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I already was all too happy to bring out the reflection nebulae in M45 for the first time recently, after a long period with lousy weather. Then good luck struck twice, allowing me to double my exposure time, and also to reduce the walking noise in the stacked image I experienced the first time by some manual DEC dithering fun. Quite some work, but the things you do for pretty pictures... (on top of freezing and lack of sleep of course, heh).
Indeed spending that extra work gave a huge boost to the final image quality, and I also think I hit the spot better with post-processing this time around.
So what you see here are a total of 2.5 hours of exposure with the TAIR 3S (@ f/5,6) over two nights, after discarding some subs that suffered from either tracking errors or gusts of wind (but with overall good success rate).
EXIF:
Camera: Samsung NX 30 (unmodified)
Lens: TAIR-3S 300 mm f/4,5 (stopped down to f/5.6)
Exposure: 300 x 30 s @ ISO 3200
Processing: stacking with Deep Sky Stacker, initial processing with Fitswork, touch-up and cosmetics with Aurora HDR 2018 and Luminar 2018.
The Ring Nebula (also cataloged as Messier 57, M57 and NGC 6720) is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation of Lyra. The tiny white dot in the center of the nebula is the star’s hot core, called a white dwarf. M57 is about 2,000 light-years away in the constellation Lyra.
Right ascension: 18h 53m 35.079s
Declination: +33° 01′ 45.03″
Distance: 2567±115 ly
Apparent magnitude (V): 8.8
Apparent dimensions (V): 230″ × 230″
Constellation: Lyra
Tech Specs: Meade 12” LX-90 SCT Telescope, Antares Focal Reducer, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at 0F, 3 hours 43 minutes using 60 second exposures, Celestron CGX-L pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DSS and PixInsight. Image Date: July 5, 2025. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
⇒ This wide-field image was taken with a telephoto lens set to 147 mm focal length on a motorized equatorial mount.
⇒ The total exposure time is 40 minutes, composed of a superposition of 20 pictures 120 seconds using the #DeepSkyStacker software.
⇒ This area of the sky is rich in nebulae. Besides, in this picture we can see (click on the high resolution image):
-> The famous Orion Nebula (M42) on the top left with its neighbor NGC 1973
-> Nebula Horse Head (IC 434)
-> Flame Nebula (NGC 2024)
-> Nebula M78
Technical details:
20 x 120 secs exposure time
F / 6.3 aperture
ISO 1600
147 mm focal length
Canon EOS 600D + Tamron 70-300 lens
Light enhancement with Lightroom software.
How do you find it ?
*********************/ French Translation \**************
Voyage dans le complexe d'Orion [Astrophotographie]
⇒ Cette image grand champ a été prise avec un téléobjectif réglé à 147 mm de focale sur une monture équatoriale motorisée.
⇒ Le temps d'exposition total est de 40 minutes mais il a été décomposée en une superposition de 20 photos de 120 secondes à l'aide du logiciel #DeepSkyStacker .
⇒ Cette région du ciel est très riche en nébuleuses. D'ailleurs, sur cette image nous pouvons voir (cliquez sur l'image haute résolution) :
--> la célèbre nébuleuse d'Orion (M42) en haut à gauche avec sa voisine NGC 1973
--> la nébuleuse de la tête de cheval (IC 434)
--> la nébuleuse de la flamme (NGC 2024)
--> la nébuleuse M78
Détails techniques :
20 x 120 secs d'exposition
F/6.3 d'ouverture
ISO 1600
147 mm de focale
Canon EOS 600D
There are a few stars in this image, but most of the faint fuzzy blobs are part of a supercluster of galaxies about 1 billion light years away.
62 x 1-minute unguided exposures at ISO 6400. Modified EOS 600D & Revelation 12" f/4 Newtonian reflector telescope.
Frames registered and stacked in DeepSkyStacker software; curves adjusted in Canon Photo Professional; noise reduction in CyberLink PhotoDirector.
OTA: Sigma ART 135mm @ f/2.8
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM
Exposure: H-alpha 14x5min, O3 12x5min
Mount: CEM70G
Unguided
Captured with SGP
Registered and stacked with DeepSkyStacker
Photographed from Round Rock TX (light pollution zone: red)
M106 In the constellation of Canes Venatici.
M: iOptron EQ45-Pro
T: William Optics GTF81
C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled
F: No Filters
G: PHD2
GC: ZWO ASI120mini
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -15 DegC
Gain 139;
3 x Exp 300s
12 x Exp 500s
Frames: 15 Lights; 2 Darks; 200 flats
90% Crop
Capture: SharpCap
Processed: DSS; PS; Grad Exterminator.
Sky: 100% Full Moon, calm, minimal cloud, cold, excellent seeing.
22-25 million light years distant.
I decided to have a go at shooting Andromeda without any tracking device after watching Forrest Tanaka youtube tutorial.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0JSTF8SGi4
Camera Nikon D7100
Lens Nikon AFS 300mm F4
400 Frames x 1.3s F4 ISO 6400
50 Dark Frames x 1.3s F4 ISO 6400
20 Bias Frames x 1/8000s F4 ISO 6400
Stacked in Deepskystacker
Processed in Photoshop.
Messier 92 (also known as M92, M 92, or NGC 6341) is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Hercules. Located 27,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Hercules, this globular cluster was first discovered by the German astronomer Johann Elert Bode in 1777. With an apparent magnitude of 6.3, M92 is one of the brightest globular clusters in the Milky Way and is visible to the naked eye under good observing conditions. It can be most easily spotted during the month of July. The cluster is very tightly packed with stars, containing roughly 330,000 stars in total. (REF: science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night...)
Tech Specs: Orion 8” RC Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at 0F, 115 x 60 second exposures, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DeepSkyStacker and PixInsight software. Image Date: May 2, 2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Astro beginner, removed 2 frames with trailing stars, Orions Belt, with flame and horse head nebula taken 22-2-2021. 70 lights (images) & 15 dark's stacked in Deep Sky Stacker & post processed in Photoshop.
Eta Ursae Majoris (Alkaid or Benetnash) is a star in the constellation Ursa Major. Alkaid is the eastern star in the Big Dipper asterism (the handle edge star).
Magnitude: 1.84, Surface Temperature: 16,820 K, Mass: 6.1 Solar mass, Apparent magnitude: 1.84
This image of Alkaid is composed of four 30-second exposures. I used a Canon 6D and 400mm lens attached to an iOptron ZEQ mount. Diffraction spikes added using fishing line on the front of the lens. Stacked in DeepSkyStacker, stretched in ImagesPlus and final image edit done in Corel Paintshop Pro.
You can follow my blog at leisurelyscientist.com
On January 23, 2022, we've had a rare clear and calm night, so I tried my luck at the Pleiades cluster (M45) with the TAIR-3S (300 mm f/4.5, stopped down to f/5.6) on the Star Adventurer tracker. This is my longest exposure of any object so far, totaling out just short of 1:15 hours (I'm still a beginner after all). Polar alignment worked out really nice this time, and I think I'm also slowly better at minimizing chromatic aberration. I like how I was able to already bring out quite some part of the reflection nebulae, and how diffraction at the aperture blades of the lens makes the iconic "seven sisters" stand out.
However, now I'm running into new problems, namely a rather ugly, stripey background after stacking; probably some fixed-pattern or "walking" noise, which amplifies due to the good polar alignment (i.e., practically no declination drift) with simultaneous RA tracking jitter of the mount. Ah well... probably means I have to open a new can of worms and get into dithering now (this is going to be fun with a non-motorized declination axis...). Still managed to get rid of the worst of the striping during post-processing, also since the stripes were rather regular and well aligned along the RA direction.
EXIF:
Lens: TAIR-3S 300 mm f/4.5, stopped down to f/5.6
Camera: Samsung NX30 APS-C, unmodified
Filter: Rollei Astroklar light pollution filter
Acquisition:
147 x 30 s (1:13:30) @ ISO 3200
100 darks, 25 flats, 15 flat-darks, no bias/offset frames
(I actually tried bias/offset calibration, but had the impression it rather made the image quality worse, so I kicked the frames out again)
Stacking: Deep Sky Stacker
Post-processing: fitswork
final touches: Aurora HDR 2018, Luminar 2018
Combinaison dans Deepskystacker des deux sessions des 21 (www.flickr.com/photos/achrntatrps/27732771798/in/album-72...) et 22 (www.flickr.com/photos/achrntatrps/27897011018/in/album-72...) avril. 2 heures de pose environ.
Pour le matériel utilisé, voir sous les images en lien.
When I took out our garbage tonight, I saw the moon high above. So I took a series of shots handheld with my camera. I then looked for a stacking software for astrophotography. I found this freeware called DeepSkyStacker. You could do something pretty advanced. I played around with the tool and filtered out those frames that were slightly blurry. I then used Topaz AI Sharpen to refine the focus of the image. This is the end result. If view closer, you might see some artifacts. But at least you could probably name a few craters on the surface of the moon.
Camera: Sony A6300
Lens: Sony E 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS
- www.kevin-palmer.com - It was my first time testing out a Nikon 50mm f1.4 Nikkor AF-D lens that I recently bought. This image is a stack of 15 6-minute exposures (90 minutes total) along with 5 dark and bias frames. An iOptron Skytracker was used to track the stars.
The Cygnus region of the milky way contains many colorful nebulae, star clusters, and clouds of interstellar dust. When there are this many stars it's always hard to pick out the constellations, so I drew in the lines myself. Deneb is the bright star on the upper right near the North America nebula.
This is the first long exposure image I've taken since acquiring a new kit a couple of months ago, and even though it didn't go according to plan, it does show the incremental progress I was counting on.
I got the new DSLR shutter release remote working for the first time, and was hoping for several hours of data. What I did get was 16x180s decent exposures out of 32 taken before the laptop, hence the guider, shut down on me, and having forgotten to charge the backup batttery (so many things to keep in mind for a newby!), my night was done without even getting any dark images, bias or lights, to calibrate the final image.
Half my images were useless from star trails, probably from a jostling of the tripod that I thought was not as serious as it seemed to turn out, and even this image shows signs of it.
So this is 16 stacked images of 3 minutes each (1600iso) with some adjustment in DeepSkyStacker to acquire contrast, with some false blue added in a totally inadequate microsoft photo editor, because my wife won't let me get Adobe Photoshop CC until Christmas!
Taken with a Sigma AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG at 200mm and f/6.3, Canon T3i DSLR, and Celestron Advanced VX mount. Consists of 100 light and 43 dark frames, each a 60-second exposure at ISO 3200. Captured with BackyardEOS, stacked in DeepSkyStacker, and processed in Photoshop.
Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 33 x 60 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing with Astro Pixel Processor and GIMP, taken Nov 1 under Bortle 3/4 skies.
I love imaging Orion. My goal with this shot was to include the Flame and Horsehead Nebulae, Barnard's Loop, Messier 78, and Lynds' Dark Nebula (LDN) 1622, the Boogeyman Nebula (upper left). It seemed like a good target for Halloween night.
NGC 2841 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Ursa Major. J. L. E. Dreyer, the author of the New General Catalog, described it as, "very bright, large, very much extended 151°, very suddenly much brighter middle equal to 10th magnitude star". Initially thought to be about 30 million light-years distant, a 2001 Hubble Space Telescope survey of the galaxy's Cepheid variables determined its distance to be approximately 46 million light-years. (Wikipedia)
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation: Ursa Major
Right ascension: 09h 22m 02.655s
Declination: +50° 58′ 35.32″
Distance: 46.0 ± 4.9 Mly
Apparent magnitude (V): 10.1
Tech Specs: Orion 8” RC Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at -10F, 355 x 60 seconds (5 hours and 55 minutes), Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DSS and PixInsight. Image Date: February 4, 2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
WilliamOptics Star71 + QHY16200A(-0C) 4x300sec
FSQ106ED + QE0.73X + EOS6D(SEO-SP4) 5x300sec (Ambient +27C) ISO1600
on SkyWatcher AZ-EQ6GT
(Total:45min)
Guiding: OAG9 + OrionSSAG
RAP2, DeepSkyStacker, StellaImage7, Photoshop CC2015
Locations: Kamogawa Sports Park, Kibichuocho, Okayama, Japan
Jul. 2016
From the Eagle and Omega nebulae at left, via Trifid and Lagoon to NGC6357 (Madokami?) and Cat's Paw Nebulae. The upper right corner of this image was at only 11 degrees above the horizon here in Portugal. This is the B panel used for a mosaic. Primalucelab Canon 700Da Cooled to -10 C with CanonSmall 40mm pancake lens (f2.8 @ f4.0) 61x60sec iso1600 40mm f4 30D 20F 140B. Stacked in DeepSkyStacker and processed with Pixinsight.
Knight Observatory, Tomar
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS), photographed at 500mm f/4, 27 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.
37 x 120 seconds for a total of 74 minutes of data.
Shot with Sony a7RIII and Nikon 105mm f/2.5 at f/4. Camera piggybacked on a Celestron optical tube and CGEM mount that was polar aligned. No autoguidng was used.
Stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed with Photoshop. I'm still learning a lot about astrophotography. It sure is fun though.
Messier 20 and Messier 8 (and Saturn)
Geeky info:
Nikon D800 with 300mm F4 lens
iso 3200
eq 3-2 mount
no filter, no guiding
Total exposure time: 50 minutes
Bortle 4
The Veil Nebula (east section), also known as NGC 6992 in the constellation Cygnus. This image is a composite of four 90-second exposures at ISO 3200 using a Canon 6D and 400mm lens mounted on an iOptron ZEQ25GT mount. The image was processed using DeepSkyStacker, ImagesPlus and Corel Paintshop Pro X5 and X6.
During my wide field imaging session on March 29, 2016 of the Messier pair M108 (Surfboard Galaxy) and M97 (Owl Nebula), I also caught a view of NGC 3631 in the lower right corner of the view. After zooming in on the galaxy, I noticed a bright star in one of the spiral arms, further investigation showed that this was, in fact, a supernova, SN2016bau, discovered on March 3, 2016 by Ron Arbour.
The wide field unprocessed image (available to view on my blog) shows the stacked, full frame, 10-minute exposure using a Canon 6D and Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens mounted on an iOptron ZEQ25 mount. 10 x 60 seconds at ISO 3200, stacked in DeepSkyStacker and further processed in Adobe Lightroom and ImagesPlus.
The clipped, zoomed and enlarged image is from the full frame view. I used a reference image of galaxy NGC 3631 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to show the galaxy without the supernova. The spiral galaxy is about 50 million light year away.
A tricky one to image, as it is very low in the sky from the UK.
13 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; final curves & colour-balance adjusted using Paint Shop Pro; noise reduction via CyberLink PhotoDirector.
When I first got into astrophotography, galaxies were what I was most interested in imaging. I quickly realized that to image most galaxies well (except for the few large ones like M31 and M33), I needed a long focal length lens and accompanying highly accurate tracking. My budget didn't allow for that, so I adjusted my aspirations and focused on widefield shots with a simple tracker. Still, I love a good galaxy picture and anticipate stepping up to more sophisticated equipment someday.
I turned my back on Orion last night (it was difficult) and shot north again for the first time in awhile. I didn't have high expectations for what I'd get from imaging Galaxy IC 342 with a 135mm lens. I'm guessing somebody has tried it, but I couldn't find any examples online.
I'm happier than anticipated with this image. Although small, there is a good variety of objects in this extent; in addition to IC 342, it contains 1) the yellow reflection nebula around star BE Camelopardalis in the center, 2) a dark nebula on the left (I think IREC 193), 3) star cluster NGC 1502 in the upper left, and 4) the asterism Kemble's Cascade below NGC 1502 (although it's difficult to distinguish among the surrounding smaller stars).
Here's a thorough report about the reflection nebula around star BE Cam that clued me into its existence: www.sternwarte-baerenstein.de/upload/be-cam_reflection_ne.... Also an excellent APOD of IC 342: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170708.html
I'm looking forward to doing some more widefield galaxy shots this spring.
Acquisition details: Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 56 x 60 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing with Astro Pixel Processor and GIMP, taken on Feb. 19, 2020 under Bortle 3/4 skies. I've cropped it but not extensively.
Located 6,500 light years away in the constellation of Taurus. This spectacular planetary nebula is what's left of a star that Chinese astronomers witnessed going supernova in the year 1054, reported to have been visible in the daytime for up to 4 weeks!
First discovered by John Bevis in 1731 and then later by Charles Messier, who mistook it for Halley's comet. Leading him to create a list of objects that weren't comets, so he wouldn't be wasting his time on them. This list is known today as the Messier catalogue.
Data was captured at The Astronomy Centre, Todmorden, UK on 10th of November 2023.
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 100, Optolong L'enhance 2" filter, ZWO asiair plus.
Darks, Flats & Bias.
Stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed in PixInsight & Affinity Photo.
This is ye olde Andromeda Galaxy -- nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way (approx 2.5 million ly away). It's apparently similar to ours in size and structure. M31 is so bright that it can be seen with the naked eye from dark skies, and I regularly catch it through binoculars even from downtown Toronto. It's so huge that it doesn't fit in the field of view of my CCD! Andromeda also has a couple of companion galaxies -- M32 is the small one in the upper portion of the frame, and M110 is peeking into the frame at lower left.
This was my first stab at LRGB using the QHY9 as panchromatic Luminance (with IDAS light pollution filter) and an old DSLR image from my Canon as RGB. I'm not thrilled with the colour balance, but the LRGB detail enhancement worked out pretty well.
Forgot to use the FLT field flattener on this one.
12x10 minute frames of luminance with the QHY9 cooled @ -25degC, 18x5min frames of RGB colour with the old Canon 350D. Stacked in DeepSkyStacker, processed in PS CS2.
The most prominent galaxy in this image is known as Messier 61 (the 61st object in the catalog created by Charles Messier). Its shape and structure make it a barred spiral galaxy, while its history and formation make it a starburst galaxy. This galaxy is about 52 million light-years away and there about 300 billion (with a B) stars in the galaxy.
While I am mesmerized and awed at the scale of those last two numbers, it is also worth noting that M61 is just one of at least 5 galaxies in the picture I captured.
I've been running my telescope/camera for hours upon hours lately and working tirelessly at processing the resulting images, so although each one usually takes multiple days and nights, I hope to be churning out more soon :).
This particular image came from 3 hours of RGB data. 20x180s in Red, Green, and Blue... stacked in DeepSkyStacker, combined in PixInsight, and tweaked in Lightroom.
Scope: Skywatcher 150PDS
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM
Manually, off-axis guided for 7 x 4-minute exposures at ISO 1600, f/4.
Modified EOS 600D & Revelation 12" Newtonian reflector telescope. The halo and spikes around the bright star at lower right are imaging artefacts.
Registered and stacked using DeepSkyStacker; initial curves adjusted in Canon Photo Professional; final curves & colour-balance adjusted using Paint Shop Pro; noise reduction via CyberLink PhotoDirector.
Location: Killygordon, Co. Donegal, Ireland.
Time: 22:00 - 00:00
Date: 21 Sep 2012
Target: Andromeda Galaxy
Exposures: 8 x Five minute exposures (12Darks) Flats
Equipment:
Mount- Celestron CG5-GT (unguided)
Camera- Self-modified Canon 1000D
Telescope- Celestron Oynx 80ED
Additional- Astronomik cls clip LP filter.
Stacking & Processing: DeepSkyStacker & Photoshop CS5
Canon 60D
14mm Samyang at f/2.8
30 seconds at ISO 800
This is a stack of five frames for the sky and around thirty frames for the ground and sea. The slight green tint above the orange horizon is airglow, caused by various processes in the upper atmosphere.
The Exif data is wrong because the lens doesn't communicate with the camera.
1h40m (10x10min); 280mm lens @ f/5.6. astronomik 6nm H-a filter. modified 50d (astrodon luminance filter)
need more time...
The North America Nebula (NGC 7000) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus close to the star Deneb. You can tell by the image where the name came from. The distance to this nebula is estimated to be about 1,600 light-years.
The name “North America Nebula” was coined by Dr. Max Wolf (ref: Burnham’s Celestial Handbook, Volume 2, by Robert Burnham Jr.) no doubt from his work with E.E. Barnard on dark nebulae.
Tech Specs: Canon 6D camera, Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM lens, iOptron SkyTracker. 13-minutes total exposure, 60-second subs, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 200mm. Stacked in DeepSkyStacker and processed in Lightroom. Imaging date: August 4, 2016.
Oltre alla galassia "girandola" M101, , ben visibile un po' decentrata in alto a sinistra, si possono osservare numerose altre galassie (evidenziate con delle note). La più evidente di queste è la NGC5474 poco a sinistra della M101
Canon 6D
Sigma 120-400 @400mm
f 5.6
ISO 1000 e 1250
25 frames x 90 seconds
30 frames x 60 seconds
total exposure about 105 minutes
15+15 darks
25 bias
15+15 flats
First clear moonless night since 18 September - I feel so blessed! :)
I use the term "clear" in its loosest possible sense, as it was Guy Fawkes Night here and the smoke from bonfires and fireworks certainly didn't assist much (why do we celebrate someone NOT blowing up Parliament?!). Given the conditions, I'm quite pleased with this, but I'll give it more time if we get another clear night before it disappears :)
Always looks like a galaxy that's just got out of bed and needs combing to me :)
SW ED80/EQ5
Nikon D70 modded, Baader Neodymium filter
79 x 180secs iso 800 (just short of 4 hours)
Guiding (RA only): Quickcam Pro4000/9x50 finderscope, PHD
Stacked in DSS and processed in CS5
Here is a view of Comet C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS) from April 8, 2020. This is a 29-minute stacked exposure showing the comet as it is traveling through the constellation Cassiopeia.
Technical Specs: Meade 12” LX-90, ZWO ASI071mc-Pro, 29 x 60 second exposures, Gain 200, Temp -5C, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope. Captured using SGP v3.1 and processed in DeepSkyStacker. Image date: April 8, 2020. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.
BLOG: darksideobservatory.com
This is a two pane mosaic stretching from Libra to Sagittarius, captured from Barronal beach in Cabo de Gata, Spain. The bright yellow/gold 'star' on the right is Saturn in all it's glory.
I've always loved this area of the sky, it has almost anything you care to name. In this image you can see emission nebula, reflection nebula, dark nebula, globular clusters, open clusters, millions of individual stars, a planet, and a section of our home galaxy!
Canon 60Da
35mm Samyang at f/2.8
Astronomik CLS EOS Clip Filter
AstroTrac TT320X-AG (no guiding)
45x 120 second exposures per pane
Integration time: 90 minutes per pane
ISO 1600
Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker, stitched in Microsoft ICE and processed in Photoshop. Taken in Cabo de Gata National Park in Spain, May 2014.
Per pane:
35x 120s lights
35 darks
35 flats
35 dark flats
35 bias frames
Objects visible in the image:
M4 (NGC 6121), M20 (NGC 6514), M8 (NGC 6523), M21 (NGC 6531), M17 (NGC 6618), M16 (NGC 6611), M23 (NGC 6494), M25 (IC 4725), NGC 6604
My first take at the famous Leo Triplet, a group of three interacting spiral galaxies: M 65, M 66 and NGC 3628. The latter is seen edge-on from Planet Earth, so that a prominent dust band patty is seemingly wedged inside a bun of light - hence also its popular moniker "The Hamburger Galaxy". The group of galaxies is about 32 million light years away. Prominent in the top left corner is the bright start Theta Leonis, or Chertan, which can be rather easily seen also from (sub)urban locations. Near the top of the image are also two smaller, fainter galaxies, NGC 3596 (~ 50M light years, to the left) and NGC 3593 (~24M light years, right above the Triplet).
I acquired this image with my trusty TAIR-3S (300 mm, @f5.6) and Samsung NX30 combo on the Star Adventurer tracking mount. A total of 456 subs (30s, ISO 3200) were recorded over two nights, once from the Isartalsternwarte Königsdorf, and once at Ringberg Castle sitting above the Tegernsee.
EXIF:
Lens: TAIR-3S 300 mm f/4.5 @ f/5.6
Camera: Samsung NX30, mirrorless APS-C
Filter: Rollei Astroklar
Mount: Skywatcher Star Adventurer
Aquisition: 456x 30 s, ISO3200
Stacking: Deep Sky Stacker
Processing: fitswork, Aurora HDR 2018
This is a shot I'd like to redo with about four times the exposure time...DeepSkyStacker: 105 mm, f/2.8, 1 min 29 sec, 56 frames, 12800
Acquisition details:
OTA: Celestron 10" f/4.7 newtonian reflector, C10N
Filter: Astronomic CLS EOS-clip filter
Corrector: MPCC
Mount: Celestron CGEM DX
Camera: Canon 450d mod BCF, 70°F
Exposure: 63x2min ISO 1600
Guided with PHD, SSAG, Orion 50mm guide scope
Captured with BackyardEOS
Registered and stacked with DeepSkyStacker
Photographed from Round Rock TX (Orange zone)
Through gaps in the cloud tonight I managed 27 subs of this. Never done it before so thought I should. Not much to say about it really, being a cluster (or two), but here's a bit from wiki: The Double Cluster is the common name for the "naked-eye" (huh!) open clusters NGC 869 and NGC 884, which are close together in the constellation Perseus. NGC 869 and NGC 884 both lie at a distance of 7500 light years.There are more than 300 blue-white super-giant stars in each of the clusters (but not in my picture!)
SW ED80/EQ5
Canon 500D modded, Baader Neodymium filter
27 x 180 sec subs, iso 800, total 1 hour 21 minutes
Acquisition: APT
Guiding: Quickcam Pro4000/9x50 finderscope, PHD
Stacked in DSS and processed in CS5.
Venus and the Pleiades. I pushed the processing on this one to show some of the nebulosity around Merope and Maia.
A stack of 40x10s at 800 ISO and 16x20s and 5x5s at 400 ISO images taken with an Olympus Micro 4/3 camera body on a William Optics Megrez 72mm f/6 Doublet Apo refractor telescope.
Stacked in DeepSkyStacker and processed in PixInsight.
The Whirlpool Galaxy, Messier 51 (M51), or NGC 5194, is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici (just below the last star in the handle of the Big Dipper asterism). M51 is roughly 23 million light-years away from Earth.
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Right ascension: 13h 29m 52.7s
Declination: +47° 11′ 43″
Distance: 23 Mly
Apparent magnitude (V): 8.4
Tech Specs: Orion 8" f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Astrograph Telescope, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ASI071MC-Pro, ZWO AAPlus, ZWO EAF, 180 x 60 seconds at -10C, processed using DeepSkyStacker and PixInsight. Image Date: April 10, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W95), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Haven't been around these parts for a while :) I see Flickr has changed yet again!
This is my 2014 version of M13, and is considerably better than the out of focus effort I did last year, albeit with only half the time. The faint stuff around the edges is difficult under my skies, so I have to settle for "nearly..." :)
SW ED80/EQ5
Canon 500D modded, Baader Neodymium filter
104 x 180 sec subs, iso 1600
Acquisition: APT
Guiding: Quickcam Pro4000/9x50 finderscope, PHD/EQMOD/AstroEQ
Stacked in DSS and processed in CS5.
I went back out for a third time this week to re-attempt an equatorial alignment, bearing in mind some lessons learned and settling for a shorter camera lens focal length rather than the full 1350 mm of the telescope, but still struggled with tracking errors. Not really sure what I'm doing wrong, maybe the equipment I have just isn't up to the task. I shot this with 90-second exposures, at 180 mm, and recorded 30 frames, but only 10 proved usable. The rest had varying amounts of trailing, and even most of the 10 had a small amount. Longer exposures were faring even worse. Bit annoyed to only get 15 mintues of data from 45 mintues of recording, but with some enthusiastic processing in DeepSkyStacker and Lightroom, I managed to make something of it anyway! Thanks to the extra-dark West Texas skies and the tracking mount I was finally able to get a half-decent image of the Heart and Soul Nebula(e). This was 10 frames at 90 seconds, f/3.5, 180 mm, ISO 2000.