Main Image Gallery Experimental Gallery You think you have light pollution and gradient problems?! Take a look at these: This is an image of the San Gabriel Valley, south of Mt. Wilson in southern California. This image shows the Pasadena/Arcadia area, where I lived until late 2004. I now live in Ontario, which is 30 miles east (to the left) of the area shown in this image, but the conditions are similar, if not worse. Image by the Mt. Wilson Towercam, operated by the UCLA Department of Physics and Astronomy. May 12, 2004 at 10:44pm. Those aren't clouds! In this image of M97 and M108 the gradients change as the telescope tracks. The result is a cornucopia of gradients, reflections, and all sorts of great stuff (do you sense my sarcasm?). William Optics Megrez 80mm APO/ST-2000XM/30 minutes (6 x 5 minutes). Here is an image of M51 where I've attempted to remove the gradients. Obviously, I wasn't terribly successful. Notice how light and uneven the background still is. William Optics Megrez 80mm APO/ST-2000XM/5 minutes (1 x 5 minutes). If I drive away from the lights of my immediate surroundings, things can get quite decent. M81 and M82 exposed very well in this image that was taken from deep in the San Gabriel Mountains only 45 minutes from home. William Optics Megrez 80mm APO/ST-2000XM/65 minutes (13 x 5 minutes). M63 under some decently dark skies (Bear Valley Springs, about 130 miles northwest of my home, between Bakersfield and Mojave). William Optics Megrez 80mm APO/ST-2000XM/30 minutes (6 x 5 minutes). M27 under dark skies (Big Bear mountain, about 75 miles northeast of my home). William Optics Megrez 80mm APO/ST-2000XM/25 minutes (5 x 5 minutes).