Dark Sky Advantage

This is just a simple demonstration of the importance of a dark sky site. Both pictures of M27 were taken with the same equipment (10 inch LX200, SBIG ST – 7XE CCD imager), the same 10 second exposure, and processed identically. The one above is from my backyard in Gilroy last July 30. The one below is from Fremont Peak on August 26. The picture above shows almost nothing. The picture below at least shows some of the nebula and many more stars. A filter would have improved the light – polluted photo but only with a longer exposure or several stacked images combined.