Charlie Hein
Postmaster
Reged: 11/02/03
Posts: 7958
Loc: 26.06.08N, +80.23.08W
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Welcome to the February 2008 Cloudy Nights Imaging/Sketching Contest poll!
Each month the best images selected from the individual Cloudy Nights Imaging and Sketching forums will be presented for the userbase to vote on. The monthly winner receives the coveted Cloudy Nights t-shirt! At the conclusion of the poll, the entry with the highest total will be the winner of the contest..
Please choose your favorite out of all the images. This poll will remain open through March 15th at midnight EST.
Here are the entries for February!
Beginning Imaging's Finalist - JSnuff1:
M45 The Pleiades 1/31/08
Imaging: WO FTL 110 TEC @ F/6.5, SBIG ST4000XCM
Mount: Losmandy GM-8 auto guided with internal SBIG guide camera
18x600s Reduced aligned and combined in CCDSoft, touches in PS2.
Film Astrophotography's Finalist - AstroBobo:
here's my eclipse sequence:
Mamiya Super 23 (medium format, 6x9), 100mm lens, Kodak E200. One shot every 6 minutes. Unfortunately thin clouds interfered, so the sequence looks uneven. Minimal postprocessing, cropped.
DSLR & Digital Camera Astro Imaging & Processing's Finalist - Igor Chekalin:
NGC2264 "Cone" and "Fox Fur" Nebulas
H-alpha channel taken on Feb 12, 2008
8 frames x 20min @ ISO1600, Astrodon 6nm Halpha filter
Ambient temp. -5C
RGB (unfiltered) taken on Jan 6, 2008
10 frames x 20min @ ISO1600
Ambient temp. -17C
Here is (Ha)GB-composition. Scale is about 30%.
Self-modded 350Da in prime focus of Mizar 110/800mm Newton.
EQ6-Pro Syn Scan mount.Autoguided with 75/600 refractor + QHY6 CCD.
Processing - Iris & PhotoShop 9
CCD Imaging & Processing's Finalist - dietmar:
NGC 2392 - the Eskimo nebula
Date: 8.11.2007
Location: 35 km north of Linz
seeing 7-(8)/10; transp. 8/10
Scope: 9" TMB Apo f/18 (TV Big Barlow)
CCD: SXV H36; 18x4 min L; 7 darks; R,G,B 5x4min @ f/9 (RGB seeing 5/10)
Software: AstroArt4 image acqu. guiding, preprocessing: Maxim DL, CCD Sharp, Registax
Processing: postprocess. PS CS2; Pix Insight LE
Solar System Imaging's Finalist - Bart Declercq:
Saturn
Taken 2008-02-10 01hUT
from Zottegem, Belgium
Telescope : Celestron C9.25 at F/27 (using Skywatcher Shorty barlow extended to 2.7x)
Camera : The Imaging Source DMK31AF
Filters: Astronomik RGB interference filters in an ATIK manual filter wheel
Image alignment & quality estimation using ninox (AKA ppmcentre)
Stacking and slight waveletting in Registax - stacked 4000 of 9999 frames R, 5000 of 9999 G and 6000 of 9999 B
Post-processing (RGB-combine, additional sharpening and denoising) in Photoshop CS2
This image was taken in quite exceptional seeing conditions by Belgian standards.
Sketching Forum's Finalist - kraterkid:
Subject: Naked eye view of the lunar eclipse on February 21, 2008
Time: 8:59 PST to 9:07 PST
Seeing: Antoniadi IV
Weather: Cloudy with intermittent light showers
Phase: 359.2 deg
Colongitude: 86 deg
Lunation: 14.05 Days
Notes: A perfect bite, a bit hazy about the edge
Medium: White Conte' Crayon on black Strathmore Artagain paper
Sketch size: 9" X 12"
Good Luck to all our finalists!
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Beginning Imaging's Finalist - JSnuff1:
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Film Astrophotography's Finalist - AstroBobo:
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DSLR & Digital Camera Astro Imaging & Processing's Finalist - Igor Chekalin:
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CCD Imaging & Processing's Finalist - dietmar:
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Solar System Imaging's Finalist - Bart Declercq:
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Sketching Forum's Finalist - kraterkid:
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"He's dead, Jim - I'll get his wallet, you get his tricorder." - Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Weston CSC:
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Dick Lipke
sage
Reged: 02/20/07
Posts: 282
Loc: Marine City,Mich.
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Why dose everyone insist on referring to the these photos and sketching as work of the amateur astronommer.They surpass any professionals work I have seen on this Earth.
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LX90 8",Cornado Max 40,Miyauchi 20x100 Bino's,and way to many eyepieces and filters,
Thousand Oaks 8" Ha filter
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Protheus
Vaguely offended
Reged: 09/01/07
Posts: 5065
Loc: Illinois, US
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Quote:
Why dose everyone insist on referring to the these photos and sketching as work of the amateur astronommer.They surpass any professionals work I have seen on this Earth.
Simply because they are. None of these people are professionals. That is, they don't get paid to do astronomy. 
Chris
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"To tread the sharp edge of a sword;
to run on smooth-frozen ice,
one needs no footsteps to follow..."
"Well, people sometimes ask me 'how did you get involved in astronomy?' I said 'I got born, what's your problem?'" -- John Dobson
"In discussing the large-scale structure of the cosmos, astronomers sometimes say that space is curved, or that the universe is finite but unbounded. Whatever are they talking about?" -- Carl Sagan
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Cow Jazz
professor emeritus
Reged: 11/24/03
Posts: 669
Loc: Toronto, Ontario
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The Pleaides shot is REALLY deep, pinpoint stars, lots of nebulousity (and this is the "beginner" catagory?), the rest are also terrific, but I have to go for the Eskimo Nebula; something a bit different, and great detail of the Eskimo's "face". Way to go, everyone.
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John aka: Byrdzeye
NYAA, Toronto
Observatorium Orionis
XT10i w/PT (push-to)
ED80 on AZ3 or LXD55 Frankenmount
350D w/17-85 IS & 70-200 f4 L
Taylor guitar & IPod
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Scott Horstman
Vendor- Backyard Observatories
Reged: 03/11/04
Posts: 8074
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It's alway so hard to pick in this poll. It's like going to a fine restaraunt and having to decide between the Prime Rib or Lobster or.....
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poweruser
member
Reged: 06/27/07
Posts: 97
Loc: The Final Frontier
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I voted for M45, although I was really, really close to going for the sketch.
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Orion 127mm Mak
EQ-3
Astro-Tech 1.25" Dielectric Diagonal
7mm, 9mm, 12.5mm UO Abbe
25mm Sirius Plössl
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boogie
member
Reged: 04/30/07
Posts: 73
Loc: Israel
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Beginning Imaging ???? My dear god ...
That's the BEST Pleiades image I've EVER seen, and that includes the ones taken by HST or any other observatory class scope. It's just RIDICULOUSLY good
And the eclipse sequence ... WOW!!!
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"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."
"It's at times like this, when I'm stuck in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelegeuse about to die of asphyxiation in deep space, that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was little."
"Why, what did she tell you?"
"I don't know, I didn't listen!"
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Max
journeyman
Reged: 06/27/04
Posts: 7
Loc: Canary Islands
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Voted for NGC2264, despite I don't like the diffraction spikes. Look at the equipment used! Fantastic image, considering it was taken by DSLR camera!
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www.canaryskies.com
460mm F/4 dob(under construction), TEC-160FL, CGE-1400XLT, С11S-GT XLT, Synta Sky-Watcher 100ED, 120ED, TeleVue 76, Coronado 60/15, 2x EQ6 Pro.
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astroleo
journeyman
Reged: 04/16/07
Posts: 5
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Am voting for the Saturn.. "stacked 4000 of 9999 frames R, 5000 of 9999 G and 6000 of 9999 B Post-processing (RGB-combine, additional sharpening and denoising) in Photoshop CS2"
IMHO, this dude deserves full credit for the amazing level of commitment.. Keep it up..
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w orchid
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 04/23/07
Posts: 831
Loc: Tampa, Fl
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Great job to all.
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Celestron C8 orange tube circa 1982
Stellarvue SV102ED
Celestron NS1100GPS
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wlsweather
newbie
Reged: 02/22/08
Posts: 1
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Kudos to everyone here. Going with M45 as best of the best. Terrific nebulosity and tack-sharp stars. JSnuff... if you're a beginner, then I can't wait to see what type of imaging you'll be capable of when you get good!!!
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Steenhoek27
sage
Reged: 05/26/06
Posts: 212
Loc: Torrance, CA
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I think that these "Finalists" need to be renamed "WINNERS" in their respective category as they are ALL truly fantastic displays of the heavens!!!
There is still room for a "Overall Monthly Winner" but these entries deserve to be called something better than "finalists"!!!!
just my opnion.... 
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Jim
www.laas.org
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sunnynights
member
Reged: 08/26/06
Posts: 23
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-Once again, a well-deserved congratulations to all. I second Boogie's comments about the quality of the M45 image. The distinct images of the stars of varying magnitudes were especially noteworthy. Keep up the good work, and I imagine many of us are looking forward to more of it.
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markseibold
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 1080
Loc: Portland Oregon
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To all at Cloudy Nights
I am new to the site. I find the discussion about the term professional artist or photographer interesting- I believe it merely means if you are paid for the work and that you show some mastery and skill in the use of the medium. I just received an email notice of a contest for images but misread it as sketching only, to then arrive at the site and see so much astrophotography- As I do not have that equipment, and although I had two of my astrophoto images published in Astronomy Magazine as full page time exposures in 1994, one awarded, I then recently turned back to my art and submitted pastel sketches of the sun as I observed it through my h-alpha filtered telescope- NASA sites such as Astronomy Picture of the Day and Spaceweather.com began running them in their front pages- I received emails from all over the world to commend me- The same responses from many non-artists; Are you aa professional? How much money do your works demand? etc, etc, etc. I would say, if a good artist could make a living at this, we would never have adopted the phrase 'starving artist'- yet I received some amazing responses on the art- One such, was a lady artist in Sedona who indicates to me that the web is so oversaturated with digital photography that real hand drawn art has a new appeal again. I will try to post some photo images then pastel sketches below (the Hand Drawn Mercury Transit was featured in Astronomy Picture of the Day Nov17th 2006; all others in Spaceweather.com)- Mark >
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Starry-Eyed
newbie
Reged: 10/18/07
Posts: 3
Loc: British Columbia, Canada
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That is awesome! Keep up the good work!!! 
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Pasquale
Encrypted
Reged: 10/12/05
Posts: 2219
Loc: Olympia, Washington
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Each one of these photos is a winner in my book, it's like having to pick "Best of Show" at Westminster Kennel Club! Extremely hard to do! Well done, all of you...
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Pasquale
Go Seahawks!
NexStar 9.25 GPS / SkyAlign
Stellarvue SV102ED
WO ZS80FD Anniversary
WO ZS66ED Triplet
Vixen Sphinx SXW
Canon EOS XT/350D, Meade DSI, NexImager
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markseibold
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 1080
Loc: Portland Oregon
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I am trying to add some of the astro images for reference- yet find that they are dismissed as oversized even after I reduce their size below 100kb  adjusted them to just below 100 kb- So I'll stick with the pastels for now - Mark >
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markseibold
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 1080
Loc: Portland Oregon
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Protheus- Yes I agreee with you. This was one of my award winners which I sold many matted and framed prints of since I produced the fist enlarged framed print in 1994 - Mark >
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markseibold
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 1080
Loc: Portland Oregon
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Or this one, my 19" X 22" pastel as the Hand Drawn Transit featured in Astronomy Picture of the Day on November 17th 2006 Mark >
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lightfever
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 09/27/04
Posts: 1272
Loc: Macomb Michigan
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These are just fantastic and are all winners. I'm picking NGC2264 but almost went for the sketch.
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Mark
Tasco 15-TE 76mm
Sky Watcher 80mm ED
AT-111 Triplet
XT8i (with Woden re-figured mirror)
Discovery 12.5" f/5 Premium DHQ (PDHQ Split-tube Dobsonian)
12.5" f/6.3 Dob (Underconstruction)
Celestron CG-5GT EQ Mount
Celestron C4 EQ Mount
"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain" unknown
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cocobolo
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/27/07
Posts: 1550
Loc: british columbia, canada
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All I have to say is that I'm glad we only have to do this once a month. These guys are all so good it's nearly impossible to select just one winner.
Keith
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paul rapp
member
Reged: 02/19/07
Posts: 12
Loc: castaic, california, U.S.A.
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Oy! Choices. Choices. I find the angle on AstroBobos lunar eclipse sequence interesting and innovative. We night people rarely want the lights of the day people. I'm a sucker for Saturn. Especially such a detailed image; I do believe I see the Encke division. But THAT MOON! Too fine to pass up. My clear choice. I can feel it passing overhead this minute. Congrats to kraterkid!
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Red meat is not bad for you:
Fuzzy green meat is.
obsession 25" 5 goto
celestron 9ź" 10 sct or
TMB 130 7 apo
on: losmandy g-11
stellarvue 90mm 7 apo
stellarvue 80 mm 6 nighthawk
fujinon 16 x 70
celestron 8 x 56
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kenren10
member
Reged: 06/05/06
Posts: 34
Loc: Delaware, USA
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I must concur with several others - this is the toughest choice I have seen since I joined. Each entry could win any other month. I went with Igor partially because it was a new view to me, but they all were astonishing - and kraterkid truly captured a unique moment.
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Vixen ED80Sf
Orion 127 Mak-Cass
Orion ST80
Denk II Power X Binoviewer
Orion SVP EQ mount
Vixen porta Alt-Az
Orion Paragon-Plus XHD Tripod
Nikon 8x42 Binos
Garrett 8x45 Binos
Tasco 10x50 Binos
Baader Hyperion & TMB planetary eyepieces
Tele-vue 2.5x PowerMate
Mixed box o' Plossls, barlows etc.
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RobertC850
newbie
Reged: 01/22/08
Posts: 1
Loc: Tallahassee, Florida
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I am impressed with the crystal clarity of the Pleiades, each of the entries are impressive; however, I too must conclude the Eskimo is startling in brilliance and this photo won my vote. Yet Saturn, great photo only the Keck telescopes could top it, then again it would be splitting hairs. Well done all. Bob Carton
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nammoozz
newbie
Reged: 11/30/07
Posts: 1
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Kudo's to Mike @ Astronomics for encouraging such beautiful work!
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lagwagon555
journeyman
Reged: 04/05/07
Posts: 9
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Pleiades... is there anything more beautiful?
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Hoser
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 02/10/05
Posts: 1153
Loc: Boston, MA
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Great solar sketch, Mark. Wanna sell it? <g>
Well done, all. That's a magnificent M45 for a "beginner's shot"!
...Neil
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www.flemingastrophotography.com
Brilliant diamonds in pea soup
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Dick Lipke
sage
Reged: 02/20/07
Posts: 282
Loc: Marine City,Mich.
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Then all thses people must be a professional and don't even know it,because when someone offers me a compliment and smile for something I have done, I feel humble for accepting
such a reward as payment for something I love to do.
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LX90 8",Cornado Max 40,Miyauchi 20x100 Bino's,and way to many eyepieces and filters,
Thousand Oaks 8" Ha filter
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Yossi Hury
member
Reged: 08/21/07
Posts: 13
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All are great, but i"ll go for ngc 2264.
thank"s ....YOSSI HURY
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Yossi Hury
member
Reged: 08/21/07
Posts: 13
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All are great, but i"ll go for ngc 2264.
thank"s ....YOSSI HURY
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Mark Costello
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/08/05
Posts: 1311
Loc: Matthews, NC, USA
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This is the best bunch I've seen since first noticing these about a year ago. They all are glorious. Trying to pick from amoung is making my head hurt....
I came real close to plunking for the NGC2264 photo. Such detail taken with a little newt.
But I finally went for the sketch of the lunar eclipse. Kraterkid put a lot of detail into his picture based on "naked-eye" observation. Just wonderful.
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Mark Costello
Matthews, NC
Wife, son, three daughters, two dogs, ... and
Souped up & Tuned Burgess 102mm refractor on a CG5 & Celestron 7X35's
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lunar-tic
member
Reged: 06/28/07
Posts: 35
Loc: Louisiana
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Good for you!
We are so saturated. We have too much 'stuff'.
Ben Waranowitz
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Glasses, OS cataract, OD Off-center lens implant
BARSKA 15x70
20x80 binocular
Celestron C5 CG3 mount
Celestron C6 Newt f/5 slide focuser on Polaris mount short wooden legs
Meade 80mm f/11 Altaz manual mount
Coulter 10" f/5.35 mirror being refigured
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nitrohepcat
member
Reged: 12/04/07
Posts: 55
Loc: Milwaukee, WI
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OMG - these are the best images ever!!! AWESOME!!
But I had to vote for the Crater Kid! Awesome sketch!
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TheDude
member
Reged: 09/16/07
Posts: 15
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Wow! Once again a superb set of entries, every one! Both of the nebulae are targets rarely shot by astrophotogrophers, the pleiades is absolutely fantastic and the sketching is just superb. I found it a very close call between the saturn picture and the film photo of the lunar eclipse... in the end I went for the eclipse, not only because it is an amazing piece of astronomy but also it is so unusual to see such a contrast between earth and space on the same picture.
But really, I think one of the best lineups yet!
Keep up the good work!!!
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Tanny
newbie
Reged: 04/07/06
Posts: 3
Loc: Jupiter, Florida
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Sketching Forum's Finalist - kraterkid, got my vote. I like to vote for whatever entry strikes me as most original. This time, it was the artist that caught my attention most.
Very fine set of entries.
Carl
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PureHeaven
member
Reged: 01/20/08
Posts: 71
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
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wow............... these are all amazing.
The images of the Pleiades and 2264 both took my breath away- incredible. But I went for the Eskimo Nebula. It's such a beautiful, wondrous phenomenon, that I feel lucky given the chance to enjoy it as never before.
What an exceptional photo, thanks for sharing it with us.
... and thanks for my new desktop!
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Frank
Hot-rodded 10" Orion Dob,
31mm Nag
13 & 6mm Ethos
a few cigars and a comfy chair.
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Jim Lafferty
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/30/07
Posts: 701
Loc: Southern California
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I went for the Eskimo--that sucker was shot with a BARLOW!!!!!
Great job Dietmar!!!!!
Jim
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Jim Lafferty
Southern California
TOA130
FSQ106N
XX12 Truss-Tube Dobsonian
C9.25 (Carbon Tube)
SV70
AT66
NJP Temma II
EM200 Temma II
ST10 XME/ST2000XM/CFW-10/Astrodon TruBalance
E-finder/SBIG Remote Guide
DF-2 Autofocuser
POD XL-5
www.scopetrader.com/shogun
http://www.cloudynights.com/photopost/showgallery.php?ppuser=28405&cat=500
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stkoepke
sage
Reged: 01/11/08
Posts: 286
Loc: Abilene, Texas
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WOW, they are all so good...
So hard to decide...
Went with M45 but they all deserve an award.
GREAT JOB EVERYONE!!
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Tim
God's Guidance
An Undestanding Wife - PRICELESS!!
C6R - Thanks Astronomics!!
Meade ETX 60AT-BB
Meade 70AZ-A
Meade Starfinder 8" Dob.
Criterion RV-6 Dynascope - 6" f8 Newtonian
"Brother's" old Jason 60mm AZ
Lots of help from reading "Cloudy Nights" posts,
and Lots of Patience learned over time...
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wrather1
AstroBear
Reged: 10/25/05
Posts: 3880
Loc: Dallas, Texas
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The contest entries all exhibit the incredible level of talent and ability featured by the CN membership. What is truly astounding is to compare these with the photos published by the world's premier observatories 10-20 years ago. Kudos to all contestants; they are all superb images.
Dave W.
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"Don't worry about what telescope you own, or its quality. Just get out under the night sky, and enjoy God's wondrous universe." - T. M. Back
Meade RCX400-12 "Ursa Major"
TMB 130SS + EQ6-PRO "Ursus Polaris"
Orion ED80 "Ursa Minor", WO ZS66ED "grab-'n'-go"
EOS 30D (Hutech), ToUcam Pro, Star Shoot Autoguider, Meade DSI
North Texas Clear Sky Chart
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Charlie Hein
Postmaster
Reged: 11/02/03
Posts: 7958
Loc: 26.06.08N, +80.23.08W
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Quote:
I think that these "Finalists" need to be renamed "WINNERS" in their respective category as they are ALL truly fantastic displays of the heavens!!!
There is still room for a "Overall Monthly Winner" but these entries deserve to be called something better than "finalists"!!!!
just my opnion....
Actually each one *is* the winner of the individual polls taken in each forum represented. The prize for winning is that they become a finalist in the site-wide contest.
Charlie
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"He's dead, Jim - I'll get his wallet, you get his tricorder." - Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Weston CSC:
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kellpatti
newbie
Reged: 05/04/08
Posts: 1
Loc: North Carolina
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Why does the word "Amateur" have negative connotations to some people? Amateurs do what they do out of love, and not for the money... 
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P K Yates
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