M81 and M82 Galaxies (18.02.05)
SC Quickcam Pro 3000, 135mm SLR camera lens and the Astro Systems 'Portable Star Drive'.
This was captured in Bulkington Village near Coventry, a much darker sight.
M82 is the cigar shaped galaxy on the left, M81 is the larger one on the right.
A stack of 208 x 10 second exposures captured with K3 and darkframe subtracted.
Levels adjusted in Photoshop and final finishing in Neat Image.
Christmas Tree Cluster (14.02.05)
SC Quickcam Pro 3000, 135mm SLR camera lens and the Astro Systems 'Portable Star Drive'.
216 x 10 second exposures captured and stacked in K3 and darkframe subtracted.
Levels adjusted in Photoshop.
M33 The Pinwheel Galaxy (10.01.05)
SC Quickcam Pro 3000, 50mm SLR camera lens, IR Filter and the Astro Systems 'Portable Star Drive'.
A stack of 202 x 10 second exposures captured with K3 and darkframe subtracted.
Levels adjusted in Photoshop and slight tone and contrast adjustments in Micrografx Picture Publisher.
M31 Andromeda Galaxy with 50MM Lens (02.01.05)
SC Quickcam Pro 3000, 50mm SLR camera lens, IR filter and the Astro Systems 'Portable Star Drive'.
A stack of 51 x 20 second exposures captured with K3 and darkframe subtracted. Levels adjusted in Photoshop and slight colour
and contrastadjustments in Micrografx Picture Publisher, final noise removal in Neat Image.
In this image, M32 is visible and M110 can also be seen above and to the right of M31.
M31 Andromeda Galaxy with 135mm Lens (12.01.05)
SC Quickcam Pro 3000, 135mm SLR camera lens, IR filter and the Astro Systems 'Portable Star Drive'.
A stack of 138 x 10 second exposures captured with K3 and darkframe subtracted.
Levels adjusted in Photoshop, tone and contrast adjustments in Micrografx Picture Publisher.
In this image, M32 is clearly visible to the right and M110 can also be seen at the top of the image.
Orion's Sword (20.11.04)
SC Quickcam Pro 3000, 135mm SLR camera lens and the Astro Systems 'Portable Star Drive'.
28 x 20 Second exposures at f8, darkframe subtracted, captured and stacked in K3CCD Tools.
Diagonal pattern removal, gamma correction and unsharp mask in Micrografx Picture Publisher.
Orion's Sword (25.01.06)
SC Quickcam Pro 3000, 135mm SLR camera lens and the Astro Systems 'Portable Star Drive'.
172 x 10 Second exposures, darkframe subtracted, captured and stacked in K3CCD Tools.
Levels adjusted using Photoshop and Micrografx Picture Publisher.
If you compare the difference between the two images above.
Both are of the same scene only the second image had more images to stack.
I also adjusted the camera settings to get a clearer image and remove the diagonal pattern.
If your tracking is good, it's worth sitting on your hands and let the camera take as many images as possible.
More images captured = More image information.
More information stacked = Better finished image.
More information stacked = Better finished image.
M42 (The Orion Nebula) and M43
(26.01.2006)
A closer view of the great nebula in Orion.
Captured with the SC Quickcam Pro 3000 and a 200mm Optomax SLR camera lens stopped at f5.6.
62 x 14 second exposures, darkframe subtracted, captured and stacked with K3CCD Tools.
Levels adjusted using Photoshop and Micrografx Picture Publisher, Finished in Neat Image.
Tracked using an Astro Systems 'Portable Star Drive'.
M42 Orion Nebula
A slightly closer view of the great nebula in Orion.
Taken using my long exposure modified Quickcam VC and a 135mm SLR camera lens.
5 x 8 second exposures, darkframe subtracted, captured using Astrovideo.
Tracked using an Astro Systems 'Portable Star Drive'.
M45 Pleiades Cluster and Comet Machholz (08.01.05)
SC Quickcam Pro 3000, 50mm SLR camera lens and the Astro Systems 'Portable Star Drive'.
Three images assembled as a mosaic in Imerge. Each image is a stack of between 80 and 100, three second exposures,
Captured with K3 with dark frame subtracted. Levels adjusted in Photoshop and slight colour and contrast adjustments in Micrografx Picture Publisher.
M45 The Pleiades Cluster
SC Quickcam Pro 3000 and 135mm SLR camera lens and the Astro Systems 'Portable Star Drive'.
50 x 12 second exposures, darkframe subtracted, captured and stacked with K3 CCD Tools.
M45 The Pleiades Cluster (27.12.03)
Long exposure modified Quickcam VC and 50mm SLR camera lens stopped at f2.
7 x 3 second exposures captured with Astrovideo and stacked with K3 CCD Tools.
Slight colour and contrast adjustments made using Micrografx Picture Publisher.
M93 (26.01.2006)
SC Quickcam Pro 3000 and 135mm SLR camera lens and the Astro Systems 'Portable Star Drive'.
97 x 8 second exposures with dark frame subtracted, captured and stacked with K3 CCD Tools.
Levels adjusted using Photoshop and Micrografx Picture Publisher.
Very difficult object to capture as it is found in Coventry's Orange skyglow only 12° above the horizon.
More Messier Objects
M41 |
M46 |
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M47 |
M48 |
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