Charlie Hein
Postmaster
   
Reged: 11/02/03
Posts: 7965
Loc: 26.06.08N, +80.23.08W
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Welcome to the October 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 November 15th at midnight EDT.
Here are the entries for October!
Beginning Imaging's Finalist - Richard Scott:

M27 imaged through a C-11, auto-guided with a Meade DSI and PHD through an Orion ED80, and all of it pier mounted on a CG-5. I am using 5 11lbs counterweights on that poor mount!
30 subs at 60 sec. ea imaged at prime focus. Captured and dark subtracted in MaxIm DL, debayered and stacked in Nebulosity using colors in motion. And a bit of Photoshop
DSLR & Digital Camera Astro Imaging & Processing's Finalist - cvedeler:

Horsehead nebula in Orion Taken from Farnsworth Ranch AZ on Oct. 25th 2008.
Scope: Astro-Physics 160 EDF + AP .75 focal reducer Mount: Astro-Phyiscs 900 GTO2 Filter: None Camera: Canon 350xt modified
Exposures: 10 x 12 minute / 10 darks 5 x flat / 5 x bias
Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker Final processing in Photoshop 6.0, noise reduction with NEAT.
CCD Imaging & Processing's Finalist - J.P.M:

The Butterfly Nebula
Imaged 29.09.2008, from city center of Oulu, Finland.
Imaging data: - Camera, QHY8 - Filters, Baader 7nm H-alpha, Baader 8,5nm O-III and Baader 8nm S-II - Optics, Tokina AT-X 300mm @ f2.8 - Exposures, 5 X 1200s H-alpha 3 X 1200s O-III 4 X 1200s S-II + flats and bias - Guiding, LX200 GPS 12" + PHD-guiding and Lodestar
Solar System Imaging's Finalist - rumples riot:

Jupiter and Io. Taken 10 May 2008 Telescope: C14 Camera: Lumenera Skynyx 2-0 RGB 970 frames per channel
Sketching Forum's Finalist - markseibold:

3.3 Day old moon from a hill-top in Portland Oregon. A 19" X 25" pastel with the lunar disc sketched at a 12" diameter.
Good Luck to all our finalists!
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Beginning Imaging's Finalist - Richard Scott:
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DSLR & Digital Camera Astro Imaging & Processing's Finalist - cvedeler:
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CCD Imaging & Processing's Finalist - J.P.M:
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Solar System Imaging's Finalist - rumples riot:
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Sketching Forum's Finalist - markseibold:
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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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This is cruel and unjust punishment to have some one choose only one winner!
-------------------- 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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InkDark
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/29/07
Posts: 1837
Loc: Montreal, Canada
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Quote:
This is cruel and unjust punishment to have some one choose only one winner!
I agree 100%.
I went with M27 'cause I've never seen it this way. Very nice everyone!
-------------------- Jimmy
If you could stop time, for how long would you stop it?
"...since that time, I have not complained about the weather one single time. I’m glad there is weather." – Alan Bean, Apollo 12
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Nick Cook
Pooh-Bah
   
Reged: 01/28/06
Posts: 1239
Loc: Somerset, England
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Arrrrrgggghhhh.... So difficult to chose! Great work everyone.
-------------------- Meade 14" RCX + Astro Physics 0.75 Reducer (27TVPH)
Meade 5000 ED80 APO (Guider/widefield)+ WO 0.8 Reducer
William Optics Zenithstar 66 Petzal
SBig STL11000M + AO-L + 3" Pyxis Rotator + 3" PDF Focuser
Canon 20Da + IDAS Filter
Pulsar 9ft Dome
www.nick-cook.net
www.cavebear.co.uk
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JT5
professor emeritus
   
Reged: 11/08/07
Posts: 582
Loc: Ozarks of Missouri
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In my book they are ALL winners!! 
John
--------------------
My wife shares my love of the night skies and tolerates all of my other hobbies.
Televue Pronto w/Starbeam pointer and Televue tripod
Meade 2045D, ETX-125PE, 12" Lightbridge
Celestron: 7Amp PowerTank, 15X70mm binoculars
Meade, Swan and Televue Lenses (33, 26, 20, 15 & 9mm), Televue Barlow
Catsperch Observing Chair
Member: Astronomical Society of Eastern Missouri
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fireman
professor emeritus
   
Reged: 07/27/07
Posts: 665
Loc: Houston, Texas
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WOW! M27 looks like a "see through" earth"! It gets my vote, but it was hard to pick this time ...
-------------------- Rick H
Obsession 12.5, #1543
Argo Navis DSC
ServoCAT Jr
31T5
Ethos 6, 8, 13, 17
Astro-Tech 80EDT
Mead LXD (GEM)
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dvb
different Syndrome.
   
Reged: 06/18/05
Posts: 3022
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M27 stopped me in my tracks -- BUT -- a "Beginning" imager with that gear?
I had to go with the Butterfly -- incredible detail and colour, sharpness.
As always, my great respect to the Sketch entry -- they never seem to win, but they are never fail to impress!
And the Jupiter, and the Horsehead! All terrific.
-------------------- "But seeing through a telescope is 50% vision and 50% imagination." - Chet Raymo
Skywatcher 10" f/4.7 Newt on Matilda
Celestron CF 9.25"
Vixen CF 8" f/4 Newt
Meade 8" SN f/4
Celestron C6 SCT
Skywatcher ED100
Skywatcher ED80
EQ6 Pro "Matilda"
AT Voyager
Canon 15x50is
Mallincam HyperColor Plus
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BillP
Post Laureate
   
Reged: 11/26/06
Posts: 3942
Loc: Vienna, VA
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As I scrolled down thru the list I don't think I've ever WoWed so much. This is definitely a most difficult round...everyone should be given an award from this bunch!!
The Horsehead was spectacular. The balance of colors across the compostion was wonderful...very artful composition in addition to the technical aspects.
Jupiter was also astounding...don't think I've seen a shot like this outside of NASA. You can actually see many details within the GRS...incredible!!
Finally I thought the sketch was very moving...by far one of the best sketches out there. It captured so much mood that it made me feel like it was time to hear a good story telling as the sketch starts to open up ones imagination it's so striking of a composition. Excellent work!!
Wow...a humbling array of finalists!
-------------------- Bill Paolini
XT10i Dob---TSA-102 S-APO---APM80/480 S-APO--- P.S.T.
TMB Supermonos---Meade UWAs---TV Panoptic---AT Titan II ED
To your own eyes be true...
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Efflixi
member
Reged: 10/03/07
Posts: 77
Loc: Baton Rouge, LA, USA
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Jupiter has me in awe... that looks like a voyager image!
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Illinois
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/18/06
Posts: 693
Loc: near Chicago, Illinois USA
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I can not vote....all are real good! M27 look so good for beginning.....are you sure? Horsehead Nebua and Butterfly Nebula are superb!
-------------------- Astronomer since 1975!
Orion 80mm ED refractor and
iOptron CubePro mount
Meade 16" Lightbridge Dobsonian
Orion 10" SkyQuest Classic Dobsonian
Tele Vue Eyepieces
Canon EOS XS 1000D
Orion Planetary 5 mm and
Orion Expanse Wide-Field 6mm eyepiece
4.5" F5 Reflector since 1982!
Orion Narrowband and SkyGlow filters
Member of IDA, let's fight light pollution!
Old Edmund 6"F8...donated to cousins
Super Polaris C8...donated to Byron Observatory in Illinois
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Tim Laswell
newbie
Reged: 02/08/07
Posts: 3
Loc: MD, USA
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So hard to pick. I like the composition of the horsehead. The camera brings out so much detail it almost looks artificial. I narrowed down my choice to what I would see looking through a scope. That left me with choosing between Jupiter or the Moon.
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sanlopez
sage
Reged: 12/03/07
Posts: 201
Loc: 36 09'46.69 N, 86 46'38.26 W
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althouigh the pictures were grrr-eat, I voted for the sketch; it looks like the opening scene of a Tim Burton movie
-------------------- Celestron GPS C925
Celestron Nexstar 5
2005 Gretsch SSLVO
Fender Custom Vibrolux
1963 Galaxie 500 XL convertible
1973 VW type 181 "The Thing"
And an absolutely wonderful wife
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EXT64
sage
Reged: 12/15/07
Posts: 204
Loc: Virginia Tech, VA, USA
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That "sketch" (if you call it that)is amazing. I'm scared to see what a painting from that artist looks like.
-------------------- Zhumell 10 inch Dob
Orion 5mm Stratus
Zhumell 9mm 1.25" Plossl
Zhumell 32mm 2.00" Wide Angle
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Golden_Morgan
newbie
Reged: 09/30/07
Posts: 3
Loc: Italy
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The Butterfly flies off and very high ;-)
-------------------- Luca
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Yossi Hury
member
Reged: 08/21/07
Posts: 13
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All are beautiful. I like the HORSEHEAD but my vote go to M-27.
Tanks....YOSSI HURY
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ngc2289
Carpal Tunnel
   
Reged: 04/13/05
Posts: 1867
Loc: SouthTexas
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To bad you can only vote for one!! I really loved the Butterfly, Jupiter, and the Moon!!!!!!!!!! The Moon reminded me of those nights I was out with my scope!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well done all of you!!!!!!!
-------------------- Mike Traub(Mr. Congeniality): I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it!:Shipfitters mottos; Cut to suit, pound to fit, paint to hide!: If it dosen't fit get a bigger hammer!......Retired and BROKE!!!!!Refractors are like a fine wine!They just get better with age!!!!!! :SV102ED with Moonlite triknob focuser(Light Hawk):80mm f/11.25 homemade refractor(Star Sapphire):PST: New version Williams EZ Touch Alt-Az mount:Vixen green version GP .
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Carolinaphotoguy
newbie
Reged: 09/16/08
Posts: 1
Loc: Winston-Salem, NC
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My vote to the Horsehead. Absolutely beautiful. But the difference between all of the finalists could be on a scale of a single point out of a hundred.
Fantastic work.
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Floyd
newbie
Reged: 01/25/08
Posts: 1
Loc: New Mexico
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After looking at all of the pics--several times--I picked the Butterfly Nebula, but all of the photos were great.
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boogie
member
Reged: 04/30/07
Posts: 73
Loc: Israel
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My dear GOD!!!!
All are FANTASTIC!!! but the horsehead is just mind bogglingly - staggeringly - ridiculously AMAZING!!! 
This is one of the most amazing astrophotos I have EVER seen in my life - this rivals the best HST photos.
It deserves every superlative I can think of. Simply magnificent
cvedeler - you're my hero
-------------------- "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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Bradley Miller
super member
 
Reged: 10/15/08
Posts: 120
Loc: Cincinnati Ohio Area
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The moon sketch was just amazing! I voted for it because I find it inspiring.
-------------------- Cincinnati Astronomical Society
1 of America's earliest established amateur astronomical societies
www.cinastro.org
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