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Posts Made By: Steven Jindra

December 1, 2005 08:23 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Question from a newbie

Posted By Steven Jindra
Bennett

With a limited mount, you will need to find the longest duration image you can take with yout setup before the stars become elonated (perhaps 5 to 20 seconds). Then take a series of images of this duration and stack them in software.

Lunar and planetary images are much shorter duration and should definately be within your reach.

The brighter Messier objects (particularly open and globular clusters, as well as M42 and possibly M31) may be successfully imaged.

Have fun and let us know how it goes.

Steven Jindra

December 7, 2005 04:37 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

TableTop 76

Posted By Steven Jindra
Brian

I purchased a simular little 76mm Newt used a few years ago. The optics were damaged (shot), but it had a nice little table top tripod and alt-az mount with 1 mounting ring. By adding a layer of foam (from Hobby Lobby's flexible foam sheets) it fits an 80mm F5 refractor quite nicely. With a couple of eyepieces and a barlow, everything goes in a small sports bag and makes a nice little travel setup. It serves as my loaner for friends going on a trip (sorry, I don't loan my Tak).

Bottom line - have fun with it.
Thanks
Steven Jindra

December 21, 2005 05:42 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

What is the best binocular in $250 range

Posted By Steven Jindra
Ricardo
This is a little off from your original criteria, but I bought a pair of the Canon 12 x 36 IS (image stabilized) binoculars on AstroMart for about $300 and they beat my 7 x 50 Minolta's handily. I have seen the 10 x 30 Canon IS models go for $250 on AstroMart. The image stabilization seems to add the effects of larger aperature with a steady image.
Hope this helps.
Thanks
Steven Jindra

December 25, 2005 06:15 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Photoshop Elements 3.0 - 2 Good Features

Posted By Steven Jindra
The attached is the same image of M42 after adjustments in Photoshop Elements 3.0 with the SHADOWS/HIGHLIGHTS and the LEVELS tools.

December 29, 2005 04:16 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Omega Centauri FS152

Posted By Steven Jindra
Greg
That is a nice shot of a beautiful object. Is that the actual field of view with that setup or did to crop it? These digital SLR's seem to be capable of some great images, particularly from a dark site.
Thanks for sharing.
Steven Jindra

January 6, 2006 02:24 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Orion Region in Ha from Utah

Posted By Steven Jindra
Tyler
That is a very nice shot. This past week I have been imaging the four main nebulae, Orion, Runnung Man, Horsehead, and Flame individually with an FS128 at F6 and a SXV-H9 in HA. Your image really puts them all in perspective.
Thanks
Steven Jindra

January 11, 2006 02:20 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Best Small Quality Refractor for CCD Astrophotogra

Posted By Steven Jindra
Alec
I've seen the Takahashi FS-60 go for between $650 to $800. It is great for imaging and is not hard to counterbalance. It is especially good for wide field images of Nebulae with an Ha filter (even from the city).
Steven Jindra

January 11, 2006 10:55 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

M51 with C9.25

Posted By Steven Jindra
Vincent
There's no need to appologetically back in with that image. Nice view of the dust lanes. What mount and guiding are you using?
Thanks
Staven Jindra

January 12, 2006 04:37 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

You Know Your an Astromart Junky When .....?

Posted By Steven Jindra
You responded to this pole. If you responded more than once I'm afraid you're beyond rehabilitation.

January 15, 2006 11:49 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Photoshop Elements

Posted By Steven Jindra
Robert
If you will do a search in the forums under Photoshop Elements you will find a thread I started a few months ago.

I am currently using (learning) Photoshop CS2 and find that it is a considerably more powerful tool than Photoshop Elements V3.0. But in my previous use of Photoshop Elements 3.0 I did discover two very powerful tools for astro images. My previous post stated:

These are (in the menu structure):
ENHANCE, ADJUST LIGHTING, (1) SHADOWS/HIGHLIGHTS and (2) LEVELS.
While many of the Photoshop Elements 3.0 features do not work on a 16 bit TIFF file, these two do and to me make it worth the cost. I believe I could eventually get the same results by working within the MaximDL, but not with the ease of the sliders and instant on-screen updates as provided with these features of Photoshop Elements 3.0.

To my knowledge, Photoshop Elements V1.0 and V2.0 only work in 8 bit mode, which will loose a lot of your image data just importing. V3.0 and V4.0 perform with these tools in 16 bit mode (16 bit TIFF files) which is a real advantage. In MaximDL save the image as a 16 bit TIFF file. Bring it up in PS Elements 3.0 or 4.0 perform your adjustments and save as a 16 bit TIFF. Reopen in MaximDL and you can work it as a tif or save back to a FITS file. I could see no loss of bitmap data. Header info may be lost though.

In PS Elements, for tools that only work in 8 bit mode, save these for your final tweeks before printing or saving as a JPEG for posting.

In my opinion, Photoshop Elements 3.0 or 4.0 is a very valuable tool for astro images, and the nice thing is that most of your learning curve will carry right into Photoshop CS2+ if, in the future, you should purchase it.

I hope this helps.
Thanks
Steven Jindra

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