A9Fall11Gallery

This semester's class raised the bar once again. The number and quality of the images submitted was higher than for any previous semester. Outstanding work, gang! Having our 12" domed scope now fully operational and adding in the H-alpha filter system on the ST7 added new capability, true, but the motivation and energy of the group was the single biggest factor. I'm encouraged and impressed, and look forward to next year's class, when our new POD observatory dome and Hyperstar system should be installed and ready for all.

Becky's Gallery
In addition to these innovative and beautiful images, Becky also did an outstanding independent project - The creation of an animated .gif from a unique and brilliant Orionid Meteor trail which streaked across the skies during our Dark Sky photo trip to Bonny Doon. This project is presented on its own special page.

Star Trails at Bonny Doon Airfield
Taken with a Nikon D40 at 10:36 pm on Oct. 22, 2011. Focal length set at 34, with f number 9. Exposed for 159 seconds. Edited in Photoshop using curves, brightness/ contrast, color balance, unsharp mask, reduce noise, gaussian blur, crop, and clone stamp tool. Camera was pointed in the North-West, with red lights glowing from Santa Cruz Astronomy Club members in the foreground.

International Space Station over Cabrillo Observatory
Taken with a Nikon D40 on Oct. 19, 2011 at 7:46 pm. Focal length set at 50, f number at 6.3. Exposed for 30 seconds. Edited in photoshop using curves, Brightness/contrast, despeckle, unsharp mask, and cropped.

Moon
Taken through Meade LX200 10 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope with Nikon D40 on Aug. 7, 2011 at 8:17 pm at Cabrillo Observatory. Camera set at prime focus. Edited in Photoshop using curves, contrast, saturation, color balance, and cropped.

Psychedelic Moons
Taken at my friends house off 7th avenue, using a Nikon D90 DSLR camera on Nov. 15, 2011 at 10:30 pm. Focal length set at 105 with f number at 5.6. Exposed for 1/20th of a second. Edited in Photoshop using curves, brightness/contrast, crop, as well as enlarging the moons and adjusting placement of red lights. To obtain the four moons I photographed the reflection of the moon against two double-paned windows, creating the illusion of four. There was also some red christmas lights hanging which are out of focus in the picture framing the moons.

NGC 7331- Galaxy Cluster in Pegasus.
Taken at Mono Hot Springs on Oct. 1, 2011 at 11:15 pm using an 8 inch Schmidt-Newtonian mounted on a Losmandy german equatorial mount with a ST4K ccd camera. 9x5 min. exposures. CCDOPS: Dark subtracted with -20 C dark frame, then color processed using sRGB + Gamma. Stacked in Registax using multipoint setting. Edited in photoshop using color balance, reduce noise, hue/saturation, curves, unsharp mask, and despeckle.

Crystal Ball Planetary Nebula in constellation Taurus.
Taken on Nov. 7 at 10:14 pm using 12 inch SCT and ST2K ccd camera at Cabrillo Observatory. 5x5 min. exposures. CCDOPS: Dark subtracted with -25 C dark frame. Flat fielded then color processed using sRGB + Gamma. Stacked in Registax using multipoint setting. Edited in Photoshop using Curves, Deep space noise reduction, color balance, brightness/contrast, despeckle, and desaturated the greens/cyans/yellows. To mask a section of illuminated fog, I created a layer with a dark opaque gradient covering my original photo, and the copied the original image onto a topmost layer at 57% opacity to have stars remain visible in that area.

Brandon's Gallery

Galaxy Cluster, NGC 5982+5985+5981, Dragon
Camera-ST-2K/standard image, High resolution, Temp -21C, Tracing 2sec, Exp 300sec Observation date 10/19/11 Time 20:40:43. clear, no moon out, great conditions. CCDops
Flat Field + Dark Suptract
SingleShot Color, Color Process sRGB w/Gamma. Used the same process on all 3 shots taken. Registacks5 Stacked 3 photos using a single star with the limit set to 0. PhotoShop 7
Curves- darks Down + lights up, Adj-Hue+Saturation,
Used actions make stars smaller x3, Crop photo, Rotated Photo
Added border and 8x10 black backround to fill

Orion Nebula, NGC 1976 M42. Temp -25c, Tracking 5sec, Exp 60sec. Observation date 11/30/11 Time 22:01:41 very windy, clear out, subject low on the horizen. CCDops Flat Field + Dark Subtract
SingleShot Color, Color Procese Adj-magenta, sRGB w/Gamma
Used the same process on all 3 shots taken. Registax5 stacked 3 photos using a single star with the limit set to 0. PhotoShop 7 -
Image resized to 10x7.5 inch, Curves- darks up + lights up, Adj-Hue+Saturation,
Used actions make stars smaller x3, Tool - Liquify around star

        Moon
       camera-Nikon D40
        observation date 8/7/11
        almost a full moon high in the sky, Lightroom
        Tool-darken/SarpenPhotoShop7
           Tool Filter/Lucis ART, Cropped to 8x10

Diffuse Nebula, NGC 6888, constalation-Swan
Camera-ST-2K/standard image, High resoltion, Temp -21`c, Tracing 2sec, Exp 300sec
Observation date 10/19/11 Time 21:20:08. super clear, no moon out, great conditions. CCDopps
Flat Feild + Dark Suptract
SingleShot Color, Color Procese sRGB w/Gamma
Used the same process on all 3 shots taken. REGIstacks5
Stacked 3 photos using a single star with the limit set to 0. PhotoShop 7
Curves- darks Down + lights up, Adj-Hue+Saturation,
Used actions make stars smaller x2, Action deap space object,
Crop photo to fit 8x10, Rotated Photo

Duncan's Gallery

Cave Nebula/Sh2-155
Bonny Doon Airport 10/22/2011 10:23 p.m. Meade LXD75 Schmidt-Newtonian/Losmandy GM-8
Camera SBIG ST4K chip temp. -15.53 5min.x5 seeing conditions: clear, warm & a beautiful night CCDOPS: Dark subtract-standard color processing-sRBG+Gamma Registax: single-point stacking point size 64 Classic Mode Photoshop: Levels-RGB-20/0.90/255. Green-0/0.94/255 Curves-RGB-input:41, output:25 "Astro-Tools" Actions: Make Stars Smaller-3 times Space Noise Reduction-2 times Local Contrast Enhancement-2 times
Increased saturation- +8 Increased contrast- +5 Unsharp Mask-amount 57% Little use for Clone Stamp Tool-just a bit here & there Crop Re-sized

Comet Garradd
Cabrillo College 10.19.2011 10:11 p.m. Meade LXD75 Schmidt-Newtonian/Losmandy GM-8 Camera SBIG ST4K chip temp. -20.42 c. 5min.x5 seeing conditions: clear, cold & lots of dew CCDOPS: Dark subtract-standard color processing-sRGB+Gamma Registax: single-point stacking point size 64 Classic Mode Photoshop: Levels-RGB-25/0.62/255. Green-0/0.90/255 "Astro-Tools" Actions: Make Stars Smaller-3 times Space Noise Reduction-2 times Local Contrast Enhancement-2 times Increased Saturation- +5 Increased contrast- +5 Unsharp Mask-amount 131% No real need for Clone Stamp Tool Crop Re-sized

M17/Omega Nebula
Bonny Doon Airport 10.22.2011 8:30 p.m. 5min.x4 Meade LXD75 Schmidt-Newtonian/Losmandy GM-8
Camera SBIG ST4K Chip temp. -15.3 C. Seeing conditions: warm & stable, nice night indeed CCDOPS: dark subtract-standard color processing-sRBG+Gamma Registax 5: single point stacking point size 64 Classic Mode Photoshop CS2: Levels-RGB-40/0.70/255. Green-0/0.93/255 Curves-RGB-input:18, output:12 "Astro-Tools" Actions: Make Stars Smaller-3 times. Space Noise Reduction-2 times Unsharp Mask-amount 150% Crop Re-sized

M33/Triangulum Galaxy
Bonny Doon Airport 10.22.211 10:02 p.m. 5min.x5 Meade LXD75 Schmidt-Newtonian/Losmandy GM-8
Camera SBIG ST4K chip temp.-15.23 c. Seeing conditions:warm & stable CCDOPS: dark subtract-standard color processing-sRBG+Gamma Reigistax 5: single point stacking point size 64 Classic Mode Photoshop CS2: Levels-RGB-40/0.80/255. Green-0/0.88/255 Curves-RGB-Set Black Point-once to make background darker "Astro-Tools" Actions: Make Stars Smaller-3 times. Space Noise Reduction-2 times Unsharp Mask-amount 70% Increased Contrast +30 Increased Saturation +5 Clone Stamp Tool used quite a bit Crop Re-sized

M76
Cabrillo Observatory 10.26.2011 9:36 p.m. 5min.x4 Meade 12" Schmidt-assegrain/Losmandy GM-11/Gemini controller Camera SBIG ST2K chip temp.-24.94 c. Seeing conditons:clear & cold CCDOPS: Dark subtract-standard flat field 12" ST2K color processing-sRGB+Gamma Registax 5: single point stacking point size 64 Classic Mode Photoshop CS2: Levels-RGB-35/0.87/255.Green-0/1.00/255 Curves-Set Black Point-once "Astro-Tools" Actions: Make Stars Smaller-3 times. Space Noise Reduction-2 times Unsharp Mask-amount 86%
Clone Stamp Tool Crop Re-sized

After Bonny Doon Airport Star Party-River Street empty at 4 a.m-hopped off bike & took pictures in the middle of the road. Could see Moon rising at low altitude at end of street.
10.23.2011 4 a.m. Freezing cold outside Canon PowerShot Pro1 8mp digital camera, wide field zoom used Set to 'auto' Seeing conditions: cold & stable
Photoshop CS2:
Took Moon & enlarge it using layers Used rectangular marquee tool to crop Used clone stamp to remove old Moon image which was smaller
Took pedestrian sign on right hand side of street & reduced the brightness -54 Increased overall contrast +66
Used marquee tool around reflective sign on right hand side of road & reduced brightness 99
Crop
Re-sized

NGC 891 Cabrillo Observatory 10.12.2011 10:00 p.m. 5min.x4 Meade 12" Schmidt-Cassegrain/Losmandy GM-11/Gemini controller Camera SBIG ST2K
chip temp.-19.98 c. Seeing conditions: somewhat stable, clear & cold CCDOPS: Dark subtract-standard flat field 12" ST2K
color processing-sRGB+Gamma
Registax 5: single point stacking
point size 64 Classic Mode Photoshop CS2: Levels-RGB-37/0.80/255. Green-2/0.94/255 Curves-RGB-input:19, output:11 "Astro-Tools" Actions:
Make Stars Smaller-3 times. Space Noise Reduction-2 times
Unsharp Mask-amount 123%
Increased saturation +5
Clone Stamp Tool Crop Re-sized

NGC7331 Mono Hot Springs 10.1.2011 11:17 p.m. 5min.x4 Meade LXD75 8" Schmidt-Newtonian/Losmandy GM-8 Camera SBIG ST4K chip temp.-21.30 c. Seeing conditions: partly cloudy CCDOPS: Dark subtract-standard
color processing-sRGB+Gamma
Registax 5: single point stacking
point size 64 Classic Mode Photoshop cs2: Levels-RGB-31/0.59/255. Green-0/0.87/255 Curves-RGB-input:35, output:28
"Astro-Tools" Actions: Make Stars Smaller-3 times. Space Noise Reduction-2 times
Unsharp Mask-amount 125%
Increased Saturation +5 Crop Re-sized

NGC7380 Bonny Doon Airport 10.22/2011 9:13 p.m. 5min.x5 Meade LXD75 Schmidt-Newtonian/Losmandy GM-8
Camera SBIG ST4K
chip temp.-15.23 c. Seeing conditions: warm, stable & clear. Good transparency. CCDOPS: Dark subtract-standard color processing-sRGB+Gamma Registax 5: single point stacking point size 64 Classic Mode Photoshop cs2: Levels-RGB-31/0.90/255. Green-0/0.93/255 Curves-RGB-input:44, output:21 "Astro-Tools" Actions: Make Stars Smaller-3 times. Space Noise Reduction-2 times Unsharp Mask-amount: 119% Increased saturation +18 No need for Clone Stamp Tool
Crop Re-sized

NGC7640 Cabrillo Observatory 11.2.2011 9:24 p.m. 5min.x4 Meade 12" Schmidt-assegrain/Losmandy GM-11/Gemini controller Camera SBIG ST2K chip temp.-27.77 c. Seeing conditions: clear & cold CCDOPS: Dark subtract-standard color processing-sRGB+Gamma Registax 5: single point stacking point size 64 Classic Mode Photoshop cs2: Levels-RGB-53/0.64/255. Green-0/0.94/255 Curves-RGB-input:17, output:11 "Astro-Tools" Actions: Make Stars Smaller-3 times. Space Noise Reduction-2 times Unsharp Mask-amount: 125% Increased contrast +5 Increased saturation +5 Clone Stamp Tool used extensively Crop Re-sized

Malinda's Gallery

Fireworks Nebula, NGC 6946, Constalation-Swan Camera-ST-2K/standard image, High resoltion, Temp -20`c, Tracing 2sec, Exp 300sec observation date 10/12/11 Time 21:21:41 supper clear, no moon out, great conditions CCDopps Flat Feild + Dark Suptract
SingleShot Color, Color Procese Adj-magenta, sRGB w/Gamma
Used the same process on all 3 shots takenREGIstacks5
Stacked 3 photos using a single star with the limit set to 0PhotoShop 7
Curves- darks Down + lights up, Adj-Hue+Saturation,
Used actions make stars smaller x1, Crop photo TO 8X10

Moon/Boardwalk combo
FOR Moon camera-Nicon 40D
obsevation date 8/7/11 Time 21:16:17
High in the sky almost a full moon high in the sky,FOR boardwalk camera-cannon 5D Eos, Lens-cannon 70-200, 1.25sec 5.6F obsevation date 8/18/11 Time 20:37:30 clear and warm night Lightroom FOR moon- Tool-Darken/Sarpen FOR boardwalk- Brount up lights + saturated color made sky darkerPhotoShop 7 FOR moon- Tool Filter/Lucis ART, Croped to 8x10
FOR Boardwalk- added moon photo with crop and past

pacman Nebula, NGC 281, constalation-cassiopeia Camera-ST-2K/standard image, High resoltion, Temp -21`c, Tracing 2sec, Exp 300sec Observation 11/30/11 Time 21:30:14 clear out, very windyCCDopps Flat Feild + Dark Suptract SingleShot Color, Color Procese Adj-magenta, sRGB w/Gamma Used the same process on all 3 shots taken REGIstacks5
Stacked 3 photos using a single star with the limit set to 0 PhotoShop 7
Curves Darks-down + lights-up, Image Sharpen- UnSharpMask, Lucis-Sharpen, Used Liquify on stars, Adj- Hue+Saturation, Croped 8x10

Moon
camera-Nicon 40D
obsevation date 8/7/11 Time 21:12:17
High in the sky almost a full moon high in the sky,
Lightroom
Tool-Darken/Sarpen

PhotoShop 7
Tool Filter/Lucis ART, Croped to 8x10

Schupter Galaxy, NGC 253, constalation Gemini Camera-ST-2K/standard image, High resoltion, Temp -25`c, Tracing 2sec, Exp 300sec observation date 11/30/11 Time 20:36:05 clear out, very windyCCDopps Flat Feild + Dark Suptract SingleShot Color, Color Procese Adj-magenta, sRGB w/Gamma Used the same process on all 4 shots takenREGIstacks5 Stacked 4 photos using a single star with the limit set to 0Lightroom Sharpend Brount up darks added highlight and some sasturation PhotoShop 7
Added contrast, Curves Darks-Down + Lights-Up, Tool Liquify to make stars smaller

Elle's Gallery

M31 Andromeda Galaxy

Andromeda

DATE/TIME: 11/23/2011 21:00-21:42

LOCATION: Cabrillo Observatory

CONDITIONS: Clear, dark skies, no moon, a little light obstruction. Taken from base of canyon like area.

EXPOSURES: 4photos with 5minutes

TEMPERATURE: -20.86C to-21.30C.

COLOR PROCESS: Color using single shot color process sRGB w/gamma. Photos stacked usingregistax v5.

EDITED IN ADOBE CAMERARAW

Blacks 22, Brightness -1, Contrast +5, Clarity +28, Vibrance +31, Saturation +40, Red Saturation +28, Magenta Saturation +22, Red Luminance +38, Magenta Luminance+29.

M45 Pleiades

Taurus

DATE/TIME: 11/23/2011 21:50- 22:20

LOCATION: Cabrillo Observatory

CONDITIONS: Clear, dark skies, no moon, little light obstruction. Taken from base of canyon like area.

EXPOSURES: 3 photo x 5 min exposure. Shoot with the ST4000 XCM, Mead 8” Telescope on the LXD 75 Mount.

TEMPERATURE: -20.86 to -21.30

COLOR PROCESS: single shot color process sRGB w/gamma. Photos stacked using registax v5.

EDITED IN ADOBE CAMERA RAW

Blacks 51, Contrast +23, Clarity +43, Vibrance +13, Saturation +7, Aqua Saturation +15, Blue Saturation +23, Yellow Luminance +18, Aqua Luminance +7

NGC 281 Pacman Nebula

Cassiopeia

DATE/TIME: 9/30/2011, 23:00–23:45

LOCATION: Mono Hot Springs

CONDITIONS: Clear, dark skies, no moon, little to no light obstruction.

EXPOSURE: 4photos with 5minutes. Shoot With the ST-4K, Mead 8” Telescope on the LXD 75 Mount.

TEMPERATURE: -20.86C to -21.30C.

COLOR PROCESS: Each photo was dark subtracted (-20C dark frame) and then turned to color using single shot color process sRGB w/gamma. Photos stacked using registax v5.

EDITED IN ADOBE CAMERA RAW

Blacks 22, Brightness -1, Contrast +5, Clarity +28, Vibrance +31, Saturation +40, Red Saturation +28, Magenta Saturation +22, Red Luminance +38, Magenta Luminance +29.

NGC 6992 Veil Nebula

Cygnus

DATE/TIME: 9/30/2011, 21:45-22:15

LOCATION: Mono Hot Springs

CONDITIONS: Clear, very dark skies with no moon, and very little light obstruction.

EXPOSURE: 3photos with 5min exposures. Shoot With the ST-4K, Mead 8” Telescope on the LXD 75 Mount.

TEMPERATURE: -20.86C

COLOR PROCESS: Each photo was dark subtracted (-20C dark frame) Single shot color process sRGB with gamma. Stacked in RegiStax v5.

EDITED IN ADOBE CAMERA RAW:

Recovery 2, Blacks 22, Brightness +34, Contrast +18, Clarity +31, Vibrance +15, Saturation +13, Red Saturation +11, Blue Saturation +28, Purple Saturation +18, Magenta Saturation+18, Blue Luminance +8.

PHOTOSHOP: Alignment of 2 photos (all processed the same) done in Photoshop CS5. Cropped and save as one file.

Pinnacles Night Shot 2

DATE TIME: 12/3/2011, 17:05

LOCATION: Pinnacles, CA

CONDTITIONS: Clear sky, mostly set sun, atmosphere haze, horizon halo.

EXPOSURE: -.2 Shot with Sony Cyber Shot Exmor

EDITED IN ADOBE CAMERA RAW

Exposure -.2, Recovery 43, Brightness -13, Contrast +19, Clarity +49.

Phil's Gallery
Phil also did a valuable experimental project - making a panorama stitched from individual frames; a 360 view from the 10" pedestal at Cabrillo Observatory. See it here

NGC-281 (Pac-man)
Shot 9/30/2011 at 2300 - 2345, at Mono hot Springs. Under Clear ,Dark skies with no moon. Seeing was good and barley any light except for a couple distant camp fires and head lamps. Shoot With the ST-4K, with the Mead 8” Telescope on the LXD 75 Mount. Four 5 min exposures with a chip temperature range of -20.86C to -21.30C. Each photo was dark subtracted with a -20C dark frame. Each photo was then turned into color using Single shot color process sRGB w/gamma. The photos were then stacked using registax v6. Photoshop: Adjust levels, Adjust curves,Adjustments in the brightness and exposer were slightly adjusted. Astro Tools : Deep Space Noise reduction, Light Pollution Removal. Then Unsharp Mask, followed by one more adjustment to the levels and the curves. Adjustments in the Shadows and Highlights were then made. Cropped to Size.

One photo take at the Cabrillo observatory on 9/7/2011, at 9:22pm. Taken through the 8” Meade telescope, with the school’s Nikon D40 camera. Clear skies with ¾ moon. PhotoShop: Adjust levels X2, Adjust curves X1, Adjust exposure and offset X1. Readjust levels and curves. Adjust shadows and Highlights. Unsharp mask, Adjust curves on a section of the piece, smudge tool over edges of section to re-blend with original photo. Crop to fit.

Moon in conjunction with Venus at A Bakersfeild Reststop.

One 15 sec exposure taken at 5:45 pm off of the 58 highway near Bakersfield CA. The photos was taken with my Canon rebel EOS. The sky was clear, and the seeing was good. Their were outside white lights around the shot, but I tried to get to the darkest shadiest place of the rest stop. PhotoShop : Adjust levels, curves, Cropped to fit, the lasso tool part of the sky and feathered around the lasso and adjusted the curves and levels to brighten the sky up a little. Shadows were lowered and highlights were raised. Hue, Saturation and lightness were lowered a tiny but to boost the redness of the lower sky. Dead Pixels were then Clone stamped out.

NGC- 6992 (East Veil)
Taken at Mono Hot Springs on 9/30/2011 under very dark skies with no moon. It was decent to good seeing, with a few trees blocking some views. Chip temperature, was at -21C for all photos. Shots were taken from 2145-2230. Six total Shots were taken, Three shots were taken in one part of the deep sky object. The Telescope was then moved to a “lower” part of the deep sky object, and three more photos were taken. The photos were shot with the Meade 8” telescope on the ST4K. PhotoShop: Automate, Photomerge. Photoshop then placed the two separate photos together and stitch them automatically. Then merge visible layers to make one photo ready for editing. Astrotools: Deep space noise removal X1, Space noise reduction X1. Adjust levels, Adjust curves. Adjust exposure. Adjust levels and curves a second time, adjustment to brightness and contrast. Crop to size, and black added to the over the extra white space where the photos did not overlap.

NGC 7000 (North American)
A total of 12 shots where taken. Seeing was a little bit of a problem, and dew was a big concerned. After every shot the dew gun was used in hopes of combating the dew. Three separate photos taken with a chip temperature 24C. Each set of photos where taken with the 8” Meade telescope. Each set of photos were 300 second exposures. Photoshop : Automate, auto merge, auto perspective, Image layers were then flattened to be able to edit. Image adjust curves, each spectrum red, blue, green and RGB were adjusted. The red levels and red spectrum of the curves were boosted a lot to get rid of the green that was all over the photo due to the bad seeing and possible dew that was battled all night. Levels where then adjusted. Astro tools : Deep space noise reduction x1, light pollution removal x1. A new layer was created and the gradient tool was used. Then the levels in the green spectrum were adjusted. Cropped to sized desired. Then black was filled in in the extra white areas where the separate photos did not overlap.

Strider's Gallery

M33 Triangulum Galaxy
10.22.2011 @10:02 pm, Bonny Doon Airport
Meade 8" SCT ST4K, 5x5 min.
CCDOPS: Dark subtract - Color Processing
Registax 5: Single point stacking, classic,
box size 64. Photoshop: Levels, spot healing,
Vibrance, Sharpening.

Moon
09.07.2011 @ 5:28 pm Cabrillo Observatory Canon 40D with 8" telescope, 1/100 second exposure, ISO 250 Camera Raw editing for color

Moon and stars
10.09.2011 @ 11:01 pm My house Aptos
Canon 40D with sigma 15mm Fisheye
30 second exposure, f/5.6, ISO 400
Camera Raw editing for color

Orion Nebulae
10.23.2011 @12:48 am, Bonny Doon Airport, Meade 8" SCT ST4K, 3x5 min, CCDOPS: Dark subtract - Color Processing Registax 5: Single point stacking, classic,
box size 64. Photoshop: Levels, spot healing, Vibrance, Sharpening.

Horsehead and Flame Nebulae
10.23.2011 @2:00 am, Bonny Doon Airport Meade 8" SCT ST4K, 10x5 min. CCDOPS: Dark subtract - Color Processing. Registax 5: Single point stacking, classic, box size 64. Photoshop: Levels, spot healing,
Vibrance, Sharpening.

Mitch's Gallery

Image Subject: Northwestern view from Observatory

Date Taken: Wednesday, November 16th, 2011. Local Time: 8:14 pm Conditions: Some clouds, no moon Camera Details:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS F-Stop: F/3.5. Shutter Speed: 20
ISO Speed: 1600

Photoshop Processing:
Filter>Noise>Despeckle
Curves
The original trees were too dark, the trees seen are from a different picture taken with a 25 second exposure, they were added by layering the image with the trees over the original, then using the Eraser tool to remove the sky.

Image Subject: Lunar Eclipse

Date Taken: Saturday, December 10th, 2011

Local Time: 4:20 am - 5:50 am (6 shots, 15 minute intervals)

Conditions: Some clouds, taken in Santa Cruz Harbor. Lights below photo.

Camera Details:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS
F-Stop: F/4
Shutter Speed: 1.6
ISO Speed: 400

Photoshop Processing:
Clone tool to remove graphic artifacts, anomalies, and light glare from sky and trees.
Burn tool to darken areas
Filter>Noise>Despeckle
Layer pictures, using eraser to remove background
Minor adjustments in Levels & Curves

Image Subject: NGC 253 - The Sculptor Galaxy

Date Taken: Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

Local Time: 8:05 pm - 8:25 pm (4 images, 5 minute exposures)

Conditions: Clear

Telescope: ST-2K (Dome)

CCDOPS:
Dark Subtract at -25°C
Flatfield
Single Shot Color Process (sRGB with Gamma)

Registax:
Load all 4 images, set Lowest Quality to zero
Choose alignment star and Align
Limit
Optimize & Stack

Photoshop Processing:
Filter>Noise>Despeckle
Filter>Noise>Median
Raise Shadows and midtones in Levels
Increase contrast and brightness
Curves
Auto Color

Image Subject: Messier 8 - The Lagoon Nebula

Date Taken: Wednesday, September 28th, 2011.vLocal Time: 8:30 pm - 9:15 pm (6 images, 5 minute exposures).vConditions: Clear.vTelescope: ST-4K. CCDOPS:
Dark Subtract at -20°C
Single Shot Color Process (sRGB with Gamma). Registax:
Load all 6 images, set Lowest Quality to zero
Choose alignment star and Align, Limit, Optimize & Stack. Photoshop Processing:
Crop Filter>Noise>Despeckle Levels
Color Balance>Shadows and Highlights towards Magenta
Raise Contrast
Clone Stamp to remove graphic artifacts
Curves

Image Subject: Western view from Observatory. Date Taken: Wednesday, November 16th, 2011. Local Time: 8:25 pm. Conditions: Some clouds, no moon. Camera Details: Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS F-Stop: F/3.5
Shutter Speed: 30
ISO Speed: 1600Photoshop Processing: Filter>Noise>Despeckle Curves

Penny's Gallery

Crescent Moon - Penny Weston 2/7/11 7:05 pm Canon T2I Factory Lens @ Cedar St, Aptos CA Cropped in Adobe Photoshop CS5 No other photo shopping done.

Tree and Star - Penny Weston 09/09/11 9:33 pm Canon T2I Factory Lens @ Cabrillo Observatory 30 second exposure Adobe Photoshop CS5 Cropped Adjusted levels, brightness, Sharpen edges, sharpen, color balance, despeckle and vibrance.

NGC 6946 - Three 5 minute exposures were taken with the SBIG ST2000/CM CCD Camera via the 12" Meade f/10 (w/ f/6.3 reducer) Each image was dark frame corrected and single shot color processed using DDP. Images were then stacked via RegiStax 5 using single point alignment w/ lowest quality zero. Image was edited using Adobe Photoshop CS5. Adjusted levels, using Astronomy Tools I made the stars smaller 4 x's and reduced space noise 1x. Sharpened, adjusted curves and hue/ saturation and then cropped photo.

Moon and Jupiter - 10/13/11 Penny Weston Canon T2I Fish Eye Lense @ Cabrillo Observatory In Adobe Photoshop CS5 Photo Was Cropped Brightness and Contrast Adjusted Levels were adjusted Copy and paste was used to remove a "red dot".

NGC 891 - Four 5 minute exposures were taken with the SBIG ST2000/CM CCD Camera via the 12" Meade f/10 (w/ f/6.3 reducer) Each image was dark frame corrected and single shot color processed using DDP. Images were then stacked via RegiStax 5 using single point alignment w/ lowest quality zero. Image was edited using Adobe Photoshop CS5. Adjusted levels, using Astronomy Tools I made the stars smaller 4 x's and reduced space noise 1x. Sharpened, adjusted curves and hue/ saturation and then cropped photo.

Nicole's Gallery

NGC-6992-East Viel
Constellation Cygnus

Shot 9/30/2011 at 2145-2215 at Mono Hot Springs under clear dark skies with no moon. Seeing was good and barley any light. Shot with the ST-4K, with mead 8” telescope on the LXD 75 mount. Took three 5 min exposures with a chip temperature of -20.86C. Each photo was dark subtracted with a -20C dark frame. Each photo was then turned into color using single shot color process sRGB w/ gamma. Photos were then stacked using registax v5. The stacked image was edited in GIMP. The Levels command was applied first. The curves command was then used to adjust the brightness. Then the Hue Saturation command was used to adjust the hue, brightness and saturation.

M45-Pleiades
Constellation Taurus
Shot 10/23/2011 at 2150-2220 at Cabrillo observatory with no moon but had moisture in the air. Three 5 min exposures with chip temperature of -20.86C were shot with the ST-4K, with the Mead 8” Telescope on the LXD 75 mount. Each photo was dark subtracted with a -20C dark frame then turned into color using Single Shot color process sRGB w/ gamma. Photos were then stacked using registax v5. The stacked image was edited in GIMP. Levels and Curves used to adjust colors. Hue Saturation and lastly image was sharpened.

Moon
Shot 9/7/2011 at 2145 at Cabrillo observatory with clear skies with ¾ moon. One photo taken with the 8” Meade telescope with the schools Nikon D40 camera. The image was then edited in iPhoto. First cropped then exposure, contrast saturation and definition levels adjusted and photo was sharpened.

Tree with Crescent Moon
Shot 9/30/2011 at 1730 at Mono Hot Springs. Shot with an Olympus E-620 Photo was edited in Gimp. The Levels and Curves commands were used to adjust the brightness of the sky and the Hue Saturation command was used to adjust the color balance. The photo was then sharpened with the sharpen tool.

Mono Hot Springs
Shot 9/30/2011 at 2330 at Mono Hot Springs. Shot with an Olympus E-620 under clear dark skies with no moon. One one minute exposure that was edited in GIMP. The Levels and Curves commands were used to adjust the brightness. The Sharpen and Despeckle commands were then applied to the image.

Kayson's Gallery

Full Moon - September 7, 2011

Kayson Turner, 1/250 sec exposure. Nikon D3000. 8" LXD75 @ Cabrillo Obs.Full moon picture taken September 7, 2011. One 1/250 second exposure was taken on a Nikon D3000 attached to the Meade 8" LXD75 telescope. Edited on iPhoto. I adjusted the exposure a little but mostly turned the sharpness and definition way up and also adjusted the contrast so help bring out the details.

Sunset - October 23, 2011. Kayson Turner, 1/250 sec exposure. Nikon D3000. La Selva Beach, Ca. I took this picture on October 23, 2011 in my backyard right as the sun was setting. I used a Nikon D3000. The shot really didn't need any adjustments in my opinion seeing as the reds and oranges really stood out on their own due to the time of day.

Stat Trails - November 2, 2011

Kayson Turner, 1x10min, Nikon D3000 Cabrillo Obs. This picture of star trails was taken on November 2, 2011 at the Cabrillo observatory. I used my Nikon D3000 and used one ten minute exposure to capture the stars as they moved throughout that time frame. I edited the photo using iPhoto on my computer. I slightly increased the level of contrast and fully increased the level of definition as well as the level of highlights.

Night Scene - October 12, 2011

Kayson Turner, 45sec exposure. Nikon D3000. Cabrillo Obs. This picture was taken on October 12, 2011 at the Cabrillo observatory. I used my Nikon D3000 and took one 45 second exposure. I edited the picture using iPhoto and I slightly increased the exposure then completely lowered the contrast in order to brighten the picture. I also fully increased the definition in order to make the picture sharper.

Andromeda Galaxy - October 26, 2011

Kayson Turner, 1x5min exposure. ST4000xcm 8" LXD75 at Cabrillo Obs.This picture is of Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and was taken on October 26, 2011 at about 9:30pm. I used the ST4000XCM color CCD camera which was attached to the Meade LXD75 telescope. I took seven pictures, each with five minute exposures. Each picture was dark subtracted and single shot colorized RGB in CCDOPS. I initially used Registax to stack the seven images, but decided that the unstacked single shot looked a lot better than the stacked version so I chose use the first image that was taken. I edited the picture using photoshop; I decreased the noise, sharpened the image, and increased the saturation in order to bring out the colors.

Chris' Gallery

M31 Cabrillo College 11.23.2011 9:30 p.m. Meade LXD75 Schmidt-Newtonian/Losmandy GM-8 Camera SBIG ST4K chip temp. -25 c. 5min.x3 Dark subtract-standard (dk5-25.st4k) color processing-sRGB+Gamma Registax: single-point stacking Photoshop: Levels Curves Hue/Saturation Color Balance Crop Re-sized

NGC-185 Cabrillo 9/19/2011 9:23 p.m. Meade LXD75 Schmidt-Newtonian/Losmandy GM-8 Camera SBIG ST4K chip temp. -25 5min.x3 CCDOPS: Dark subtract-standard (dk5-25.st4k) color processing-sRBG+Gamma Registax: single-point stacking Photoshop: Levels Curves Hue/Saturation Crop Re-sized

Gene's Gallery

Cave Nebula (Caldwell 9, Sh2-155)
Eugene Salamin
8" Meade LXD75, ST4000XCM, 5x5 min. Oct. 22, 2011 20:29 to 20:55. at Bonny Doon Airport My choice of name - "Black Cat Nebula". Clear sky, no moon. CCDOPS: Version 5.53 Dark subtract -15 C
Color process sRGB+gamma. Registax: Version 5.1
Stack 5 frames. Photoshop: Version 7.0. Levels - trim unused pixel values
Curves - darken sky background
Make stars smaller -
reduces background noise
Saturation +11. Crop and size for print and gallery

Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888)
Eugene Salamin
12" Meade LX200 f/6.3, ST2000XCM, 3x5min
Sept. 28, 2011 20:52 to 21:27
at Cabrillo Obs. dome.Clear sky, full moon. CCDOPS: Version 5.53
Dark subtract -20 C
Color process sRGB+gamma. Registax: Version 5.1
Stack 3 frames. Photoshop: Version 7.0. Levels - trim unused pixel values
Make stars smaller - reduces background noise. Curves - darken sky background. Make stars smaller
Crop and size for print and gallery

Lunar Eclipse at Dawn - 2
Eugene Salamin
Olympus SP-800UZ 4.9mm focal len.
Oct. 26, 2011 06:30
Roxas Street, Santa Cruz. Clear sky, slight hazePhotoshop: Version 7.0 Crop and size for print and gallery

IC 1396
Eugene Salamin
ST7xe with 50mm f/1.8 Nikon lens,
7nm H-alpha filter, 6x5 min
Oct. 26, 2011 21:26 at Cabrillo Obs. Clear sky, no moon. CCDOPS: Version 5.53
Dark subtract -25 C
Registax: Version 6.1.0.8
Stacked 6 frames Save a16bit TIFF. This version can output TIFF in monochrome, while ver. 5.1 forces output to RGB in striped format, and this leads to problems in Photoshop.

Photoshop: Version 7.0
Levels x2 - trim unused pixel values. Levels must be done twice because pixel are squished close to the bottom. Make stars smaller x3 to emphasize nebula over stars in monochrome, reduces background noise B&W to H-alpha false color - bright stars display as white, compensates for not having RGB frames. Curves - darken sky background, enhance nebula
Make stars smaller once more
Crop and size for print and gallery

Comet Garradd (C/2009 P1)
Eugene Salamin + Becky + others. 8" Meade LXD75, ST4000XCM, 4x5 min
Oct. 1, 2011 21:40 to 22:16 at Mono Hot Springs
Clear sky, no moon

CCDOPS: Version 5.53
Dark subtract -20 C
Color process sRGB+gamma

Registax: Version 5.1
Stack 4 frames

Photoshop: Version 7.0
Levels - trim unused pixel values
Curves - darken sky background
Saturation +11
Make stars smaller x3 -
reduces background noise
Crop and size for print and gallery

Flame (NGC 2024) and Horsehead (IC 434) Nebulae
Eugene Salamin
8" Meade LXD75, ST4000XCM, 9 x 5 min Oct. 23, 2011 00:04 to 01:04 at Bonny Doon

Clear sky, no moon
One frame had airplane track, was omitted. CCDOPS: Version 5.53
Dark subtract -15 C. Color process . RGB+gamma.Registax: Version 5.1
Stack 9 frames. Photoshop: Version 7.0. Levels - trim unused pixel values
Curves - darken sky background
Deep space noise reduction
Crop and size for print and gallery

Dumbell Nebula (M27)
Eugene Salamin
12" Meade LX200, ST2000XCM, 4x5 min. Nov. 7, 2011 21:45 to 22:06 at Cabrillo Obs. dome. Clear sky, full moonCCDOPS: Version 5.53 Dark subtract -25 C Color process RGB+gamma,Registax: Version 5.1 Stack 4 frames. Photoshop: Version 7.0. Levels - trim unused pixel values Curves - darken sky background, Make stars smaller, Space noise reduction, Unsharp mask, 1.1 pixels, 68% Saturation +25
Crop and size for print and gallery

Iris Nebula (Caldwell 4, NGC 7023) Eugene Salamin + Strider +others 12" Meade LX200 f/6.3, ST2000XCM, 5x5min Oct. 26, 2011 19:39 to 20:08 at Cabrillo Obs. dome. Clear sky, no moon. CCDOPS: Version 5.53. Dark subtract -25 C. Color process sRGB+gamma. Registax: Version 5.1
Stack 5 frames. Photoshop: Version 7.0 Curves - darken sky background, Make stars smaller x2 -
reduces background noise, Crop and size for print and gallery

Lunar Eclipse at Night
Eugene Salamin
Olympus SP-800UZ 4.9mm focal len.
Oct. 26, 2011 06:17
Roxas Street, Santa Cruz, Clear sky, slight haze, Photoshop: Version 7.0
Crop and size for print and gallery

Jonathan's Gallery

Ring Nebula
6 x 30sec exposures ISO 800,
Canon 450D unmodified DSLR
Meade 8" SN-8SN.
Losmandy GM-8Guided with PHD Autoguider
Software and Meade DSI
Calibrated, Aligned, and Stacked with DSS
Levels Stretch in CS5
"Make Stars Smaller" in CS5

Arizona Moon
- Moon setting in the afternoon,
Sedona, AZ
- cropped
- brightness/contrast adjusted
in CS5
- Canon G9

Astro 9 at Cabrillo Observatory
- Nikon D200, 24mm
- levels in CS5

A Grand Moon
- Moon setting at the Grand Canyon, AZ dawn
- Canon G9

Annie's Gallery

Star Trails
Created 10-1-11 at Mono Hot Springs by Ann Pike
Time: 2100 hours
Taken with Canon EOS 50D, ISO 400, f22, Lens EF-S17-85/f4-5.6 IS USM, set at 17mm
1 hour exposure + dark frame in camera (1 hour)
Converted to grayscale, exposure, fill, curves, & noise corrected in Bridge.

Bubble Nebula, NGC 7635, & open star cluster M52 in Cassiopeia. Taken at Mono Hot Springs with Becky, Phil and Gene on September 30, 2011, 2359 to 0020. Meade 8" LXD75 Schmidt-Newt. Losmandy GM-8 gem, SBIG ST4K, 4 x 5 min, C-21 degrees. CDOPS: dark substract - standard, single shot color processing, -sRGB+Gamma, Registax 5, multi star stacking. Processed in Bridge with exposure, fill, curves and noise reduction (Exposure -.75, recovery 18, fill 10, brightness +9). Opened in Photoshop. Adjustment layer Channel Mixer added, Red channel = red +110, green -3, blue 0; green channel, green 100%; blue channel, 100%. Vibrance adjustment layer, +20. Brightness/contrast, brightness 26, contrast, 2.

Cave Nebula, Caldwell 9, in Cepheus. Taken at Bonny Doon on 10/22/11 5 x 5, starting at 2223 and ending at 2255, using the Meade 8" LXD75 Schmidt-Newt. Losmandy GM-8 gem, SBIG ST4K, C-15 degrees. CDOPS: dark substract - standard, single shot color processing, -sRGB+Gamma, Registax 5, multi star stacking. Processed as camera raw in Bridge (settings= exp. -.45, fill 10, black 10, clarity -5, vibrance +4, custom white balance, temp -6, tint +16. Detail adjustment of nebula, left side, exp +35, brightness 17, saturation 14 brush size 31, feather 100 flow 38, density12. Right side nebula adjustment, exp +5, Brightness +17, saturation 14). Opened in Photoshop, adjusted with Hue/Saturation, Color Balance and levels adjustment layers.
Flame Nebula, NGC2024 and Barnard 33 in Orion. Taken at Bonny Doon on 10/23/11, 10 x 5 min, starting at 0058 and ending at 0203, using the Meade 8î LXD75 Schmidt-Newt. Losmandy GM-8 gem, SBIG ST4K, C-15 degrees. CDOPS: dark substract ñ standard, single shot color processing, -sRGB+Gamma, Registax 5, multi star stacking using 3 stars. Processed as camera raw in Bridge adjusting the curves, exposure and noise reduction Opened in Photoshop, color balance adjustment layer added, plus second image with additional lighter Bridge processing
(custom color balance temp +1, tint _38, exp -2.05, recovery 3, fill 7, black 1, brightness -9, vibrance +8, Noise reduction: luminance 6, luminance detail 1, luminance contrast 40, color 100, color detail 57), and layer mask added to allow bottom half of image to show.

Comet Garradd taken at Mono Hot Springs with Phil, Becky and others on 10/1/11 at 2140 to 2209, 4 x 5 min (5 images made but one not used, telescope moved?). Used the Meade 8" LXD75 Schmidt-Newt. Losmandy GM-8 gem, SBIG ST4K, C-21 degrees. CDOPS: dark substract - standard, single shot color processing, -sRGB+Gamma, Registax 6, multi star stacking. Processed in Bridge as Camera Raw, adjusting curve, exposure and noise (exp. -.95, black 23, brightness 56, contrast 10, clarity -27, vibrance +17, sharpening amount 11, radius 1.1, detail 25, masking 8, noise reduction: luminance 20 luminance detail 43, luminance contrast 11, color 54, color detail 4). Opened in Photoshop, used adjustment layers, channel mixer to adjust color, and brightness/contrast to adjust the brightness and contrast.

Swan Nebula or Omega Nebula, M17 or NGC 6618 in Sagittarius. Taken at Bonny Doon on 10/22/11, 2000 to 2025, 4 x 5 min. using the Meade 8" LXD75 Schmidt-Newt. Losmandy GM-8 gem, SBIG ST4K, C-15 degrees. CDOPS: dark substract - standard, single shot color processing, -sRGB+Gamma, Registax 6, multi stars. Curves and exposure adjusted in Bridge processing as Camera Raw (exp. -.55, fill 17, black 5, contrast +4, clarity -8, vibrance +13). Opened in Photoshop, added adjustment layers to change levels and curves (green removed), New layer created merging corrections and Photoshop Astro Actions run to make stars smaller, two times.

Triangulum Galaxy in Triangulum taken at Bonny Doon with Strider, Gene, and Duncan on 10/22, 2135 to 2207, 5 x 5 min, using the Meade 8" LXD75 Schmidt-Newt. Losmandy GM-8 gem, SBIG ST4K, C-15 degrees. CDOPS: dark substract ñ standard, single shot color processing, -sRGB+Gamma, Registax 5, single star. Processed in Bridge as Camera Raw to adjust exposure, noise, and curve (exp -1.75, fill 13, black 11, color balance: temp -7, tint 6, noise reduction: luminance 8, luminance detail 50 color 95, color detail 50). Opened in Photoshop where color balance, brightness contrast and hue/saturation adjusted.

Running Man Nebula NGC 1977 with Orion Nebula M42 both in Orion. Taken at Bonny Doon on 10/23/11 3 x 5min, starting at 0039 and ending at 0047, using the Meade 8î LXD75 Schmidt-Newt. Losmandy GM-8 gem, SBIG ST4K, C-13 degrees. CDOPS: dark substract - standard, single shot color processing, -sRGB+Gamma, Registax 5, multi stars. Processed in Bridge as Camera Raw to adjust exposure, curves and noise (exposure +.05, recovery 30, fill 34, black 1, clarity 8, vibrance 8). Opened in Photoshop where adjustment layers added channel mixer and exposure changes, levels, curves and brightness/contrast.

Mission with Star Trails, (and meteor trail!) taken at Mission San Antonio de Padua on 4/22/11. Taken with Canon EOS 50D, EF_S17-85mm f4-5.6 lens set at f8, ISO 400. One 20 minute exposure on timer. Camera RAW image, 16 bit, 4752 x 3168. Camera Raw adjustments in Bridge: exposure -.95, Fill 13, brightness 59, contrast 36, clarity -35. Curve also adjusted and sharpen and noise reductions adjustments also made. Image made 3 times on 3 layers with layer modes adjusted to lighten and darken for star trails. Adjustment layer curves applied.

Eastern Veil Nebula, NGC6962, taken at Mono Hot Springs. Shot in two parts with Phil, Elle, Becky, Liz, and Nicole on 09/30/11, between 2139 to 2225, 3 x 5 min each section using the Meade 8" LXD75 Schmidt-Newt. Losmandy GM-8 gem, SBIG ST4K, C-21 degrees. CDOPS: dark substract, used -20 dark - standard, single shot color processing, -sRGB+Gamma, Registax 6, multi star stacking.