Telescope Reviews: Apr09 DSLR Challenge Poll!

We are very pleased and proud to present the April 2009 entries in the DSLR Challenge. The poll will close on May 8 at Midnight. The winner will be announced at our earliest opportunity after the poll has closed.

Here are April's entries!

Mr_T:

67 x 3 mins iso 1600
20 darks 20 flats
C11 @ 6.3 Canon 40D (Hap Mod)
G11 mount
Guided with 80mm short tube DSI Pro II and PHD
Location Flemington NJ

Les Tilly

HHastro:

6x8min. ISO 1600,
Canon EOS 20 Da modified with Baader ACF
no darks, no flats,
Meade 12" ACF, Giant Easy Guider f-6,5, 2000mm
Guided w. GEG (modified) and ST2000 Imager.
Mount: Mauz MAM 100
Location: North Germany, 50 mls. south of Hamburg

scully1234:

M106
April 13 2009
32 ea 4 min @ ISO 1600
Unmodded Cannon 450D(xsi)
Imaging scope = C8 XLT on CG-5GT mount
Guide scope/cam = Meade 70mm AZ and DSI OSC cam
Guided with PHD
Stacked with DSS, Processed in PS CS2, Noels tools

John Wunderlin:

A widefield version M106 & Friends. April 15, 2009
14 x 5 min @ ISO 1600
Unmodded Cannon 450D(xsi)
ED80, guided with 10" LX50 on G11 mount
Acquired, stacked and processed with Nebulosity and Photoshop Essentials, guided with PHD

Spoonsize:

10 x 5 mins iso 400
3 darks 3 flats
SN-10 f/4 Canon 350D OEM
Nebulosity/PS/cropped
G11 mount
Guided with 80mm f6.5 DSI Pro and PHD
Adirondack Mountains

zAmbonii:

35 x 6 min @ ISO800
10 darks/20 flats/20 offset
Celestron C6-N + Canon 300d (self modded) + IDAS-P2 FF
CG-5 ASGT
Guided with Meade 70AZ + DSI + PHD Guiding
Stacked in DSS, PP in PS CS3

RStar:

My wide field M106 (center crop)
Taken over 2 nights from Hillsborough NJ

Larger version
http://www.pbase.com/bobstarzynski/image/111612884/original

TeleVue NP101 at F/5.4
Celestron CGE ST-4 guided
Modified Canon XT and IDAS-P2 LPR
55*240 second 800 iso sub exposures
20 dark/30 flat/30 bias calibration frames
Processed in ImagesPlus and PS CS
Noel Carboni Astronomy Tools, GradienTXterminator

Heine DK:

M106

Here a slightly larger version: M106 larger version

Data:

Date: April 20, 2009.
Exposure: 5 frames of 15 minutes ISO 800
Camera: Unmodded Nikon D700
Scope: Skywatcher Explorer 254 with Baader MPCC
Mount: Eq6Pro
Guiding: Skywatcher Startravel 80, Orion SSAG, PHD
Stacking and processing: DeepSky Stacker, Photo Shop CS4.

Mike Phillips:

Optics: Meade LXD55
Mount: CGE mount on JMI Wheely Bars
Camera: Canon XTi with Hutech LP Filter (LPS-P2-FF)
Focusing Aid: STI focuser
Shutter control: Hap Griffin long exposure cable
Software: MaximDL
Guiding: DMK21AF04 with a piggybacked 4" SkyWatcher via PHD and ASCOM drivers
Operating System: WinXP Lenovo T43 driven via RDP from inside the house
Subs: 16x 8min @ ISO 800

Large view here

Tomvictor:

20 x 5 mins ISO 800
Darks,Flats,Bias
10" Meade ACF @ f/8 AP reducer
Canon 350D (Baader Mod)
Takahashi EM-200 mount
Guided with MiniBorg 60ED DSI Pro II and MaximDL
South Norway

Lager image here: http://www.tomvictor.com/images/messier/m106_2l.jpg

polaris:

M106 imaged during two nights (April 22/23 and 24/25) in Lithuania, 20 and 40 miles from Kaunas, accordingly. Orion Optics 6" f/5 Newtonian reflector on HEQ-5 mount, autoguided with Meade Pictor 201XT and 60/700 Skywatcher refractor. Canon 350D (Baader mod), 16x10min, ISO800, calibrated with 14 dark frames, some bias frames, no flats. Stacked with Iris, later processed with Photoshop 7.

SGT500:

17x4 mins ISO 800
30 Darks,
30 Flats,
30 Bias
8" Astrotech Ritchey Chretien @ f/8
Canon Xs Modified
Orion Atlas Eq-G
Guided In PHD with William Optics Zenithstar 80 & Meade DSI

Heres a link to a larger version

Radek:

M 106 - widefield:

Optics: APO triplet refractor TMB 115/805 at f/5.6 - Televue 0.8x focal reducer
modified Canon EOS 300D, UV/IR Baader blocking filter
15 x 10 min ISO 800
Mount: modified EQ-6, Powerflex MTS-3 SDI

oldwexi:

M106, Canon 10D modified, 1600 ASA, Idas LPS Filter, Celestron C14 with Giant Lumicon reducer at F7.4,
Location Ebreichsdorf Austria, April 13th, 14th, 15th and 21st 2009
93 x 8 minutes exposed,
81 x 8 min darks, 36 x 0,005 sec flats
guided with STV on an ETX90,
Mount Gemini 41 with Pulsar controller.
Release automatically with Canon TC-80N3 timer.
Calibrated with ImagePlus,
stacking, histogram tuning and DDP with Astroart
Final tweaks with Photoshop CS Noel Carboni etc...

Larger image (1024x768) at:
web page

Congratulations and good luck to each entrant!

*

Which Image is our Winner?
Users may choose only one (46 total votes)

Mr_T:

6 13%

HHastro:

3 06%

scully1234:

0 0%

John Wunderlin:

0 0%

Spoonsize:

0 0%

zAmbonii:

2 04%

RStar:

3 06%

Heine DK:

16 34%

Mike Phillips:

1 02%

Tomvictor:

7 15%

polaris:

1 02%

SGT500:

3 06%

Radek:

3 06%

oldwexi:

1 02%