NGC 281 The Pacman Nebula

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NGC 281 The Pacman Nebula 9500 light years distant in the constellation Cassiopea 

Telescope: Astro-Physics 160 EDF + Astro-Physics Photographic-Visual Telecompressor (0.75x) (27TVPH), effective 900mm focal length, f/5.625
Mount: Astro-Physics 900 GTO2 guided using my Orion 80mm f/11.4 Guidescope and my Meade DSI II as an autoguider using PHD Guiding software.
Camera: Baader filter Modified Canon EOS XT 350, 8MP with Orion Skyglow Broadband filter.
Exposures: 21 x 180 second exposures + 5 x 480 second exposures
Processing: Stacked, Dark subtract and Flat fielded in DeepSkyStacker. Color balance, level balance, unsharp mask, other image cleanup and converted to JPG in Photoshop.  Cleaned up with NEAT image.
Taken:  Scottsdale, AZ  October 1st, 2008  
Notes:  Considering this image was taken under heavy light pollution and I was only able to get 1 480 second dark frame it came out pretty good.  I hope to retake this object later in October 2008 under dark skies.

M42 The Orion Nebula

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M42 The Orion Nebula 1600 light years distant in the constellation Orion

Telescope: Astro-Physics 160 EDF, 1200mm focal length, f7/5
Mount: Orion Atlas EQ-G using EQMOD guided using my Orion 80mm f/11.4 Guidescope and my Meade DSI II as an autoguider using PHD Guiding software.
Camera: Baader filter Modified Canon EOS XT 350, 8MP.
Exposures: 6x10 seconds, 6x30 seconds, 10x3 minutes, 8x8 minutes (Total 1 hour 38 minutes.)
Processing: Stacked, Dark subtract and Flat fielded in DeepSkyStacker. Color balance, level balance, unsharp mask, other image cleanup and converted to JPG in Photoshop.  Re-processed 9/23/08.
Taken:  Farnsworth Ranch, AZ at the All Arizona Star Party October 14th 2007 
Notes:  Careful focus and very accurate guiding yielded this image.  It was taken between 1 AM and 3 AM with 45 degree F temperatures.  I rate this as my best astro-photo yet and the first image I have taken that begins to really show what the AP160 is capable of doing.

NGC 7293 The Helix Nebula

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NGC 7293 The Helix Nebula 450 light years distant in the constellation Aquarius

Telescope: Astro-Physics 160 EDF, 1200mm focal length, f7/5
Mount: Orion Atlas EQ-G using EQMOD guided using my Orion 80mm f/11.4 Guidescope and my Meade DSI II as an autoguider using PHD Guiding software.
Camera: Baader filter Modified Canon EOS XT 350, 8MP.
Exposures: 3x10 minute exposures.
Processing: Stacked, Dark subtract and Flat fielded in DeepSkyStacker. Color balance, level balance, unsharp mask, other image cleanup and converted to JPG in Photoshop.
Taken:  Farnsworth Ranch, AZ at the All Arizona Star Party October 13th 2007 
Notes:  I was planning on many more exposures for this one, but it was crossing the meridian at the time and the winds were gusting enough to really shake the mount.  Imaging was cut short as I was starting to feel tired and I wanted to do some visual observing on the first night of the All Arizona Star Party.  The seeing was so-so.

M27 The Dumbbell Nebula
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M27 The Dumbbell Nebula 1360 light years distant in the constellation Vulpecula

Telescope: Astro-Physics 160 EDF, 1200mm focal length, f7/5
Mount: AP900 GTO guided using my Orion 80mm f/11.4 Guidescope using a Meade DSI II as an autoguider using PHD Guiding software.
Camera: Baader filter Modified Canon EOS XT 350, 8MP.  Plus a 2" Orion DeepSky Broadband filter.
Exposures: 15x3min (Total 45min.)
Processing: Stacked, Dark subtract and Flat fielded in DeepSkyStacker. Color balance, level balance, unsharp mask, other image cleanup and converted to JPG in Photoshop.
Taken:  Scottsdale, AZ   August 19th, 2008  
Notes:  This was a practice shot using my new AP900 mount and the Orion light pollution filter.  The stacking process bloated the stars slightly, but overall the results were good.

M16 The Eagle Nebula
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M16 the Eagle Nebula 7,000 light years distant in the constellation Serpens

Telescope: Astro-Physics 160 EDF, 1200mm focal length, f7/5
Mount: Orion Atlas EQ-G using EQMOD, guided with an Orion 80mm Short Tube refractor and unmodified Philips SPC900NC Webcam using PHD Guiding software.
Camera: Baader filter Modified Canon EOS XT 350, 8MP.
Exposures: 4x5min, 20x2min, 6x3min (Total 1 hour 21 min.)
Processing: Stacked, Dark subtract and Flat fielded in DeepSkyStacker. Color balance, level balance, unsharp mask, other image cleanup and converted to JPG in Photoshop.
Taken: Scottsdale, AZ  June 23rd 2007  
Notes:  My first serious attempt at long exposure astrophotography since getting my AP160.  It was with this shot I realized the potential of shooting at my urban location.

M17 The Swab Nebula

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M17 The Swab Nebula 5000 light years distant in the constellation Sagittarius

Telescope: Astro-Physics 160 EDF, 1200mm focal length, f7/5
Mount: Orion Atlas EQ-G using EQMOD guided using my Orion 80mm f/11.4 Guidescope and a stock Philips SPC900NC Webcam using PHD Guiding software.
Camera: Baader filter Modified Canon EOS XT 350, 8MP.
Exposures: 16x2min (Total 36min.)
Processing: Stacked, Dark subtract and Flat fielded in DeepSkyStacker. Color balance, level balance, unsharp mask, other image cleanup and converted to JPG in Photoshop.
Taken:  Scottsdale, AZ   July 8th 2007 
Notes:  Not a great shot, but it was taken low through some of my worst local light pollution.  Also the camera has a lot of noise when it is over 100F.  I hope to get a better image of this beautiful nebula next summer at a higher and cooler location (2008).

M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy
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M51 the Whirlpool galaxy 37 million light years distant in the constellation Canes Venatici

Telescope: Astro-Physics 160 EDF, 1200mm focal length, f/7.5
Mount: Orion Atlas EQ-G using EQMOD, guided with an Orion 80mm Short Tube refractor and unmodified Philips SPC900NC Webcam using PHD Guiding software.
Camera: Baader filter Modified Canon EOS XT 350, 8MP.
Exposures: 10x2min. (Total 20min.)
Processing: Stacked, Dark subtract in DeepSkyStacker. Color balance, level balance, unsharp mask, other image cleanup and converted to JPG in Photoshop.
Taken:  Scottsdale, AZ  June 20th 2007 
Notes:  Since M51 was high in the evening sky, I decided to see what I could get.  It was hear I learned that 2 minute exposures was about as long as I could go under my light polluted urban skies.

M13 The Great globular cluster in Hercules
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M13 The Great globular cluster in Hercules 25,100 light years distant in the constellation Hercules

Telescope: Astro-Physics 160 EDF, 1200mm focal length, f7/5
Mount: Orion Atlas EQ-G using EQMOD, guided with an Orion 80mm Short Tube refractor and unmodified Philips SPC900NC Webcam using PHD Guiding software.
Camera: Baader filter Modified Canon EOS XT 350, 8MP.
Exposures: 6x30sec. (Total 3min.)
Processing: Stacked, Dark subtract in DeepSkyStacker. Color balance, level balance, unsharp mask, other image cleanup and converted to JPG in Photoshop.
Taken:  Scottsdale, AZ   June 19th 2007  
Notes:  My first astro-photo using my new Canon EOS XT 350

Comet 17/P Holmes

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Comet 17/P Holmes 2AU (twice the distance from the Earth to the Sun).

Telescope: Astro-Physics 160 EDF, 1200mm focal length, f7/5
Mount: Orion Atlas EQ-G using EQMOD guided using my Orion 80mm f/11.4 Guidescope and my Meade DSI II as an autoguider using PHD Guiding software.
Camera: Baader filter Modified Canon EOS XT 350, 8MP.
Exposures: 10 60 second exposures
Processing: Stacked, Dark subtract and Flat fielded in DeepSkyStacker. Color balance, level balance, unsharp mask, other image cleanup and converted to JPG in Photoshop.
Taken:  Scottsdale, AZ  November 2nd 2007  
Notes:  The most exciting comet this year.  It was a very faint known comet that suddenly burst 1 million times brighter than expected in the span of a few days.  As of November 3rd this ball of cometary debris is almost the size of the Sun!
   The Earth is between the comet and the Sun, and so no tail is visible.