Some Color Astrophotos

These astrophotos were taken from my back yard in light-polluted central New Jersey. However, with the appropriate filters and digital enhancement, almost anything is possible! All of the photos were taken using a Lumicon Deep Sky Filter to block out light from mercury vapor and sodium vapor street lamps.

Clockwise from upper left:

Rosette Nebula [1000 mm, f/8, Konica SRG3200, 2 x 10 min, stacked]

Great Andromeda Galaxy (M31) [500 mm, f/4, Fuji Super G 800, 3 x 16 min, stacked]

Comet Hale-Bopp [500 mm, f/4, Fuji Super G 800, 6 min]

Great Orion Nebula (M42) [1000 mm, f/8, Konica SRG3200, 5 min]

Dumbbell Nebula (M27) [1000 mm, f/8, Konica SRG3200, 10 min]

Comet Hyakutake [180 mm, f/2.8, Fuji Super G 800, 8 min]

North American Nebula [500 mm, f/4, Fuji Super HG 1600, 2 x 10 min, stacked; this photo was ENORMOUSLY improved by digital manipulation in Adobe Photoshop; it's amazing that the nebula looks so good after so short an exposure; the original negatives are really weak!]

Center: Pleiades (M44) [500 mm, f/4, Fuji Super G 800, 15 min]