Spiral Galaxy M33
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luminance: 3 x 600 sec, Ha 12 x 600 blended with both luminance and red, RGB 3:4:2 x 300 unbinned. Images recorded between 12/24/07 and 01/03/08.
Equipment: Televue NP-101 and SXV-H9 camera mounted on a G-11.
Processing: Combined in Maxim D/L, processed in Photoshop CS2 with Noel Carboni's Astronomy Tools.
I blended the luminance into the Ha with a lighten layer to bring out the Ha regions in the luminance data, while still retaining the spiral arm stars. The red channel was also blended with the Ha a la Rob Gendler's technique. I carefully balanced the background using the "by the numbers" techniques outlined in Scott Ireland's Photoshop Astronomy book. If you don't have that book in your library, you should.