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Leo is one of the most prominent constellations of the zodiac. Its brightest star, Regulus, is very near the ecliptic, so it often forms conjunctions with the Moon and planets. Saturn is the bright yellow object at lower left.

Equipment: Nikon 50 mm/1.8 lens/STL-11000M/Astrodon LRGB filters/Paramount ME
F-ratio: f/4
Exposures: LRGB: L 8 x 3 minutes: R 11 x 3 minutes: G 11 x 3 minutes: B 11 x 3 minutes: RGB binned 2x2
Date: April 17, 2009
Location: Landers, California, USA
Technical Notes: Three exposures for each color were taken through a diffusion filter, which both enlarged the images and enhanced the colors of the bright stars. A second RGB image was created using these exposures, which was digitally composited with the luminance and unfiltered RGB exposures using the Lighten function in Photoshop CS2. Russell Croman's GradientXTerminator plug-in for Photoshop was used to remove light pollution gradients.