** 2008 David Malin Awards winner - Honorable Mention (Amateur Deep Sky) **
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/david_malin_awards_2008



** NASA Astronomical Picture Of The Day (APOD) 1st September 2008 **
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080901.html

This full frame image is displayed at 1400 X 900 pix res so it will fit comfortably on most
screens in order to take in the entire 1.8deg X 1.2deg field of view in one go without scrolling.
Hit F11 on your keyboard for full screen mode! Links to other sizes and versions below.

**Make sure you click on "original" size at the bottom of this page to see the full 1400 X 900 image

**** ABOUT THIS IMAGE ****

This region of very faint nebulosity and dust in Puppis is often referred to as
"The Hand of God" and only reveals itself well with long expoures like this one.
Although faint, with long exposure the resulting display of colours and hues is quite
spectacular. This image was compiled from 16 hrs of data taken over 4 nights.

See a larger full frame image here:
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/96080879/original

See a crop of the central arae of the image:
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/97238023/original

See a close up of the "Hand of God" here:
http://jjd.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/109410829/original

AP152 F7.5 Starfire APO refractor with 4" field flattener
FLI ProLine11002 CCD & CFW-2-7
LHaRGB = 5hrs 8hrs 1hr 1hr 1hr = 16hrs total (all bin 1X1) Astronomik filters
-35C chip temp, darks and flats (AstroHandy LightRing used for flats)
12MPPS download speed = 1.5sec/full frame download at bin 1X1.
FOV = 1.8deg X 1.2deg at 1.6"/pix
Guide Camera: Starlightxpress SXVH9

Comments:
Taken over 4 nights with my set-up and pull-down imaging rig:

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/81003751/original

Some links to equipment used to take this image:

Finger Lakes Instrumentation (FLI) CCD cameras and equipment:
http://www.flicamera.com/

StarlightXpress CCD cameras and equipment
http://www.starlight-xpress.co.uk/

Astro-Elecronic FS2 scope GOTO controller
http://www.astro-electronic.de/

Gerd Neumann/Astronomik filters
http://www.gerd.neumann.net/

http://www.astronomik.com/

MSB Software & Astroart 4
http://www.msb-astroart.com/

STAR Atlas:PRO planetarium software:
http://www.skylab.com.au/

AstroHandy Accessories
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/astrohandy_lightring

http://www.astrohandy.com