Scope: C8 f/10; Location: Laguna Mountains, CA, 17 Jul 2004; Camera: ToUcam SC3
Exposure: 10 x 90 sec Luminance with IR/UV blocking filter, 8 x 45 sec each RGB filter.
Processing: Images were captured in K3CCDTools. Aligned/stacked in Registax and saved as FITS. Luminance and Color channels were scaled and rough color balanced in Astroart. Channels were co-registered in Astroart. Luminance and Color FITS were combined in Photoshop with Luminance Layering. Color balancing and final touches in Photoshop. SGBNR was used to smooth background noise on the luminance channel. Resized to approximately 800x600.
This image was taken under fairly good conditions at a dark site. This is a guided image. In the processing, the field stars were histogram curved more aggressively than the nebula itself. This was done in order to enhance the star field without saturating the nebula itself. In addition there is a hint of galaxy IC1296 in the upper right hand corner. This image replaces the May 2003 image which can be seen in the Archives here. Horizontal FOV is 8'
This image below is a cropped close up of the Ring itself...
