Chris Curtis Web Site

Pelican Nebula, originally uploaded by ThinkingCamera.

This cloud of gas and dust is about 1,800 light years away in the direction of the constellation Cygnus. This is not a great image, but our sky does not ever become completely dark at this time of year, so I was pleased to image something.
It was very nice to sit out in shirt sleeves on a very warm and pleasant evening enjoying the twilight (even if it was not the best conditions for imaging). Cloud rolled in almost exactly at midnight so I turned in.
Atik 320e camera. Celestron CPC800 telescope. Alt-Az. 50 x 30s exposures

M13 HDR (again), originally uploaded by ThinkingCamera.

Despite being bright and easy to find in a telescope, this object is hard to image. There is a huge brightness range from the faint outer stars and the very bright core.
This was HDR combined in PixInsight from 100 exposures each at 5 seconds, 10 seconds and 30 seconds, then processed in PixInsight and PS.
Atik 320e camera. CPC800 Hyperstar (f2) telescope.

Lagoon Nebula, originally uploaded by ThinkingCamera.

M8 in Sagittarius. My first, quick image of this object, which is low in the sky from here.
This is a star forming region in the direction of the centre of our galaxy.
20 x 30sec exposures. Atik 320e camera on CPC 800 Hyperstar telescope. Process in Maxim, PixInsight and PS.

M27 – The dumbbell nebula, originally uploaded by ThinkingCamera.

This is a planetary nebula – nothing to do with planets, but a shell of dust and gas pushed out by a dying star.
I am very pleased with this image: taken around local midnight in the short period of true darkness at this time of year. 30 x 30s exposures. Atik 320e colour camera. Baader Neodymium filter. CPC800 telescope with f2 Hyperstar. Stacked in maxim. HDR layered and background extraction in PixInsight. No colour adjustment or noise reduction. No photoshop. It was a lovely clear night and with recent upgrades the local street lights dim after 11:30pm as well as being much less light polluting.
I really think this is the best astrophoto I have made to date. I was astonished when I saw the first frame and delighted when I first saw the processed result.

This is one image from a session I did to create a poster for a dance show. Exposure was 4/10 sec at f8 ISO 200.

Hercules Cluster, originally uploaded by ThinkingCamera.

M13 again. This is a stack of 135 frames (from 10s to 30s in length) and much gentler processing in Maxim DL and PS.
I am pleased with this – there is much to criticise, but much to enjoy too. Stars are consistently visible down to mag 16.9 – very close to the theoretical predictions for my scope and camera. This is equivalent to a 17 inch (430mm) telescope used visually (though it would also have more resolving power too)

M3-lots of subs, originally uploaded by ThinkingCamera.

I have been experimenting with processing images I have already taken, combining large numbers taken on different nights. It is hard to get the processing just right, especially with sky backgrounds that are orange or mucky brown from light pollution, but the results are encouraging. This image clearly shows 17th magnitude stars and gives some sense of the scale and extent of the globular cluster.

Via Flickr:
The globular cluster M3 – approximately 100 subs from several nights – most subs 20 ro 30 seconds long. Processed in Maxim and PS.
Atik 320e camera and CPC800 Hyperstar Telescope