1. David Haworth http://www.stargazing.net/david/ITSindex.html http://www.stargazing.net/david/ITSindex.html Copyright 2001 Imaging the Sky 2001

2. 2 Agenda  Fastar configuration  Imaging session  Images  Image processing  Disadvantages  Advantages http://www.stargazing.net/david/fastar/fastar.html http://www.stargazing.net/david/fastar/fastar.html

3. 3  SBIG ST-237 CCD Camera  Celestron C-8 telescope  Schmidt-Cassegrain  Fastar lens assembly

4. 4  The Fastar lens assembly replaces the secondary mirror  The Fastar lens assembly replaces the secondary mirror  ST-237 CCD camera mounted on the Fastar lens assembly

5. 5  Focal length: 16” (406mm)  Speed: f/1.95  Field of view: 41 x 31 arc min .68 x.52 degrees  Sampling: 3.8 arc sec/pixel

6. 6  Lumicon 80mm Super-Finder  Orion 1X EZ Finder Reflex Sight

7. 7 Observatory Observatory

8. 8

9. 9 Polar Alignment

10. 10 Imaging Session

11. 11 Imaging Session MaxIm DL CCD for camera control TheSky for charts

12. 12 Imaging Session TheSky to find NGC 7331

13. 13 Imaging Session Find a bright star

14. 14 Imaging Session Position telescope on bright star with 1X EZ Finder

15. 15 Imaging Session Star hopping to NGC 7331 with Lumicon 80mm Super-Finder

16. 16 Imaging Session Lumicon 80mm Super-Finder 3 degree Field of view Star hopping to NGC 7331

17. 17 Imaging Session Lumicon 80mm Super-Finder 3 degree field of view Fastar 41’ x 31’ field of view Star hopping to NGC 7331

18. 18 Imaging Session Fastar 41’ x 31’ field of view Star hopping to NGC 7331 DSS image

19. 19 Imaging Session Fastar 41’ x 31’ Field of view TheSky mirror view to match camera

20. 20 Imaging Session Fastar image 41’ x 31’ 3 sec 3 binning to find NGC 7331 MaxIm DL camera control It takes about 4 to 8 minutes to find and center an object

21. 21 Imaging Session Select nonsaturated bright star Focusing

22. 22 Imaging Session Adjust focus for minimum FWHM Y Focusing

23. 23 Imaging Session 31 Sequence of 30 Sec images

24. 24 Imaging Session Last 30 Sec image of 31 images It takes about 20 minutes to take 31 images

25. 25 Imaging Processing  Create master dark, median combine darks  Create pixel defect map  Check statistics on images, remove bad ones  Remove images with bad tracking  Dark subtract all images

26. 26 Imaging Processing  Fix bad pixels with defect map  Median combine all images  Create gradient image  Subtract gradient image from images  Register images  Median combine to create master image

27. 27 Imaging Processing  Process image with MaxEnt  Process image with Digital Development  Adjust minimum/maximum screen display  Process image with Unsharp mask  Histogram adjust the image  Save as JPG for web

28. 28 Imaging Processing NGC 7331

29. 29 Imaging Processing NGC 891

30. 30 Imaging Processing M106

31. 31 Imaging Processing M81

32. 32 Disadvantages Disadvantages  Not good for Moon & planets  Small objects do not show well  Telescope is not easily used for visual use

33. 33 Advantages Advantages  Easy to find deep sky objects  Good field of view  Reasonable images without PEC or guiding

34. 34 Information Information  ITS 2001 CD-ROM  David Haworth  New  Latest information on web site  http://www.stargazing.net/david/misc/whatsnew.html