Alnitak, The Flame Nebula and Horse Head Nebula. By Anthony Cox. December '09. Intes MN71 - 18cm f6 Maksutov-Newtonian.
EQ6 Pro SynScan mount with autoguider. Canon EOS 450D.

Anthony braved sub-zero temperatures to capture this dramatic picture. The images he took here at AstroAdventures were Anthony's first attempt at deep sky imaging. He used our Intes and EQ6 plus his Canon 450D to image this remarkable region in Orion. 5 light frames of 5 minutes at ISO 800 were taken along with darks and flats. The huge brightness range between the star Alnitak and the Horse's Head required careful processing, especially as the images were shot in JPG not RAW. However with a little help from us he achieved a result to be proud of.

M1 - The Crab Nebula. By Anthony Cox. December '09.
Intes MN71 - 18cm f6 Maksutov-Newtonian.
EQ6 Pro SynScan mount with autoguider. Canon EOS 450D.

The same comments as above apply to this image of M1, a supernova remnant in the constellation of Taurus.

The Milky Way centered on Deneb. By Paul Gibbons. October '09
Canon EOS 1000D 18 -55 standard zoom lens at 18mm.
HEQ5 Pro SynScan mount with autoguider. Sky Watcher ED80

Paul piggybacked his 1000D onto his Skywatcher ED80 (just seen on the lower edge) to take this splendid picture of the Milky Way. The image is centered on Deneb. The California nebula and surrounding areas of emission nebula have recorded well considering this was an unmodified camera. Several 4 minute exposures and dark frames were taken and then stacked in Deep Sky Stacker. The result was then processed in Photoshop to produce this image.

The Bubble Nebula - NGC 7635 & M27 the Dumbell Nebula.
by Jim Coughlan. September '09

Meade 5000 127mm. QHY8 camera. HEQ5 Pro SynScan mount.
Autoguiding with W/O 66mm using a DSI II via PHD.

Jim brought his own equipment with him to capture these great images. M27 consist of some exposures done from his home location and some from here. The bubble was captured entirely from here. Capture was done via 'Nebulosity'. Exposure details are as follows.

M27 - 3 hours of 5 and 10 minute sub expsoures.
Bubble Nebula - 5 x 5 minute exposures.

The Bubble nebula is in Cassiopeia and M27 is in Vulpecula.

The Crescent Nebula - NGC 6888. By Paul Sloan. September '09
Intes MN71 - 18cm f6 Maksutov-Newtonian.
EQ6 Pro SynScan mount with autoguider. Canon EOS 350D - modified.

Paul has replaced the standard filter on his 350D to give much better red response, important in capturing emission nebula. He did the conversion himself! This superb image is made up of six, 5 minute exposures along with darks and flats.

Jordan Cook. April '09
Intes MN71 - 18cm f6 Maksutov-Newtonian.
EQ6 Pro SynScan. Unguided. Canon EOS 400D.

Jordan used his Canon DSLR and our observatory to capture these images. All the images are made up from x10 stacked, 3 minute exposures. They were Jordans first efforts at imaging and image processing, which makes them even more creditable.
Click on the thumbnail for a photo album of M51, NGC 4565, M81 & M82 plus the Leo Triplet. (opens in new window or tab)

NGC2903 by Paul Gibbons. March '09
Intes MN71 - 18cm f6 Maksutov-Newtonian.
EQ6 Pro SynScan mount with autoguider. Meade DSI Pro.

Paul used his DSI camera and our observatory to capture this great image of NGC 2903 in Leo. This often over looked galaxy suits the chip size of the DSI really well. Capture was via the DSI software but no 'on the fly' stacking etc was done. Instead, each frame was saved as a 32 bit FIT file and along with the darks was then stacked in Astroart. Further image adjustment was carried out in Photoshop (Using FITs plug to open). Three x 3 minute lights and corresponding darks. The weather stopped further exposures.