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.