MadMan's Astronomy and Astrophotography Pages - Photos of the Week
15 months and counting
since I bought my first
telescope and took my
first picture (below)....

Mike
Photos of The Week - April, 2012
Vixen Polarie from Anguilla, Super Moon and last of the SXVR-H18 Images
Imaging and Processing:  Michael DeMita
Latest images and continued PixInsight re-processing of formerly Photoshop processed data:
The results are speaking for themselves.  Although limited in some respects  compared to PS4, the open-source nature of the application makes it very powerful.  
Double Cluster - 2h 41m - M25C
Crescent Nebula - 2h 41m - HaOiiiRGB - H18
Camera - Tak 106
Ha + Oiii Only
Needle Galaxy - H18 Camera - HaRGB
Whale & Hockey Stick Galaxies - H18 Camera - HaRGB
No Watermark or frame
Albert Barr's version above
- Processing in PixInsight
of my data
Slight blue correction
M31 (Andromeda) - Hyperstar -
M25C - 2h29m - C11" Edge HD
Being at 18 degrees N does NOT help this little device go long when capturing southern objects.  It very much matters how you mount the equipment as well - but all in all - I was
impressed once I got clear enough skies to fool around.  These images were taken from my balcony and I didn't get but a few hours of non-cloudy nights and had to find and frame things
manually - but I hope they are pleasing.
1/2 Star-scape mode - single 20 second exposures - facing St. Marten in background.  
Canon EOS 5D.  Iso 800, f4.0.  24mm focal length.
Star Tracking Mode - short (10-19m) stacks of 1,2 and/or 3 minute exposures
Canon EOS-5D - Milky Way wide (24mm) and narrow (75mm)
M25-C - EOS 24-105mm zoom -
Lagoon and Triffid Nebula region
M25-C - Pentax 35mm lens - Antares/Rho
Oph region and MW core
H18 - EOS 24-105mm zoom - Baader 7nm Ha Filter
blending of
M25 and
H18 images.
No Watermark or frame
Narrowband (S2HaO3) with stars done as Ha+O3+.85O3+.15Ha.  Manual color manipulation with Photoshop layer masks
to enhance different chemical band resolutions for more accurate depiction of the nature of the object's nebulosity.  
The Crescent Nebula

Also known as NGC 6888, Caldwell 27,
Sharpless 105, this object is an emission
nebula in the constellation Cygnus, about
5000 light years away. It is formed by the
fast stellar wind from the Wolf-Rayet star
energizing the slower moving wind ejected
by the star when it became a red giant
around 400,000 years ago.

The result of the collision is a shell and two
shock waves, one moving outward and one
moving inward. The inward moving shock
wave heats the stellar wind to
X-ray-emitting temperatures.