clear sky chart

Job 9:9

Job 9:9-10
9 He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
10 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.
NIV

Monday, January 16, 2012

NGC1499, The California Nebula

The problem with eastern Ohio this time of year are the clouds.  All of the weather information says its clear out...but they didnt take into account I was going to photograph the sky.  After taking about 10 frames of the California nebula, it decided to cloud up.

Believe it or not, even with so few frames, I was able to enhance this image enough to see the nebula.  I couldnt believe how much I was able to enhance it.


This image was taken using the 300mm lens piggybacked to the 4 1/2 reflector on a low quality GEM.  I used 2 minute frames, and was able to capture 10 useable frames between the clouds.  I used an iso of 1600.

One thing that is interesting - When I was photographing, I couldnt tell if I had the correct star.  I could not see the nebula in the individual frames.  When I stacked the images in Deep Sky Stacker, then enhanced the contrast slightly in the basic processor in DSS, I was able to start to see it.  The bulk of the enhancement was done in Photoshop.  I used Lab Color and the curves to bring out the color.  Considering what I was able to get, I think this one came out quite well.

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