Image of the day

Captured by
Terry Wood

Jupiter (clearer) Nov 5th 2023 w/Mewlon 180c

My Account

New to Astromart?

Register an account...

Need Help?

Posts Made By: Ron Wodaski

February 26, 2003 10:51 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Crab Nebula

Posted By Ron Wodaski

The clouds parted in New Mexico tonight and we got an unscheduled night of imaging with the remote telescope. I had a couple of hours before the first client was imaging, so I did a little imaging.

The seeing was especially good early on, though not bad after midnight. I managed some images of the Crab Nebula during the especially good seeing. I took nine 5-minute images and the combination of lots of exposure time and deconvolution, plus good seeing, results in a very sharp image.

I used a new technique on this image. I made two master images. I first enlarged the image 2X, and then applied deconvolution. I combined this with a second image, which was deconvolved before a 2X enlargement. The former image contributed more body (density, for those of you with film background), and the latter image contributed more texture.

The final image was 2048x24048, so I cropped the central portion and that is what is posted here. I'll add a second post with the color version. I used color from the first-light image on the remote scope.

Ron Wodaski
http://www.newastro.com/remote

February 27, 2003 10:14 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

NGC4536 LRGB with remote telescope

Posted By Ron Wodaski

This is a slightly reduced (75%) image of NGC4536, a beautiful galaxy amoung the many galaxies in Virgo. For some reason the collimation was off, so the image was not as sharp as usual, thus the reduction. We touched up the collimation tonight.

The smaller galaxy at top center in NGC4533. This is a dim pair; total exposure time was 65 minutes in luminance and 15:15:15 minutes in RGB.

If you are interested, the full-size version (which is a little soft because of the poor collimation) can be seen here:

http://www.newastro.com/remote/images/NGC4536_LRGB2b.jpg

Ron Wodaski

February 27, 2003 10:43 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

M61

Posted By Ron Wodaski

I took a few images of M61 the night before last - 2 at 10 minutes, one at 5 minutes. I summed them together and applied a little deconvolution to sharpen it up. This was when the collimatino on the remote scope was starting to go out, I think, but it still sharpens up really well with 25 minutes of exposure. Too bad I didn't get some color.

Ron Wodaski

February 28, 2003 06:52 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Core of M42 LRGB

Posted By Ron Wodaski

This image is a testament to what good S/N and heavy deconvolution can do to bring out details in an image. I took 49 1-second images of the core of M42 with the C14 and ST-1001E camera. I also took 12 sets of RGB data, 3 seconds per exposure. All exposures were unbinned. Seeing was so-so (note the larger bright stars; seeing was pretty average). But the higher resolution of the large aperture, combined with good S/N and some heavy deconvolution in Astroart, yields very good detail in the nebulosity.

This version uses the L data for details, and the RGB data for color. I am also going to create a version where I add L, R, G, and B together as the luminance, and then layer the RGB on top of that for color.

Ron Wodaski

March 1, 2003 08:10 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Waterfall Nebula and HH34

Posted By Ron Wodaski

Managed to squeeze in a few exposures between clouds last night. Didn't have really dark skies, but still managed to get the Waterfall Nebula and Herbig-Haro 34, plus a few other goodies I haven't identified yet (needed some sleep!). This version of the image is processed to bring out the faint details, with key features labeled, and is 2x enlarged to show those details.

Full field of view:
http://www.newastro.com/remote/images/hh_34.jpg

The jets (a linear, rod-like structure) consist of energetic particles ejected from the Herbig-Haro object. There is a bright segment of the jets visible in this image; they actually extend quite a bit further - the caps
are slower materials that the gets are pushing into. The south cap is pretty obvious; the north cap is not clearly visible, but the location is close to the tip of the arrow.

I was going after the Waterfall, but the HH object is even more fascinating; it would be a great study for higher resolution. There are some other HH objects in this FOV as well.

There was considerable reflection from a star outside the field from upper right; it adds a kind of cathedral effect in a more conventionally processed version of the image:

http://www.newastro.com/remote/images/waterfall.jpg

This is nine 10-minute unguided images of IR-blocked luminance with the remote telescope in New Mexico (C14, ST-1001E, Paramount ME). I'd like to image this when conditions are more favorable, as well as with the ST-10 on the C14 on a steady night. A fascinating area.

Ron Wodaski

March 3, 2003 10:42 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

NGC1999 (Keyhole Nebula)

Posted By Ron Wodaski

I started a long series of images of the Keyhole Nebula, but the clouds rolled in before I got very many individual 10-minute images. I summed a few 1- and 5--minute test luminance images plus a set of 3 each RGB to provide a hint of what's there. This really needs much longer exposure time. But I don't know when the next cloud-free day will come, so.... here is what I have so far.

Ron Wodaski

March 4, 2003 10:27 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

M104 (Sombrero) color

Posted By Ron Wodaski

I captured some color frames to compliment the luminance images I took back in January. I added 3 sets of RGB data (3:5:5 minutes RGB) to make the composite you see here. The luminance data was nine 5-minute images, which gave me good enough S/N to do some good deconvolution.

Ron Wodaski

March 4, 2003 09:54 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

NGC4395

Posted By Ron Wodaski

Here's a tough little subject - a very low surface brightness galaxy near Virgo. This is 45 minutes of exposure time (nine 5-minute images), and it's barely enough to show the key features of this galaxy. The numerous bright spots are star-forming regions; I am guessing but it looks to me like this galaxy has been gravitationally perturbed by a passing neighbor, stimiulating star production and distorting the spiral arms. There seems to be a wide shield of stars are top right, and large numbers of small condensations forming new stars.

Imaged under poor conditions; I'd like to get more luminance and then some color on this one.

Ron Wodaski

March 5, 2003 09:46 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

NGC 2683: a colorful galaxy

Posted By Ron Wodaski

This image is from last night - finally, some dark skies. (Funny how a guy frmo the Pacific Northwest, who used to complain only if it rained for months at a time, is suddenly sensitive to having to wait a WHOLE WEEK for clear skies. )

This galaxy caught my eye while cruising through the area NW of Leo. There are several other medium-sized and fairly bright galaxies in this area, so it looks like a good spot to image. It's high overhead before midnight.

This is about an hour of luminance, plus 5 sets of 3:5:6 minute RGB. I wanted to get enough luminance to do some serious deconvolution, and an hour was just about right for that.

Ron Wodaski

March 5, 2003 10:52 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

The Antennae in color

Posted By Ron Wodaski

Here's another image from last night. This is 50 minutes of luminance, and just a single set of color (couldn't wait for it to finish - wanted to get a look). This is a really interesting subject - lots of interesting details and colors in this colliding/merging pair of galaxies.

Will post a final version when I have time to process the rest of the color data.

Ron Wodaski