Rick's Astronomy Journal

2019-01-01T12:26:00.016-05:00

Grayscale Deep Space Image Processing [Here]

Plain Box Atari [Here]

Someday Real Soon

2010-08-08T08:51:00.002-04:00

NGC2070 Tarantula Nebula Southern Hemisphere

2009-11-14T12:11:00.006-05:00

©2009 Richard Murray

Notes: The Tarantula is a giant emission nebula within our neighboring galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is so bright that if it were the same distance as the Orion Nebula it would cast shadows!

The image above is a stack of five 10 minute H-Alpha filtered exposures.

I also took red, green and blue exposures which I will process later.

Date(s): 11/12/09
Object(s): NGC 2070 Tarantula Nebula
Telescope: RCOS 16" - FL 3360mm @ f/8.4
Mount: Paramount ME
Camera: SBIG STL-1001E - NABG
Guiding: On Camera
Filters: Ha
Exposure(s): 5 x 600 sec Ha, Binning 2x2
Processing: CCDStack and Photoshop
Location: Moorook, South Australia

M104 Sombero Galxaxy How It Was Done

2009-10-29T13:03:00.006-04:00

I can't give you all of the particulars of how I processed this image because my methods vary with each one but I certainly can give you an overview so here it goes:

CCD Stack -

The luminance images were loaded into CCDStack and calibrated with darks, flats and bias applied. Then an std sigma reject was applied to all images and the rejected pixels were imputed. Then a positive constraint deconvolution was applied with 100 iterations. The images were then registered, normalized and stacked using a sum combine. A DDP adjustment was then applied on the summed image with auto scale and adjustments were made to background, maximum and gamma settings. The image was then saved as a 16 bit .tif file. All of the same functions were applied to the red and blue frames with the exception of deconvolution and the fact that a maximum combine instead of a sum was used for stacking.

Photoshop CS2 -

On the luminance image, I used space noise reduction from Noel Carboni's Astronomy Tools and star trail elimination from Peter's Actions for Astrophotographers.

I applied a median filter to process out some black artifacts that resulted from a poor dark subtraction.

I switched to lab color and deselected all but the lightness channel and saved the image (this brings about an overall brightening of the image).

I applied a coarse high pass sharpening to the galaxy core and rim.

There was some grainyness to the image background so I did a gaussian blur subtraction using Apply Image with blending set to subtract and an offset of 25.

LRsGB processing was done by following a combination of Steve Cannistra's 'Modified Bicolor Technique' and R. Scott Ireland's LRGB procedures from his book 'Photoshop Astronomy'. A synthetic green channel was created prior to color processing. A couple of action steps applied to the color image were soft color gradient removal and increase star color.

There were many other steps applied in Photoshop in the .tif and .jpg formats too numerous to mention (or remember for that matter).

Registax 3 -

Wavelet filters were applied here. That's all.

PixInsight 1.0-

A dynamic background extraction was applied and prior to image sharpening an SGBNR smoothing routine was applied.
________

Here is the absolutely final widefield full resolution image (honest) of M104. There were two minor corrections done in Photoshop. First, three large stars in the image were damaged because they weren't protected during processing, so I replaced them with the stars as they were before processing. Second, the top star halo of M104 was too blotchy and unnatural so I lassoed the area and went to the filter menu and selected Pixelate and applied the fragment function to the area which took care of most of the blotchies.

Be sure to click on the image for the full widefield view:

©2008 Richard Murray
Full Size Image

Next Imaging Target CED214 Emission Nebula

2009-08-31T14:30:00.007-04:00

©2008 Richard Murray

Notes: This large emmision nebula in the constellation Cepheus (also known as the Calf Nebula) will be my next narrowband imaging target. I'll start the project as soon as the moon goes away around mid September. This one will be a minimum of 18 hours imaging with 6 hours for each narrowband filter (Ha, OIII, SII).

I think this one holds a lot of promise with a large amount of nebulosity and structure.

The image above is a single shot 240 second Ha exposure.

Date(s): 8-30-09
Object(s): Emission Nebula in Cepheus
Telescope: Megrez 66mm SD Doublet APO, WO 0.8 FR/FF
Mount: LX90
Camera: Atik 16hr
Guiding: Lx90 8" SCT, DSI Pro, Phd Guiding
Filters: Ha
Exposure: 240 sec Ha, Binning 2x2
Processing: CCDStack and Photoshop
Location: Burke Ave. Observatory, Three Rivers, Michigan

Two New Images With Widefield Scope

2009-08-21T12:22:00.002-04:00

©2008 Richard Murray

Notes: Here's a couple of unprocessed test images I took last night with my new 66mm Doublet APO. I was having trouble achieving focus until I put a 20mm extender in the optical chain which finally did the job.

What I like about these images is the wider field of view, but most important the stars are nice and round right to the edges of the image. So there's no dreaded vignetting going on. Also because of the short focal length (about F4.7 with the 0.8focal reducer) the ccd exposure times can be shorter. The left image was taken with an Ha filter for 4 minutes and the right image with a red filter for 3 minutes.

More images soon . . . .

Date(s): 8-20-09
Object(s): IC1396 Elephant Trunk Nebula in Cepheus and M31 the Andromeda Galaxy in Andromeda
Telescope: Megrez 66mm SD Doublet APO, WO 0.8 FR/FF
Mount: LX90
Camera: Atik 16hr
Guiding: Lx90 8" SCT, DSI Pro, Phd Guiding
Filters: Ha 6nm, Red
Exposure: 240 sec Ha, 180 sec Red, Binning 2x2
Processing: CCDStack - Quick DDP
Location: Burke Ave. Observatory, Three Rivers, Michigan

US vs THEM (It's a geek thing)

2009-08-20T14:12:00.002-04:00

Earth Beside a Terraformed Mars

2009-07-24T15:47:00.001-04:00

Springtime At Burke Avenue Observatory

2009-05-28T13:36:00.004-04:00

©2008 Richard Murray

For the past six months, I've been taking a hiatus from imaging. I'll eventually get back into astronomy but I'm trying to decide if I should continue with imaging and image processing or maybe focus on a more 'scientific' area of amatuer astronomy. A couple of areas I've been considering are supernova or comet hunting and possilby exoplanet hunting. All of these endeavors are possible even with the modest equipment I have available.

A great article on amatuer supernova hunting 'Searching for Supernovae on a Shoestring' appeared in the July 2009 issue of Sky & Telescope. I have the same ccd imager that the author uses.

So I'll continue to ponder for awhile what part of the universe I want to explore. Until then keep looking up.

Rick Murray

IC1848 Soul Nebula Stero Pair

2008-11-16T16:27:00.000-05:00

Below are stereo pairs of my recent Soul Nebula image.

The first image is the parallel version. Just stare at the middle of the two images and another image should appear in 3D.

The second image is the cross version. Just stare at the center of the image while crossing your eyes and another image should appear in 3D.

Parallel Vision Image Pair

©2008 Richard Murray

Cross Vision Image Pair

©2008 Richard Murray

These were created using J-P Metsavainio's Stero Pair Action for Photoshop which can be found here: Stero Pair Action

NGC1491 Emission Nebula in Perseus

2008-10-20T17:49:00.001-04:00

©2008 Richard Murray
Full Size Image

Notes: This is an emission nebula in the constellation Perseus. The nebulas glow is caused by hot gas plasma that is excited by embedded energetic young stars including the central star, BD+50 886 (mag 11.2) which is responsible for the brightest area with it's own blister nebula and glowing columns of gas.

The color palette used for this image was: OIII Red, SII Green, Ha Blue. This gives the image some unusual colors but helps to show how dynamic and active this region really is.

Imaging with narrowband is sometimes like looking at an object from an aliens perspecive whose eyes don't perceive colors the way we do but whose vision may in some ways be superior to our own.

Date(s): 10-8, and 10-12-08
Object: NGC 1491 Emission Nebula in Perseus
Telescope: Megrez 80mm APO, WO 0.8 FR/FF
Mount: LX90
Camera: Atik 16hr
Guiding: Lx90 8" SCT, DSI Pro, Phd Guiding
Filters: Ha 6nm, OIII 15nm, SII 14nm
Exposure: 9 hrs total, Ha 10x30 mins, OIII 6x20 mins, SII 6x20 mins, Binning 1x1
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight
Location: Burke Ave. Observatory, Three Rivers, Michigan

Read More

IC1848 Soul Nebula

2008-10-07T14:57:00.001-04:00

An Angel in the Soul

©2008 Richard Murray

Full Soul

©2008 Richard Murray
Full Size Image

Minimal Stars Soul

©2008 Richard Murray
Full Size Image

Notes: This is my second narrowband project which is the Soul Nebula right next door to the Heart Nebula. The weather wasn't as cooperative this time but I did manage to get most of the image exposures I needed. I got a full six hours of Ha but only managed half that for the OIII and SII filters. Still, it turned out pretty well.

Be sure to click on the image for a full size view and also at the bottom, the Read More link will take you to a great article in Universe today about this colorful nebula.

Date(s): 10-3, and 10-4-08
Object: IC1848 Soul Nebula in Cassiopeia
Telescope: Megrez 80mm APO, WO 0.8 FR/FF
Mount: LX90
Camera: Atik 16hr
Guiding: Lx90 8" SCT, DSI Pro, Phd Guiding
Filters: Ha 6nm, OIII 15nm, SII 14nm
Exposure: 11 hrs 20 mins Ha 12x30 mins, OIII 10x20 mins, SII 6x20 mins, Binning 1x1
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight, Hubble Palette: SII=Red,Ha=Green,OIII=Blue
Location: Burke Ave. Observatory, Three Rivers, Michigan

Read More

IC1805 Heart Nebula in Narrowband

2008-09-28T00:28:00.004-04:00

Second version with less stars.

©2008 Richard Murray
Click on image for 80% size.

Zoomed in to image center.

©2008 Richard Murray

©2008 Richard Murray
Full Size Image

Notes: This was an imaging run that took three nights to complete with 6 hours per filter and 30 minute subs for a total of 18 hours imaging. I've never imaged that long on one object before but I think the effort was worth it. I used the Hubble Palatte with SII as Red, Ha as Green and OIII as blue.

Be sure to click on the image for a full size view.

Date(s): 9-21, 9-22 and 9-25-08
Object: IC1805 Heart Nebula in Cassiopeia
Telescope: Megrez 80mm APO, WO 0.8 FR/FF
Mount: LX90
Camera: Atik 16hr
Guiding: Lx90 8" SCT, DSI Pro, Phd Guiding
Filters: Ha, OIII, SII
Exposure: 18 Hours Ha 12x30 mins, OIII 12x30 mins, SII 12x30 mins, All Bin 1x1
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2
Location: Burke Ave. Observatory, Three Rivers, Michigan

Read More

CTB-1 Supernova Remnant in Narrowband

2008-09-04T19:52:00.003-04:00

©2008 Richard Murray
Full Size Image

Notes: This is a supernova remnant sometimes referred to as Abell 85 located near the star Caph in the constellation Cassiopeia.

This reminds me of Simeis 147 I made an attempt at imaging a while back which is also an extremely faint remnant: here

I decided to image this using narrowband (Ha mapped to red, OIII to green, and SII to blue) filters to try to get as much detail as possible during the short amount of time I had.

CTB-1 is rarely imaged by amatuer astronomers and currently I could find only two examples on the internet. The second link refers to Dean Rowe's image which he took just recently in HaRGB and was my inspiration to give this challenging object a try:

Image of Bottom Half of CTB-1

Dean Rowe's Image

To me this object looks like a cell wall which has just burst open with its contents flowing out towards the upper left.

Coordinates: RA 23:59:13 DEC +62:26:12

Be sure to click on the image for a full size view.

Date: 8/31/08
Object: CTB-1 Supernova Remnant
Telescope: Megrez 80mm APO, WO 0.8 FR/FF
Mount: LX90
Camera: Atik 16hr
Guiding: Lx90 8" SCT, DSI Pro, Phd Guiding
Filters: Ha, OIII, SII
Exposure: 200 Minutes Ha 1x10,2x20,3x30 min subs, OIII 1x20 min sub, SII 2x20 min subs
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2
Location: Burke Ave. Observatory, Three Rivers, Michigan

Read More

NGC4565 Edge On Galaxy

2008-08-21T18:10:00.006-04:00

©2008 Richard Murray
Full Size Image

©2008 Richard Murray
Full Size Image

Notes: This is a good specimen of an edge on galaxy located in the Coma Berenices constellation which is not too far from the grandaddy of all galaxy clusters, Abell 1656. The galaxy in the upper left is NGC4562.

Although I didn't get quite the resolution I'd hoped for (considering the number of images I took) I think it's a well balanced image overall.

Be sure to click on the image for a full size view.

Date: 4/27/08
Object: NGC4565 Edge On Galazy
Telescope: Megrez 80mm APO, WO 0.8 FR/FF
Mount: LX90
Camera: Atik 16hr
Guiding: Lx90 8" SCT, DSI Pro, Phd Guiding
Filters: IR RGB
Exposure: IR 21x5min 1x1 bin, R 10x4min G 10x4min B 13x4min all 2x2 bin
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight
Location: Burke Ave. Observatory, Three Rivers, Michigan

Read More

M45 The Seven Sisters Open Cluster

2008-08-08T21:35:00.001-04:00

©2008 Richard Murray
Full Size Image

Notes: This is the Pleiades Open Cluster nicknamed the Seven Sisters which is a reflection nebula that gets its light from the surrounding stars.

I had just completed a long imaging session of the Crescent Nebula and decided to just take a test shot of M45 to see how many of the main stars I could fit in my field of view. So I just took one short 5 minute shot using a blue filter and this is the result. It turned out pretty good for just one short exposure and no stacking.

Date: 8/8/08
Object: M45 Pleiades Open Cluster
Telescope: Megrez 80mm APO 0.8 Focal Reducer
Mount: LX90
Camera: Atik 16hr
Filters: Blue Filter
Exposure: Blue 1 x 5min binning 2 x 2
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2
Location: Burke Ave. Observatory, Three Rivers, Michigan

Read More

NGC7380 With Star Colors

2008-07-14T19:23:00.001-04:00

©2008 Richard Murray
Full Size Image

Notes: This is a reprocessed image from 7/5/08 with star color added from RsGB images taken on 7/9/08. For the nebula the Ha and OIII images were mapped to the RGB channels as Ha for red, OIII as green and OIII as blue.

To me it's quite an improvement in the image. Look at the old image below.

Date: 7/9/08
Object: NGC7380
Telescope: Megrez 80mm APO with 0.8 Focal Reducer
Mount: LX90
Camera: Atik 16hr
Filters: Red and Blue
Exposure: Red-25 min (5 min subs), Blue-25 min (5 min subs) bining 2x2
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2
Location: Burke Ave. Observatory, Three Rivers, Michigan

Read More

NGC7380 Open Cluster with Nebula

2008-07-06T17:28:00.002-04:00

©2008 Richard Murray
Full Size Image

Notes: This is open cluster NGC7380 with emission nebula SH2-142 taken from my home observatory. This is a narrowband image taken with an Ha and an OIII filter with Ha as Red, OIII as blue and a synthetic green channel created from the Ha and OIII data using Steve Cannistra's Bicolor Technique.

A drawback of narrowband imaging is that you don't get any color information in the stars. So weather permitting, I may take some RGB images just to give the stars back some of their color.

Date: 7/5/08
Object: NGC7380
Telescope: Megrez 80mm APO
Mount: LX90
Camera: Atik 16hr
Filters: Ha6nm and OIII14nm
Exposure: Ha-100 min (10 min subs), OIII-50 min (10 min subs bin2x2)
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2
Location: Burke Ave. Observatory, Three Rivers, Michigan

Read More

M81-M82 Companion Galaxies LRsGB

2008-05-24T20:43:00.002-04:00

©2008 Richard Murray
Full Size Image

Notes: After about four months off without processing any images (I was taking them, just not processing them) I'm back with an image of M82(on top) and M81 (below).

This was taken at my home observatory and is an LRsGB with a synthetic green channel and Ha blended into the red channel. The Ha (hydrogen alpha filter) helped to bring out some of the active star forming regions (the red areas) particularly in M82 which is being severely distorted due to the huge gravitational pull of it's companion galaxy.

These two galaxies will eventually merge which is what will also happen to our own Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy.

Date: 4/2/08(Images taken on three separate nights concluding on 4/2/08)
Object: M81-M82 Companion Galaxies
Telescope: Megrez 80mm APO
Mount: LX90
Camera: Atik 16hr
Filters: Luminance, Red, Blue, Ha14nm, Ha6nm
Exposure: Luminance-115 min (5 min subs), Red and Blue-20 min (4 min subs bin2x2), Ha 6nm 45min total, Ha 14nm 50min total
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, Maxim DL
Location: Burke Ave. Observatory, Three Rivers, Michigan

Read More

M104 Sombrero Galaxy LRsGB Image

2008-01-24T19:05:00.004-05:00

©2008 Richard Murray
Full Size Image

Notes: This is a reprocessed image of M104 taken on 1/20/08. This time I used wavelet filters in a program called Registax and a few other processing tricks to bring out much more detail in the galaxy core and surrounding area. This is the color version which is an LRsGB image (sG = synthetic green).A lot of processsing work but well worth it.

Date: 1-20-08
Object: M104 Sombrero Galaxy
Telescope: RCOS 10" - FL 1510mm @ F/6 (GRAS-15)
Mount: Paramount ME
Camera: SBIG ST-8XME NABG
Filters: Luminance, Red, Blue
Exposure: Luminance-20 min (5 min subs), Red-10 min (3.3 min subs)bin2x2, Blue-10 min (3.3 min subs)bin2x2
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight, Registax
Location: Moorook, South Australia

Forum Threads Regarding This Image:

Cloudy Nights
IceInSpace
MelbMeadeScopes
CCD-NewAstro

Read More

M104 Sombrero Galaxy

2008-01-20T22:11:00.000-05:00

©2007 Richard Murray
Full Size Image

Notes: This is a luminance image taken with a robotic telescope in southern Australia. The color image will follow soon. The second image is a crop of the full size image.

Each time I image this I get just a little more detail in the galaxy's dark lanes. Be sure and take a look at the full size image.

Imaging Details:

Date: 1-20-08
Object: M104 Sombrero Galaxy
Telescope: RCOS 10" - FL 1510mm @ F/6 (GRAS-15)
Mount: Paramount ME
Camera: SBIG ST-8XME NABG
Filter: Luminance
Exposure: Luminance-20 min (5 min subs)
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight
Location: Moorook, South Australia

M81 Spiral Galaxy

2008-01-15T18:19:00.000-05:00

©2007 Richard Murray

Full Size Image

Notes: Ok, here is the color version of the image posted several days ago. This is an LRsGB image with the sG meaning 'synthetic green' as no green filter was actually used during imaging.

Imaging Details:

Date: 1-11-08
Object: M81 Spiral Galaxy
Telescope: Takahashi TOA 150 (GRAS3)
Mount: Paramount ME
Camera: SBIG ST-10 XME ABG
Filter: Clear
Exposure: Luminance-25 min [5 min subs], Red-9 min (3 min subs),
Blue-9 min. (3 min subs)
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight
Location: GRAS Observatory, Mayhill, NM

M81 Bode's Spiral Galaxy

2008-01-12T19:45:00.000-05:00

©2007 Richard Murray

Full Size Image

Notes: With Michigan's clouds still not going away I used one of the GRAS robotic telescopes in New Mexico to image this beautiful galaxy which is part of our local group. You can see M81's faint satellite galaxy off to center left.

I also took some color images which I'll upload later when processing is done.

Imaging Details:

Date: 1-11-08
Object: M81 Spiral Galaxy
Telescope: Takahashi TOA 150 (GRAS3)
Mount: Paramount ME
Camera: SBIG ST-10 XME ABG
Filter: Clear
Exposure: 25 min [5 min subs]
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight
Location: GRAS Observatory, Mayhill, NM

Horsehead and Flame Nebula Narrowband Color

2007-12-31T17:31:00.000-05:00

©2008 Richard Murray

©2008 Richard Murray

Notes: Here's the color version of the image that was taken on Christmas night (see Ha black and white image below). This is lower resolution than I'd like because of the 2x2 binning and the moon being out but the colors did turn out better than I expected.

I used Ken Crawford's tutorial on combing Ha, OIII and SII filtered images using levels and cliping masks.

Click image for full size.

The second image was created using Peter's Photoshop Actions. I just took the top image and used the new action step 'Increase Dynamic Range'. That's all. I think it improved the image quite a bit. Clicking on the two images for full size will show the difference better.

Imaging Details:

Date: 12-26-07
Object: Horsehead Nebula (IC434) and Flame Nebula (NGC2024)
Telescope: W.O. 80mm Super APO
Mount: LX90
Camera: Atik 16hr
Filter(s): Astronomik Ha 6nm, OIII 14nm, SII 14nm
Exposure: Ha 4x10 min subs, OIII 3x10, SII 3x10, Binning 2x2
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight
Location: Burke Ave. Observatory, Three Rivers, Michigan

Horsehead and Flame Nebula

2007-12-27T19:44:00.000-05:00

©2007 Richard Murray

Notes: I started imaging this on Christmas night. Clear nights have been so rare lately I have to go out whenever the skies open up. This was taken on a very bright night with the sixteen day old moon very high in the night sky. Only use of a narrowband filter could result in any kind of useful image so I used an Ha 6nm filter for the above image.

I also got some OIII and SII filtered images so in a few days I'll show the color version which should be fairly colorful despite that pesky moon.

Imaging Details:

Date: 12-26-07
Object: Horsehead Nebula (IC434) and Flame Nebula (NGC2024)
Telescope: W.O. 80mm Super APO
Mount: LX90
Camera: Atik 16hr
Filter(s): Astronomik Ha 6nm
Exposure: Ha - 4x10 min subs, Binning 2x2
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2
Location: Burke Ave. Observatory, Three Rivers, Michigan

Comet 17P/Holmes Bicolor Narrowband

2007-12-16T12:43:00.000-05:00

©2007 Richard Murray

Notes: This is a first light image from my new observatory and is a bicolor image using Ha and OIII narrowband filters with a synthetic green channel. This isn't the natural color of the comet but it does bring out more detail of its inner structure.

The bottom image is a color negative of the above image.

When Comet 17P/Holmes exploded back in October of this year it shed about 1 percent of it's mass which is the equivalent to the Earth losing its entire crust! At this point the comet is actually larger in the sky than the full moon.

Imaging Details:

Date: 12-1-07
Object: Comet 17P/Homes
Telescope: W.O. 80mm Super APO
Mount: LX90
Camera: Atik 16hr
Filter(s): Astronomik Ha 6nm and OIII 14nm
Exposure: Ha - 1x10 min and 3x5 min subs, OIII 1x4 min sub (clouded out)
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight
Location: Burke Ave. Observatory, Three Rivers, Mi

Just One Clear Night

2007-11-20T18:21:00.000-05:00

©2007 Richard Murray

Notes: It's a well known fact in the amateur astronomy community that if you buy a new astronomy gadget you can suffer for days or weeks (depending on the gadget) with cloudy weather. It's been cloudy for three weeks now since I had my new observatory built so I figure I have about a week to go before clear skies. :>))

Since I don't have anything else to take pictures of, above is the latest picture of my observatory through my den window.

Getting Closer to First Light

2007-11-03T18:38:00.000-04:00

The Captain and I are almost ready for our first voyage, er ah, I mean first light. I almost thought I heard him say "Take her out Sulu. :>))

©2007 Richard Murray

Notes: We have electric power now. Notice the futuristic gym flooring and the nifty red rope lights. Also the warm room curtains are up. The advantage of installing gym flooring is it's made out of rubber, so if you drop some equipment it doesn't break; it just bounces.

Burke Avenue Observatory Amost Complete

2007-10-17T20:23:00.000-04:00

Some pictures of the roof open and the inside.

©2007 Richard Murray

Notes: The roof stops rolling at the beginning edge of the warm room.

Burke Avenue Observatory Almost Done

2007-10-13T17:38:00.000-04:00

About six hours left till it's finished!

©2007 Richard Murray

Notes: This is the result of two days work and about a half day to go. Oh boy!

It's 10' x 14' in size with a 5' x 10' warm room and a 9' x 10' scope area.

IC5070 Pelican Nebula

2007-10-11T13:42:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

Full Size Image

Notes: This was a short exposure run just to test out the GRAS3 scope in New Mexico (1 of 6 scopes available for rental at that location).

The good news is the Tak 150 has about the same field of view as my 80mm Megrez APO which means I can combine images taken at my home observatory with those taken with the Tak in New Mexixo. :>))

Imaging Details:

Date: 10-8-07
Object: IC5070 Pelican Nebula
Telescope: Takahashi TOA 150
Mount: Paramount ME
Camera: SBIG ST-10 XME ABG
Filter: Astrodon Ha
Exposure: Ha - 30 min [10 min subs]
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight
Location: GRAS Observatory, Mayhill, NM

Orion and Running Man Nebula - M42 & NGC1977

2007-10-05T16:30:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

Full Size Image

Techno Stuff: 10/6/07 Camera: SBIG STL-11000M , Imaging Scope:TAK FSQ-106 ED, One 60 sec exposure with a clear filter, Autoguided, Processed with CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes: I'd like to say I went out and bought a bunch of new insanely expensive equipment but I didn't. This is my first image taken using equipment that is part of the Gobal-Rent-A-Scope stable of fine instruments which are located throughout the world.

This image was taken by me over the internet with a robotically controled scope located in the central part of South Australia on 10/6/07 at 3:30am Ausie time. Here in the US at my location it was in the early afternoon.

Keep in mind this is not a stack of exposures. It is just one 60 sec exposure through a clear filter when the moon was at 33% illumination. Not bad at all for such a short time.

The Beginning Of My New Observatory

2007-10-05T11:44:00.000-04:00

The hole is dug for the pier.

©2007 Richard Murray

The base for the pier is complete.

©2007 Richard Murray

Notes: Construction should begin on 10-11-07 and be completed within two or three days. The observatory is going to be a 10' by 14' with a 5' by 10' warm room. More images to come . . .

VdB142 "Elephant Trunk" in Ha:sG:OIII

2007-09-27T20:03:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

Full Size Image

Techno Stuff: 6/20/07 Camera: ATK-16hr, Imaging Scope: Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Ha 6nm 80 min total with 20 min subs, OIII 14nm 90 min total with 30 min subs, no binning, Darks Applied, Autoguided with QGuide and PHDGuide from LX90, , Processed with CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes: This is an Ha:sG:OIII narrowband image with Ha mapped as red, OIII as blue and a synthetic green generated from the Ha and OIII images. I took this back on June 20th but didn't have a chance to process it until now.

I didn't plan on the colors turning out this way but I think the black and orange are appropriate with Halloween just around the corner. :>))

In the two images below the colors are remapped to red:green:blue respectively.

Here's an Ha:OIII:OIII version.

©2007 Richard Murray

Full Size Image

And here's an OIII:Ha:OIII version.

©2007 Richard Murray

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And here is a collage of all three.

M16 Eagle Nebula in Halpha

2007-09-17T18:22:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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This version has had deconvolution and DDP (digital development process) applied.

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 7/8/07 Camera: ATK-16hr, Imaging Scope: Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Ha 160 min total with 20 min subs, no binning, Darks Applied, Autoguided with DSI Pro and PHDGuide from LX90, , Processed with CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes: This is my second attempt at M16 with double the amount of Halpha exposure and better tracking overall. Lots more detail is apparent. My old image is here for comparison.

The Eagle Nebula is where the famous Hubble telescope 'pillars of creation' image was taken and are located towards the center of the image.

M31 Andromeda Galaxy Ha-LLRGB

2007-09-13T18:55:00.000-04:00

Here's a reprocessed image with a little more natural color.

©2007 Richard Murray

©2007 Richard Murray

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Wide Screen Monitor View

Techno Stuff: 7/28/07 Camera: ATK-16hr, Imaging Scope: Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, IR 40 min total with 8 min subs, no binning, Red & Green 20 min total with 5 min subs, Blue 24 min total with 6 min subs, Binning 2X2, 7/29/07 Ha 160 min total with 20 min subs, No binning,Autoguided with DSI Pro and PHDGuide from LX90, No Darks, Processed with CCDStack, Photoshop CS2

Notes: This is a Ha-LLRGB image which shows the red H-alpha regions surrounding M31. Lots of processing on this image as integrating Ha data with LLRGB is more complicated than I thought. Just for fun, I've also included a widescreen version for those with widescreen monitors.

M33 Pinwhell Galaxy

2007-09-11T16:24:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 9/10/07 Camera: ATK-16hr, Imaging Scope: Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, IR 65 min total with 5 min subs, no binning, Red 25 min with 5 min subs, Blue 30 min with 6 min subs, Binning 2X2, Synthetic Green channel, Autoguided with Q-Guide and PHDGuide from LX90, No Darks, Processed with CCDStack, Photoshop CS2 and PixInsight

Notes: This is an LLRGB image using a synthetic green channel. It was taken under murky conditions with high altitude clouds forcing me to keep the exposure time down. The RGB color required a heavy saturation boost plus LLRGB layering in order to realize much color at all.

Sh2-104 Emission Nebula in Cygnus

2007-09-01T19:54:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 8/18/07 Camera: ATK-16hr, Imaging Scope: Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Ha 6nm, 76 minutes total with two 30 min subs and one 16 min sub (interupted due to clouds), binning 1x1, Autoguided with DSI Pro and PHDGuide from LX90, No Darks, Processed with CCDStack, Photoshop CS2 and PixInsight

Notes: Seldom imaged by amateur astronomers, this is a very faint emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus. This is located due east of the popular Crescent Nebula. Sh-104 is viewed by professional astronomers as a good illustration of the "collect and collapse" model of star formation triggered by the rapid expansion of a Helium II region.

IC1805 Heart Nebula

2007-08-28T18:35:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 8/26/07 Camera: ATK-16hr, Imaging Scope: Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Ha 6nm 140 minutes total with 20 min subs binning 1x1, Autoguided with Q-Guide and PHDGuide from LX90, No Darks, Processed with CCDStack and Photoshop CS2 and PixInsight

Notes: I tried to keep the amount of processing down on this one because the stacked image looked so good. This was taken on a clear calm night just after about 2 weeks of rain.

NGC7023 Iris Nebula LRGB

2007-08-16T17:08:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 5/18/07 for Luminance and RG and 8/11/07 for B, Camera: ATK-16hr, Imaging Scope: Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Luminance IR 11 minutes total with 1 min subs and 80 minutes total with 5 minute subs binning 1x1, Red and Green 20 minutes with 5 minute subs binning 2x2, Blue 30 minutes with 6 min subs binning 2x2, Autoguided with DSI Pro and PHDGuide from LX90, Darks Applied Luminance Only, Processed with CCDStack, Photoshop CS2 and PixInsight.

Notes: I imaged the luminance, red and green frames in May but it took me until August to get some decent blue frames. The full size image is small because the blue frames had to be rotated almost 45 degrees to match up with the earlier images. But it all turned out ok in the end.

The second image is the same as the first but processed by combining the red and blue frame with a synthetic green frame along with the original luminance frame. Once this was processed in Photoshop, the top image was desaturated (color removed) and this was placed on top as another luminance frame to create what is called an LLRGB image.

VDB 152 Reflection Nebula in Cepheus

2007-08-07T18:14:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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And here is the LRGB Color image of the same object.

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 7/21/07 for Luminance and 7/22 for RGB, Camera: ATK-16hr, Imaging Scope: Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Luminance IR 60 minutes total with 10 min subs binning 1x1, Red and Green 25 minutes with 5 minute subs, Blue 30 minutes with 6 min subs binning 2x2, Autoguided with ATK-2hs and Guidedog from LX90, Darks Applied Luminance Only, Processed with CCDStack and Photoshop CS2

Notes: The color image had to be cropped due to rotation of the RGB images which were taken on the following night. This was much easier to process in grayscale than in color. The color image took two separate processing attempts and I settled on the second try.

Emission Nebula in M31 Andromeda Galaxy

2007-07-29T17:14:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 7/29/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Halpha 6nm 160 minutes total with 20 min subs no binning, Autoguided with Atk-2hs and Guidedog from LX90, No Darks, Processed with CCDStack Photoshop CS2 PixInsight

Notes: Just as most emission nebula in the Milky way emit prodigious amounts of energy in the Halpha range, there is no reason why emisson nebula in the Andromeda Galaxy shouldn't as well. So I spent the night imaging M31 using an Halpha filter to see if I could find a few. And there they are, sprinkled throughout the sprial arms.

The one which I've highlighted is a dead ringer for NGC2359 Thor's Helmet. Imagine an alien amatuer astronomer imaging such a giant emission nebula as this! (I sure would like to know what kind of astronomy equipment he, she, it is using) :>))

M31 Andromeda Galaxy

2007-07-22T23:20:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Below is a softer processed version which doesn't burn out the galaxy core so much and brings out more of the outer arms. This was blended with the above image in Photoshop. Click on the image for a full size view.

©2007 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 7/22/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Luminance IR 30 minutes total with 6 min subs binning 1x1, Red and Green 15 minutes with 5 minute subs, Blue 18 minutes with 6 min subs binning 2x2, Autoguided with Q-Guide and PHDGuide from LX90, No Darks, Processed with CCDStack and Photoshop CS2

Notes: Let's just say this was a real adventure in color processing. I can't recall imaging an object that had this many colors pop out at once during processing. But that's part of the fun of doing what I do.

Looks like there is a very clear light bridge from M31 to it's captured satellite galaxy M32.

This image was taken on a very special night. Even though several neighbors had there porch lights on, the night was crystal clear with the milkyway in full view.

M106 and Friends LRGB

2007-07-19T23:59:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 6/8/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Luminance IR 80 minutes total with 8 min subs, binning 1x1, Red 20 minutes with 5 minute subs - Blue 30 minutes with 6 minute subs Binning 2x2, Synthetic Green, Autoguided with Atk-2HS and Guidedog from LX90, Darks Applied, CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes: To get all the details of M106's core please look at the full size image. I did the best I could on the color. I started out with the whole thing looking yellowish green so I switched to Lab Color in Photoshop and the color processing went a lot smoother.

The large galaxy is M106 and the edge on smaller galaxy right next to it on the left is NGC4248. The two galaxies next to that are NGC4231 and NGC4232. There appears to be a faint light bridge between them so they may be interacting. The larger edge on galaxy at bottom right is NGC4217 and to the right of it is NGC4226. I'm pretty sure the faint galaxy just below M106 is UGC7356.

Sh2-171 Emission Nebula

2007-07-17T11:32:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 7/13/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Ha 6nm 140 minutes total with 20 min subs, binning 1x1, Autoguided with CCD Labs Q-Guide and PHDGuide from LX90, Darks Applied, CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes: This is the second portion of Sh2-171, the first being the Calf Head Nebula. Not as much structure as the Calf Head but still an interesting nebula.

Sh2-171 Calf Head Nebula In Cepheus

2007-07-14T17:45:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 7/13/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Ha 6nm 40 minutes total with 20 min subs, binning 1x1, Autoguided with CCD Labs Q-Guide and PHDGuide from LX90, Darks Applied, CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes: My original plan was to just try out my new Q-Guide autoguider (cmos webcam) and PHDGuide expecting a night of frustration while I worked the bugs out. Even if it was the unlucky mornning of Friday the 13th, after a few hiccups the darn thing started to work, so I went over to the constellation Cepheus and got this image. Notice the large Calf Head in the upper center (Keep looking, you'll see it. Hint - It's turned sideways with the nose pointing right).

This is part of a much larger nebula, much too large for my setup, but I managed to also image another portion near the bottom of the complex which I'll post next after the processing is done.

Thinking Blogger Award

2007-07-09T12:11:00.000-04:00

I recently received the Thinking Blogger Award so I'm passing it on.

Here are my choices for the Thinking Blogger Award. (three more to follow)

1. rightbrain/leftbrain
Some great art here - whimsical and humorous by a very talented artist.

2. The Time Sink
Amazing photography of the natural world (just go to his Photo Blog link on the left).

Congratulations, you won a Thinking Blogger Award!

THE RULES ARE:

Should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging. The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.

2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the memo

3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (there is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

Rick Astronomy Journal

M104 Sombrero Galaxy

2007-07-07T15:05:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 5/13/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, IR 40 minutes total with 8 min subs binning 1x1, RGB 15 minutes total each with 5 min. subs binning 2x2, Autoguided with Atik-2HS and Guidedog from LX90, Darks Applied, CCDStack, Photoshop CS2.

Notes: The IR (Infared/UV blocking filter) frames turned out very well. However, the RGB (red, green, blue filtered) frames suffered from heavy light pollution gradients which CCDStack took care of surprisingly well allowing me to come up with a decent final image. I like doing LRGB processing and plan on doing more with fairly bright objects like M104.

M16 The Eagle Nebula

2007-07-03T17:05:00.002-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 6/26/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Ha 6nm, 80 minutes total with 20min subs, Binning 1x1, Autoguided with Atik-2HS and Guidedog from LX90, Darks Applied, CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight, Image Analyzer

Notes: There was every reason in the world why this image should not have come to be. The night was murky and foggy, the object was at a low altitude (33 degrees), I forgot to plug in my dew strap so each exposure taken left the Megrez objective more and more fogged up. So frankly, I think I deserve a little applause for ending up with a halfway decent image. :>D

NGC6960 Veil Nebula West

2007-06-18T19:18:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 6/17/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Ha 6nm, 39 minutes total with 25min, 9min, 5min subs, Binning 1x1, Autoguided with Atik-2HS and Guidedog from LX90, No Darks, Registax3, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight, Silkypix

Notes: I battled the clouds all night to get this one saving what exposure time I had accumulated whenever the next batch of clouds started to roll in. I managed three exposures: 25 (lucky me), 9 and 5 minutes for a total of 39 minutes in all.

IC1396 Elephant Trunk Nebula

2007-06-15T15:34:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Here's a more dramatic perspective.

©2006 Richard Murray

This image was processed in CCDStack prior to touchups in Photoshop.

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 6/15/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Ha 6nm, one 40 minute exposure, Binning 1x1, Autoguided with Atik-2HS and Guidedog from LX90, No Darks, Registax3, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes: I was having some tracking problems while trying to image this object which weren't resolved until about 3:30am. So I went for broke and decided to do one long 40 minute exposure and just leave it at that. It turned out pretty good. :>))

NGC6820/NGC6823 Open Cluster and Emission Nebula

2007-06-13T22:41:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 6/13/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Ha 6nm, 186 minutes total with 26.6 minute subframes, Binning 1x1, Autoguided with Atik-2HS and Guidedog from LX90, Darks Applied, Registax3, Photoshop CS2

Notes: NGC6823 is the star cluster in the center while NGC6820 is the surrounding emission nebula. Note the dark nebula and pillars of cold molecular clouds which probably contain newborn stars obscured by the enveloping dust.

NGC6888 Crescent Nebula Widefield

2007-06-03T14:29:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 5/28/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/3 with 0.5 focal reducer, mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Ha 6nm 60 minutes total with 20 minute subframes, Binning 1x1, Autoguided with Atik-2HS and Guidedog from LX90, Darks Applied, Photoshop CS2, Image Analyzer

Notes: The Atik 0.5 focal reducer allowed for a wider field of view and good nebula definition. The stars ,however, were a distorted mess and required a lot of processing to get them back to normal. All in all it turned out pretty well.

Abell 1656 Coma Galaxy Cluster

2007-05-30T19:05:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 5/9/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6 mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Luminance IR 6x600secs Binning 1x1, RG 3x300secs B 3x360secs Binning 2x2, Autoguided with Atik-2HS and Guidedog from LX90, Darks Applied, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight, Image Analyzer

Notes: Most of the smaller galaxies are clustered around the two larger galaxies on the left: NGC4874 to the left and NGC4889 to the right. There are well over 40 galaxies in this image.

NGC5985 Galaxy Triplet

2007-05-18T19:36:00.001-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 4/20/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6 mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Luminance IR 8x600secs, , RGB 5x300secs, Binning 1x1, Autoguided with Atik-2HS and Guidedog from LX90, Darks Applied, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight, Image Analyzer

Notes: Here's a galaxy triplet in the constellation Draco with a face on spiral (NGC5985), a dwarf elliptical (NGC5982) and an edge on spiral (NGC5981).

NGC7635 Bubble Nebula

2007-05-14T17:56:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 5/12/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6 mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Ha6nm 2x1200secs, Binning 1x1, Autoguided with Atik-2HS and Guidedog from LX90, No Darks, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight, Image Analyzer, Silkypix

Notes: It's a little early in the season for this one in the Northern hemisphere but I was at the end of an imaging sessions and saw that the Bubble Nebula was up so I went for it. :>))

IC1318 Narrowband

2007-05-05T23:14:00.000-04:00

Hubble Palette

©2007 Richard Murray

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CFHT Palette

©2007 Richard Murray

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Halpha 6nm

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 5/4/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6 mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Luminance 3x1200secs, OIII 1x900secs SII 1x900secs, Binning 1x1, Luminance Autoguided with Atik-2HS and Guidedog from LX90, OIII and SII Manually Guided, Darks Applied, Photoshop CS2, AstroWave, PixInsight

Notes: This is my first narrowband image made with Ha, OIII, and SII filters. This was taken during a full moon and wind gusts of 20mph which is why I was only able to process a few frames. The top image was processed using the 'Hubble Palette' where SII=Red, Ha=Green and OIII=Blue. The second image made use of the 'CFHT palette' where Ha=Red, OIII=Green and SII=blue. The bottom image is in Halpha.

Hickson 68 Compact Galaxy Group

2007-04-28T20:03:00.000-04:00

©2007 Richard Murray

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Techno Stuff: 4/20/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6 mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Luminance IR 10x600secs Binning 1x1, RG 5x360secs B 5x420secs Binning 1x1, Autoguided with Atik-2HS and Guidedog from LX90, Darks Applied, Registax3, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes: This is a cluster of galaxies from Paul Hickson's Catalog of Compact Galaxy Groups. I've counted seven galaxies so far and will be putting up a labeled chart later. There's a substancial green halo around the large yellow star which you can see in the full sized image. I don't know if this is real or an artifact caused by optics.

M101 Pinwheel Galaxy

2007-04-24T16:00:00.001-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

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Full Size Image With Enhanced Star Color

Techno Stuff: 4/16/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6 mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Luminance IR 12x300secs Binning 1x1, RG 6x300secs, B 6x360secs Binning 2x2, Manually Guided from LX90, Darks Applied, Registax3, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes:One of my first color images for some time because I finally had several clear nights for a change. :>)

There are a couple of small galaxies in addition to M101. I think the small one directly below at the edge of the frame is NGC5477 and I'm not sure about the one located in the upper left.

PK164+31.1 Planetary Nebula

2007-04-12T10:54:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 4/10/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6 mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter 6nm, 45 mins total exposure with 1x10mins, 1x15mins, 1x20mins, Binning 2x2, manually guided from LX90 with ATK-2HS, no darks, Photoshop CS2, Image Analyzer, Silkypix

Notes:Also known as the Headphones Nebula, this is a very faint, 14.0 mag, planetary nebula located in the Lynx constellation. The image was taken at a low altitude with low level fog and in the direction of the most heavy light pollution at my site. The Astronomik 6nm Ha filters ability to cut through these obstructions is the only reason this faint object registered on the CCD at all! :>))

NGC3628 and the Trio in Leo

2007-03-22T15:04:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray
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Techno Stuff: 3/20/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6 mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Red filter and IR filter, 6x600secs, manually guided from LX90, no darks, Binning 2x2, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight, Neat Image

Notes:This is the often imaged 'Trio in Leo' of three Galaxies located in the Leo Constellation. The framing isn't the best but it was a balance of trying to remain in as close as possible and finding a suitable guide star. The brightest galaxy, NGC3628 ((mag 9.5) is at bottom.

IC443 Jellyfish Nebula

2007-03-18T16:17:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 3/17/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6 mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Astronomik Ha 6nm filter, 8x600secs, autoguided with LX90, darks applied, Binning 2x2, Processed in Registax3, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes:This is the second image taken with my new Megrez 80mm APO which is piggybacked on my LX90. I used an Astronomik 6nm Ha filter which does an excellent job of filtering out light pollution even at very low altitudes.

This image is my first tenative step towards learning nondistructive image processing through the use of adjustment layers where no permanent changes are made to the image except at the last stage of processing. I'm using R. Scott Ireland's excellent book, Photoshop Astronomy, to learn this technique.

The top image was stacked in Registax3 and the middle image was stacked in Photoshop CS2.

The bottom image is the result of applying a technique in Photoshop CS2 to the middle image which was learned in the Astro-Narrowband Yahoo Group as follows:

Create a duplicate layer
Apply a minimum filter with 1 pixel
Apply a high pass filter with 3 pixels
Set blending mode to Overlay
Set Opacity to taste (I used 80%)
Flatten image.

M51 Whirlpool Galaxy - First Light With Megrez 80mm APO

2007-02-23T19:39:00.000-05:00

Full Size Image

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 2/23/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6 mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Red and IR filter, 2 x 480 secs, autoguided with LX90, no darks, Binning 1x1, Processed in Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes:This is the first image taken with my new Megrez 80mm APO. After aligning the scope on top of the LX90 and a few mishaps, adjustments, balancing etc., etc.. I only had a short time left to image so only got two images. Next time out I should be able to get a lot more.

Current Equipment

2007-02-21T21:13:00.000-05:00

©2006 Richard Murray

This is my latest equipment configuration. The 80mm refractor on top which I just received in the mail is a William Optics Megrez Super APO which I'll be using for widefield imaging and to autoguide with. My main imaging instrument is an ATK-16hr which is attached to the APO. And of course my trusty LX90 SCT sits below the refractor.

Despite the somewhat awkward appearance of this setup it actually is very stable in all the positions I'm likely to encounter during imaging.

Oh and the toy robots in the background were really enthused when I first started to set everything up but they seem to have lost interest now. :>)

IC410 Tadpole Nebula

2007-01-20T18:54:00.000-05:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 1/17/07 LX90 SCT ATK-16hr, Ha Filter, 1 x 500 secs, autoguided, no darks or flats, Binning 2x2, Processed Photoshop CS2, Adobe Lightroom, PixInsight, Image Analyzer

Notes: Mag 7.5, Size 11' Focus Star: Capella Reference Star: Iota SAO 57522

The bottom image was processed using a minimum and hipass filter technique in Photoshop CS2 (see Jellyfish Nebula image dated March 18, 2007 for details)

SPECIAL EFFECTS

©2006 Richard Murray

Milky Way From Cygnus to Cassiopeia

2006-12-25T20:48:00.000-05:00

©2006 Richard Murray

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 10/29/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 28mm Lens at F/2.8 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 5 x 1800 secs, autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes: This is a straight imaging run up the Milky Way from the constellation Cygnus all the way to Cassiopeia; a distance of about 5500 light years. Each panel of the mosaic (5 in all) is an exposure of 30 minutes using an Halpha filter. Each frame is angled to the right because of the earths rotation.

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-24T11:53:00.000-05:00

IC2118 Witchhead Nebula

2006-12-21T13:23:00.000-05:00

©2006 Richard Murray

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 12/19/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 140mm Telephoto Lens at F/5.6 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 5 x 1800 secs, autoguided, darks applied, Binning 2x2, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes: This is a faint reflection nebula which derives its glow from the large 0.1 magnitude star Rigel which is just outside the field of view to the left. Rigel is part of the Orion Constellation. Notice the witches head complete with hair and a star for an earring.

The second image was processed in the beta version of Adobe Lightroom. Thanks Dan!

Voyage to the Horsehead Nebula

2006-11-27T21:21:00.000-05:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Notes: This is a gif animation of several images I took over the past several months with my Atk 16hr ccd imager and different camera lenses. The last frame was taken using my 8" SCT. To the top left of the Horsehead is the Flame Nebula.

Rosetta and Cone Nebula Complex

2006-11-23T22:03:00.000-05:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 10/26/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 35mm Lens at F/5.6 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 2 x 1200 secs, autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes: This is a wide field image of the Rosette Nebula (bottom right), the Monoceros Loop (a supernova remnant which covers half the image and embeds itself into the Rosette) and the Cone Nebula located at top center.

Lying just outside of the field of view to the bottom right of the Rosette is Barnard's Loop also a suspected supernova remnant which is part of the Horsehead and Orion Nebula region.

NGC2237 Rosetta Nebula

2006-11-20T18:35:00.000-05:00

Violet photo filter (12%) and slight deconvolution sharpening applied.

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 11/20/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 400mm Lens at F/8 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 11 x 600 secs, autoguided, darks applied, Binning 2x2, Processed in Registax 4, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight.

M42 Orion Nebula

2006-11-15T16:49:00.001-05:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 11/10/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 400mm Lens at F/11 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 12 x 50 secs and 11 x 3 secs, no tracking, darks applied, Binning 2x2, Processed in Registax 4, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Orion Constellation Wide Field

2006-11-01T23:12:00.000-05:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 10/26/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 35mm Lens at F/5.6 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 1 x 900 secs for each of four images, autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight

Notes: This is a mosaic consisting of four images which were assembled in Photoshop CS2. See labeled image below.

©2006 Richard Murray

False Color Image

©2006 Richard Murray

NGC7635 Bubble Nebula Widefield

2006-10-26T16:56:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/24/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 58mm Lens at F/4 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 1 x 1200 secs, 1 x 1500 secs, 1 x 1800 secs, autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight

Notes: There's a lot going on in this image with 11 objects identified and several unidentified. See labeled image below.

©2006 Richard Murray

SH2-240 (Simeis 147) Supernova Remnant

2006-10-01T21:05:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray
My best attempt at processing this faint DSO.

©2006 Richard Murray
Best image from the QCUIAG Group Sh2-240 Processing Challenge.

©2006 Richard Murray
My first processing sttempt.

©2006 Richard Murray
My second processing attempt.

Techno Stuff: 10/1/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 58mm Lens at F/4 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 6 x 1200 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 2x2, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, Pixinsight, Neat Image, Image Analyzer .

Notes: This is a very old (100 to 200,000 years) and very faint supernova remnant that is dispersing back into the interstellar medium. At the top left is M37 an open cluster and the object to the bottom left of Sh2-240 is LBN826 a nebula which is 7' x 7' in size. Sh2-240 is approximately 150 light years across.

This supernova is so faint that it is a real challenge to bring out any details. At the beginning of the processing session you are faced with a massive amount of stars and almost no detail showing of the supernova itself. That's why the original image frames were provided to QCUIAG (QuickCam and Unconventional Imaging Astronomy Group) to provide a processing challenge for the group as a whole. The result of that challenge is the second image from the top.

IC434 Horsehead Nebula / NGC2024 Flame Nebula

2006-09-26T21:11:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/26/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 140mm Telephoto Lens at F/5.6 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 7 x 600 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight

Notes: The large star in the upper right corner is Alnitak (Mag. 2.0) which is part of the belt in the Orion Constellation.

NGC6888 Crescent Nebula Widefield

2006-09-24T16:00:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/21/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 140mm Telephoto Lens at F/3.8 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 1 x 633 secs, 1 x 1200 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight, Neat Image

Notes: The Crescent Nebula is bottom right. The large star in the upper left corner is Sadr (Mag. 2.2).

IC410 The Tadpole Nebula/IC405 The Flaming Star Nebula

2006-09-23T16:26:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/21/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 140mm Telephoto Lens at F/3.8 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 3 x 1200 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight

Notes: The Tadpole Nebula is on the left and the Flaming Star Nebula is on the right. IC417 Emission Nebula is at the top left.

NGC7000 - The American Nebula / IC5070 The Pelican Nebula

2006-09-22T14:24:00.000-04:00

Halpha Image

False Color Image
©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/20/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 140mm Telephoto Lens at F/3.8 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 3 x 1200 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight

Notes: The American Nebula is on the left and the Pelican Nebula is on the right.

Orion Widefield

2006-09-21T17:17:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/21/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 58mm Lens at F/4 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 3 x 1200 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, Pixinsight.

Notes: This image includes the Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula on the right and part of Barnards Loop (a supernova remnant) on the left. At the bottom right is a small part of M42, the Orion Nebula.

M31 Andromeda Galaxy

2006-09-17T20:47:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/17/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 140mm Telephoto Lens at F/3.8 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, IR Filter, 25 x 360 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 2x2, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, Neat Image.

Notes: Mag 3.4, Size 189' x 61', Focus & Reference Star: Mirach

IC1805 The Heart Nebula

2006-09-16T17:14:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/15/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 140mm Telephoto Lens at F/3.8 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, HA Filter, 10 x 360 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 2x2, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight, Neat Image.

Notes: Mag 6.5, Size 60', Focus Star: Cas SAO11482 Reference Star: Segin SAO12031

NGC7479 Galaxy

2006-09-13T13:16:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/3/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 7 x 360 secs autoguided, 6 x 900 secs manually guided, darks & flats applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight, Neat Image. Notes: Mag 10.9, Size 4' x 3.1', Focus Star & Reference Star: Markab

IC1805 Heart Nebula

2006-09-10T20:05:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

NASA Image

The top image shows the portion of the nebula I imaged and the image at bottom shows the full Heart Nebula with a box indicating the approximate area that was imaged.

Techno Stuff: 9/3/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 26 x 360 secs autoguided, no darks, Binning 1x1, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight, Neat Image. Notes: Mag 6.5, Size 60', Focus Star: CAS SAO 11482, Reference Star: Segin SAO 12031

IC434 Horsehead Nebula

2006-09-04T17:31:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/4/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 1 x 60,120,180,240,300,360 secs autoguided, Darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight, Neat Image. Notes: Mag 11, Size 90' x 30' Focus and Reference Star: Alnitak SAO 132444

IC410 The Tadpole Nebula

2006-08-31T08:26:00.000-04:00

SPECIAL EFFECTS

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 8/31/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 1 x 600 secs manually guided, No Darks or Flats applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight. Notes: Mag 7.5, Size 11' Focus Star: Capella Reference Star: Iota SAO 57522

IC5146 Cocoon Nebula LLRGB

2006-08-29T20:48:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 8/20/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 2 x 360 secs autoguided and 4 x 360 manually guided, Darks and Flats applied, Binning 2x2, R,G each 3 x 180secs B 4 x 180secs (for 10 total) Binning 2x2 all RGBs manually guided, Darks applied, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight.

NGC7293 Helix Nebula

2006-08-22T20:11:00.000-04:00

In Halpha

In False Color
©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 8/22/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 8 x 360 secs autoguided and 2 x 360 manually guided, Darks and Flats applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight.

IC1396 Elephant Trunk Nebula

2006-08-17T16:51:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 8/16/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 6 x 300 secs manually guided, Darks and Flats applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight, Neatimage.

NGC 7000 Mexico Region of North American Nebula

2006-08-16T21:16:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 8/15/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 4 x 720 secs manually guided, Darks and Flats applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight.

IC5070 Pelican Nebula

2006-08-06T19:47:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

This is first light with my new Atik 16hr ccd camera. Once I get past the learning curve, I think this will be an exceptional imaging device. At first I'll be concentrating on all kinds of nebula so expect to see a lot more images in the coming months.

Techno Stuff: 8/5/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16HR, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60 for about F3, Guided with Guidedog, No Darks, Binning 1x1, 1 frame at 100 secs, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight.

M27 Dumbell Nebula L[HA]RGB

2006-08-05T22:02:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: RGB Images: 7/29-7/31/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60 for about F/3, Guided with Guidedog, Darks, 5fps, R: 100 sec x 15, G: 120 sec x 16, B: 100 sec x 13, 60-80% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 25-
50%, Sat 50%, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight, Neat Image.

Ha Luminance Image: 6/15/06, LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60, Guided with Guidedog, Darks, 5fps, 8 frames at 300 secs each, 55% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 15%, Sat 50%, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight.

M16 in Halpha and Ha+RGB

2006-07-20T17:32:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 7/16-7/17/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60 for about F/2, Guided with Guidedog, Darks, 5fps, R: 100 sec x 8, G: 120 sec x 6, B: 110 sec x 12, 53-60% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 100%, Sat 50%, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight, Neat Image.

Ha Luminance Image: 6/24/06, LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60 for about F/2, Guided with Guidedog, Darks, 5fps, 15 frames at 120 secs each, 48% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 100%, Sat 50%, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight, Neat Image.

See Halpha version several images below.

NGC6888 The Crescent Nebula

2006-07-06T18:09:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 7/6/06, LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA
Filter, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60
for about F/2, Guided with Guidedog, No Darks, 5fps, 9 frames at 150
secs each, 55% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 100%, Sat 50%, Processed
in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight, Neat Image, iPrep.

NGC7635 The Bubble Nebula

2006-06-24T22:08:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 6/24/06, LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60 for about F/2, Guided with Guidedog, Darks, 5fps, 24 frames at 150 secs each, 52% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 100%, Sat 50%, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight, Neat Image.

Here's One Good Reason Not to Retire Hubble

2006-06-18T11:34:00.000-04:00

NASA Hubble Space Telescope

M27 The Dumbell Nebula in H-Alpha

2006-06-15T15:34:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 6/15/06, LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60, Guided with Guidedog, Darks, 5fps, 8 frames at 300 secs each, 55% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 15%, Sat 50%, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight.

NGC6823 Open Cluster With Nebulosity

2006-06-06T18:21:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

©2006 Richard Murray

This is my first successful attempt at taking an image with a Hydrogen Alpha filter which helps to bring out nebulosity in objects.

The bottom image is an example of how creating a pseudo red image in Photoshop, bluring it, and then placing the HA filtered image on top of it as a luminance layer can bring out even more nebula details.

Techno Stuff: 6/6/06, LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60, Guided with Guidedog, Darks, 5fps, 9 frames at 300 secs each, 55% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 15%, Sat 50%, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, Loreal, PixInsight.

NGC6946 Spiral Galaxy in Color

2006-05-30T13:06:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

This is the first image I have taken in color using RGB filters. I used the black and white image below as the luminance layer and combined it with the RGB images in Photoshop. Since I had only a few color images to process I used multiple luminance layering for an LLRGB image to enhance color detail.

Techno Stuff: LLRGB, 5/29/06, LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, Baader IR, DSI Pro RGB Filters, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60, Guided with Guidedog, No Darks, 5fps, RGB 5-7 frames each at 200 secs each, 75% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 0%, Sat 50%, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, Loreal, PixInsight, Astrowave.

NGC6946 Spiral Galaxy

2006-05-22T19:55:00.000-04:00

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 5/23/06, LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, Baader IR, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60, Guided with Guidedog, No Darks, 5fps, 61 frames at 100 secs each, 65% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 0%, Sat 50%, White Balance nothing selected, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, Loreal, PixInsight.

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The image below of NGC6946 is a 61 image stack done in Registax before any further processing was done. I know, I can't believe it either! The histogram stretch is a miracle tool for astrophotography. Compare it to the final processed image directly above.

©2006 Richard Murray