Antares and the Rho Ophiuchi Clouds

A wide-field astrophotograph of the Antares region, including the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, M4, and surrounding reflection and dark nebulae. This colorful area of the sky lies in the constellations Scorpius and Ophiuchus.

 

📍 Location: Shima City, Mie Prefecture, Japan

📅 Dates: April 4, 2022 & April 17, 2023

🕒 Total Exposure Time: 399 minutes

 

🔭 Equipment:

- Telescope: Takahashi FS-60CB with Multi Flattener 1.04x

- Mount: Vixen GPD with SS-One AutoGuider Pro

- Cameras:

• Canon EOS Kiss X8i (Rebel T6i, stock) — ISO 1600, 3 min × 73 = 219 min

• Canon EOS Kiss X5 (Rebel T3i, stock) — ISO 1600, 3 min × 60 = 180 min

 

Processing:

- Image stacking and calibration in PixInsight

- Final post-processing in Adobe Photoshop

 

Done