Advanced Imaging Conference October 30 - November 1, 2009 San ...

R. Jay GaBanyAstrophotographerBlackbird Observatorywww.cosmotography.comMaking Eye CandyThe only thing better than creating an interesting image is to produce apicture that viewers consider memorable. This requires the use of a fewcommon ingredients that should be included in any astro-photographer'simaging pantry- clarity, composition and saturation. This presentation willdiscuss simple techniques that leverage each aspect individually (and incombination) to turn a less than satisfying data set into something deliciousfor even the most discriminating eye tooth!Jay's interest in astronomy was lit by the space race of the sixties. Forexample, while live televised images of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin'shistoric lunar walk were flickering on our family television, I recall rushing into the backyard with my 2.5 inch refractor inhopes of glimpsing their landing site on the moon. COSMOS, Carl Sagan's epic thirteen part PBS series further fannedthe flames of my enthusiasm and ultimately led to the purchase of Meade's original SCT shortly thereafter. Many othertelescopes followed and by the time of Halley's Comet's most recent passing, I had learned to take manually guided photographsthrough a telescope with a 35mm film SLR camera. Unfortunately, family, kids, career and expenses turned meinto a spectator as amateur astronomy converted from film to CCD during the 1990's.However, his fascination with imaging was rekindled during an un-planned visit to personal websites filled with fantasticCCD pictures by many highly regarded imagers like Russell Croman and Adam Block- but it was the striking pictures ofRobert Gendler that ultimately inspired him to re-engage with this aspect of the hobby. So, after many months of contendingwith serious light pollution from his San Jose, California backyard, Jay began exposing pictures with remotely controlledinstrumentslocatedunder verydark skies inNew Mexicoand near Melbourne,Australia.The Perseus Galaxy Cluster (Abell 426) - APOD May 8, 2009RCOS 20 inch, SBIG STL-11000; L=945 min R=180 min G=108 min B=216 min, Ha = 435 minFor the pastfour years,Jay has alsoparticipatedwith an internationalteamof astrophysicts,leadby Dr. DavidMartinez-Delgado, insearch of galactictidalstreams- thefaint remiansof long-agovanished satellitegalaxiessurroundingnearby starsystems.Advanced Imaging Conference October 30 - November 1, 2009 San Jose, California http://www.aicccd.com Page 15