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My Latest Images:
All images on this page taken with the above Celestron 8" SCT fork
setup and SBIG's 237 Pixcel CCD camera at f/1.95...
Except Jupiter and Saturn: These images were taken at f/10.
These are my very first images taken with this setup on 10/2-3/99.
No guiding!
No color imaging was attempted... Well, it was attempted, but I didn't RTFM
("Read The Frigging Manual")!
I do hope my imaging techniques will improve; but I plan on
keeping these first images right here--
just to show what can be done "out of the box" with no previous experience!
All images below are thumbnails... Click on them for a larger view!
Netscape viewers will see the images clearer than Microsoft Explorer or AOL viewers.
My second image--my first image had NGC 7331 (upper right) centered.
I was looking for Stephan's Quintet (Hickson 92) seen (partially) here in the midddle of
the lower border.
A mere 30 second unguided exposure! This image, and many of the following
are "grainy"; this is due to inadequate exposure time (I am experimenting
here)... Still, I find the amount of raw--though "dirty"-- image available
in a mere 30 seconds with modest 8" aperture and HUGE central obstruction just
phenomenal!
Yep, those fuzzy spots in the middle are Stephan's Quintet; again at
only a 30 second exposure.
(image reduced in size by 50% from original)
The Helix.
Five 30 second exposures. My first "track and accumulate" image.
NGC 891
Five 30 second exposures. Reduced in size by 25%. Contrast increased with Paint Shop Pro
software..
A much better image (10 min
exposure) was taken on my third night out, with my new/used G11 mount.
M33
Five 30 second "track and accumulate" exposures.
B33-- The Horsehead.
Low on the horizon; waning moon.
Five 30 second exposures.
Found easily using two-second "focus" mode on SBIG's CCDOPS
software.
A much better image (10 min
exposure) was taken on my third night out.
Jupiter.
Using f/10 now; one-hundreth of a second exposure.
Image sharpened and magnified by a factor of two with Paint Shop Pro software.
Saturn.
Same enhancement procedures as used on Jupiter.
My second and third times out... New images include: M42 (above) a better image of The Horsehead and 891, Ngc's 7814 (an edge-on galaxy in Pegasus), 7479 (a barred spiral gal in Pegasus), 246, 6888, The Medusa Nebula, and M1. On my third night out I had the pleasure to use my new (used) G11 mount, which, I think, has already proven itself a keeper: I find Polar aligning is easier, tracking more accurate... Plus: I now have the ability to piggyback with my 80mm F/8 Fluorite and/or my 4" Tele Vue Genesis f/5.4... altogether a more enjoyable, versatile setup.
My Latest Images:
Interested in more information and better
images from more advanced Fastar imagers?
Check out Chris Anderson's
page, and his links.
