re: the Trifid Nebula

So here's the first decent image made with the SV115 + the SBIG ST2000-XCM + the CGE + CCDOPS (SBIGs proprietary camera control software) + ImagesPlus + PhotoShop CS2 + lots of trial and error. :)

Let me make a long story very short. New equipment means plenty of trial and error testing. After setting up, calibrating, polar aligning, recalibrating, and enrolling in the school of hard knocks, I finally had some usable subs. Of course, the first thing I discovered is that I did not have enough back focus for the SV115 at f/7. The TeleVue .8 focal reducer saved the night. The image that you see is the famous and fabulous M20, the so-called Trifid Nebula, located in that most wonderful of all constellations, Sagittarius!

The composite image is a stack of 15 two minute subs, converted, aligned, and combined and digitally developed in Mike Unsold's ImagesPlus. FYI, for my money, this is absolutely the best investment any imager can make in software. Can't afford PhotoShop? Fine. In fact, why bother with PS? IP will give you everything you need and more in a powerful image processing and camera control program that is, frankly, awesome. Here's a link to the IP page. Mike also participates on a frequent basis in the Yahoo ImagesPlus group.

I'll fill in all the wonky processing data at a later time. But I'm pleased with the results. I've seen better Trifids, of course. But hey, I'm just foolin' around, havin' some fun!
Max