M 45 – Pleiades

Date/time:
15.01.2009 18:55 to 15.01.2009 19:25
25.01.2009 17:38 to 25.01.2009 19:00
26.01.2009 18:00 to 26.01.2009 18:30
30.01.2009 18:00 to 30.01.2009 18:30

Location: Aach, Germany

Equipment:
Telescope: TMB 92 SS f/5.5 with TSFlat
Mount: CGE, selfguided with ST-4000XCM
Camera: SBIG ST-4000XCM
Filters: IDAS LPS

Acquisition:
Software: CCDSoft V5
FOV, Image scale: 99.4 x 94.5 arcmin, 3.01 arcs/pixel
Sub-exposures: 2h 30min (3 x 10min + 8 x 10min + 1 x 30min + 3 x 10min) light frames @–35°C
45 x 10min, 37 x 30min dark frames
30 x 0,5s EL flats

Processing:
Calibration, stacking and Exc Avg combine of all sets in Images Plus 3.75,
curves and levels using adjustment layers in CS3,
star saturation increase with Carbonis Actions,
color enhancement using Gabany method under CS3,
green cast elimination with Pixinsight LE 1.0,
gradient reduction with GradientXterminator,
final noise reduction of background and sharpening of nebulosity in CS3

Comments:
These were the best imaging sessions on M45.
This image was a first attempt to stack frames from different sessions in IP 3.75.