ATMoB Meeting  

The Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston business meeting and presentation.
My Evolution of Imaging - Dr. Mario Motta
This month’s first speaker is Mario Motta, who will chronicle his pursuit of the best amateur imaging techniques throughout the years. Mario will describe his journey from gas hypersensitizing Kodak Technical Pan 2415 film in the mid 80’s, to DIY CCDs (Charge-Coupled Device), to applying BlurXterminator (PixInsight software plugin) over low noise cooled CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) data. Using example images Mario will demonstrate the chain of technologies and techniques that now enable amateurs to produce astrophotos that could have made Edwin Hubble envious. Who knows what amateur imagers will be able to accomplish in another 40 years!
Mario E. Motta, MD is highly accomplished in both his medical career and his pursuits within amateur astronomy. Mario has been a tireless advocate for the reduction of light pollution and increasing the awareness of its ill effects at local, state, federal and international levels. For Dr. Motta’s research and contributions to combating light pollution he’s received numerous awards from many astronomical organizations, including the International Astronomical Union (IAU) naming an asteroid 133537MarioMotta.
Choosing the Camera Gain or ISO - Dr. Doug Paul
Doug Paul will describe the architecture of a camera and a method for choosing the best camera gain or ISO (International Standards Organization) for stacked images.
Doug Paul is a retired electrical engineer with a specialization in signal processing. About five years ago he purchased a tracking astro mount which opened the deep sky to him. Since then, he has been imaging Deep Sky Objects (DSOs) (about 500 to date) and improving his processing software. Doug uses standard camera lenses, extenders, and DSLR/MLR bodies for his DSO imaging, and he has written his own data acquisition and part of his image processing software.
Small Scope Observing - Glenn Chaple
Glenn's talk on small scope observing was rescheduled to a later date.