Howard's Astronomical Adventures
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M 81 and M 82 in Ursa Major

Wonderful pair of galaxies by the bowl of the big dipper. For more information about these galaxies see SEDS or Wikipedia.

Taken the night I watched the Flint Hills burning, I was unable to exposure longer due to an approaching fire line. The fire was more light pollution problem than risky conditions. Despite the situation I was surprised how well the image turned out. Poor matching of the dark frame temperature lead to the blueish area lower right.

Photograph Information
Date04.09.2010, starting at 23:00
LocationTeterville, Kansas
LensAP 130 @ f6 w/field flattener
CameraCanon 350D, Hutech modified type I
ExposureStack of 16, 7 minute exposures at ISO 800 (
NotesDecent transparency for the conditions, very windy, temperature around 50°F

Calibrated with bias, dark and flat frames.
Initial RAW conversion, registration and stacking in ImagesPlus.
Additional adjustments in Photoshop CS2, Gradient xTerminator and Neat Image noise reduction.
 

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