[sgcullen]

If you are interested in astrophotography, you should take a look at LightBuckets. It is an online service where you can use one of several high-end telescopes to take images. These are telescopes that you won't find in most people's backyards. A single observatory costs anywhere from $75,000 to $350,000.

The cool thing is, anyone can use them...and at reasonable prices....from $100 per hour to $250 per hour depending on the scope's aperture and location. LightBuckets has scopes in both New Mexico and Australia for northern and southern hemisphere imaging. And, the scopes range in aperture from 14.5" (in Australia) to a 24" in Rodeo, New Mexico.

Go to www.lightbuckets.com. to learn more....it's a great way to see if you're interested in astrophotography without investing a lot of money. And, if you are already into astrophotography, it is a great way to get your hands on the best imaging equipment in the world.

I have attached a black and white image of M83 I took just this morning on the LightBuckets 14.5" telescope in Pingelly, Western Australia. It is a 1200 second (20 minute) exposure. Pretty amazing results with virtually no image processing (increased brightness, did an unsharp filter, and added the logo)!