Mosaics can be a fun and worthwhile way to
create large
sweeping vistas of astronomical targets. You
can create a wide field view with a high-resolution system or a
super-wide field view with a lower resolution system. This
can give you better detail and the ability to create very large prints
of your astrophotography.
Unfortunately mosaics add another level of complexity to an already
difficult process. There are other articles on creating
mosaics, most notably those done by Rob Gendler.
Rob's articles inspired me to try out mosaics, but there was still a
lot to learn. In my most recent mosaic attempts, I have been
achieving great results in part due to a new method of seamlessly
blending the mosaic frames together.
In this article I describe, with as much detail as I can manage, the
steps I go through to create a mosaic. Specifically, I describe
what I did to create my recent 9-panel mosaic of the Virgo Galaxy
Cluster. This particular image is only gray-scale and is a
good
example of creating a mosaic. As we all know, adding color only
complicates the process even more. However, following the
procedure I outline here, you can create either gray-scale or color
mosaics.
I hope this article is of use to you in creating mosaics.
-Matt Thomas