CN FORUMS ARCHIVE Telescope Reviews: Contest Finals Poll Now Open

Hello Folks!

The November 2007 CN Imaging/Sketching Contest Poll is now open!

Please Note: Because we had a run-off in the DSLR category this month, the voting period has been shortened so that the contest will end on time, so please take a moment to visit the poll and cast your vote for the best sketch or image submitted this month!

The winning sketch or image in this contest will be posted to the front page of the Cloudy Nights Website for the whole world to see and admire. More importantly, your vote could help the winner score the highly coveted Cloudy Nights T-Shirt!

You may ask - how good are these guys? Well, see for yourself - here is the list of this month's finalists with their work:

Beginning Imaging's Finalist - Glassthrower:

It was captured on October 20th, 2007 - 10:20pm CST, from Houma Louisiana. Other information regarding the equipment used is captioned in the photo.

Film Imaging's Finalist - AstroBobo:

Cygnus, three exposures, 2x25 min on Fuji Provia 400 + 1x50 min on Kodak E200. Medium format camera Pentax 6x7, Pentax Takumar 150mm lens @ f/5.6. Taken from Petrova Gora, Croatia.

Higher resolution and quality version is here

DSLR & Digital Camera Astro Imaging & Processing's Finalist - soreneck:

NGC2244 / The Rosette Nebula
Capture date: November 3
Scope: Equinox 80mm Apo @ f5 (0.8X WO flattener)
Mount: HEQ5 unguided
Camera: Modified Canon 350, ISO800, IDAS LPS P2 filter
Exposure: 60 minutes, 30x120sec lights, 12 darks, 10 flats
Conditions: average seeing, good transparency
Processing: stacked in DeepSkyStacker, processed in PS CS2

Larger version can be found here .

CCD Imaging & Processing's Finalist - Jared:

M42--The Orion Nebula
Jared Willson
November 23, 2007, Oakland, CA
Losmandy GM-8 Mount; FLT-110 APO @ f/6.5 (TEC); SBIG STL-11000; FLT field flattener; Astrodon LRG&B TrueBalance "I" filters

x3 three minute exposures luminance; x3 thirty second exposures luminance; x1 three minute exposure for each of RG&B

Internally guided and captured in Equinox Image; Calibration, error rejection, DDP, and color combine in MaximDL; Post processing in Photoshop CS2

Solar System Imaging's Finalist - Bart Declercq:

Mosaic of Moretus/Clavius region - October 31st 2007 3h00 UT
Each of the 6 frames is a stack of 256/2500 frames at 1/30s exposure per frame.
Camera: DMK31AF
Telescope: Celestron C9.25
2x barlow extended to an effective x2.7 (so FL approx. 6.4m)

Sketching Forum's Finalist - Jeremy Perez:

Subject: Comet 17P / Holmes
Date/Time: November 7, 2007, 9:00 - 11:30 PM MST (November 8, 2007, 04:00 - 06:00 UT)
Observing Loc: Flagstaff, AZ - Home
Instrument: Orion XT8 (203 mm dia./1200 mm F/L)
Eyepieces: 32 mm Sirius Plössl (38X / 66 arc minute TFOV)
Conditions: Calm, intermittent high cirrus
Seeing: 4/10 Pickering
Transparency: Mag 6.0 NELM

As the comet has gotten larger, the outer envelope has become much less distinct. It shows up as a faint brightening near the inner envelope that fades imperceptibly into the background. The inner envelope has almost outgrown my 24 arc-minute wide 120X view. To the naked eye, it is a large, soft spot in Perseus. The binocular view is getting better as it moves closer to the Alpha Persei association and they fit in the field more comfortably.

Through both binoculars and low power telescopic views, the comet is a bluish green color. The pseudo nucleus is much less distinct, but still visible even at 38X. The inner envelope is now soft enough on the southeast side that this half displays a sort of blinking effect between direct and averted vision. The jellyfish appearance is still there, but now I can also see an ancient trilobite in the shape of the comet. The lumpy irregularities in the central condensation seem more spread out now, and had what looked like a cartoon saguaro cactus arrangement. At 38X, I noticed a bright extension flowing away from the axis of the central condensation, well outside of the soft inner envelope. Some softer fan-like extensions also seemed to peel away from the southeast and northwest sides of the inner envelope.

The sketch was created on Strathmore sketch paper, in a 3.5" sketch circle, using charcoal and graphite (2H & HB) with a chamois, blending stump and kneaded eraser. The sketch was scanned, inverted, adjusted for contrast, dust and scratches cleaned up with the clone tool, and uneven portions adjusted with dodge and burn tools. Color was added last.

So don't delay! Visit the November 2007 CN Imaging/Sketching Contest Poll and vote for the best of the best!

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Weston CSC: