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T O P I C R E V I E WtegwilymJust a shameless plug for my photo I got published on Astronomy Magazine's website.See "Picture of the Day". http://www.astronomy.com/ TommjanovecBeautiful photo...very sharp too! A lot of M42 pics are often overexposed...but you have just the right amount of exposure to capture the delicate structure of the nebula without it being an in-your-face photo. Plus the addition of M43 to the photo makes for a nice color match.I've never had the patience (and money) to be an astrophotographer, so I'm glad that others suffer for my enjoyment. I have to be content to viewing through the eyepiece.Thanks for posting!Matt TTom that is stunning - thanks!Cheers,Matt------------------ www.spaceracemuseum.comgliderpilotukFar from shameless!Always a pleasure to see your photos Tom and this is a beauty.Paul BramleyKSCartistBeautiful shot Tom! Kinda makes you want to go there doesn't it?Thanks for sharing.TimScottBeautiful photo, Tom! Astronomy Magazine Picture of the Day - that's impressive. Its sharpness and subtlety looks like what you would see from an observatory.Chris DubbsTom,I made it the background on my desktop.Thanks.tegwilym quote:Originally posted by Chris Dubbs:Tom,I made it the background on my desktop.Thanks.That's one of the best compliments an astrophotographer can get! Thanks for the comments. One of these days I'll get something good enough to get published in print, but I'm still working on that. It's funny how the brightest objects in the sky are actually some of the hardest to capture just right. This image was actually made up of 18 different exposures. I did a couple at 1600 ISO, then the others were at 800 ISO. 2 minute exposures, 4 minute, and 5 minute, then stacked with Images Plus, tweaked and adjusted with Photoshop, and some noise reduction with Neat Image. I've said it before, but the astrophotographer's biggest competition is him/her self! ;-)(Actually, I don't know to many women that do this, my girlfriend usually stays out of the observatory when I'm imaging since she says get get irritable!)Tom www.eastsideastro.org/observatory GilbertThat is an absolutely beautiful photograph!nasamad To capture the light of something so beautiful, so well, from so far away is truly something to be proud of.Well done........Adamtegwilym quote:Originally posted by nasamad: To capture the light of something so beautiful, so well, from so far away is truly something to be proud of.Well done........AdamI really want to perfect a good image of Andromeda M31. Another bright object, but even if it's bright, it's a challenge to do well. Tommjanovec quote:Originally posted by tegwilym: I really want to perfect a good image of Andromeda M31. Another bright object, but even if it's bright, it's a challenge to do well. TomNot only is M31 bright, but it's LARGE. Capturing the whole galaxy must be quite a challenge. dss65Tom, that is magnificent. Makes you think about how petty most of our thoughts and cares are.... Thanks for sharing this with us, and congratulations.------------------DonLunatikiTom, thats really great work. Have you ever done any planetary images? I pretty much just specialize in imaging Mars, but have done some Jupiter and Saturn work too. Some of my Mars images have made Astronomy Magazine in print. Its nice because they pay you, but its not that much. I also made cnn, msnbc and space.com with a dust storm report & picture. I'd love to get into deep space stuff like your image, but I don't think I have the right set up. Seems like a whole lot of work and tons of practice. What do you image with?JoelHappyProudThrilledMost impressive, Tom! What an amazing pic. You make the rest of us Washingtonians very proud indeed!tegwilym quote:Originally posted by Lunatiki:Tom, thats really great work. Have you ever done any planetary images? What do you image with?JoelHi Joel, Yes, I do planets also. See my web page under "Images --> Solar system" for that stuff. I do like doing Jupiter and Saturn, but yes, those are hard to do also. Mostly focusing and atmospheric stability is the trickiest part of that - as you well know!For imaging, I use a 12" Meade LX200, an Orion 80ED Apo piggyback on top (the M42 was taken with the 80ED), autoguiding with a Meade DSI using MaxDSLR for the guiding software, primary imaging camera is a Canon 10D DSLR. So when I image with one scope, I put the DSI on the other and guide with it. So this M42 was guided with the big scope. Kind of overkill using such a big thing for autoguiding, but it works! Someday I'll upgrade to a SBIG camera, but I've been very happy with the Canon for now. www.eastsideastro.org/observatory TomBenYea, a beautiful shot! Congratulations!LunatikiGreat site and images Tom. On your Jupiter image, you can even see different albedo features on Io if you look closely. An interesting note, we both imaged Mars at the same time it appears on October 22, 05 and captured the same big dust cloud. http://marswatch.amaonline.com/10-22-050325.jpg Comets, deep space, planetary and solar, you got it all covered.Joeltegwilym quote:Originally posted by Lunatiki: we both imaged Mars at the same time it appears on October 22, 05 and captured the same big dust cloud. http://marswatch.amaonline.com/10-22-050325.jpg Comets, deep space, planetary and solar, you got it all covered.JoelHey, that's pretty cool. Both got Mars the same night. I think you had much better seeing than I did though. Scope size makes no difference if you are looking through gunk!One of my next targets - when skies decide to clear - is another good attempt at the Horsehead nebula. I am able to pull it out of the light pollution but I just need to take a LOT of exposures to work with to try getting it out of the noise. My Canon 10D is also non-modified - still has the IR filter in it - so I have a bit more challenge with the red nebulae, but I can pull them out with some work. I'm always impressed with how much deep sky stuff I can pull out from living in the "red zone" of light pollution. http://cleardarksky.com/lp/HlndsObWAlp.html?Mn=focuser TomChris DubbsTom,Since I know zero about astrophotography, permit me some questions.1) Some of the stars in your photo have a reddish cast and others don't. Why?2) Two of the points of light directly above the nebula have a blue-ish halo. What causes that? tegwilym quote:Originally posted by Chris Dubbs:Tom,Since I know zero about astrophotography, permit me some questions.1) Some of the stars in your photo have a reddish cast and others don't. Why?2) Two of the points of light directly above the nebula have a blue-ish halo. What causes that? The red is probably caused by my adjusting the color of the nebula. Since my camera has the IR filter, a lot of the time nebulas come out looking blue since the red part is blocked or reduced. I then "cheat" a little bit and shift colors to make it look more like what we are familiar with seeing. Sometimes I end up changing star colors too. I have a red/green colorblindness (slight) that often screws me up. You'll often see a bit too much purple in my planet images, but I don't notice it that much unless I stare at it a while. I'll never be an artist!As for the blue halo around the stars at the top, that is actually another nebula called NGC1977 or "the running man".Here is a larger view of the same image - http://www.eastsideastro.org/observatory/nebulas/M42-Dec9.jpg TomdtempleFantastic photo. It seems to have a 3-D effect. Imagine what the night sky would look like from a planet inside that nebula or within several light years from its edge!
Tom
I've never had the patience (and money) to be an astrophotographer, so I'm glad that others suffer for my enjoyment. I have to be content to viewing through the eyepiece.
Thanks for posting!
Cheers,Matt
------------------ www.spaceracemuseum.com
Paul Bramley
Thanks for sharing.
Tim
I made it the background on my desktop.
Thanks.
quote:Originally posted by Chris Dubbs:Tom,I made it the background on my desktop.Thanks.
That's one of the best compliments an astrophotographer can get!
Thanks for the comments. One of these days I'll get something good enough to get published in print, but I'm still working on that. It's funny how the brightest objects in the sky are actually some of the hardest to capture just right. This image was actually made up of 18 different exposures. I did a couple at 1600 ISO, then the others were at 800 ISO. 2 minute exposures, 4 minute, and 5 minute, then stacked with Images Plus, tweaked and adjusted with Photoshop, and some noise reduction with Neat Image. I've said it before, but the astrophotographer's biggest competition is him/her self! ;-)(Actually, I don't know to many women that do this, my girlfriend usually stays out of the observatory when I'm imaging since she says get get irritable!)
Tom www.eastsideastro.org/observatory
Well done........Adam
quote:Originally posted by nasamad: To capture the light of something so beautiful, so well, from so far away is truly something to be proud of.Well done........Adam
I really want to perfect a good image of Andromeda M31. Another bright object, but even if it's bright, it's a challenge to do well.
quote:Originally posted by tegwilym: I really want to perfect a good image of Andromeda M31. Another bright object, but even if it's bright, it's a challenge to do well. Tom
Not only is M31 bright, but it's LARGE. Capturing the whole galaxy must be quite a challenge.
------------------Don
Joel
quote:Originally posted by Lunatiki:Tom, thats really great work. Have you ever done any planetary images? What do you image with?Joel
Hi Joel, Yes, I do planets also. See my web page under "Images --> Solar system" for that stuff. I do like doing Jupiter and Saturn, but yes, those are hard to do also. Mostly focusing and atmospheric stability is the trickiest part of that - as you well know!
For imaging, I use a 12" Meade LX200, an Orion 80ED Apo piggyback on top (the M42 was taken with the 80ED), autoguiding with a Meade DSI using MaxDSLR for the guiding software, primary imaging camera is a Canon 10D DSLR. So when I image with one scope, I put the DSI on the other and guide with it. So this M42 was guided with the big scope. Kind of overkill using such a big thing for autoguiding, but it works!
Someday I'll upgrade to a SBIG camera, but I've been very happy with the Canon for now. www.eastsideastro.org/observatory
Comets, deep space, planetary and solar, you got it all covered.
quote:Originally posted by Lunatiki: we both imaged Mars at the same time it appears on October 22, 05 and captured the same big dust cloud. http://marswatch.amaonline.com/10-22-050325.jpg Comets, deep space, planetary and solar, you got it all covered.Joel
Hey, that's pretty cool. Both got Mars the same night. I think you had much better seeing than I did though. Scope size makes no difference if you are looking through gunk!One of my next targets - when skies decide to clear - is another good attempt at the Horsehead nebula. I am able to pull it out of the light pollution but I just need to take a LOT of exposures to work with to try getting it out of the noise. My Canon 10D is also non-modified - still has the IR filter in it - so I have a bit more challenge with the red nebulae, but I can pull them out with some work. I'm always impressed with how much deep sky stuff I can pull out from living in the "red zone" of light pollution. http://cleardarksky.com/lp/HlndsObWAlp.html?Mn=focuser
quote:Originally posted by Chris Dubbs:Tom,Since I know zero about astrophotography, permit me some questions.1) Some of the stars in your photo have a reddish cast and others don't. Why?2) Two of the points of light directly above the nebula have a blue-ish halo. What causes that?
The red is probably caused by my adjusting the color of the nebula. Since my camera has the IR filter, a lot of the time nebulas come out looking blue since the red part is blocked or reduced. I then "cheat" a little bit and shift colors to make it look more like what we are familiar with seeing. Sometimes I end up changing star colors too. I have a red/green colorblindness (slight) that often screws me up. You'll often see a bit too much purple in my planet images, but I don't notice it that much unless I stare at it a while. I'll never be an artist!
As for the blue halo around the stars at the top, that is actually another nebula called NGC1977 or "the running man".
Here is a larger view of the same image - http://www.eastsideastro.org/observatory/nebulas/M42-Dec9.jpg
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