Tony Hallas - Square7astro.square7.ch/Datenblaetter/NEAIC2012Speakers.pdf · Tony Hallas Although he is well known as an astrophotographer, his real ... Choice, and Best of Show.

Tony Hallas

Although he is well known as an astrophotographer, his real

profession is custom photographic printing. Tony's experience

includes a Professional Bachelor of Arts Degree in Photography,

apprenticeship for years in one of the leading custom photo labs

in the US, and successfully founding and running his own

custom photo lab in Ventura, California.

The Hallas' photo lab was the largest in Ventura County, with

clients like Amgen and Patagonia among many others. Tony's

wife, Daphne, also spent many years working in photo labs and

has a gift for the computer medium. She is responsible for claiming many years ago the domain name

astrophoto.com.

Tony has combined all this experience from film to digital to become one of the best astrophotographers in the

world today.

Hallas popularized the mechanical "stacking" techniques and continues to "push the envelope" in the CCD

medium. His images are recognized by their depth, artistic composition and vibrant color. His images have

been selected several times as NASA's astrophoto of the day.

In 2006, Tony was a featured speaker at the Northeast Astronomy Forum, The Winter Star Party, The

Riverside Telescope Maker's Conference, The Orange County AstroImage Conference, and the Advanced

Imaging Conference in San Jose, California. In 2001 he received the prestigious Clyde Tombaugh award for

technical innovation in astronomy at Riverside Telescope Maker's Conference. As a "terrestrial" photographer

entering a contest sponsored by the City of Miami, Florida, Tony took First and Second Prizes, Exhibitor's

Choice, and Best of Show. His images have been published in numerous media: National Geographic, The

Smithsonian Magazine, US News & World Report, Newsweek, Geo Magazine, as well as being featured in the

LA Times, both Disneyland's, several book covers and countless images in astronomy magazines including

cover photographs. His work also appears in many advertisements as he is represented by major art

agencies.

Douglas B. George President, Diffraction Limited Diffraction Limited, established in 1993, produces MaxIm DL software, MaxPoint telescope pointing refinement software, MaxDome observatory control systems, Boltwood Cloud Sensors, Quick Fringe interferogram analysis software, and OEM products for astronomy and for optical and electron microscopy. Education B.A.Sc. University of Toronto, Engineering Science, 1984

Masters Eng. Carleton University, Systems Engineering, 1987 Membership / Organizations

Life Member, Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Past President of both the RASC nationally and the RASC Ottawa Centre. Member, Professional Engineers Ontario. Honors and Awards

The Engineering Medal - Engineering Excellence, Professional Engineers Ontario, 2001. RASC Ken Chilton Prize - awarded three times. This image of Messier 31, the Andromeda Galaxy, was taken by Douglas George from his observatory near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Douglas Arion Doug is Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Professor of Entrepreneurship at Carthage College. He develops new instrumentation in a variety of fields including astronomy and space sciences, and conducts astronomy research studying the structure of planetary nebulae. He directs the Carthage Institute of Astronomy and the Griffin Observatory. As part of the International Year of Astronomy – 2009, Arion was a key member of the Galileoscope cornerstone project for the International Astronomical Union, and formed Galileoscope LLC to manufacture and distribute high quality, low cost telescopes worldwide. Nearly 200,000 Galileoscopes have been distributed, including 7000 donated to underprivileged areas of the

World. He is actively engaged in public astronomy education and outreach in partnerships with National Optical Astronomy Observatories and the Appalachian Mountain Club. A telescope designer and builder, he makes his own telescopes, teaches telescope making classes, and has won telescope design competitions.

Abstract: Calibrating Your Images: Pretty Pictures and Doing Science

The many astronomical images that are taken every night all over the world result in beautiful pictures, but they could also represent a wealth of scientific data if the quantitative information in them is properly processed and preserved. For example, one might be imaging a nebula or cluster, while in the background unknowingly record a gamma ray burst (GRB) or a distant supernova. But could you measure the brightness of the GRB or supernova accurately? Perhaps a new exoplanet transit is occurring – Is there enough precision in your data to be able to deduce the milli-magnitude drop in brightness? The process of producing astronomical images involves, as is generally known, the use of calibration frames (dark, flat, bias). What is generally not well understood is how these data combine to give quantitatively accurate information. This presentation will give attendees the necessary understanding and tools to be able to measure and determine the precision of their calibration frames and final images, and to determine the number and types of calibration frames to take. You can now make beautiful images and make them useful for science.

Ron DiIulio (Dee-u-Lee-o)

As the Director of the University of North Texas Astronomy Laboratory Program and planetarium, Ron is responsible for the daily operations of one of the largest astronomy laboratory programs in the United States. Each year, over 3000 students participate in UNT’s introductory astronomy classes which have been developed to fulfill the academic lab requirements of non-science majors. The astronomy program’s facilities include the Monroe Remote Observatory, located 50 miles North of UNT’s campus, as well as UNT’s digital Sky Theater, and the new Rafes Urban Astronomy Center, which recently initiated astronomy lab programs. Five years ago, NASA appointed Ron as one of about 200 Solar System Ambassadors from around the world, charged with the responsibility of sharing and interpreting NASA developments.

Ron is also past President, and Board Chairman of the Fort Worth, Texas Astronomical Society. His images and publications include several award-winning video documentaries that have shown on PBS, including “Dark Noon”, a video taken during the great solar eclipse of 1991, where he captured Shadow Bands on digital video, which to this day have not been successfully recorded by any other video crew. His video won Astronomy magazine’s “Best Video” in their photo contest to capture images of the “Great Eclipse”. Ron has extensive experience with astro imaging.Over the last 20 years he’s captured several solar and lunar eclipses, recorded timelapse sequences of 2 Mercury Transits, several asteroid passes, as well as the last Venus transit in 2004. His animated sequence of the Jupiter/Levy Impact sites was the first digital animated set of astroimages to win an award at the Texas Star Party. He provided NASA with a complete digital astroimage sequence of the Deep Impact project, where NASA sent a test instrument to impact a comet to assist in determining its density and composition. This June, Ron has organized two astroimaging crews to go to Hawaii and Alaska. From these sites his university-sponsored expedition will attempt to recreate Sir Edmund Halley’s prediction that the Astronomical Unit (A.U.) could be determined by timing Venus’s path across the sun.

Abstract: Have you ever gazed into the sky, or looked through a telescope and wished you could save that memory? Introduction to Astronomical Imaging will provide you with the knowledge to acquire and share your celestial memories. During the five sessions, spanning a two-day period, you will learn what makes a good astro-camera, what telescope designs are best, what mount should you choose, what else you really need to create successful astroimges. In addition, you will learn about the latest software, solar and planetary photography, animating celestial events, and how to participate with professional astromomers in new discoveries such as: asteroid passes, eclipses, transits and spectroscopy. Conveniently, this presentation will be a valuable tool to assist you as you visit vendors during NEAF 2012!

Neil Fleming

Neil specializes in the capture of high-quality images from very light polluted locations, such as those in the Boston area. As such, the majority of his work is in the area of “narrowband” imaging, utilizing Ha, OIII, and SII filters. His images have been published in both Sky & Telescope and Astronomy magazines, and featured on the popular, “Astronomy Picture of the Day” (APOD) web site. Additionally, his imagery was included in Timothy Ferris’ PBS documentary, Seeing in the Dark. His past speaking engagements have included such popular conferences as the Advanced Imaging Conference (San Jose, CA), the Midwest Astro-Imaging Conference, and the NorthEast Astro-Imaging Conference – each an annual event oriented towards astrophotographers wanting to learn more about the techniques used for advanced image processing.

Conference Abstract: Neil will do a presentation on Narrowband Imaging, an introduction on the topic, followed by an explanation on how to produce pleasing results from the data you collect. Normally, we collect “RGB” data, and after a bit of tweaking and color balancing, we get a pleasing result. Narrowband is a different story. There are many ways to combine your data, from the basic narrowband “Hubble” or “CFHT” palettes, to incorporating RGB data into 6-filter processing. There are a number of approaches to doing all of this, and Neil will present a number of them

Jason Cottle, and David Rosenthal Astrotroniks, LLC. Both Jason, and David are very talented engineers, with a strong passion in the Astronomy field. Primarily astrophotography’s, much of their free time is spent collecting photons. Jason decided few years ago to put the passion, and skill in the Astronomy field to the use of benefitting other Astronomers and their equipment. Jason asked David (a good friend) to join the fun, and Astrotroniks, LLC was realized. Jason and David started several years ago, imaging with the most basic of equipment. Their talent in engineering, and mechanical/electrical design, allowed them to drastically enhance the performance of their modest equipment. Since then, changes in equipment, and with the changes a never ending quest for top performance from the equipment, helped to develop a base of experience and intimate knowledge of GEM

mount design. This experience and knowledge has been applied to what we know now as "The GEM Performance Tune", offered by Astrotroniks, LLC. Astrotroniks has been providing customers with the highest level of performance enhancement of their GEM mounts, with the addition of mount upgrade products, DIY tuning kits and parts, and electrical interface products. Recently the company started offering custom mechanical, and electrical/mechanical engineering and design services for products unique to the Astronomy, and Astrophotography fields. Astrotroniks' mission is to continue providing customers with unmatched performance enhancement, and the highest level of customer satisfaction. Visit the store at www.astrotroniks.com.

Dr. Frank Summers:

Dr. Summers is an astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD. He received his undergraduate degree in Physics from Virgina Tech, and his Masters and Ph.D in Astronomy from the University of California at Berkeley. After achieving his degrees, he did research on cosmology and galaxy formation at Princeton and Columbia Universities, specializing in supercomputer simulations. He then shifted his career emphasis to the public presentation of astronomy while at the Hayden Planetarium in New York, before joining Space Telescope. His work in the Office of Public Outreach presents the results of the Hubble

Space Telescope and general astronomy to the public through news media, web sites, educational programs, museums, and planetariums. As one of only a few professional astronomers working in outreach, his expertise spans a broad range from public astronomy presentation and scientific visualization to high performance computing and research astrophysics. An example of his breadth of knowledge and presentation skill can be seen in his work as curator of the travelling exhibt "Visions of the Universe: Four Centuries of Discovery" in collaboration with the American Libraries Association. A particular specialty is the use of research data and supercomputer simulations combined with Hollywood-level animation and rendering techniques to create scientific visualizations that are both accurate and aesthetic. Of note, Dr. Summers was a writer, science advisor, and scientific visualization supervisor on the IMAX film "Hubble 3D". This widely acclaimed film features 12 minutes of scientific visualizations, has grossed more than $20 million at the box office, and was awarded Best Picture, Best Cinematography, and Best Lifelong Learning Film by the Giant Screen Cinema Association in 2010. Previously, he directed, co-wrote, and created the 3D visualizations for the IMAX short film "Hubble: Galaxies Across Space and Time". This work won the Large Format Cinema Association's Best Short Film award in 2004. His work can also be seen in the Academy Award nominated IMAX film "Cosmic Voyage" (Best Documentary, Short Subject 1996). On "Cosmic Voyage", he provided supercomputer data sets and assisted the scientific visualization team on a four minute sequence. He also served on the film's Scientific Advisory Committee. Formerly, Dr. Summers was the lead astronomer in developing the exhibits for the opening of the $200 million Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History. During this re-birth of the Hayden Planetarium, he and his fellow curators developed and presented the modern view of the solar system many years in advance of the official astronomy reclassification of Pluto. That 21st century viewpoint is covered in detail in Dr. Summers' 24 lecture DVD course from the Teaching Company entitled "New Frontiers: Modern Perspectives on the Solar System". An unusual aspect for an astrophysicist is Dr. Summers' extensive artistic background. During and after high school he was a competitive ice dancer, eventually becoming nationally ranked and representing the US in international competitions. During college, he was director, choreographer, and soloist with Virginia Tech Dance Theatre. During his graduate studies, he was an accomplished ballroom dancer, and Team Leader of the National Collegiate Team champions. He also has earned a brown belt in Tae Kwon Do. Dr. Summers lectures widely to the public, students, and for teacher training at levels from Kindergarten through college. He can be seen on the internet in a video podcast called "Hubble's Universe Unfiltered" and is the host of the monthly public lecture series at Space Telescope. He has also consulted on numerous books and television documentaries.

Daniel Mounsey aka Doctor D Daniel has been an observational astronomer since 1992 he is a disciple of Robert Burnham Jr. Burnham’s Celestial Handbook.

Mounsey is a ATM wood working specialist since 1998 building custom astro cases and for over a decade Daniel has been in astronomy equipment sales.

Daniel is the Host of Oak Canyon Astronomy Group Astronomy Instructor at Creative Minds Learning Center. Since 2005Mounsey has submited Innumerable astronomy equipment related reviews and publications.

Daniel is an active vendor of RTMC, AIC, NEAF, PATS, Julian Star Fest, Nightfall,and has hosted Innumerable public astronomy night sky talks and astronomy equipment talks.

Daniel is a member of the Celestron sales team

Abstract: Astroimaging is becoming one of the fastest growing hobbies among astronomers and photographers (at all levels) who are eager to capture and create their own detailed images of celestial objects. Daniel Mounsey, Specialty Accounts Sales Manager with Celestron and also known in the astronomical community as “Doctor D,” will provide an overview of Celestron’s new generation of astroimaging gear, including a versatile new CCD camera, precision computerized mounts, an aberration-free flat field optical design and the latest astroimaging accessories. Taking optimum images of the Solar System or deep space doesn’t have to be too difficult to render or too expensive to enjoy. Daniel will show that with the proper Celestron imaging gear available, users will be producing top quality celestial images they can be proud of.

Dr. Gaston Baudat

Gaston was born in Switzerland near Lausanne, along the

Geneva lake. In 1982 he received his engineering degree in

electronic and computer science form the Swiss university for

applied sciences at Yverdon-les-Bains (Switzerland).

His passion for astronomy started many years ago while

reading space magazines and books, as well as watching the

first moon landing.

In 1986 he went to Madagascar with his brand new C8 orange

tube to take pictures of the Halley comet. One of the pictures

won a contest in the French science magazine "Science & Vie".

He moved to Geneva to take a position in the R&D department

for a Swiss company in telecommunication. Then in 1999, he

moved to the company US headquarter near West-Chester (PA).

He received his PhD in computer science form the French university CNAM (Paris) in 2006. However all this

time his interest from astronomy, especially astrophotography, has grown. Moving from films to CCD

technologies he eventually built his permanent observatory near Glenmoore (PA).

He initiated and leaded several projects in astronomy in collaboration with the Swiss university for applied

science. Among them, an adaptive auto-guiding control algorithm based on Kalman filter theory and an image

processing for enhanced guide star detection.

In 2007 he cofounded Innovations Foresight, LLC, a PA based company, making products for astronomy, such

as on-axis guiders.

Abstract:

Guiding for long exposures is challenging, yet a critical task. Astronomy is one of the most demanding field in

photography. Astrophotography for deep space objects, associated with medium to long focal length, requires high

precision accurate tracking and active guiding. Classical techniques suffer from various issues and limitations.

Guide scopes may be prone to differential flexures, which are very difficult to track and fix, they also add an extra load for

the mount. Even a scope with locking mirror mechanism could still exhibit some leftover motions, and it does not take

much more, with a long focal, to end up with elongated stars. While off-axis guiders (OAG) solve most of this issue, they

only provide access to a small field of view (fov), making the search for a guide star challenging and time consuming,

especially with large chips. Since OAG are looking well off-axis, using a small pick-up prism, guide stars could exhibit

extreme deformations with some scopes.

Self-guided cameras are much like OAG, they require the rotation of the whole camera body to scan a "doughnut" like off-

axis fov.

On-axis guider (ONAG) solves those problems providing access to a wide fov without any differential flexure or significant

extra load for the mount. The ONAG shares the same optical train and scope aperture than the imager leading to a fov up

to 1.3 arc-degrees for a 2 m focal length scope.

Using a dichroic mirror the ONAG splits the light between the visible range (350nm to 750nm) for imaging and the near

infrared range (NIR > 750nm) for guiding.

Robert Reeves A Lifetime of Lunar Dreams

Hello. My name is Robert Reeves. I live in San Antonio, Texas, and I just turned 65 years old. That means I am one of the “old timers” in astronomical photography. When I first imaged the sky, Kodak's popular high-speed film was “Supper XX”. Yes, the old favorite, “Tri-X” was not yet widely distributed. Since then, I watched with amazement as the field of astrophotography has evolved over my lifetime. Many astronomers are familiar with my books and articles over the past 20 years that promote celestial photography. These publications evolved from my lifetime of experiences as an astrophotographer and would leave the impression that I am primarily a deep sky astrophotographer. The truth is, my celestial adventures have their roots in the Moon.

Two years ago I realized I had passed a milestone in my life, I had been photographing the Moon for 50 years! And it took yet another two years to finally achieve an elusive goal, imaging kilometer-sized lunar detail with a modest amateur telescope from my back yard. This half-century lunar journey has taken me through a succession of small telescopes and photographic technologies that has defined amateur astrophography for the past five decades. My first lunar photograph taken in early 1959 was of the rising full moon as seen from my bedroom window. In that era no spacecraft from Earth had yet reached the Moon and that world was still a place of mystery. A decade later, Apollo planted human footprints on the Moon. In the 40 years since Apollo, manned exploration has retreated from the Moon and our only natural satellite is again the realm of amateur explorations. Over the past years I have enjoyed promoting and explaining the 'how-to” of photographing the sky. But one thing that remains elusive is how to promote the excitement of photographically exploring the heavens. I assume that if someone is willing to try astrophotography in some form, they must feel this excitement as well. Indeed, after 52 years of pointing a camera skywards, I still feel the thrill of exploration when I image the Moon. Apollo planted the American flag on the Moon decades ago and now spacecraft from many nations study the Moon. But when I image the moon today, I still experience the same desire to explore that I felt when I was 12 years old and looking at that yet uncharted world for the first time. It is a fact that with modest equipment and modern electronic imaging techniques, today's amateur astronomer can take better images of the Moon that professional researchers could using the best observatories in the world during the massive 1960's push to reach the Moon. Imaging the Moon has never been easier and results are rewarding. I would very much enjoy demonstrating how you can perform your own explorations of the Moon from your back yard.

Christopher Go

Chris lives on the island of Cebu in the Philippines. He has been an

amateur astronomer since 1986, the year of the return of Halley's

Comet. He studied at the University of San Carlos where he

received a BS in physics. While a student there, Chris and friends

organized the University's first ever Astronomical Society.

He started observing with a 10X40 binoculars. Chris Go would later

own several different telescopes. He currently uses a Celestron C14

for planetary imaging.

Chris's main astronomical interests are planetary imaging,

particularly of Jupiter and Saturn.

In February 2006, Chris Go discovered that the white spot Oval BA of Jupiter (later called Red Spot Jr.) had

turned red. He joined planetary scientists Imke de Pater and Phil Marcus to observe Jupiter in the spring of

2006 with the Hubble Space Telescope. He was also involved with follow-up Hubble and Keck observations of

Jupiter.

In 2008, he received the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers' prestigious Walter Haas Award.

In June 2010, he confirmed an impact in Jupiter first observed by Anthony Wesley.

Professionally, he is a businessman into furniture manufacturing. He is married to wife Vicky and has four

children: Steven, Kathlyn, Frances and Vincent.

Alan Erickson

Senior Computer Scientist

Adobe Systems

Alan Erickson has been a programmer at Adobe Systems since 1996.

He has developed features for Photoshop, Illustrator, and Lightroom.

Photoshop feature areas include animation, video, image selection,

and image adjustments.

In 1998 Alan moved from Minnesota to Colorado. Inspired by the

clear nights in the more arid climate of Colorado, Alan took an interest

in astronomy. After attaching a DSLR camera to his telescope in 2004

he was hooked on astro-imaging.

Since 2008, Alan has combined his hobby with his profession, representing Adobe at astro-imaging

conferences. Alan has presented Photoshop topics at the Midwest Astro-Imaging Conference, Advanced

Imaging Conference, and Northeast Astro-Imaging Conference.

ABSTRACT:

Photoshop Tips & Tricks. Alan will present various Photoshop topics related to astro-imaging, from the

viewpoint of a developer and astro-imager. Topics will include Photoshop basics, workflow, adjustments, high

dynamic range, and the latest features in Photoshop CS6.

CHROMA TECHNOLOGY ASTRONOMY TEAM Chroma Technology is an employee owned

company based in southern Vermont that has

been manufacturing precision optics for more

than 20 years. Experienced in thin film designs for

myriad applications from the UV to near-IR,

Chroma has the engineering experience and

manufacturing capabilities to provide precision

narrow band, durable optics for astrophotography.

The astronomy sub-group consists of Mark

Kfoury, Sales; Natalia Gorwaski, Methods; Paul

Horak, Design Engineer; Ann Stanley, Technical

Support and Mavis Shand, Customer Service. This team of individuals works together at every level of the

process, from sales to design and technical support. Introduction of the team will be followed by a technology

overview and discussion around optical filters and the role they play in astrophotography and photometry.

Jerry Lodriguss

Jerry has been an amateur astronomer and astrophotography for nearly 40 years. He first became interested in astronomy at the age of seven when he looked through a "spyglass" at the Moon and was amazed to see that it had craters. He discovered his love for photography when he was 17 years old when he bought a camera to take pictures through his homemade 10-inch reflecting telescope. His professional photography career began in 1974 working part time shooting high school sports for $5 per picture at a small suburban weekly newspaper in New Orleans. He has worked for the Associate Press, Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today.

From 1987 until 2009 he worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer as their staff sports photographer. Today, Jerry is an author and photographer who has written for Sky and Telescope, Astronomy and other

magazines. His astronomical photographs have also appeared in books and publications all over the world. He has written and published four books:

Photoshop for Astrophotography’s

Catching the Light - A Beginners Guide to the Wonders of the Cosmos

A Guide to Astrophotography with Digital SLR Cameras

A Beginner’s Guide to DSLR Astrophotography He is currently working on his fifth book, scheduled to be released in the fall of 2012:

A Guide to DSLR Planetary Photography

Abstract: Terrors in the Night

Things that go wrong in astrophotos and how to fix them. Things In the Sky

Things In the Optical System Things In the Mount Things In the Camera Things In the Calibration Things In the Processing Things In the Procedure Operator Error Things In Your Dreams Unexplained Mysteries

Learn how to recognize the difference between a filter reflection moving and a comet discovery. Discover how to fix an incorrect color balance in the sky background. Learn about ISO highlight clipping HDR imaging techniques. See what mirror slap looks like and how it can ruin a high-resolution image. Planes, Trains, Automobiles – how to tell the difference between a plane, satellite and a meteor in an image, and learn how to get rid of them with median stacking methods. Learn how to recognize common optical defects in camera lenses. Unexplained Mysteries – stuff that belongs in the National Enquirer.

Sheldon Faworski

Got interested in astronomy in grade school at the age of nine in

1954. Living in Chicago at that time Sheldon joined the Chicago

Astronomical Society and as a member you he receive a monthly

subscription to Sky & Telescope magazine which got him lusting for

a large telescope. Unfortunately, paper routes didn't pay very well

so, Faworski started fiddling around making them and he is still at it

today many many years later. Sheldon Started doing astro

photography with film in the mid-70's and had made the move to

CCD Imaging over a dozen years ago. Sheldon has been fortunate

to have had images published in Sky and Telescope, Astronomy and

other Astronomy magazines printed around the world.

From 1977 till now. Faworski has worked in either sales and or product development (mainly telescopes and

telescope accessories) for:

American Science Center (Chicago)

Edmund Scientific

Celestron

Meade Instruments

LOMO America

LOMO (St. Petersburg, Russia)

Galileo

Fabian Neyer

Fabian is a PhD student working at the Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry at ETH Zurich. My thesis focuses on the analysis of large mountainous surface motion by combining different measurement techniques available in the field of surveying. From the moment he started to read about the wonders of the night sky, he was impressed by the beautiful images presented in books and magazines. Shortly thereafter, Neyer also wanted to produce such colorful images. he started with visual astronomy using a Celestron C8 reflector and a German GP mount. Although fascinated about the endless space that was now partly visible through the telescope, he wanted to more. A local astronomy club offered him the possibility to use more expensive tools suitable for a first step into the field of astrophotography. About two years later Fabian took his first astro photo (of M27) with an Astro Physics refractor and an SBIG ST8 camera.

Besides the ST8 camera, Neyer started to experiment with an analog SLR camera which he learned shortly, did not produced better results. Still not very happy with the ST8, he continued using the Canon EOS 300D camera he got for my high-school graduation. The larger size of the sensor and the larger pixel number along with the easier image pre-processing finally turned this camera into something Fabian was happy with. Two years later, however, Neyer upgraded to a modified Canon EOS 20D and then a modified EOS 40D in 2008. With every image he aimed for a deeper view and very soon the limitations of DSLR cameras in light polluted areas became noticeable. Since 2009 Fabin has been using the more sensitive STL11000M camera which allows going considerably deeper. Neyer’s preferred celestial objects are large nebula complexes suitable for small focal length telescopes. For about the last half a year, Fabian has been using a TeleVue NP101is APO refractor as my main telescope.

Absteact: The concept of mosaic image processing This presentation outlines the concept of capturing and pre-processing mosaic images. It specifically describes a workflow for an optimal combination of mosaic images prior to post-processing. Methods of merging the individual parts of a mosaic will be explained also for images which have a considerable amount of image distortion, i.e., varying image scales resulting from imperfect optics, camera tilting problems or other issues. For this purpose, the concept of creating a reference image will be introduced and its advantages will be explained. The presented methods are applicable to both, DSLR and CCD images.