Details:

M13 Shot with my Celestron U2K at F/10. I used an Olympus E-500 DSLR. This is a stack of 4 30 second exposures at ISO 400. Shot from my driveway in Rolesville NC 5/24/06 11:00 pm.


Processing:

4 30 Second exposures stacked in Registax, adjusted in Adobe Photoshop Elements and noise reduction in Neat Image.

This is my first DSLR image. It was really just a test but it is enough to whet my appetite for more and to make me consider a better mount than the Celestron fork. I cannot wait until next years contest.

Details:

Image of M13 taken on July 19 2005 with a 5" Orion Starmax Mak Cassegrain Telescope and a Canon G3 4MP digitital camera. A 25mm plossal was used. Picture is composed of 23 exposures of 10 seconds each for an equivelent of 230 second exposure. An ISO setting of 400 and f2.0 at 1X was used for this picture. Telescope was polar aligned but no manual guiding was used. Picture taken from Surrey British Columbia.


Processing:

This image is composed of series of 23 exposures that were croped and stacked using astrostack 2.0. Aditional procesing included noise reduction and cropping using ImageJ. No further processing was done.

This image is one of only a few surviving images from 2005 as my computer totaly crashed and I lost years worth of trip/artistic photos and most of the astrophotos from 2005. That being said, I am amazed at what a 5" mak intended for planetary use can acomplish with deepsky. I've taken many deepsky shots with this telescope and alot came out really well although I lost most of them. As far as image goes, seeing was good but there was a lot of light pollution!

Details:

Starlight Xpress HX916, 2.69 arc-sec/pixel
10" LX200 Classic @ f/4.1 (FL 1,025 mm); guided by STV through piggybacked Stellarvue Nighthawk at f/6. Astronomik H-alpha 13 nm filter, 15 x 600 seconds; Astronomik Type II RGB filters, 10 x 300 seconds each. All binned 2x2. Acquired February 23, 2006, Miami, Fl.

Processing:

Each channel acquired with Astroart 3.0, aligned in AIP4WIN ver 1.1 and sigma combined in Ray Gralak's pre-beta 11.

Each channel opened in Astroart 3.0, master LRGB channels aligned and color combined. Saved as .BMP image, exported to Corel Photopaint 8.0 where mild curves and unsharp mask applied. Saved as least-loss .JPG image.

Details:

10" LX200GPS with Meade f6.3 FR.
ST2000XM camera with CFW8 filter wheel/standard SBIG filters
Mitty Evolution 2006 wedge
Guided with Orion 80mm ED Piggybacked/ST402ME
Core (Albireo) 20 each LRGB at 100ms per exposure
Background 14 each LRGB at 4s per exposure
(Is there a prize for shortest total exposure in the DSO category?)
Taken Aug 8 2006 from suburban location at full moon

Processing:

Core and Background each processed separately in AIP4WIN (registered, stacked, Color BMP created)

Core and Background merged using Photoshop CS2/Layer Mask

Details:

Subject: M57 - "ring" planetary type 4+3 in lyra
Telescope: Celestron C 9.25 @ f/10.5
Mount: Losmandy G-11 Gemini v4.01
Camera: SBIG ST-10XME + CFW-8 + AO-7
Filters: Custom Scientific LRGB, plus 4nm Ha
Exposure: L: 300sec x 6 ; Ha: 1200sec x 6 ; R: 180sec x 6 ; G: 180sec x 6 ; B: 180sec x 6
Site location: Big Bear Lake, California
Date / time: 6.02.06 to 6.04.06, all night each night
Acquisition: CCDAutopilot V3 + The Sky 6 + CCDSoft V5 + Focusmax

Processing:

Same process for each L, R, G, B, and Ha exposures:
CCDStack dark/flat reduction
CCDStack hot/cold pixel rejection
CCDStack bloom rejection
CCDStack impute rejected pixels
CCDStack multiple star alignment
CCDStack normalization & Poisson Sigma Rejection
CCDStack Sum
CCDStack combine & adjust RGB
Photoshop curves RGB image
Photoshop HSL curves RGB image
Photoshop Saturation + 12% RGB
Photoshop duplicate RGB & layer (softlight)
Photoshop curves Ha image
Photoshop curves L image
Photoshop layer (normal) L with Ha image
Photoshop layer (luminance) L/Ha over RGB image
Photoshop duplicate & highpass filter L/Ha then layer (softlight) plus layermask for selective sharpening
Photoshop flatten image
Photoshop Grain Surgery selective grain reduction
Photoshop "save for web" jpeg compression @ quality level 40

Additional Thoughts:

Near full moon and sub-par flats cause some gradients & dust motes that I could not successfully remove in processing, but I'm very happy with the image overall, epsecially the extended Ha 'rose-petal' emission outside the more commonly seen ring.

Details:

Telescope: Meade LX-200 10" SCT with Agos f/6.3 reducer/corrector
Camera: SBIG ST-7E with CFW-8 and AO-7
Total exposure time: 126 min. LRGB 11:3:3:4 @ 6 min. sub exposures, RGB binned 2x2
Site location: BYO Star Shack, Shelton NE

Processing:

Taken with MaxIm DL/CCD, darks and frames aligned and combined. Luminance was also processed with DDP using CCDOps and CCDSharp 2 iterations. Layered L+RGB using Photoshop, exported to jpg.

Additional Thoughts:

Taken on a night of good seeing & object was at its highest point.

Details:

DSO, sc8" celestron, optec tcfs, optec maxfilter, filter rgb custom scientific 2" , fr 0.63, ao7, sbig st8e, em200 temma mount. Acquired at Saint quentin de baron 33750 france, 04/04/06 and 04/05/06, ST8E at -15¡, L: 15X20min RGB: 80/80/92 min

SC8 f/d 8.7 ( F: 1740mm) - AO7 guidance at 6hz(L) / 2hz (rgb), total exposure : 9h 12 min

Processing:

Pre-processed with ccdsoft (offset, dark,flat), stacked with sigma reject, processed with photoshop cs, curves, rgb stacked with luminance layer in lumonisity mode (llrgb method),
gradient xterminator, high pass filter with mask, gaussian blur in selected area.

Details:

M51, Whirlpool Galaxy, taken with Celestron CGE 1100 using Orion Starshoot one-shot cooled color CCD camera. Image was taken at Texas Star Party 2006 near Ft. Davis TX on April 24, 2006 at 4:57AM Universal Time. An Atik 0.5 focal reducer was used to achieve a 1400mm focal length. The image is combined from sequence of 44 images ˆ each 30 second exposures for a final exposure of 22 minutes.

Processing:

The images were downloaded as raw 1x1 in the capture program, and later, dark frame subtraction and conversion to color operations were performed in Maxim DL Essentials. A manual 1 star alignment was performed on the best 44 of 60 images captured resulting in an effective 22 minute exposure was made. Color balance was achieved using the Click on white area option and the intensity levels for onscreen display were adjusted in the Screen Stretch dialog box. Moderately strong unsharp masking was applied in Maxim DL Essentials. The result was exported to jpg using the screen range parameters. Corel Photo-Paint was used to correct bad pixels, crop the image and do final touch up of the intensity and contrast levels.

Additional Thoughts:

The raw images were unguided and without PEC error corrections, requiring a number of raw images more than were used in order to eliminate those raw frames that exhibited significant tracking problems. The FOV of the telescope is about 12x9 arc minutes when using the Orion Starshoot with an effective focal length of 1400mm. Size of M51 is 11.4x7 arc minutes.

Details:

Telescope E160; camera StarlightXpress SXV-H9; exposure 14 x 15 minutes = 3.5 hours, guided with NP-101 and MX-716; filter 6 nm FWHM H-a Astrodon; site Igloo Observatory, Hampshire, IL; time 19 December 05 0200 UT at image mid-point.


Processing:

Images flat-compensated (no darks used), stacked and aligned with ImagesPlus. Log 0.5 power histogram stretch. Slight tweaking of curves in PhotoShop.

Additional Thoughts:

I have named this emission nebula The Phantom of the Opera Nebula. It is an exceedingly faint target and therefore rarely imaged.

Details:

M16  Eagle Nebula
14" LX200GPS UHTC
Canon 20D (stock)
Prime focus
65- 45 second images


Processing:

Dark subtracted,aligned,stacked and processed completely with ImagesPlus,except noise reduction using Noiseware. Minimal color processing,(10 Richardson-Lucy iterations) and a increase of color sturation. IDAS LPR filter,Meade .63 FR, 1600 ISO
80 degrees in the light polluted Tampa Bay area (Dunedin,Fl)

Details:

Object: The Trifid Nebula (M20)
Telescope: Meade LX200GPS 12” SCT (@ f/6.3)
Guiding: Off-axis w/ Meade DSI II & Autostar Envisage
Camera: Canon 20Da DSLR @ ISO800; 5 images @ 600 seconds each
Location: Cincinnati Astronomical Society's Dark-Sky Site
(Adams County, Ohio) (N38.876, W83.464)

Processing:

Median combination of 5 images at 600 seconds each, ISO800; RAW file
conversion, full calibration (bias, flat, dark), and initial image processing using
ImagesPlus 2.75; final image processing (crop, Levels, Curves only) using Photoshop CS2

Details:

Horse Head Nebula,
14" Celestron SCT with field flattener
SBIG 2000XM Camera
600 sec RGB/ 1800 sec L - photographed Sept. 9th, 2005
Santa Fe, NM

Processing:

Processed with MAXIM DL to register images, set color balance and improve
contrast using max pixel scaling. Photoshop 7.0 used to improve color
saturation and to remove star halos.

Details:

11 subframes at 15 minutes each. Taken with a C8
and SBIG ST-2000XCM CCD camera riding on Losmandy G11.
Meade f/6.3 focal reducer was used.
Taken 2/22/2006 at the Winter Star Party.

Processing:

Darks and Flats in CCDSoft.
Photoshop used for Levels, Curves, and Color Balance.

Details:

Meade 12” f/7 lx200gps
Canon digital rebel 
Exposure: 12x5min (six at iso800 + six at iso1600)
Site: Mcconnellsville, Ohio 
9/03/05 4:00am

Processing:

Photoshop 7, All frames: Darkframe subtract
Levels
Grain surgery plug-in
Gradient terminator
Images combined
Levels and color adj.
Final tweaks with "astronomy tools" by pro digital software.

Additional Thoughts:

Diffraction spikes: Fishing line on front of corrector

Details:

Subject: M82, Irregular Galaxy in Ursa Major
Telescope: Meade 2120 LX3 10" OTA w/ Meade f/6.3 FR
Guidescope: Orion ED80 at f/7.5, Meade DSI guide camera, MaxDSLR
Mount: Losmandy G11
Camera: Modified Canon 300D DSLR
Exposure: 121 x 180-seconds over 2 nights
Site location: Backyard in Spring, TX
Date: 03/20-21/2006
Other Info: Astronomik UV/IR Filter; Ambient Temperature 50 Deg F

Processing:

Images acquired, converted, calibrated,
aligned and processed using ImagesPlus 2.75; Further processing applied
in PSP8; Background compensation applied using PixInsight; Noise
reduction in Neat Image.

Details:

Site: Front yard in Durham, CT
Date/Time: 08/05/2006 11pm – 08/06/2006 1am
Scope: 12” Meade LX200 Classic with F6.3 FR. Guided with ED80 and Guidedog software.
Camera: Hutech Modified Canon 350D (Type 1)
Images: Stack of 11 x 120sec taken at 800 ISO

Processing:

Images Plus: Calibrated (with darks, flats and bias frames), Stretched, Added a touch of satuaration. Noiseware Community Edition: removed noise

Details:

Crescent Nebula NGC 6888, Meade 16 LX200 at f3.45 using 0.33 reducer, SAC Orion Starshoot, two frame composite of 8/30sec and 4/40sec exposures, location Mattawa WA (rural), captured 7-30-2006 at midnight, transparency good, limiting naked eye mag 6.5, temp 65F.

Processing:

Maxim Essentials, Nebulosity, Picture Window, Imerge, Irfanview programs used.Stack, de-bayer, log stretch in Maxim, Tighten Stars in Nebulosity, Curves, color, crop, clone, resize in Picture Window, two frame Composite in Imerge, Convert to jpg and shrink in Irfanview.

Additional Thoughts:

Very large faint target, the crescent is well shown in this exposure length, but the internal structure of those long Ha exposures is too faint. Anyway, this image was for the Crescent not the Clam. Those long exposures always loose the beautiful star colors surrounding this nebula. Note the fine yellow double STT 401 in the upper left, and the uncatologued orange companion to the WR star powering the crescent in the center.

Details:

Telescope: Celestron C 9.25 @ f/6.3
Mount: Losmandy G-8
Camera: Canon EOS 350D, 800ASA
Exposure: 6x180 second - manualy guided through a radial guider
Site location: Donja Stubica, Croatia

Processing:

Images are dark substracted, combined in Registar and final processed in Photoshop.