# 99 | The Cygnus Loop
The Cygnus Loop, an area of nebulosity located approximately 1500 light-years from Earth, can be seen under dark skies with medium-sized telescopes as wispy like tentacles.
Jon Gunning of St. Thomas, Ontario, took this eight-frame mosaic while at Starfest in August 2003.
Jon used a Takahashi FSQ-106 and a Custom Scientific 4.5 nm H-alpha filter with an SBIG ST-10ME camera carried on an Astro-Physics 1200 GTO mount. Each frame of the mosaic is a stack of three 10-minute exposures. Images were collected using CCDSoft and Photoshop was used to assemble and tweak the final image.
# 98 | Road to an Aurora
While this aurora, occurring on August 27, 2003, wasn't a spectacular show, Shane Finnigan's idea for adding the road and a passing car to the foreground makes for a stunning shot. Astrophotographers should remember that the composition of a shot is an important ingredient to the over-all beauty of an image.
Shane used a Canon 10D digital camera and a 15 second exposure at f3.5 for this image which he took east of Ottawa, Ontario.
# 97 | A Martian Roadtrip
Determined to image Mars from a location with better seeing and where Mars is higher in the sky, Steve Barnes of Hamiliton, Ontario recently traveled to the Florida Keys and took this fabulous image on August 30th.
Steve used a 12" Meade LX200 SCT to take a number of images with a ToUcam Pro webcam. He then processed and aligned the images using Photoshop and Registax.
# 96 | Mars At Its Closest
Many observatories and astronomy clubs had public Mars observing nights this past week. Some occurred on one night only while others planned an entire week of public nights. Thousands of people who had never before looked through a telescope took the opportunity to gaze through telescopes set up by eager volunteers.
During the morning of Mars' closest approach to Earth, Len Benschop took this image from his backyard in Oshawa, Ontario.
Those who have been closely watching Mars this past summer will notice how the south polar cap has dramatically shrank the past few weeks as the Martian summer begins in the it's southern hemisphere.
Len used a Celestron Ultima 2000 8" SCT along with a 2x barlow, a NIR-1 filter and a Toucam Pro Webcam. The images were acquired with K3CCD Tools and processed with Registax.
# 95 | Auroral Panorama
The past week has seen high auroral activity, with reports of faint red auroras visible as far south as Arizona. Many SkyNews readers were busy photographing the northern lights with Steve Irvine being one of them.
Steve combined two images in Photoshop that he took early on the morning of August 18th with the result being this beautiful image which covers the sky from the Big Dipper to Perseus.
Steve took 15-second exposures using a Canon A-1 camera equipped with a 28mm, f2.8 lens and Fuji Superia X-Tra film.
Wondering if an aurora is occurring? See the SkyNews Aurora Watch page for a satellite view showing auroral activity.
# 94 | The August 14, 2003 Blackout
Although the widespread power blackout that occurred on August 14, 2003 was a major inconvenience for most, amateur astronomers across eastern North America quickly realized that the night had the potential for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of observing.
While people passed the night talking to one and another on the street, many couldn't help but notice the vast number of stars that were visible. Many an impromptu star party popped up across neighbourhoods as those with telescopes shared their knowledge of the nightsky with interested crowds.
Looking directly south from his house approximately 45 minutes north of Toronto, Todd Carlson shot the image on the left the night of the blackout. The following night after the power had been restored and the light pollution was once again enveloping the nightsky, the image on the right was taken.
Blackout image: 28mm, f2.8, Fuji 800, approximately 90 seconds, driven.
Light pollution image: 28mm, f2.8, Fuji 800, 30 seconds, tripod mounted.
# 93 | Mars
Amateur astronomers across the world are taking advantage of the latest imaging technologies to record Mars like never before. Although Mars is relatively low in the sky as seen from Canada, some SkyNews readers are having great success in their attempts to record the red planet.
Len Benschop took this image of Mars while on a camping trip near Ontario's Charleston Lake Provincial Park on July 29th. Easily identified is the bright south polar cap, Sinus Sabaeus (the long finger-like dark patch near the centre) and morning haze on the eastern limb. (Note: south is up in the image)
Len used a Celestron Ultima 2000 8" SCT at f20, along with a Murnaghan Flip-Mirror, a Celestron Ultima 2X barlow, a Toucam Pro Webcam and a Sirius NIR-1 filter.
At a speed of 30 frames per second, 3120 frames were captured with 295 of the sharpest frames extracted then averaged.
Software used: K3CCDTools for acquisition of AVI video, AVI2BMP for sharp frame extraction, Registax for alignment and stacking and Picture Window Pro for colour registration.
# 92 | M81
Galaxy Messier 81 (M81) is a galaxy bright enough that even smaller telescopes should be able to discern from a dark observing site. Paired with M82, the two galaxies make for a beautiful scene when viewed together in the eyepiece.
Paul Zelichowski imaged M82 from his observatory, Starbase 2, located in Tiverton, Ontario. Paul used a10" f4.5 Newtonian reflector, a Starlight Xpress HX916 CCD with OPTEC IFW colour wheel for his image (LRGB 107:30:30:30L 1x1, rgb binned 2x2).
# 91 | The Eagle Nebula
Seen flying just above constellation Sagittarius is the Eagle Nebula, commonly known as M16. Although the nebula is faint, the accompanying star cluster can easily be found using binoculars.
This image by Claude Fortin of Beaupré, Québec once again shows how digital cameras are allowing the art of deepsky astrophotography to be undertaken using affordable equipment. Claude used 10 images of 20-40 seconds duration at 400 and 800 ISO from a Nikon 4500 digital camera taken affocally through a Meade LX90 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. The images were combined afterwards with Adobe Photoshop.
# 90 | Noctilucent Clouds and an Aurora
Lance Taylor of Edmonton, Alberta shot this stunning image of an aurora accompanied by noctilucent clouds on the night of July 14-15, 2003 from near Gibbons, Alberta.
Noctilucent clouds, high altitude clouds thought to be formed by ice crystals which then reflect sunlight, are normally seen only between latitudes of 45-60 degrees around the summer solstice. This makes Edmonton, regarded as a prime location for observing auroras, also a perfect location for spotting noctilucent clouds
Lance used a tripod mounted Canon T-70 camera equipped with a 28mm lens set a f4 and took a 10-15 second exposure using Fuji Superia 200 print film.