Here is a second batch of pictures from OSP. Generally, these used fewer exposures than the others, but they're not too bad. All are again using the 80mm APO refractor and the SBIG ST-402 camera. The first picture is of the Lagoon nebula, done as a stack of 4x30" + 1x45" exposures. This one would be much more fascinating in color (as most nebulae are). Next is the Ring Nebula (M57) done as 5x5". The originals show the dark center of the ring overwhelmed by the light of the ring itself such that I saw a solid white blob. This brightness was toned down in image processing but the result is still not very satisfying, due to the small size of the object. I had posted a Nikon picture of this earlier and it was more exciting if for no other reason than that it was blue.
The next picture is M101, exposed as 2x30". Despite the few exposures, it came out pretty nice! Next is M51, the Whirlpool galaxy. This one was a 6x30" exposure. If you look in the upper right corner you can see another very small galaxy that is called "IC 4263". The size of this object is 1.7x0.4 arc-minutes and there is a +13.8mag star superimposed over it. Next are two globular clusters, M13 and M22, both of which are single 30" exposures.
I hope to get out again over the next week to see if I can have some success with auto-guiding. If I can, I should be able to provide some much better images.
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