September 8 , 2007
Observatory Hill, Victoria, BC, Canada

Using my Hutech modified Canon XTi mounted prime focus on my Meade LX200R operating at f/10, I acquired 90 original images, and ended up stacking 48 of then to produce this resultant image. This represents my best result to date for M57. I'm pleased to see considerable detail in the ring structure, and some striking red colour on the outside edge of the ring. This is no doubt due to the camera's modified IR filter, allowing more red signal to be captured by the sensor.

Details:
Telescope: Meade LX200R 8" operating at f/10 mounted Alt/Az
Hutech modified Canon XTi mounted at prime focus
Exposures: 48 images at 30 sec
ISO 800, Custom white balance
Processing:
ImagesPlus 3 Beta 9: digital development of Canon Raw to FITS, dark, flat & bias frames applied. Aggressive Digital Development, and conversion of final image to 48 bit TIFF for further processing.
Corel PhotoPaint X3: midtone stretch, saturation increase, convert to 24 bit RGB, image crop and spot, and conversion to jpg.