General Astronomy

September 1, 2010

A Tutorial On The Use Of Curves In Photoshop

clipped from www.tutorial9.net
How To Use Curves in Photoshop

With curves you are able to:

  • Adjust the over-all contrast or tonal range
  • Adjust the local contrast or tonal range
  • Adjust the color
  • The idea behind Curves is all about re–mapping values. A pixel starts out at a certain brightness, and you change it to be brighter or darker.

    Even if you’ve taken a good photo, chances are it can be improved or it needs to be adjusted to work in a collage or collection. Or even to just to intensify a mood. You can always make a good thing better – and curves is a one-stop-shop way to do that.

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    Photoshop is a powerful tool for enhancing your astrophotos or any photos for that matter. And the curves function is probably one of, if not the most, powerful tools in photoshop.

    I happened across this site thanks to Mr Ghaz at Amplify. The tutorial is well written and will be sure to help anyone who is looking to use photoshop.

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    Well Known Climate Change Skeptic Changes His Tune?

    clipped from www.guardian.co.uk
    Bjørn Lomborg: $100bn a year needed to fight climate change
    Exclusive 'Sceptical environmentalist' and critic of climate scientists to declare global warming a chief concern facing world

    The world's most high-profile climate change sceptic is to declare that global warming is "undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today" and "a challenge humanity must confront", in an apparent U-turn that will give a huge boost to the embattled environmental lobby.

    Bjørn Lomborg, the self-styled "sceptical environmentalist" once compared to Adolf Hitler by the UN's climate chief, is famous for attacking climate scientists, campaigners, the media and others for exaggerating the rate of global warming and its effects on humans, and the costly waste of policies to stop the problem.

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    Color me surprised! And even more surprising is that Bjorn and Rajendra Pachauri seem to have declared peace. Rajendra, who is in charge of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, once likened Mr. Lomborg to Hitler but has now endorsing Lomborgs' new book, Smart Solutions to Climate Change.

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    August 25, 2010

    Happy Birthday Sean Connery

    Totally off topic but, Happy 80th Birthday Sean Connery. Always enjoyed his acting even in films that were not that great. The Man Who Would Be King, The Untouchables, Indian Jones And The Last Crusade, and of course, the best James Bond.

    But always forgotten is Outland. I really enjoyed this little 1981 sci-fi which co-starred another favorite Peter Boyle.

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    August 4, 2010

    Can I See the Northern Lights From My Location

    Here is the Kp as of right now. To calculate if you will be able to see any Aurora Borealis (or Australis) from your location, first go here to get the 3 day Kp prediction: 3 Day Kp prediction, using that information go to this page: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/Aurora/ , click on your location (eg. North America: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/Aurora/globeNW.html) and then click on your location on that map.

    You can then match your Magnetic Latitude with the estimated Kp and be able to see if you will have a chance to view the Northern Lights. Be aware, being as far away as possible from city lights will greatly improve your chances.

    You can also sign up to get space weather alerts from NOAA. Sign up to receive space weather alerts.

    clipped from www.swpc.noaa.gov

    3-day Estimated Planetary K-index graph
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    July 28, 2010

    Arecibo Radio Observatory to Remain Open

    The Arecibo Observatory was under threat of closure due to budget concerns. But thankfully it has gained funding which will keep it in operation until at least 2016.

    If you are ever in Puerto Rico I can highly recommend at trip to visit the observatory. It is a lovely drive, and you can visit the town of Arecibo as well (which is located on the coast).

    The Arecibo Radio Observatory operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and has contributed much valuable data for astronomical research.

    Construction on the site began in mid 1960 with an official opening taking place on 1 November, 1963.

    It is still the worlds largest single dish radio telescope.

    clipped from www.naic.edu

    http://www.naic.edu/public/about/photos/hires/ao014.jpg
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    Filed under General Astronomy, Professional Observatories by admin

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