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Description
This is the first image I have taken since November, 2007, and, also probably the worst. But, it's good to be posting something new for the first time in over 1.5 years.

First light for both the G-11 and my modified 40D.

I experienced all the woes, trials and tribulations on Saturday night, that comes with playing with new equipment for the first time. Levelling, balance, polar alignment, et. al., were a major pain in the you-know-what, but, towards the later part of the evening, things started to come good.

I only managed 1 hour and 40 minutes as the bottom of the frame started to sink below the trees (thank you, kappa-sigma stacking for removing the trees). I am not impressed with my framing; the constellation should have sat higher up in the composition, however, I did manage to capture M8 and M20, so, that was a bit of a bonus.

The skyglow gradient was pretty bad, but, IRIS handled it well, with some minor work having to be carried out in Photoshop.

Anyway, enough rambling. Full view for maximum pleasure.

Comments and critique, as always, are welcome.

This composite consists of one set of images; one set of 20 images taken at ISO-400.
Each individual image was a 300 second exposure.
IRIS was used to calibrate each image (dark subtraction [median combined master dark] and flat field division [median combined master flat {lights and darks}]), to register, align, stack, stretch and finally to remove skyglow and gradients.
Photoshop CS3 was used to adjust levels, curves, saturation, colour balance, local contrast, further gradient removal, frame and resize the final composite.

Target: The Constellation of Scorpius
Date: Saturday, July 18th, 2009
Time: First image: 11:33 PM
Time: Last image: 01:33 AM
Location: Mangrove Mountain, NSW, Australia
Camera: Canon EOS-40D (modified: Baader UV/IR filter)
Lens: Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM (stopped down to f/5.6)
Focal length: 24mm
Mount: Losmandy G-11 (Gemini)
Guiding: Meade DSI-C through Orion ED80
Exposure: 20 x 300 seconds (1 hour 40 minutes) @ ISO-400 (RAW)
Software: IRIS: Calibration, registration, stacking, stretching, gradient removal; Adobe Photoshop CS3: post-processing and framing

Description
This is the first image I have taken since November, 2007, and, also probably the worst. But, it's good to be posting something new for the first time in over 1.5 years.

First light for both the G-11 and my modified 40D.

I experienced all the woes, trials and tribulations on Saturday night, that comes with playing with new equipment for the first time. Levelling, balance, polar alignment, et. al., were a major pain in the you-know-what, but, towards the later part of the evening, things started to come good.

I only managed 1 hour and 40 minutes as the bottom of the frame started to sink below the trees (thank you, kappa-sigma stacking for removing the trees). I am not impressed with my framing; the constellation should have sat higher up in the composition, however, I did manage to capture M8 and M20, so, that was a bit of a bonus.

The skyglow gradient was pretty bad, but, IRIS handled it well, with some minor work having to be carried out in Photoshop.

Anyway, enough rambling. Full view for maximum pleasure.

Comments and critique, as always, are welcome.

This composite consists of one set of images; one set of 20 images taken at ISO-400.
Each individual image was a 300 second exposure.
IRIS was used to calibrate each image (dark subtraction [median combined master dark] and flat field division [median combined master flat {lights and darks}]), to register, align, stack, stretch and finally to remove skyglow and gradients.
Photoshop CS3 was used to adjust levels, curves, saturation, colour balance, local contrast, further gradient removal, frame and resize the final composite.

Target: The Constellation of Scorpius
Date: Saturday, July 18th, 2009
Time: First image: 11:33 PM
Time: Last image: 01:33 AM
Location: Mangrove Mountain, NSW, Australia
Camera: Canon EOS-40D (modified: Baader UV/IR filter)
Lens: Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM (stopped down to f/5.6)
Focal length: 24mm
Mount: Losmandy G-11 (Gemini)
Guiding: Meade DSI-C through Orion ED80
Exposure: 20 x 300 seconds (1 hour 40 minutes) @ ISO-400 (RAW)
Software: IRIS: Calibration, registration, stacking, stretching, gradient removal; Adobe Photoshop CS3: post-processing and framing