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TAURUS - OPEN CLUSTER - MAGNITUDE 1.5 |
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M45 - THE PLEIADES IN TAURUS
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About this Object: |
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The brightest and most
majestic open cluster in
all the sky! The
Pleiades has been known
for centuries and
is referenced in
ancient documents,
especially the Bible, due
to its uncomparable
beauty. Known as the
"seven sisters," a
reference to the brightest
of its stars, the Pleiades
can be seen with the naked
eye in even the worst of
night skies, taking on the
shape of a small dipper.
In fact, many
beginning observers often
confuse this object with
the Little Dipper itself.
The entire cluster
covers an area of the sky
exceeding 2 degrees, or
the equivalent of 4 of our
full moons in width.
The cluster looks best in
smaller aperture scopes
where the field of view
can put all of the
Pleiades in the eyepiece.
Simply put, there's
not a better small scope
object in the heavens! |
Observatory:
Prodome
10 Observatory - data acquired via remote from Grapevine, Texas
Location:
Comanche
Spring Astronomy Campus (CSAC), Three RIvers Foundation, Crowell, Texas
Seeing:
9/10
Transparency: 9/10
Temperature: 55 degrees
F (-25c on camera)
Date: November 22-23, 2009
Scope/Mount: Tak TOA-150
(with 67 Flattener) and Paramount ME mount
Camera: SBIG STL-11000M astro
CCD camera
Exposure Info: LRGB
image; 160:60:50:30 minutes (10 minute subexposures
all unbinned)
Processing Information:
Acquisition
in CCDSoft V5. Calibration,
Registration, and DDP in CCDStack. LRGB
combine, cropping, color balance, levels/curves, sharpening, and
noise removal (despeckle and gaussian blur) in Photoshop CS2. Color
Blotch Reduction, Deep Space Noise Removal, and Local Contrast Enhancement
in Photoshop via Noel Carboni's Astronomy Tools Actions for Photoshop.
Exposure Notes: This is an especially important image because it is the first long-exposure, deep sky image acquired remotely with via the Prodome 10 Observatory on the CSAC campus near Crowell, Texas. I built the Technical Innovations ProDome observatory for the Three Rivers Foundation beginning 3 1/2 years ago, the robotic/remote phase just now being complete. One final phase for the observatory remains involving an all-sky camera, seeing, and weather sensors; however, it is exciting to capture data over 180 miles away from my home in Grapevine, Texas. Two more larger ProDomes will be nearing operational phases shortly!
Previous Attempts:
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Other image sizes: |
Location:
Comanche
Springs, 3RF dark sky site near Crowell, Texas
Seeing:
9/10
Transparency: 8/10
Temperature: 35 degrees
F
Date: December 11, 2004
Scope/Mount: Tak FSQ-106
@ f/5 and Tak NJP mount
Camera: SBIG STL-11000M astro
CCD camera
Exposure Info: LRGB
image; 60:60:80 RGB with synthetic luminance (5 minute subexposures
all unbinned)
Processing Information:
Calibration,
Registration, DDP, and RGB channel combine in MaxIm DL 4. LRGB
combine, cropping, color balance, levels/curves, sharpening, and
noise removal (despeckle and gaussian blur) in Photoshop CS.
Exposure Notes: This was a first light image with the SBIG STL-11000M camera. Conditions were especially good this night. Processing was difficult because I wanted to show the background dust. I largely succeeded, though I should have taken the time for pure luminance. Diffraction spikes were created with a string affixed to the dewshield.
Location:
Ballauer Observatory in Azle,
Texas
Seeing:
7/10
Transparency:
6/10
Temperature: 35 degrees
F
Date:
January 19, 2004 acquired; November
21, 2004 reprocessed
Scope/Mount: Tak FSQ-106
@ f/5 and Celestron CGE mount
Camera: Canon Digital
Rebel
Guiding: SBIG ST-7e on
the AP 80/900mm guidescope
Exposure Info: 8 x 5
minute images
Processing Information:
All images aligned and combined
with a median combine in Images Plus.
Photoshop CS was used for dark frame
calibration, image cropping,
manual gradient removal, saturation
increase, levels, curves, sharpening
and noise reduction.
Exposure Notes: This is a first light image with the new Canon Digital Rebel. The file was saved as a Large JPEG instead of the RAW file format. Thus, lots of information was lost prior to processing. The dark frame calibration was a poor attempt using a single dark frame rather than a master, multi-image dark frame. Diffraction spikes were created with a string affixed to the dewshield.
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