Astronomy
I have been wanting to do some dark nebula imaging for a while, but had read about how difficult processing would be for such images so I held off for a while until I had the means to do longer subs. Now that I have an autoguider my sub length is sufficient so I had a go at NGC 7023, also known as the Iris Nebula. These were imaged using a borrowed Newtonian astrograph from a dark sky location.
LRGB image integration time is: 234:60:60:60
Calibrated and stacked in Maxim DL and Processed using Annie's Astro Action in Photoshop CS2
Processing did take a bit more work than normal LRGB images, but using multiple layers I was able to get some good depth in the dust and was able to pull out some nice color (at least in my opinion)
I am very happy with how it turned out and am looking forward to doing some more dark nebulous areas in the future.
For now, I am moving on to a multi-night narrowband project . . . more to come soon
- A Full Week Of Astrophotography In The Haute-alpes, France
I just spent a week down at Olly Penrice's astronomy mecca in Southern France. Crazy me drove down with all of my gear (the whole trip both ways and what driving we did during the day down there totaled 2100 miles!) and much to Olly's amusement...
- A Whale Of A Time Getting To The Elephant Trunk
As those of you who know me probably know, I prefer nebulas to galaxies. No real reason, I just do. Not that I dislike galaxies but I enjoy imaging nebulae a lot more. So as galaxy season goes into full swing what do I pick for an object to image: the...
- First Bicolor Narrowband Image
I have imaged various objects in just Ha before, but just got to use my OIII filter for the first time and am attempting my first bi-color processing. I am hoping to get more hours of both Ha and OIII in the coming days or weeks (whatever the weather...
- Finally The Clouds Clear
After endless rain and clouds for weeks, we have finally gotten some nice evenings. I was able to get to a semi-dark spot but still within a reasonable driving distance this past weekend and did a little imaging while socializing with the other astronomers...
- Processing Comparison Of M42
I very quickly learned a few months ago when I started astrophotography that processing made all the difference in shots. Yes, it takes some skill to set up a shot and different equipment can make quite a difference, but where the real photos are set...
Astronomy
Iris Nebula
I have been wanting to do some dark nebula imaging for a while, but had read about how difficult processing would be for such images so I held off for a while until I had the means to do longer subs. Now that I have an autoguider my sub length is sufficient so I had a go at NGC 7023, also known as the Iris Nebula. These were imaged using a borrowed Newtonian astrograph from a dark sky location.
LRGB image integration time is: 234:60:60:60
Calibrated and stacked in Maxim DL and Processed using Annie's Astro Action in Photoshop CS2
Processing did take a bit more work than normal LRGB images, but using multiple layers I was able to get some good depth in the dust and was able to pull out some nice color (at least in my opinion)
I am very happy with how it turned out and am looking forward to doing some more dark nebulous areas in the future.
For now, I am moving on to a multi-night narrowband project . . . more to come soon
- A Full Week Of Astrophotography In The Haute-alpes, France
I just spent a week down at Olly Penrice's astronomy mecca in Southern France. Crazy me drove down with all of my gear (the whole trip both ways and what driving we did during the day down there totaled 2100 miles!) and much to Olly's amusement...
- A Whale Of A Time Getting To The Elephant Trunk
As those of you who know me probably know, I prefer nebulas to galaxies. No real reason, I just do. Not that I dislike galaxies but I enjoy imaging nebulae a lot more. So as galaxy season goes into full swing what do I pick for an object to image: the...
- First Bicolor Narrowband Image
I have imaged various objects in just Ha before, but just got to use my OIII filter for the first time and am attempting my first bi-color processing. I am hoping to get more hours of both Ha and OIII in the coming days or weeks (whatever the weather...
- Finally The Clouds Clear
After endless rain and clouds for weeks, we have finally gotten some nice evenings. I was able to get to a semi-dark spot but still within a reasonable driving distance this past weekend and did a little imaging while socializing with the other astronomers...
- Processing Comparison Of M42
I very quickly learned a few months ago when I started astrophotography that processing made all the difference in shots. Yes, it takes some skill to set up a shot and different equipment can make quite a difference, but where the real photos are set...