Comparative Messier Digital Object Sketches With 11x80, 20x100 and a Tasco 60mm/700mm

Version 1.0 of 12/9/2004-1:00 a.m.

On this page the author is attempting a careful electronic sketch simulation of what he saw while on the Antiparos island, with his equipment: Chinon BCF 11x80 binoculars, Apogee multicoated 20x100 binoculars and his crappy Tasco 60mm/700mm at 35x. The Tasco has been fortified with a good zoom 22-7.4mm eyepiece from Apogee, a 45 degree diagonal (so all images are erect) and a shorty 2x Barlow, which he rarely used.

The author is more concerned with giving the sketches a realistic appearance, i.e. for them to represent well what an observer sees through the above equipment.

All the sketches were digitally processed using Photoshop from observations made on average 6.7+ skies. Contrast and brightness have been changed sometimes globally, sometimes locally and extended star images have been antialiased, where applicable, although the author is paying more attention to extended objects and not star images, aiming at a realistic simulation.

Calculations for the digital processing assume correct fields of vision of all three instruments and changes in brightness according to what the author saw, in most cases. Occasionally, field edges have been cropped, to save space and time. The processing has been done on a Presario 2100 laptop with its screen at full brightness.

For the full observing reports, consult the two articles on 11x80 and 20x100.

For all pictures below: Left: 11x80 Chinon binoculars, Middle: 20x100 Apogee binoculars, Right: Tasco 60mm/700mm@35x.

M31-M32-M110 (Andromeda Galaxy and satellites) in Andromeda.

M31_11x80BCF.jpg M31_20x100Apogee.jpg M31_Tasco_35x.jpg

M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy) in Canes Venatici
M51_11x80BCF.jpg M51_20x100Apogee.jpg M51_Tasco_35x.jpg

M8 (Lagoon Nebula) in Sagittarius
M8_11x80BCF.jpg M8_20x100Apogee.jpg M8_Tasco_35x.jpg

M22 in Sagittarius
M22_11x80BCF.jpg M22_20x100Apogee.jpg M22_Tasco_35x.jpg

M57 (Ring Nebula) in Lyra (Tasco@80x)
M57_11x80BCF.jpg M57_20x100Apogee.jpg M57_Tasco_35x.jpg

M33 (Triangulum Galaxy) in Triangulum
M33_11x80BCF.jpg M33_20x100Apogee.jpg M33_Tasco_35x.jpg

M81-M82 in Ursa Major
M81_82_11x80BCF.jpg M81_82_20x100Apogee.jpg M81_82_Tasco_35x.jpg

M92 in Hercules
M92_11x80BCF.jpg M92_20x100Apogee.jpg M92_Tasco_35x.jpg

M27 (Dumbbell Nebula)  in Vulpecula
M27_11x80BCF.jpg M27_20x100Apogee.jpg M27_Tasco_35x.jpg

M1 (Crab Nebula) in Taurus
M1_11x80BCF.jpg M1_20x100Apogee.jpg M1_Tasco_35x.jpg

NGC 7293 (Helix Nebula) in Aquarius
NGC7293_11x80BCF.jpg NGC7293_20x100Apogee.jpg NGC7293_Tasco_35x.jpg

M11 (Wild Ducks Cluster) in Scutum
M11_11x80BCF.jpg M11_20x100Apogee.jpg M11_Tasco_35x.jpg

Back to Astronomy

Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional