 M45 |
 M45
The Pleiades or Seven Sisters. This is an open star cluster in Taurus
consisting of several hundred stars about 415 light years
away. This shot was taken with my Meade 10"
LX200 from Vedeler Observatory with the Lumicon Giant Easy Guider at f/5.5 (lens rear position) and
auto guided off axis using my ST4. This is the combination of a 60
minute and a 45 minute exposure which have been digitally stacked in Picture
Window to increase the signal to noise. Significant contrast stretching
and color balance was done in Photoshop to bring out the subtle nebulosity in
this cluster. I
used unhypered Kodak Royal Gold 1000 print film and both exposures where taken on
December 4th 1999. This was an attempt to better my shot of M45 taken
back in November of 1997. The tracking on this shot is considerably
better, though it may not be obvious with a web resolution image. I
tried to frame the shot to center the filamentary detail of the nebulosity around
the bright star in the center. The halo's around some of the stars are
an artifact of the optical system. |
 M33 |
M33
a very nice face on spiral galaxy in the constellation Triangulum. It is
2.3 million light years away. This shot was taken with my Meade 10"
LX200 with the Lumicon Giant Easy Guider at f/5.5 (lens rear position) and
auto guided off axis using my ST4. This is the combination of two 60
minute exposures digitally stacked to increase the signal to noise. I
used unhypered Fuji 800 print film and both exposures where taken on November
29th 1999. A third 60 minute exposure was also taken, but showed trailed
stars due to a tracking error. This is the first film astrophotography done
from Vedeler Observatory. |
 The Orion Nebula |
The Orion Nebula taken piggy back with my Orion Short Tube Refractor taken near Oracle Arizona on October 24th 1997, with Kadak PJC 1600 film for 20 minutes at f/5. Cropped to remove the vignetting. To see the whole Orion nebula in color taken through my 10" scope click here. This negative was scanned with the Polaroid SprintScan 35 Plus on October 23rd 1998. The image was further enhanced in Photoshop. |
 NGC 7000 The North America Nebula |
The North America Nebula taken near Oracle Arizona on October 24th 1997. Taken with piggy back with my Orion Short Tube Refractor, with Kadak PJC 1600 film for 30 minutes at f/5. Cropped to remove the vignetting. This negative was scanned with the Polaroid SprintScan 35 Plus on October 23rd 1998. The image was further enhanced in Photoshop |  Trapezium in Orion Nebula M42 |
The Trapezium in the Great Orion Nebula taken from Steward Observatory's 61" f/13.5 Cassegrain Reflector on Mt. Bigelow just outside of Tucson on October, 4th 1997 on Kodak 200 Gold film for a 10 minute unguided exposure. It is interesting that the nebulosity shows up as blue-green in this photo indicating that it is primarily reflection and OIII that is dominate near these central stars instead of the usual very red H-alpha in most emission nebula. This negative was scanned with the Polaroid SprintScan 35 Plus on August 15th 1998. The image was further enhanced in Photoshop. |
 Horsehead Nebula |
The Horsehead Nebula (IC434) taken from 40 miles Southwest of Tucson, February 28th, 1998, 45 minute exposure, shot with the Lumicon Giant Easy Guider at f/5.6 on Kodak PJM. The focus is pretty good on this shot, but the stars are slightly trailed. This is most likely due to mirror slop as this shot was guided with my guidescope and the Meade Pictor 208XT autoguider. This negative was scanned with the Polaroid SprintScan 35 Plus at 2700 dpi on August 15th 1998. The image was further enhanced in Photoshop. |
 Omega Centari |
Omega Centari taken from 40 miles Southwest of Tucson, June 8th 1997, 20 minute exposure, prime focus f/6.3 on hyped Kodak PPF 400. This shot was guided using the guide scope and the Meade 208XT autoguider. On August 8th 1998 I rescanned the negative with the Polaroid SprintScan 35 Plus at 2700 dpi to get the detail which existed in the original but which the print and my flat bed scanner could not capture. The image was further enhanced in Photoshop. |
 M8 The Lagoon Nebula |
The Lagoon Nebula taken from the Rocky Mountain Star Stare near Colorado Springs on June 27th 1998. This shot was manually guided for 30 minutes at f/6.5 using Fuji Super G800 film. I'm going to re-shoot M8 as I am not entirely happy with the focus or the guiding on this shot, but this is the best one I've gotten so far. |
 M45 The Pleiades |
The Pleiades taken from 40 miles Southwest of Tucson on November 29th 1997. The Lumicon Giant Easy Guider was used with the focal reducer at f/5.5 and my Olypmus OM1. This shot was autoguided with my Meade 208XT and my guidescope 45 minute exposure using Kodak PJC 1600 film. The negative was scanned with a Nikon LS1000 at 2700 dip and the final image enhanced in Photoshop. |
 M57 The Ring Nebula |
M57 taken from Steward Observatory's 61" f/13.5 Cassegrain Reflector on Mt. Bigelow just outside of Tucson on June 13th 1997. The film used was Hyped Kodak PPF 400 for a 15 minute exposure. This was an unguided exposure demonstrating the very precise drive and polar alignment of the scope. Compare this to my picture of M57 taken with my 10" with a 30 minute exposure. The negative was scanned with a Nikon LS1000 at 2700 dip and the final image enhanced in Photoshop. |
 M42 The Great Nebula in Orion |
M42 The Great Orion Nebula taken from 40 miles Southwest of Tucson on November 29th 1997. The Lumicon Giant Easy Guider was used with the focal reducer at f/5.5 and my Olypmus OM1. This shot was autoguided with my Meade 208XT and my guidescope for 30 minutes using Kodak PJC 1600 film. The negative was scanned with a Nikon LS1000 at 2700 dip and the final image enhanced in Photoshop. |
 NGC7293 Helix Nebula |
The Helix Nebula taken near Kitt Peak Arizona on November 1st 1997 taken at f/6.5 with the medium format camera. It is a 30 minute exposure with Kodak PMZ 1000. Cropped to remove the vignetting. |
 M31 The Andromeda Galaxy |
The Andromeda Galaxy taken near Oracle Arizona on October 24th 1997 with piggy back with my Orion Short Tube Refractor. It is a 45 minute exposure with Kadak PJC 1600 film at f/5. Cropped to remove the vignetting. |
 M33 Face on Spiral Galaxy |
M33 taken piggy back with my Orion Short Tube Refractor, near Oracle Arizona on October 24th 1997 with Kadak PJC 1600 film for 45 minutes at f/5. Left as a full frame shot to show the vignetting. |
 Blue Snowball Nebula NCG 7662 |
The Blue Snowball Nebula NGC 7662 taken from Steward Observatory's 61" f/13.5 Cassegrain Reflector on Mt. Bigelow just outside of Tucson on October, 4th 1997. Kodak 200 Gold film for a 12 minute unguided exposure. |
 NGC 7009 The Saturn Planetary Nebula |
NGC 7009 taken Steward Observatory's 61" f/13.5 Cassegrain Reflector on Mt. Bigelow just outside of Tucson on June 13th 1997. The film used was Hyped Kodak PPF 400 for a 10 minute exposure. This was an unguided exposure demonstrating the very precise drive and polar alignment of the scope. This image has been enhanced in Photoshop to bring out the detail in the central region while maintaining some of the dimmer "ring" structure. |
 The Summer Milky Way |
The Milky Way taken from the South rim of the Grand Canyon. This was taken at the Grand Canyon star party in June 1996. It is a piggyback 10 minute exposure using a 28mm lens at f/2.8 with Kodak Gold 1000 film. |
 M13 Hercules Globular Cluster |
M13 taken from 40 miles Southwest of Tucson Arizona. June 8th, 1997, prime focus f/10 on hyped Kodak PPF 400. This was a 40 minute exposure. This is one object that usually looks more impressive in the eyepiece than on film. This shot was guided with my autoguider and guide scope. |
Last modified: December 3rd, 1999
Copyright ©1999 Chris Vedeler
Comments: ckvedeler@access4less.net
