Site location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Any Other Pertinent Information: G11 using Gemini GOTO; suburban magnitude 4 skies.

Processing:
All data were calibrated and stacked then gradients were removed in Maxim DL. Deconvolution using CCDSharp. DDP in Maxim DL was applied to the luminance image. The RGB image was combined with the luminance image in MaxIm to form an LRGB image. The luminance was added to the LRGB in Photoshop CS to form an LLRGB image. Also performed in Photoshop were: curves and levels adjustments, selective Unsharp masking, contrast and saturation adjustments. I then used Neat Image for noise reduction.
Name: Bob Runyan Date: 04/04/05 Object: NGC 4631
Details:
Telescope: Meade 10" f/10 LX200 with Ted Agos f/6.3 reducer
Camera: SBIG ST7E, CFW8a and AO7
Exposure: L + RGB: 30:18:18:18 minutes (6 minute sub-exposures) L 1x1,
RGB binned 2x2
Location: My Backyard Star Shack in Shelton, NE.

Processing:
Acquired with Maxim DL, darks and frames aligned and combined. Luminance was also processed with DDP using CCDOPs to better resolve core. Layered L + RGB using PhotoShop. Exported to JPG using Irfanview.

Additional Thoughts: Evening started out with good seeing. However by the time I was finishing up my blue exposures, a heavy morning fog was rolling in. I also have to deal with vibration from double tracks of passing trains within two blocks of my location and we average 72 trains daily. Location...location...location.
Name: Enrico Africa Date: 11/06/04 Object: NGC 7331
Details:
Telescope: Celestron C-8 at f/6.3 with Celestron reducer
Camera: SBIG ST-8XE
Exposure: Luminance: 9 x 10 minutes (Binned 1 x 1);
Red: 6 x 5 minutes (binned 2 x 2);
Green: 6 x 5 minutes (binned 2 x 2)
Blue: 6 x 5 minutes (binned 2 x 2)
Site location: My backyard in West Chester, OH.

Processing:
Images acquired and reduced (darks and flats) in CCDSoft. RGB color combined in AIP4WIN. Luminance processing (levels, curves, Unsharp mask) applied in Photoshop CS. LRGB combine in Photoshop CS. SCNR and SGBNR processing applied via PixInsight. Image cropped in Photoshop for presentation.