SaratogaSkies Jim Solomon's Astropics

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M101 (Pinwheel Galaxy)   [obsolete]

Mouse-over to see annotations. (Requires Javascript) Click to see high-res version.

Image Details:

Camera: Mofidied Canon Rebel XT (350D): Hutech Type I Filter Replacement
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: 88 x 4min @ ISO 400
Total Exposure: 5hrs, 52min
Date: 5/25/2006 11:02:17 PM PDT (start) and 5/29/2006 10:31:17 PM PDT (start)
Location: Saratoga, CA, USA
Acquisition: DSLRfocus
Focus: DSLRFocus
Dithering: GADFly 1.0.5
Guiding: GuideDog via Philips ToUcam Pro II (840k) through Orion ST80 w/ Celestron 2x "Kit" Barlow

Processing:

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

Image Description:

This is M101, aka, the Pinwheel Galaxy, a stunning spiral galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major. For some strange reason, this version — with just shy of 6 total hours of expsoure over two nights — came out better than this old version with 32min of exposure time. <grin> I may go back and add some Hα data to this RGB image in order to bring out some of the features; namely, the areas with NGC designations which can be seen by mousing-over the image above. A higher-resolution image is also available. North is up.

 
M20 (Trifid Nebula)
SaratogaSkies Jim Solomon's Astropics

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M20 (Trifid Nebula)   [obsolete]

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: 24 x 1min @ ISO 800
Total Exposure: 0hrs, 24min
Date: 7/11/2004, ~1:30am PDT
Location: Saratoga, CA, USA
Acquisition: DSLRfocus
Focus: DSLRFocus
Dithering: None
Guiding: None

Processing:

  • IRIS: Dark subtraction, flat frame, registration, and Kappa-Sigma stacking
  • Photoshop: Noise reduction, crop (1/2 x), image scale (1/2 x), JPG conversion

Image Description:

Another stunning object in the "summer" Milky Way. This is the Trifid Nebula, yet another gem in the constellation of Sagittarius. This is a Sigma stack of the best 24 of the 30 frames (the remaining 6 showed trailing/smearing due to tracking error). Interestingly, "dark subtraction" yielded a worse image than just stacking the un-dark-subtracted frames. I need to look into this. North is up.

 
NGC 7129 (Reflection Nebula)
SaratogaSkies Jim Solomon's Astropics

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NGC 7129 (Reflection Nebula)

Mouse-over to see annotations. (Requires Javascript) Click to see high-res version.

Image Details:

Camera: Mofidied Canon Rebel XT (350D): Hutech Type I Filter Replacement
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: 30 x 4min @ ISO 800
Total Exposure: 2hrs, 0min
Date: 10/3/2005 10:12:08 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, gradient removal
  • JimP: Flat field, Kappa-Sigma Stacking, White balance, ASINH stretching
  • Photoshop: Levels, cropping, JPG conversion

Image Description:

This is an interesting field in the constellation of Cepheus. In the upper right are a handful of reflection nebulae: NGC 7129, NGC 7133, and IC 5133. In the lower left is the open cluster NGC 7142. This needed more exposure time to bring out the faint portions of the reflection nebulae. A higher-resolution image is also available. North is up.

 
M27 (Dumbbell Nebula)
SaratogaSkies Jim Solomon's Astropics

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M27 (Dumbbell Nebula)

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: 60 x 1min @ ISO 800
Total Exposure: 1hrs, 0min
Date: 7/11/2004, ~3am PDT
Location: Saratoga, CA, USA
Acquisition: DSLRfocus
Focus: DSLRFocus
Dithering: None
Guiding: None

Processing:

  • IRIS: Dark subtraction, flat field, registration, Kappa-Sigma stacking
  • Photoshop: Cropping (1/2 x), image scale (1/2 x), JPG conversion

Image Description:

Ahhhh, now that's what this amazing object is supposed to look like, as opposed to a previously wasted attempt at too long a focal length. A 30% waning-crescent moon had risen about 22° above the horizon by the time the last of the 60 frames was shot, but it didn't appear to spoil the result. This is half of the full-frame image to provide a reasonable close-up of the nebula. A higher-resolution image is also available. North is up.