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- 12-03-04
- This is my first attempt at M1 with the ST-2000XM. I worked on it for several hours trying to get the guide star set for the image, as the night wore on I kept changing the exposure time from 10min X 10, to 7min, to 5 min, 3min, 2min, 90sec, and I finally after failing to get the guide star set I went for
- 1min X 5 on RGB only unguided.
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- 12-03-04
- This is my first attempt at M42 with the ST-2000XM. This was my first night out with the 2000, a friend of mine, Larry Deuel, and I started at 5:30pm and by 10:00pm we started imaging. I was able to get the guider to work relatively quickly. I processed this image using Maxim and my limited experience with processing. But I am not too happy with the results of M42. I know it is not easy with an f/10 10" scope but I was expecting something much better.
- 8sec X 10 on RGB only guided.
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- Orion M42 Update 12-03-04
- With the help of Mel Martin, from Seattle, we were able to process my original data to create this image. We used PhotoShop 7.0 and the features available through PhotoShop we increased the quality of this image 100 fold. Thank you very much Mel. I am sure that there is much more I can do to produce better data but for now I am amazed at the quality that we were able to achieve with the data that I already had.
- 8sec X 10 on RGB only guided.
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- 12-04-04
- This is my first attempt at M57 with the ST-2000XM. I worked on it for about 10minutes after setting up the equipment and I had it self guiding and imaging. It was a little windy and it does not look like most of the images that I have seen of M57 but for now it is great to me. I had about 1 1/2 hours of play time till the clouds moved in and had to shut it down, the clouds are expected to be around for another 3 to 4 days
- 1min X 5 on RGB only guided.
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- 12-09-04
- This is my first attempt at IC 434 Horse Head Nebula with the ST-2000XM. This image was my first attempt at IC 434 and I was amazed that it came out as well as it did. Again Mel Martin helped with the processing and also created this presentation for me.
- 4 min X 7 on RRGB guided.
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- 12-18-04
- The great nebula in the constellation of Orion the Hunter. On a clear night, from a dark site away from the lights of civilization, this glowing cloud of gas and dust can be seen with the naked eye as a fuzzy patch surrounding the star Theta Orionis in the Hunter's Sword, below Orion's belt. It is probably the most spectacular of all the objects cataloged by Charles Messier and now called by their `M' numbers. M42 had been known since the beginning of recorded astronomy as a star, but it is so outstanding that it was first noted as an extended nebula in 1610, a year after Galileo's first use of the telescope. Descriptions started appearing later in the seventeenth century, and it has been a popular target for anyone with a telescope ever since. So many details are visible in M42 it will more than repay the observer who makes it a target.
Date: 12-18-04 Scope: LX200GPS 10" f/10
Time: 8:30 pm pst Reducer: Meade 6.3
Temp: Start 44 deg f Finish 38 deg f Camera: St-2000XM with an A07
Humidity: Start 42% Finish 53% Color Wheel: CFW
Winds: 10 mph Filters: Astrodon Tru Color
Camera temp: -25c
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- 12-10-04
- This is my second attempt at M42 with the ST-2000XM. This image is my second attempt with the new camera and I am amazed with every new image how much detail can be brought out from so much raw data. With the help of Mel , again, this image would not have the spender that it does. Mel Martin has worked his magic again and I can only aspire to get close to the kind of processing he has shown me.
- 80 L @ 15 sec 20 RGB @ 15 sec guided.
The Learning Curve
