The Best NIR Stack Yet

i have to share this one. the inversion layer is really strong and the mid-layer is really dry. we've been reading 2-5% humidity at aeos.... at sunset i took a hdr sequence of 190 pics with the 950nm filter on. it turned out great! mauna kea has snow on it and the inversion at 7000ft is totally obvious. great stuff. here's how the filter works.


this is a raw shot in the visible range with no processing or filters. tons o blue haze.


then, with a polarzer and some photoshopping, you can start to make out the mountain top details and the snow on the summit is clearer.

then in the nir stack, you can make out all the features: snowy cinder cones, the telescopes, and the channels. in the bottom of the image, the cinder cones on top of the old kohala volcano (~5000ft) come out. the coast line in the bottom-left is pretty clear too.

i've submitted this to apod. i'll probably get a f-o-a-d, but at least i tried. some of their shots on that site are just awful..... the astro pictures are awesome, but there are several random junk pictures that show up on that site. it makes me wonder about what different people like. subjectivity.....


here's another set zoomed out.



and final parting shots of mauna kea and mauna loa.