Hello Folks!
The April 2011 CN Imaging/Sketching Contest Poll is now open! 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.
You may ask - how good are these guys? Well, see for yourself - here is the list of this month's finalists with their work:
DSLR & Digital Camera Astro Imaging & Processing Finalist - RStar:
Dates: Image taken over 4 nights in February and March 2011
Location: Hillsborough, NJ.
Optics: Orion 190mm Mak-Newtonian F/5.3
Mount: Celestron CGE with Gary Bennett cable upgrade
Guiding: DSI Pro guided though my NP101
Camera: Modified Canon 500D
Exposure: 248*155 second 800iso sub exposures (no filters)
44*600 second 800iso sub exposures with Baader UHC-S filter
dark/flat/bias calibrated
Processing: ImagesPlus 2.82, PS CS, GradientXTerminator, Noel Carboni Astronomy Tools
CCD Imaging & Processing's Finalist - Oleg Bryzgalov:
This photo was taken during february-march, processed in april 2011.
Location: village Khlepcha near Kiev, Ukraine
Telescope: reflector SkyWatcher 25012P 1200 mm f/5, Baader MPCC
Main camera: QSI-583wsg, -30°C
Off-axis guidecamera Orion SSAG
Mount: WS-180
Filters: Ha and LRGB filter set Astronomik 1.25”
Exposition: H-a: 14*15 min., bin. 1x1
L: 9*10 min., bin 1x1 , RGB: 9*10 min., bin.2x2 in each filter
Processed: Pixinsight, Fitstacker, Photoshop CS5
North at left, crop, size 50%
Sketching Forum's Finalist - maroubra_boy:
My submission is of my recent sketch of the Eta Carina Nebula done using my 17.5" dob from my home in Sydney Australia. I had posted this sketch earlier this month in the sketching forum.
This was by far my most challenging sketch to undertake. It is also my most satisfying one.
That it was done under the light polluted skies of Sydney makes me wonder what a repeat undertaking from a dark site will reveal additionally.
The supermassive star that lends its name to the nebula, Eta Carina, is the bright, reddish star approximately in the centre of the sketch.
Object: NGC 3372, Eta Carina Nebula
Scope: 17.5" dob, push-pull
Gear: 35mm Masuyama eyepiece, 57X, OIII flter
Date: April 8, 2011
Location: Sydney Australia
Media: White pastel, white and black charcoal pencils, white chinagraph, white and coloured inks on A4 black paper.
So don't delay! Visit the April 2011 CN Imaging/Sketching Contest Poll and vote for the best of the best!
