Re: [APML]: Color film/urban site

[Steve Bell <sb635@delphi.com>]

Dan Baldwin wrote:
> 
>         I have been an astro photography fool this week with
> our ver clear skies-- My photos are all well focused and
> guided well (thanks for everyones help in figuring out
> my ST4 problems)-- My problem now seems to be my suburban
> setting and I'm wondering how to proceed from here. I know
> that Steve Bell has achieved some good photos from a light
> polluted location using hypered TP-- 

Thanks, Dan.

> my question is can good
> photos of dim objects using color film be achieved from a
> moderatly light polluted site ?  ......
> 
> Should I give up on getting a good color photo of M33 from my suburban site ???
> Do these results seem typical ? Any advice (please !) ?
> 

Since you mentioned my name (and I appreciate it), I'll give you my 2 cents. The 
amount of sky fog we have in Denver and Boulder is atrocious compared to a good, dark 
site. I don't think that good (I won't even say great) deep sky work can be done 
without filters (except on globular clusters - but even then, only the bright ones). A 
good broad band filter (which to me lets more red light through than anything) is 
essential for emmission nebulae, but if you use color film everything turns red (I've 
read). You could just do that and digitize the thing to B&W - but then, why mess with 
color in the first place? Same thing probably holds if you use blue filters, ie, 
everything turns blue. I think the only chance one has of doing reasonably good color 
work from a light polluted site is using the tri-color method, which hopefully someday 
I may get to do. The red and blue exposures on hypered TP probably are doable - I 
think it'll be the green that's the hardest to capture from a city.

You'll probably expect this from me, but I think you'd be pleased if you went to 
hypered TP 2415. That stuff is amazing, even in the city!

-- 
Clear skies,
Steve Bell
sb635@delphi.com
http://people.delphi.com/sb635 - Astrophoto page