* Use DS9 to scale an image and save it in jpg format
* Use the GIMP to combine the jpg files into one color image
The How Telescopes Work and How to Download Archive Data and View it with DS9 articles contain background information relevant to this project.
You will find that the text contains many links. Some will take you to a glossary definition, while others are links to more information about a topic you may want to explore further. Please use this guide in the way that makes most sense to you. You may want to read the entire guide first, then go back and follow links that interest you, or you may want to follow links as you go along. You can also click on the diagrams to see them a larger size.
Go to the archive search page where you can access thousands of astronomical files.
Because this is for color imaging you may want to check the "Best observations" box under the Object Name box when you search so you will be more likely to get high quality images for processing.
Some suggestions of images you might like to search the archive for are: M16 - the Eagle Nebula, M51 - the Whirlpool Galaxy, M57 - the Ring Nebula, M64 - the Blackeye Galaxy, NGC 5128 - "Centaurus A" Galaxy, NGC 5195 - Companion Galaxy of M51
You can search either by name or by number. For example you might search for, "M57" or "Blackeye Galaxy" or "NGC 5195."
Choose an image that has at least red, green and blue FITS files and download the files to your computer.
You will need to use DS9 to scale your FITS files and save them in jpg format. The screencast below will take you through the steps you need to follow.
You need to use GIMP, which is available free, to open the three jpgs you saved from DS9 and combine them.
The animation below shows takes you through the theory of how to colorize and combine the files.
The screencast below will take you through the steps you need to follow to colorize your own files and combine them into a color image.