Theatre Hipparchus

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NGC 6946 at Starfest 2005

Details for NGC 6946

• Williams 110, SXV H9C, Losmandy GM8
• Joint venture with Chris Appleton
• 60 @ 45 seconds

Workflow

Chris did another excellent job prying the galaxy out of the star filled foreground. This is one of my favourite galaxies due to the heavy super nova activity and because you have to go through one of our own spiral arms to get at it.

NGC 2244 +.jpg

Details for NCG 2244

• Stellarvue AT1010 Achromat, SXV H9C
• Losmandy GM 8, Unguided 120 X 60 seconds
• Out of approximately 180 taken 120 were kept.

Workflow

For the most recent images I have been trying a two stage method. First take and inspect all the raws and delete any that are trailing, blurred or will not add to a good final image. Using Maxim DL Command sequence I have a little macro that will automatically convert RGB and assign a new file name preserving the original raws. I have been using the default combine RGB but will experiment to find the cameras natural output. Combine all these. I did a mild DDP just to bring out the nebula.

Then I split the original raws in Astroart to obtain the LUM for pasting with the above RGB set in Photoshop.   

M13 at Starfest 2005

Details for M13

• Short exposure - about 20 X 45 seconds
• Chris Appleton joint project
• Williams 110, SXV H9C, Losmandy GM8

Workflow

This object was used to tide us over while NGC 6946 crossed over the meridian. Still we picked up a reasonable amount of detail and colour for the short exposures.

I have been using the same processing steps for all of the Starfest images.

• rgb colour convert using Maxim
• combine then produce a luminance from the rgb finals in Astroart
• DDP - user filter with a 1 in the center and all the rest of the matrix at zero. (3X3)
• paste lum into rgb in photoshop

M16 at Starfest 2005

Details of M16

• Williams 110, SXV H9C, Losmandy GM8
• Approx 50 Minutes at 45 seconds each
• A joint venture with Chris Appleton

Workflow

Here Chris did most of this image - the set up was good and we had decent focus for most of the run. Working from memory:

• rgb colour conversion using Maxim's command sequence
• assembled a luminence frame using astro art
• tied it together in Photoshop

As a nice little treat, Doug George dropped in during the gathering of this data so we got to compare notes with the capture programs creator. I use Maxim for most of the processing as well. Chris was working the helm and didn't mind stepping aside for a few minutes.

M20 at Starfest 2005

Details of M20

• Joint with Chris Appleton
• Williams 110, SXV H9C, Losmandy GM8
• 30 at 45 seconds

Workflow

Chris did an excellent job on the processing. He has alot of Photoshop experience and works the data out of each image.

Here we had some problems gathering the data, despite good polar alignment. Slipping focus issues. Had to scrap quite a few frames. Overall quite pleased with the effort - I had waited for Starfest to acquire this target.

M27 Widefield

Details for M27

• Losmandy Titan, WO 110, SXV H9C
• 40 X 2 minute unguided exposures.

Comments

I used the Command Sequence RGB colour conversion in Maxim for all of the images. Using the Command sequence (found in the View pulldown menu) was easy to set up. All you do is open it, press record, then do an action manually. Later this becomes your process for doing it automatically. After the colour conversion - combine in Maxim then join the rgb with a synthetic lum manufactured in Astro Art.

Lastly, over to Photoshop for tweaking.

Messier 33

Details for M33

• Losmandy Titan, Williams Optics 110, SXV H9C
• 40 x 2 minutes unguided 
• I used PC anywhere from the desktop for this one.

Workflow

After about 4 weeks of trying - my balance and polar alignment started to come together.

Working with Focus Max but it is still a manual focus situation for the moment. Using a Meade 1209 electric focuser

Used command sequence to convert RGB. Then I moved over to astroart to synthetically produce a lum. Combined as 16 bit TIFF in Photoshop CS. Bob Anderson suggested using a Ken Crawford PS technique to bring out the dark lanes. It was used here.

Other notes - starting to learn a bit more about proper background settings and exposure times with this set up.  

Leo Trio

Details on M66 M65 + NGC 3628

• AT1010 80mm Achromat, IR filter, SXV H9C
• Unguided Losmandy GM 8
• 150 minutes over 3 nights
• Focus is an issue. I would have liked more definition in the galaxies.

I currently have a Meade 1206 electric focuser left over from the LX200 - it is a case of wiring it and attaching it to the end of the draw tube. For this image I was constantly fiddling to get the image into the low 6's for FWHM and that's just too high.

Workflow

For this effort I tried using the convert RGB option in Maxim rather than splitting the colours and reassembling. I did use the split method to come up with a LUM for pasting in Photoshop. DDP just seemed to blow out the cores of the galaxies so I left that out.

A couple of firsts:

Acquiring the target on subsequent nights. This image is cropped much more than I prefer. For the next set of images I will use the crosshair features of Maxim DL just to make sure my positioning is the same night after night.

Used Russ Cromans GradientXterminator. This looks like a real saviour for gradient heavy images. It uses some of Photoshops masking tools and with a little practice, this will be a great addition to the toolbox.

ngc-891.jpg

Details of NGC 891

• WO 110, Losmandy Titan, SXV H9C
• 40 x 2 minutes unguided - no discards
• This image was significantly cropped

Workflow:

Images acquired in Maxim manually, but I will be trying to get the next set through a scripting program - Astronomers Control Program now that the Titan is working so well.

Comments: Still lots to do, but extremely pleased with the Titan and 120 seconds unguided. Polar alignment is OK and the mount is pointing incredibly well. Just for the fun of trying I connected from the house and did the work from there.