Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Finally a break in the fire conditions - Sagittarius cloud quick pass

I haven't been outside in about 2 months due to regional fires, business travel, etc.  Last night was the first time in a long time that most of the sky was visible through the blanket of smoke and ash that has kept us under siege for weeks from the AZ Wallow fire.  Despite the sky still being degraded, and the Moon blazing away, I decided I needed to shoot something.  So I made a quick pass at Sag and surrounding areas with my newly acquired DSLR - this is only my second attempt using it for AP.

240 sec x 12, no darks, no flats, no bias
Canon T1i modified - Unguided on stock CGEM mount
Canon 18-55mm "nifty-fifty" lense @ F/4.0 ISO 200
Captured in 70 degree temps, and poor seeing
Acquisition - Backyard EOS
Stacking and balance - Nebulosity 2
Post processing in Photoshop 7

Couldn't push any further with the conditions, so I'll make another pass at this with more intensity pretty soon.

Click a second time after loading to maximize the image.


Picasa really compresses these shots something terrible.  Another copy of it is on ASTROPHOTOGALLERY.

I'll write up my own assessment of Backyard EOS shortly as this was my first time using it.  Absolutely wonderful software for this purpose and a little more friendly with DSLRs than Nebulosity as far as connectivity and settings.  A screenshot below.

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