ShahGazer Rambling about Astrophotography, Coding and Clouds

This is the same M42 data taken from the previous post. The only different is that this is my first attempt on processing it in High Dynamic Range. A lot of post-processing in Photoshop CS3, IRIS and NEAT Image. Not too sure if the colour is 'right' though. Seems a bit red(?).

These are 3 more shots I took during the 4 day astrofotography session at Penang. I did a lot of heavy post-processing, especially on M104 and M64 mainly because I failed somewhat to take proper darks and flats.

Each of these image was a single frame capture using Celestron Amcap software, as proposed by Rock Mallin on his website It was nice to play with the settings and see immediate results. And the most surprising thing was the amount of details I can see when I pushed maximum to 56 seconds!

Sky was clear this morning. Sunspot 1045 grew a lot in just 24 hours. Took the opportunity to snap some shots. I like the snake-like shape of the sunspot, as if trying to wriggle away from the watchful eye of humans..

Responding to a post at Mallincam Yahoo Group, this is another photo taken using Mallincam Hyper Color with the Skywatcher 80ED Equinox. Taken on the same date as my previous post but somehow I didn't post it up! Keep in mind, the sky was awful, blanket with haze and only 2nd magnitudes stars were visible. Object: M22 Telescope: Skywatcher 80mm ED Equinox Mount: HEQ5 Pro Camera: Mallincam Hyper Color Exposure: 6 sec integration x 47 = 4.7 mins Software: EQMOD, VirtualDub Stacked & Post-Processing: Registax, Photoshop CS3 Ignore the dust bunnies! :-)

The moon was pretty much basking its light in Scorpio last night. But the sky was somewhat clear from clouds. So, I decided to do some DSLR astrophotography on the moon (left). Equipment is Canon 300D and Skywatcher Equinox 80 ED. Both tracking on HEQ5-Pro mount. Then, thin clouds came and went around the southern part of the sky. But the temptation of doing DSLR on Deep-Sky seems to be too good to be true. So, here are some of the objects taken last night. M22. 26 X 20 sec subs.

In the recent hazy situation here in Kuala Lumpur, I decided to braved to warm night to do some Mallincam imaging with the SW 80ED. Using EQMOD to control my HEQ5-Pro mount, I focused on the familiar bright objects in Scorpio and Sagittarius. The sky condition is not perfect. I did not see any clouds, but the haze was pretty thick. I can barely see 2nd magnitude stars with the naked eye! Not a very encouraging sight for the faint hearted. Nevertheless, I did managed to get a few shots. Check it out. Object: M8 Telescope: Skywatcher 80mm ED Equinox Mount: HEQ5 Pro Camera: Mallincam Hyper Color Exposure: 6 sec integration x 50 = 5 mins Software: EQMOD, VirtualDub Post-Processing: Registax, Photoshop CS3 Object: M17, Omega Nebula Telescope: Skywatcher 80mm ED Equinox Mount: HEQ5 Pro Camera: Mallincam Hyper Color Exposure: 6 sec integration x 100 = 10 mins Software: EQMOD, VirtualDub Post-Processing: Registax, Photoshop CS3 It's not a picture perfect photo , but I guess this would sho...