Image Processing Party Saturday July 12 from 1-5 pm at the Thomas Jefferson Library in Falls Church.  No agenda, just hanging out and processing data.  So come when you like and leave when you like.

Okay, on to the pretty pictures.  I seem to be specializing in “planetary” stuff.  This time the planetary nebula is M76, the Little Dumbbell Nebula.  I shot this last fall, but only got around to being satisfied with my processing now.  I still find capturing images easier than processing them.  The images were taken with a CPC1100 using an SXVR-H694 camera and narrowband filters from my little dog-servatory in Dunn Loring.  I processed both a tricolor – H-alpha, Sulfur-II and OIII filters – and a bicolor version, using just Ha and OIII.  This is 59 hours of data. No, really.  I’m still not sure exactly how that happened, except that when you’re already setup to acquire a target, acquiring it again the next night doesn’t take much extra work, especially when you can sleep through it.  🙂

The planet once again is Mars, which is getting really, really small.  But I imaged it three times over the last few weeks.  The one from June 6, showing Syrtis Major and clouds filling the Hellas basin, is the best.