1st time out with my Askar FRA400 telescope.

Wouldn't quite fit the entire galaxy in to the field of view, so I went for a 2 panel mosaic.

M31 lies 2.5 million light years away from us and has two visible dwarf galaxies for companions. They are M32, just above and left of centre and M110, an elliptical galaxy to the bottom centre of the image.

Captured at www.astronomycentre.org.uk

Boring Techie bit:

Telescope: Askar FRA400

Mount: EQ6r pro

Camera: ZWO 533mc pro

Filter: Optolong L'eNhance.

Guided and controlled by the ZWO asiair+

The 2 panels each consisted of 60 lights frames at 120 seconds exposure each. Plus darks, flats, dark flats & bias calibration frames.

All stacked together in DeepSkyStacker and the resulting 2 images were then stitched together and processed further in PixInsight & Affinity Photo.

17 tracked light frames 8min 35 sec ISO800 F1.2 50mm, 6 Dark Frames, stacked using DeepSkyStacker and processed in Lightroom and Photoshop

This is an image captured on May 26th of the Eagle Nebula (Messier 16). You can see the "Pillars of creation" made famous by the Hubble Space Telescope near the center.

The image includes 1 hour of total exposure time (12 x 5-minute exposures at ISO 3200).

The images were stacked in DeepSkyStacker, and processed in Adobe Photoshop.

I photographed this object using a 150mm refractor telescope and a Canon EOS Ra (astrophotography) camera.

You can see the entire setup in my latest video: youtu.be/eD2Zal8WtVk

I also have a ton of more interesting deep-sky nebulae and galaxy photos on my Instagram for those interested in whats possible from a light-polluted backyard! www.instagram.com/astrobackyard/

M 42, NGC 1976. Stacked with DeepSkyStacker from 66 exposures using my Sigma Contemporary 150-600mm with 1.4x teleconverter at final 840mm and my 7RM3, all stabilized by Skywatcher Mini.

Nearly one year after my first random shot of the nebula I was extremely fixed to get a larger lens to see deeper inside the nebula - mission accomplished ...

From Saturday night / Sunday morning, not my best image of this object, especially with the out of focus stars on the right.

Anyway, 19 x 1-minute unguided exposures at ISO 3200, f/4. Modified EOS 600D & Revelation 12" Newtonian reflector telescope.

Registered and stacked using DeepSkyStacker; initial curves adjusted in Canon Photo Professional; noise reduction and final curves adjustment via Cyberlink PhotoDirector 8.0.

Here is the Pinwheel Galaxy in Ursa Major. A gorgeous face-on spiral galaxy.

I recently captured this image from the backyard using a color camera and small telescope (Video: youtu.be/o8Q_GWXL9Gw)

3 Hours, 30-Minutes Total Exposure

Sky-Watcher Esprit 100 APO

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro

ZWO ASI533MC Pro

Optolong L-Pro Filter

Acquistion in APT

Guiding with PHD2

Processing in DeepSkyStacker and Adobe Photoshop.

Thanks for looking. Clear skies!!

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS), photographed at 500mm f/4, 40 frames stacked uusing DeepSkyStacker. The 'anti-tail' can just be seen at lower right of frame. Frames exposed 1 sec at f/4, ISO 1600.

As I had two thirds of the necessary ingredients for a Hubble Palette (courtesy of young Dave), I generated a false Sll channel, faffed around a bit and came up with this :)

Amazing how much more detail comes out when using an odd palette, which is why the powers that be use Hubble I guess.

Stars look a bit odd in places, but never mind - they give it added character :)

A guided image of the Owl Nebula (M97) in Ursa Major taken through a Celestron 130mm f/5 reflecting telescope using a ZWOASI183MC Pro camera. 30 90 second light images and 20 dark images were stacked using DeepSkyStacker and processed using Adobe Lightroom to create the picture.

Second attempt at capturing this beautiful Galaxy.

Shot with Nikon D7500 and Sigma 100-400 (at 400mm) on Skywatcher Staradventurer mount.

11 pictures of 30s each stacked together with Deepskystacker.

Deuxième tentative de photographie de la Galaxie d'Andromède, notre voisine la plus proche. Sous un ciel bien sombre elle est visible à l'oeil nu. On aperçoit aussi ses deux galaxies satellite: M32 et M110.

Y a du progrès depuis ma première tentative mais j'essaierai de faire encore mieux à l'avenir :)

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Stacking Software

Deep Sky Stacker (PC): deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html

Sequator (PC): sites.google.com/site/sequatorglobal/download

Registax (PC): www.astronomie.be/registax/

Starry Landscape Stacker (Mac): itunes.apple.com/us/app/starry-landscape-stacker/id550326...

pixinsight (mac): pixinsight.com/

Nebulosity (mac): www.stark-labs.com/nebulosity.html

This is the California Nebula (NGC 1499 or Sharpless 220) an emission nebula in the constellation Perseus that I imaged back in September. This nebula is about 1,000 light years from the Earth. The nebula is being lit up by the star Menkib which is the brightest star in the image. During the imaging sessions high clouds passed overhead causing the fuzzy display shown.

Observation data: J2000.0 epoch

Right ascension: 04h 03m 18.00s

Declination: +36° 25′ 18.0″

Distance: 1,000 ly

Apparent magnitude (V): 6.0

Apparent dimensions (V): 2.5° long

Constellation: Perseus

Tech Specs: Williams Optics REDCAT51, ZWO AS2600mc-Pro running at 0C, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, Optolong L-eNhance filter (2”), 30 x 300 second exposures, guided using a ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope and ZWO 120 Mini, controlled with a ZWO ASIAir Pro, ProAstroGear Black-CAT and ZWO EAF, stacked in DSS and processed using PixInsight. Image date: September 23, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Found in the sword of the Orion Constellation, the Orion Nebula is visible to the naked eye. It is only 1,500 light years away from us and thus appears very bright. It is worth checking out with a small telescope or even a pair of binoculars.

Equipment:

SkyWatcher EQ6-R

Nikkor 500mm f/4 P Ai-s at f/5.6

Sony a7RIII (unmodified)

Altair 60mm Guide scope

GPCAM2 Mono Camera

Acquisition:

Taos, NM: my backyard - Bortle 3

89 x 120" for 2 hr 59min and 29 sec of exposure time.

20 dark frames

15 flats frames

15 bais frames

Guided

Software:

SharpCap

PHD2

DeepSkyStacker

PixInsight

Photoshop

Lightroom

I polar aligned my mount using SharpCap Pro. My Sony a7rIII and adapted Nikkor 500mm f/4 P AI-S were mounted on an ADM vixen rail and secured to the SkyWatcher EQ6-R mount. The guide scope/camera was attached to the camera's hot shoe. I used PHD2 to autogude during the imaging session. DeepSkyStacker was used to combine all frames, and the outputted TIFF file was brought into PixInsight using: STF, Cropping, Dynamic Background Extraction, BlurXTerminator, plate solving, color correction, NoiseXTerminator and then the DSO was separated from the stars, and both files processed and stretched separately and then recombined using PixelMath and lastly HDR Multiscale Transform to bring back detail in the nebula's core. That file was brought into Lightroom for Metadata and EXIF tags, light post-processing, and cropping to the final image.

I couldn't believe how bright this comet was when I first observed it on October 13. Even low on the western horizon it was very apparent without the help of optics. I was glad my family was able to find it too and have some looks through binoculars.

I photographed in the next evening, October 14. Again, it was bright enough to find in my camera view finder. The tail doesn't even fit in my frame.

I'm hoping to get another shot at it when we have some cloudless skies again, and when it will be higher in the sky later this month.

It was fun to see that I also captured a hint of Globular Cluster (Messier 5), near the center of the frame.

Acquisition details: Taken October 14, 2024 between 7 and 8 pm local time. Fuji X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2 on an iOptron SkyTracker Pro. 21 frames, 10 sec per frame, ISO 1600, f/2.8. Pictures stacked in DeepSkyStacker, minor adjustments in GIMP.

The little pinwheel galaxy in Ursa Major. A face on unbarred spiral galaxy some 40 million light years away.

First discovered on the 18th of March 1787 by William Herschel. It's 2 main spiral arms are predominantly blue, which suggests mostly young hot stars inhabit them.

Many fainter more distant galaxies can be spotted in the background.

All data gathered at www.astronomycentre.org.uk/

Boring techie bit:

Skywatcher Quattro 8" Newtonian Reflector steel tube with the f4 aplanatic coma corrector, Skywatcher EQ6 R pro mount, Altair Starwave 60mm guide scope, ZWO asi120mm guide camera mini, ZWO asi533mc pro cooled to -20c gain 101, Optolong UV/IR 2" filter, ZWO filter drawer, ZWO asiair plus.

180s exposures.

21 light frames.

Darks, Flats, Dark Flats.

Stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed in Graxpert, PixInsight & Affinity Photo.

An image of the Triangulum Galaxy (M33) taken this recently with a ZWOASI183MC Pro camera attached to a Celestron C6-N reflecting telescope. Thirty 120 second images were stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed with Adobe Lightroom.

M 27 - Tipico e bellissimo esempio di nebulosa planetaria, ovvero una tipologia di nebulosa dovuta all'esplosione di una stella di dimensione e temperatura simili al nostro Sole. Questo bellissimo oggetto estivo si trova nella piccola costellazione della Volpetta (o Volpecula), vicino alla grande costellazione del Cigno.

Ripresa effettuata con il mio newton da 25cm ed una Canon EOS350d (non modificata). Posa equivalente di 35 minuti, stacking con DeepSkyStacker ed elaborazione con MaximDL e PhotoshopCS2.

This was kind of tricky to process. I tried using DSS to align on the comet+stars but the image came out real sloppy, with the color looking like it was smudged off of the comet. What ended up working was stacking this twice in DSS, first aligning on the comet, then ignoring the comet and stacking normally. The comet stack had a sharp comet, and the star stack had sharp stars but a messy comet. I then used pixel math in Pixinsight, using the expression max(stars,comet) to combine the maximum values in both images. This method worked much better than DSS alone.

65 x 60 seconds, ISO 800

40 darks

Equipment: Canon t2i, Orion f/3.9 Newt (800mm), Orion Atlas EQ-G

Acquisition: Backyard EOS, EQMOD, Cartes du Ciel, PHD

Processed using DeepSkyStacker and Pixinsight

Re edit

M20, M8 and NGC 6334

Equipment: Nikon d610 stock

TS-Optics Photoline 72mm FPL53 APO with

TS-flat72

settings: 300sec sub, iso800 f6

total integration time: 4.5hrs (2 nights)

guiding:

ZWO asi120mcs

TS 50mm guidescope

Tracking: Skywatcher Star Adventurer

software:

guiding: phd2

Stacking: Deepskystacker 4.2.2

Processing: Adobe Photoshop, Photokemi Startools, GradientXterminator, Nik tools, HLVG, Adobe Raw

Equipo: Star Adventurer - Canon 6D - Canon 50mm f/1,4

12 x 300s @f/4 ISO 1600 - Crop

Procesado: Deepskystacker - Photoshop - Lightroom

Febrero 2022 - Punta Indio - Bortle 3

Second time photographing M31, otherwise known as The Andromeda Galaxy, with Joep Stoffels: www.flickr.com/photos/98504409@N05/) .

Taken on October 5th 2016

Camera: Nikon D600

Telescope: Meade SN-8 (from Joep)

Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6 SynScan (from Joep)

85 light frames (and 50 flats), 40s exposures, ISO 800, stacked with DeepSkyStacker: deepskystacker.free.fr/

This is a rework of two older images.

I used Fitswork to fit the images together and PixInsight for the main processing.

-Setup:

Camera: Canon EOS 6D Astrodon mod.

Telescope: Omegon 126/880 f/7 Triplet APO

Corrector: TS 2.5" Fullframe Corrector

Mount: Losmandy G11

Guiding Camera: MGEN Autoguider

Guiding Scope: TS 50mm Finderscope

Capturing Software:

Processing Software: DeepSkyStacker, Fitswork, Pixinsight

-Imaging Data:

04.12.16 - 7x600" ISO400

17.07.16 - 12x240" ISO1000

01h 58min(1.97h)

This is an annotated version of this picture : flic.kr/p/zEo5Gs

This picture is the longest I have ever captured in astrophotography (and photography too) : 1 hour 10 minutes of total integration.

I stacked 14 frames of 5 minutes exposure each, using DeepSkyStacker freeware.

An unmodified Canon EOS 600D with a 50 mm f/1.8 lens were used, mounted on a lxd75 tracking mount

Despite we can see reams of stars on this photo, some great nebulas are also visible : Eagle Nebula, Omega nebula, Trifid and Laguna nebulas ...

However, the large and ugly yellow halo coming downside is the light pollution of nearby cities. My most difficult challenge was to face to this problem while editing the picture.

Technical Datas :

Canon EOS 600D + 50 mm f/1.8 lens + meade lxd75

14 x 300 secs exposure

ISO 400

F/3.2

+5 darks frames

+20 offset frames

Composite picture I have made of several captures ;)

The moon doesn't fit when I use my telescope and astrocamera, so I stitched different panels in Photoshop.

The background picture of the stars was made with my DSLR and 50mm lens :)

For the Moon:

Skymax 102 telescope

ASI 120MC-S

Star Adventurer Pro (tracking)

For the stars:

Canon 200D

Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM

Star Adventurer Pro (tracking)

The moon was recorded in Firecapture and edited in PIPP, Autostakkert , Registax and Photoshop.

The background picture of the stars was a stack of multiple photos that I stacked in DeepSkyStacker, and edited in Photoshop..

Nebulosa da Cabeça de Cavalo e Nebulosa da Chama

[English Below]

Exercício (tentativa de registro prolongado), somando frames de dois dias (isto pela primeira vez), com a Nebulosa da Cabeça de Cavalo (Barnard 33) e a Nebulosa da Chama (NGC 2024). Foram empilhados 35 frames, totalizando quase 3 horas de exposição. Dentre outros fatores, infelizmente os registros foram um pouco prejudicados pela poluição luminosa da Lua e por algumas nuvens passageiras (não pude aguardar por dias mais favoráveis em razão de Órion já estar se despedindo do meu campo de visão nesta temporada). Também desta vez, senti necessidade de ter feito mais frames para alcançar melhor resultado, mas um novo período de noites com tempo fechado se iniciou. Fica para a próxima temporada. Ainda buscando avançar no processamento.

À direita da imagem, está a famosa Nebulosa da Cabeça de Cavalo. A Nebulosa da Chama está na parte inferior esquerda da imagem. Ambas se situam na constelação de Orion. A Nebulosa da Cabeça de Cavalo é uma nuvem de poeira opaca e é vista contra um brilhante fundo vermelho da nebulosa de emissão que se originou de uma nuvem de gás hidrogênio. A Nebulosa da Chama, é energizada por altos níveis de luz ultravioleta emanando da estrela supergigante azul Alnitak, mostrada logo acima dela, que é a estrela mais a leste no Cinturão de Orion. Fonte: spacetoday.com.br (adaptado)

====================================

Exercise (extended registration attempt), integrating two-day frames (this for the first time), with the Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) and the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024). 35 frames were stacked, totaling almost 3 hours of exposure. Among other factors, unfortunately the records were somewhat damaged by the light pollution of the Moon and some passing clouds (I couldn't wait for more favorable days because Orion is already saying goodbye to my field of vision this season). Also this time, I felt the need to have made more frames to achieve a better result, but a new period of nights with closed sky started. Stay for the next season. Still looking to advance in processing.

To the right of the image is the famous Horsehead Nebula. The Flame Nebula is at the bottom left of the image. Both are located in the constellation of Orion. The Horsehead Nebula is a cloud of opaque dust and is seen against a bright red background of the emission nebula that originated from a cloud of hydrogen gas. The Flame Nebula is energized by high levels of ultraviolet light emanating from the blue supergiant star Alnitak, shown just above it, which is the most easterly star in the Orion Belt. Source: spacetoday.com.br (adapted)

====================================

Refletor Sky-Watcher 203mm F/5 EQ5 com Onstep, Canon T6 (foco primário) não modificada. Guidescope 50mm com ASI 120MC-S. 35 light frames (34x300s + 01x141s), 31 dark frames, 20 bias frames. ISO 800. Processamento: DeepSkyStacker, Photoshop e PhotoScape.

www.instagram.com/lopescosmos/

www.astrobin.com/users/lopescosmos/

Shot at 4 am with the land images shot about 30 minutes before the sky images, to catch the light of the setting moon on the peaks of Ruapehu. Land shot with three sets of stacked 30 second exposures; sky shot with nine sets of five 6 second exposures, with each set stacked in DeepSkyStacker; I then stitched the stacked images together in Microsoft Ice and Photoshop. Milky Way running up the centre, with the large and small Magellanic clouds on the left.

Faint nebulae near Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion's belt. The Flame Nebula NGC2024, the Horsehead Nebula IC434 and an unnamed reflection nebula NGC2023 around the unnamed star HD37903. Also in this shot is the five star group of Sigma Ori.

Conditions were not good last night with hazy high cloud which ruined more than half the frames I shot. I will try again on a better night!

Canon 5D3 and Sigma800 mounted on Skywatcher EQ2 with RA motor drive.

ISO3200, f/5.6, 800mm focal length

223 x 10 second exposures

20 darks

20 bias/offsets

Processed in DSS with curves and levels adjusted in PS Elements.

(Made Explore position 97)

Also known has the Cocoon Nebula. Lying close to the constellation Cygnus the cocoon nebula is about 15 light years across and roughly 3,300 light years from us.

Inside this nebulous cloud is a group of young stars blasting out so much radiation that they create this wonderful floral looking emission nebula.

Boring techie bit:

Skywatcher Quattro 8" Newtonian Reflector steel tube with the f4 aplanatic coma corrector, Skywatcher EQ6 R pro mount, Altair Starwave 50mm guide scope, ZWO asi120mm guide camera mini, ZWO asi533mc pro cooled to -10c gain 101, Optolong L'enhance 2" filter, ZWO filter drawer, ZWO asiair plus.

180s exposures.

Best 90% of 44 light frames.

Darks, Flats & Bias.

Stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed in PixInsight & Affinity Photo.

Captured at www.astronomycentre.org.uk/ 02/01/2025.

Located over 2,500 light years away in the constellation of Cepheus new stars are being born in this stellar nursery.

Boring Techie bit:

Telescope: Askar FRA400 with .7 reducer

Mount: EQ6r pro

Camera: ZWO 533mc pro

Filter: Optolong L'eNhance.

Guided and controlled by the ZWO asiair+

Best 85% of 61 light frames 180 seconds each.

Stacked with darks, flats, dark flats & bias with DSS.

Processed using Graxpert, PixInsight & Affinity Photo.

The Cocoon Nebula (LRGB)

I've spent another 5 hours processing this one, focusing on better stars, and less color noise.

Equipment Details:

Sky-Watcher Esprit 150: bit.ly/2VYOTMy

Starlight Xpress SX-42 Kit: bit.ly/2XCqX2h

Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro: bit.ly/2MNR4ME

Captured using Astro Photography Tool

Autoguiding with PHD2 Guiding

Stacking and Calibration in DeepSkyStacker

Processing in Adobe Photoshop 2020

Photo Details:

Luminance Filter: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes

Red Filter: 1 Hour, 40 Minutes

Green Filter: 1 Hour, 49 Minutes

Blue Filter: 1 Hour, 39 Minutes

Orion Nebula (M42 & M43)

Part of constellation of Orion

Canon 80D /Sigma 150-600c @500

20sec f/7.1 /ISO 800 Star Adventurer

Stack of 57 pics / 1140 sec total

40 BIAS / 31 darks

pic taken 2020-03-30

The Owl Nebula (also known as Messier 97, M97 or NGC 3587) is a planetary nebula located approximately 2,030 light years away in the constellation Ursa Major. The owl-like appearance is caused by various formed shells expanding away from the central star.

Tech Specs: This image is composed of 23 x 60 second images at ISO 3,200 with 4 x 60 second darks and 4 x 1/4000 second bias frames using a Meade LX90 12” telescope and Canon 6D camera mounted on a Celestron CGEM-DX mount. Guided using a Canon 400mm lens and ZWO ASI290MC camera. Imaging was done on April 14, 2017 from Weatherly, Pennsylvania.

From the Sharpless catalogue, this is an emission nebula about 5,600 light years away in the constellation of Cygnus the Swan.

Boring techie bit:

Skywatcher Quattro 8" Newtonian Reflector steel tube with the f4 aplanatic coma corrector, Skywatcher EQ6 R pro mount, Altair Starwave 50mm guide scope, ZWO asi120mm guide camera mini, ZWO asi533mc pro cooled to -20c gain 110, Optolong L'enhance 2" filter, ZWO asiair plus.

Darks, Flats & Bias.

Stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed in StarTools.

Here is my "final" Messier 82 image for the year. I didn't collect the h-alpha data I wanted, but I am happy with the way the color came out in the project.

It's nice to upload my images here on Flickr for reference. It's a handy way to get an overview of my imaging timeline, and the details used for each shot.

So, sorry for sharing another Cigar Galaxy image!! That's it for a while :)

Red: 17 x 300s

Green: 14 x 300s

Blue: 18 x 300s

Lum: 7 x 300s

Sky-Watcher Esprit 150 APO

Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro

Starlight Xpress SX-42 Mono

Lodestar X2 Guide Camera

Astro Photography Tool

PHD2 Guiding

DeepSkyStacker

Photoshop 2020

Better known as the Jellyfish Nebula.

IC 443 can be found in the constellation of Gemini.

The Jellyfish nebula is a supernova remnant some 5,000 light years away from us. I have captured this not to long ago, but this time I didn't use the reducer and I had the pleasure of the dark sky of kielder

Data captured at Kielder Forest, UK. 25_03_2025.

Boring Techie bit:

Telescope: Askar FRA400

Mount: EQ6r pro

Camera: ZWO 533mc pro

Filter: Optolong L'eNhance.

Guided and controlled by the ZWO asiair+

Best 25 light frames from 30, 120 seconds each.

Stacked with darks, flats, dark flats using DeepSkyStacker

Processed using Graxpert, StarNet2 & PixInsight.

Even deep sky objects can be photographed without telescope.

Pelican Nebula is an active star-forming region, located in Cygnus constellation near North American Nebula. It really looks like a pelican!

Pelican Nebula Astrophotography taken Canon 60Da, iOptron skytracker, EF200mm f/2.8L II USM, f/4.0; ISO 6400, Deep Sky Stacker 144 images x 20 sec

34,000 light years away towards the constellation of Canes Venatici lies the impressive globular star cluster Messier 3 (NGC5272). It contains upwards of half a million stars and is actually heading our way. M3 is moving towards our solar system at approximately 147.6 Kilometers per second!

Boring techie bit:

Skywatcher Quattro 8" Newtonian Reflector steel tube with the f4 aplanatic coma corrector, Skywatcher EQ6 R pro mount, Altair Starwave 50mm guide scope, ZWO asi120mm guide camera mini, ZWO asi533mc pro cooled to -10c, Optolong L'enhance 2" filter, ZWO asiair plus.

Stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed in StarTools.

24x 5s subs ISO 800 stacked in DeepSkyStacker (20 Darks, 20 Flats, 20 Bias) processed in PixInsight and Photoshop. Canon EOS 450D DSLR prime focus Sky-Watcher 150P Newtonian EQ3-2 mount. Baader Neodymium filter.

Reprocess with a couple extra exposures added to the stack. editing in PS, stacked in deepskystacker 3.4 same kit as before. managed to bring more of the brown/golden dust and blue reflection nebula out as well as the main nebula itself. quite happy with this one i think. :P

#my_astrophotography

The #Wizard

NGC 7380 is a young open cluster of stars in the northern circumpolar constellation of Cepheus, discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. The surrounding emission nebulosity is known colloquially as the Wizard Nebula, which spans an angle of 25′.

Distance from Earth 8000 Light years.

Equipment :

152mm David H. Levy Comet Hunter

Mount

AZ-EQ5 GoTo Mount

Camera

ZWO ASI294 mc pro

Guide Camera

ZWO ASI120MC

Imaging Software

Astro Photography Tool

Stacked

DeePSkYStacker

Pixinsight

Lightroom

45 Light images

180 sec. Each

15 Flats

20 Dark

100 bias

Borlt 4/5

No filters

www.DonegalSkies.com

*EXPLORED* 09Jan2011

Location: Killygordon, Co. Donegal, Ireland.

Time: 20:00-03:00

Date: 06/07 Jan 2011

Target: Orion and Running Man Nebulae

Exposures: 8 x Five minute exposures (20Darks). Core- 20x 90sec (10Darks), 20 x 30sec (20Darks) 20 x 8sec (20Darks) 40mins total exposure.

Equipment:

Mount- Celestron CG5-GT (unguided)

Camera- Self-modified Canon 1000D

Telescope- Celestron Omni XLT 150

Additional- Astronomik cls clip LP filter.

Stacking & Processing: DeepSkyStacker & Photoshop CS5

Andromeda Galaxy, M31

Photographed from a dark location in the Cevennes, France.

10 x 6 min exposure

Nikon D800

300mm F4

no filters

First Attempt to catch Andromeda with a Takumar 135/2,5

Captured 26/01/2023 just before 3am

The bright red star to the far right is RR Ursae Minoris a 4.7 magnitude binary.

-Magnitude is used to measure the brightness of stellar objects, the higher the number, the fainter the object.

-A binary star belongs to a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound together and locked in orbit around each other.

Boring techie bit,

Skywatcher quattro 8" S & f4 aplanatic coma corrector

EQ6 R pro mount guided with an Altair 50mm & Altair GPcam

Canon 450D astro modded with Astronomik CLS CCD EOS APS-C clip filter. Neewer Intervalometer used to control the exposures.

104 exposures of 120 seconds each with the best 50% stacked together with calibration frames. 2 images were produced from the data. One stacking on the comet, one stacking on the stars. Separately processed then combined together.

Software used, PHd2, DeepSkyStacker, StarTools, Affinity Photo.

Equipment:

Celestron CGEM Mount

Nikon 500mm f/4 P Ai-s

Sony a7RIII (unmodified)

Altair 60mm Guide scope

GPCAM2 Mono Camera

Acquisition:

Bortle 3

30 x 212" for 106 minutes for exposure time.

10 dark frames

20 flats frames

20 bais frames

Guided

Software:

SharpCap

PHD2

DeepSkyStacker

Photoshop

I mount my Nikon lens and camera on top of my optical tube at the moment. There was a constant wind of ~5mph last night when I took my images. I did 33 light frames and used the best 90% for 30 frames. I polar aligned with SharpCap and began guiding. The graph looked good so I started imaging. The stars seemed to stay in focus so I upped my exposure to 212 seconds and let it go to work. After stacking the files in DeepSkyStacker I pulled the TIFF file into Photoshop and mostly followed along to AstroBackyard's Rosette Nebula tutorial, making some of my own adjustments where they were needed. I'm still struggling with color of the surrounding stars. My WB was set to automatic, that might be why the color is a bit hard to manage. The Moon did rise while I was imaging and I can see a difference in my light frames, I'm sure I can do better and might try again during a new moon. But for my first time trying M101 and autoguiding I'm pretty happy!

My first record of the Helix Nebula (nicknamed "Eye of God" because of its resemblance to an eye). The stacked frames, captured in four nights, totaled 15 hours and 50 minutes of exposure.

"The Helix Nebula (also known as The Helix or NGC 7293) is a large planetary nebula located in the constellation Aquarius. This object is one of the closest to the Earth of all the bright planetary nebulae. The estimated distance is about 700 light-years. The Helix Nebula has sometimes been referred to as the 'Eye of God' in pop culture". Source: eso.org (adapted)

Sky-Watcher 203mm F/5 EQ5 reflector with Onstep, Canon T6 (primary focus) modified, Optolong L-eNhance filter (in part of the frames). 50mm guidescope with ASI 290MC. 190 light frames (84x300 "ISO 400 + L-eNhance: 106x300" ISO 800), 40 dark frames. Processing: DeepSkyStacker and PixInsight.

@LopesCosmos

www.instagram.com/lopescosmos/

www.flickr.com/photos/lopescosmos/

30 frames stacked in Deep Sky Stacker.

Two hours of waiting to see the final image was a long wait, but it looks like the way I'll do all my moon shots from now on. I should have been stacking all my moon shots.

Milky Way over Winkelmoos Alm

Just one Meteor catched

Single frame

Look for it 27,000 light years away in the constellation of Hercules. Also known as NGC 6341 it is one of the oldest star clusters in the Milky Way and was first discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1777.

With an estimated 300,000 stars 100 light years across it should be quite easy to find in a pair of 10x50 binoculars, the best month for observing it is July.

Data gathered at www.astronomycentre.org.uk/

Boring Techie bit:

Telescope: Askar FRA400

Mount: EQ6r pro

Camera: ZWO 533mc pro

Filter: Optolong UV/IR.

Guided and controlled by the ZWO asiair+ using Altair Starwave 50mm & ZWO 120mm mini.

Best 90% of 120 light frames 60 seconds each.

Stacked with darks, flats, dark flats using DeepSkyStacker.

Processed using Graxpert, StarNet2, PixInsight & Affinity Photo.

The nebula is an emission nebula located in the constellation Orion and is associated with the open star cluster NGC 2175. It is located about 6,400 light-years away from Earth.

Telescope: William Optics ZenithStar 81 Refractor

Mount: Losmandy GM 811G

Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI 2600MC Pro

Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme Dual-band Filter

Site: Elk Grove, California, USA Bortle 6

Processing: DeepSkyStacker, Photoshop 2020

Calibration Files: None

Guiding: None