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.

Equipo Principal: ZWO ASI 1600 mm-pro + SW Explorer 200p + SW Coma Corrector 0.9x + EQ6-R-Pro + Long Perng 2" Dual Speed Low Profile Crayford Focuser + ZWO EAF + ZWO 7x2" EFW

Equipo guía: guidescope 60/240 mm, ZWO ASI 120mm mini

*Gain 139, -25 º C, Ha 7nm 2" Optolong, 160x180"

*Gain 139, -25 º C, Oiii-CCD 6.5 nm 2" Optolong, 85x180"

*Gain 139, -25 º C, Sii-CCD 6.5 nm 2" Optolong, 85x180"

100 Darks

100 Flats por filtro

100 DarkFlats

Polar Align: SharpCap 3.2

Adquisición: SGP 3.1

Procesado: Pixinsight 1.8.8, PS

Located in the constellation Canes Venatici, Messier 94 (M94), also known as the Croc's Eye Galaxy.

Distance from Earth: Approximately 16 million light-years (4.9 megaparsecs).

Physical size: Roughly 50,000 light-years in diameter.

Apparent size in the sky: About 11.2 × 9.1 arcminutes — about one-third the size of the full Moon.

Despite its nickname, it's not a nebula — it’s a spiral galaxy with a bright inner region and a faint, extended outer ring, sometimes referred to as a star-forming "ring of fire

Esprit 120mm, QHY268M, Optolong LRGB filters, Ioptron CEM70 Mt at Starfront Observatory, TX. 16hr 48m integration

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 Heart Nebula (at right), aka IC 1805, and the Soul Nebula (at left), aka IC 1848 but also known as the Embryo Nebula, all in Cassiopeia. The small patch of nebulosity at upper right is NGC 896; the small and hard to distinguish star cluster above centre is NGC 1027. The loose star cluster at the heart of the Heart Nebula is Mel 15. The dust-reddened and small galaxies Maffei I and II are in the field at bottom right.

This is a stack of:

— 10 x 6-minutes at ISO 800 without a filter,

— 4 x 12-minutes at ISO 2000 with an Optolong L-Enhance filter,

— and 3 x 8-minutes at ISO 3200 with an IDAS LPR v3 filter …

Taken as part of a series testing various filters. The IDAS did nearly as good a job as the L-Enhance.

All were through the Borg 77mm f/4 astrographic refractor with the Canon EOS Ra camera, and autoguided with the new Lacerta MGEN-3 stand-alone autoguider, using its dithering function to shift the images a few pixels between each exposure so when aligning any thermal noise specks average out. It worked very well. All taken without LENR or dark frames though this was a cool night, this first night of autumn, Sept. 22-23, 2020. Taken from home on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount.

All stacking, aligning and blending with Photoshop 2020.

Telescope:TS 70mm f/6.78 Quadruplet

Camera: ZWO ASI 071MC Pro

Exposure: 72 x 5 min @ Unity Gain -5°C

Filters: Optolong L-Extreme

Mount: iOptron CEM60

Location: Beveren-Waas Belgium

Date: 2025.08.18

The Heart Nebula (IC 1805) lies about 7,500 light years away from Earth in the Perseus Arm of the Galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia. The brightest part of the nebula (a knot at its western edge) is separately classified as NGC 896, because it was the first part of the nebula to be discovered. The nebula's intense red output and its morphology are driven by the radiation emanating from a small group of stars near the nebula's center. This open cluster of stars, known as Melotte 15, contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun, and many more dim stars that are only a fraction of our Sun's mass. The Heart Nebula is located adjacent to the Soul Nebula forming a view referred to as the Heart and Soul Nebula.

Tech Specs: Williams Optics Redcat, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, Optolong L-eNhance 2" filter, ZWO ASI2600MC-P camera, 30 x 300 seconds at -10C with darks from the library and flats taken the next morning, guided using a ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope and ZWO 120 Mini. Captured using ZWO AAP and processed using PixInsight. Autofocus using the ProAstroGear Black-CAT and ZWO EAF. Image date: September 26, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

——— STRUMENTAZIONE ———

Telescopio: Askar fra600

Camera: Zwo Asi 294 mc pro

Montatura: Skywatcher AZ-EQ5

Autoguida: Zwo mini guide con zwo asi 224mc

Filtro Optolong L-Ultimate

Software d'acquisizione Sgpro

————— FOTO ————

temp -10 con dark, flat e darkflat

RGB 48 x 300s

————— ELABORAZIONE ———

Pixinsight

Photoshop

Over the last month I've been cranking away on my telescope, weather has been cooperative during nights when the moon is up of course. So I've been using my Optolong L-enhance filter with my Nikon D5300, collecting 10 minute exposure after 10 minute exposure. I've collected quite a bit of data on several targets, finally finished a 3 panel mosaic of the Heart and Soul Nebula. Not perfect, still learning how to properly combine bi-color shots with Pixinsight and the Oiii response from a DSLR is very very difficult to integrate. This is a notoriously tough target for a DSLR as well, especially narrowband and especially during a full moon.

All in all this is 25 hours of exposure, 3 panels shot with a Nikon D5300 (modified) and Astrotech AT65EDQ telescope on a Sirius EQ-G mount. Each panel is a stack of 50 x 10 minute exposures at ISO 200. All the calibration, stacking, background extraction, stretching, channel combination, and curves manipulation was done in PixInsight. A slight star size reduction was performed in Photoshop.

A first attempt at the well-known triangle of galaxies known as the Leo Triplet.

On the top, NGC3628 aka the Hamburger galaxy; below, M66 and M65.

I'm particularly pleased to have got 3 extra bonus galaxies in the frame: right up in the top-left the tiny fuzzy IC2782, with IC2776 just below and IC2763 in the middle of the left edge of the frame.

Nearly two hours' data, Altair 26C at gain 100 with Neodymium filter, 3-minute subs, and plenty darks+flats+bias calibrations as well.

An attempt at an HOO palette of these two nebulae. It is a very dim target to start with, and Ha dominates (as always), so my attempt to collect OIII data was something of a wasted effort. However, my new EAF worked like a charm, so not a totally wasted evening. In the end, it is basically a colorized version of the Ha data. C'est la vie!

IC 59 and IC 63 are a combination of faint, arc-shaped emission and reflection nebulae, located about 600 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. Together they are approximately 10 light-years across. IC 63 is known as the Ghost of Cassiopeia.

The brightest star in the image is Gamma Cassiopeiae, which is 19 times more massive, 65,000 times brighter, and spins 200 times faster than our sun. The radiation from Gamma Cass is so intense that it affects the IC 63/59 gas/dust cloud several light years away.

Rio Rancho NM Bortle 5/6 zone --

August 13, 2022

William Optics Redcat 51

ZWO 183mm pro

ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope and ZWO 120 Mini

Optolong H-Alpha filter

ZWO ASI Air Pro

Sky-Watcher HEQ5

107 X 300s H-alpha

61 X 300s O-III

with darks bias dithering

Gain 111 at -10C

Processed in DSS and PS

SH2 -129 3ème nuit, 121X300S +16X600s CAMERA ZWO 2600 filtre l extreme optolong, azeq6 FS85

This is a wide field view of the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888, Sharpless 105) located in the constellation Cygnus. The Crescent Nebula is about 5,000 light years away from Earth. The Crescent Nebula was formed by the central star shedding its outer layers. According to NASA, “Burning fuel at a prodigious rate and near the end of its stellar life this star should ultimately go out with a bang in a spectacular supernova explosion”.

Tech Specs: Williams Optics REDCAT51, ZWO ASI071mc-Pro running at -10C, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, Optolong L-eNhance filter (2”), 48 x 300 second (4 hours) exposures with dark frames, guided using a ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope and ZWO 120 Mini, controlled with a ZWO ASIAir Pro running v1.5 Beta software. Image date: September 20, 2020 and November 4th and 5th, 2020. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

Our Milky way galaxy is a spiral barred galaxy and home for 100 - 400 billion stars. The galaxy core is in the middle of the image appears as a bulge of light that supposed to include a super massive black hole. Our solar system is about 27,000 light years. On the right is the Scorpion constellation and on the left is Sagittarius. Gear setup: Sigma 14-24 mm @ 24 f/2.8, ZWO 2400MC @ 0, iOprton Sky Guider pro, Optolong UHC filter. Lights subs 20 x 180 sec, Darks 10, Bias 50. Captured by ASI Air. Stacked in APP and processed in PI, PS and Topaz denoize. Imaged from sky Bortle class 4. Cropped

The Rosette Nebula (aka NGC 2237) in Monoceros, an emission nebula and site of star formation in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way. The star cluster at the centre of the nebula is NGC 2244.

This is a stack of 8 x 8-minute exposures at ISO 800 with the Canon EOS Ra camera blended with a stack of 8 x 8-minute exposures at ISO 3200 through an Optolong L-Enhance dual-band nebula filter to bring out the red nebulosity. All were through the Sharpstar HNT 150mm Newtonian Astrograph from home on February 19, 2020.

Taken from my light polluted backyard in Long Beach, CA on the nights of 2023-04-14 and 2023-04-19. Celestron Edge HD at focal length 535 mm with HyperStar and an Atik 414-EX mono camera with Optolong CCD filters.

L channel: 136 18 s exposures

R channel: 50 40 s exposures

G channel: 39 40 s exposures

B channel: 70 40 s exposures

Preprocessing in Nebulosity; registration, stacking, channel combination, and initial processing in PixInsight; final touches in Photoshop

Equipo Principal: ZWO ASI 1600 mm-pro + Long Perng S400G + LP Field Flattener + EQ6-R-Pro

Equipo guía: Guidescope Hercules 32/130 mm, camara guia ZWO ASI 178mc

*Gain 139, -25º C, Ha 7nm 2" Optolong, 172 Lights x 180"

*Gain 139, -25º C, Oiii-CCD 6.5 nm 2" Optolong, 92 Lights x 180"

*Gain 139, -25º C, Sii-CCD 6.5 nm 2" Optolong, 100 Lights x 180"

100 Darks

Adquisición y Procesado: APT v3.70, Pixinsight 1.8.6, PS

Reeditada

La Nebulosa Pacman (NGC 281) es una nube cósmica de gas espacial rica en Hidrógeno Alfa (rojo/naranja) y Oxígeno (azul) ubicada en la constelación de Casiopea. Recibe su nombre del personaje de videojuego clásico al que se parece. NGC 281 es una nebulosa de emisión de color rojo brillante bastante difusa. Incluye un cúmulo de estrellas abierto pequeño pero notable (IC 1590) y algunas franjas de polvo realmente dinámicas. La franja prominente de polvo oscuro que corta esta nebulosa brillante crea la forma de "boca" de esta nebulosa.

La Nebulosa Pacman contiene glóbulos de Bok, que son nebulosas oscuras pequeñas y aisladas que contienen densas cantidades de polvo y gas. Estas acumulaciones de gas y polvo cósmicos suelen ir seguidas de la formación de nuevas estrellas.

-Realización:

-Montura: SW EQ6R

-Tubo: APM 107/700-Reductor Riccardi 0.75x

-Auto enfoque: Focuser Myrddin V2.3

-Control Energia:RB-Focus Balinor Smart PowerBox V2.0

-Cámara principal: Zwo ASI2600MC Pro

-Filtro: L ZWO

-Rueda filtros: ZWO EFW 5x2"

-Panel: Flats Excalibur RB Focus V3.0

-Rotador: RB Focus Camelot S

37 tomas light 300" filtro Optolong L-ultimate

33 tomas light 300" filtro

Askar coloUr magic D2

tomas de calibración darks,flats, Darkflats

Observatory Ghostbuster

Trevinca Skies (Valdín, Ourense)

Tiempo exposición: 5h

50'

The North America Nebula covers a region more than ten times the area of the full moon, but its surface brightness is low, so normally it cannot be seen with the unaided eye. Binoculars and telescopes with large fields of view (approximately 3°) will show it as a foggy patch of light under sufficiently dark skies. However, using a UHC filter, which filters out some unwanted wavelengths of light, it can be seen without magnification under dark skies. Its shape and reddish color (from the hydrogen Hα emission line) show up only in photographs of the area.

The portion of the nebula resembling Mexico and Central America is known as the Cygnus Wall. This region exhibits the most concentrated star formation.

At optical wavelengths, the North America Nebula and the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) appear distinct as they are separated by the silhouette of the dark band of interstellar dust L935. The dark cloud is however transparent to radio waves and infrared radiation, and these wavelengths reveal the central regions of Sh2-117 that are not visible to an ordinary telescope, including many highly luminous stars.

The distances to the North America and Pelican nebulae were controversial, because there are few precise methods for determining how far away an HII region lies. Until 2020, most astronomers accepted a value of 2,000 light years, though estimates ranged from 1,500 to 3,000 light years.

Equipment

EQ6R Pro mount

William Optics GT81 IV + 0.8x focal reducer (Focal length 382mm f4.72)

ZWO ASI2600MC Camera cooled to -10c

Optolong L Extreme Dual Band Filter

ZWO ASIAIR Pro

ZWO 120mm Guide Scope and Mini Camera

52 x 300 second exposures

30 x dark calibration frames

30 x flat calibration frames

30 x dark flat calibration frames

Stacked and processed in Pixinsight

Bortle 6 backyard

My latest wide field process of the Rosette Nebula otherwise known as Caldwell 49 using data from Grand Mesa Observatory’s system 1a the William Optics Redcat which will soon be available on our subscriptions, using a QHY16200A Monochrome CCD camera with Optolong Narrowband Filters. In this Hubble Palette version the H-Alpha is mapped to green, SII is mapped to red and OIII is mapped to the blue channel. While the colors in this image are not the true colors, the narrowband filters used in the making of this Hubble Palette image reveal much more of the hidden gasses not visible in a broadband image.

Captured over 4 nights in November 2019 for a total acquisition time of 17.8 hours.

Technical Details

Captured and processed by: Terry Hancock

Location: GrandMesaObservatory.com Purdy Mesa, Colorado

November 1, 2, 3, 4th 2019

HA 430 min 43 x 600 sec

OIII 340 min 34 x 600 sec

SII 300 min 30 x 600 sec

Narrowband Filters by Optolong

Camera: QHY16200A

Gain 0, Offset 130 Calibrated with Dark and Bias Frames no Flat.

Optics: William Optics Redcat 51 APO @ F4.9

EQ Mount: Paramount ME

Image Acquisition software Maxim DL6

Pre Processing in Pixinsight

Post Processed in Photoshop CC

Starnet (star removal)

The Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49)This active star forming nebula lies in the Monoceros Constellation (the Unicorn) only 5,200 light-years distant. The dense cloud of hydrogen has been condensing to form new stars and is thought to be very similar to the environment that gave birth to our own Solar System. As the new stars ignite they blow off their shrouds and irradiate thier surroundings and cause the hydrogen to glow from the ionizing radiation. Like dust being blown by the wind, these newborns push the hydrogen and dust away where it collapses under gravity to accelerate the formation of yet more stars, excavating the inner region of the nebula over time.

The dark tendrils seen in the image are hiding the birthing cocoons of new stars which will eventually shed their egg-like shells, called globules, once they begin to fuse hydrogen into helium. As the brthing continues, the pressure from stellar winds will continue to increase until the available hydrogen has been collapsed into stars (where it has become dense enough) or simply blown away into the intersellar medium.

Efix: SW Esprit 100 +ASI1600MM pro + Optolong Ha, OIII and SII filters. SW NEQ6 pro Rowan mod. Guide: QHY5L-II and 60mm guidescope. 224x180” Ha, 115x180” OIII, 140x180” SII. Gain 139. 140 Darks, 120 flats per filter. Edit: PixInsight and Photoshop

Description: NGC 6960, the Western Veil Nebula, being an emission nebula in the Cygnus Loop, is well-suited for imaging using a narrow band filter such as the Optolong L-eXtreme dual band filter which provides two 7nm passbands one for H-alpha at 656nm and another for OIII at ~501nm. Accordingly, using a combination of a one-shot color (OSC) camera and the Optolong L-eXtreme filter, I generated 152x300s subs for a total exposure time of 12.67 hours in order to achieve my image. NGC 6960 appears to show intertwined substructures, possibly as a consequence of being a supernova remnant. As a side note, in order to mitigate the distraction created by numerous stars around the nebula I applied a morphological transformation. But since such a transformation can impact contrast and saturation, I applied another round of Curves Transformation.

Date / Location: 7-9, 13, 17, 19 and 21-23 November 2022 / Washington D.C.

Equipment:

Scope: WO Zenith Star 81mm f/6.9 with WO 6AIII Flattener/Focal Reducer x0.8

OSC Camera: ZWO ASI 2600 MC Pro at 100 Gain

Mount: iOptron GEM28-EC

Guide Scope: WO 50mm Uniguide Scope

Guide Camera: ZWO ASI 290mm

Focuser: ZWO EAF

Light Pollution Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme Dual Bandpass LPF

Processing Software: Pixinsight

Processing Steps:

Preprocessing: I preprocessed 152x300s subs (= 12.67 hours) in Pixinsight to get an integrated image using the following processes: Image Calibration > Cosmetic Correction > Subframe Selector > Debayer > Select Reference Star and Star Align > Image Integration.

Linear Postprocessing: Fast Rotation > Dynamic Crop > Dynamic Background Extractor (subtraction to remove light pollution gradients and division for flat field corrections) > Background Neutralization > Color Calibration > Noise Xterminator.

Nonlinear Postprocessing: Histogram Transformation > Local Histogram Equalization > Curves Transformation > SCNR Noise Reduction > Morphological Transformation > Noise Xterminator > Curves Transformation.

The Cone or Christmas Tree or Fox Fur Nebula NGC 2264

4h 45m of total exposure, 5 minute subs

ASI294MC PRO , AT80LE @ f/4.8, CGEM

Optolong L-eNhance Dual-Bandpass Filter

From the red zone backyard

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.

Data - 06/02/2022

Hora - 19:41 ~ 22:39 local (-3 UTC)

Lat - 7,13S

Log - 34,83W

Local - João Pessoa, PB - Brasil

Bortle - Class 7

Telescopio - Sky Watcher 200mm F5

Montagem - EQ5

Motorização - On Step Brazil

Guider - SW 9x50 + SVbony 105

Câmera - Canon T3i modificada

Filtro L-Enhance Clip Optolong

ISO - 1600

Light - 120 x 30s (60 min)

Flat - 15 x 1/3200s

Dark - 15 x 30s

Bias - 15 x 1/4000s

Temperatura do sensor ~ 27°C (Home made cooler)

Softwares Captura - APT/PHD2

Softwares Processamento - SiriL/PIX/PS

#astfotbr

The California Nebula (NGC 1499/Sh2-220) is an emission nebula located in the constellation Perseus. It is so named because it appears to resemble the outline of the US State of California on long exposure photographs. It is almost 2.5° long on the sky and, because of its very low surface brightness, it is extremely difficult to observe visually. It lies at a distance of about 1,000 light years from Earth. Hera I captured just a portion of its wide extension using my Newtonian Telescope at 1mt focal lenght.

Technical data:

OTA: SkyWatcher Newton 200mm F/5 - upgraded with the secondary mirror support kit from ArteSky

Mount: iOptron CEM60

Camera: ZWO ASI 1600 MM-C, cooled at -20C

Guide Camera: ASI290MM

Guide Scope: ArteSky 60mm F/4

Filters: Optolong HaRGB

Baader Coma Corrector MPCIII

Software: Sequence Generator Pro, PHD2, Deep Sky Stacker, PS

100 frames in total, Gain 139 - Offset 21

Ha 40x120s (1h20m)

R 20x60s (20m)

G 20x60s (20m)

B 20x60s (20m)

Total Integration Time: 2 hour, 20 minutes

22 Darks

60 Flats

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.

——— STRUMENTAZIONE ———

Telescopio: Skywatcher evostar ed80

Camera: Zwo Asi 294 mc

Montatura: Skywatcher AZ-EQ5

Autoguida: Zwo mini guide scope con zwo asi 224mc

Correttore 0.85x ed80 skywatcher

Filtro Optolong L-extreme L-pro

Software d'acquisizione Sgpro

————— FOTO ————

temp -10 con dark, flat e darkflat

300s x 68immagini

————— ELABORAZIONE ————

Pixinsight

Photoshop

Camera:Sony A7S unmodded

Scope: SW Evostar 80ED DS-Pro w/field flattener

Optolong L-pro 2" filter

Mount: HEQ5Pro

Guided with SW Synguider on Panagor 40mm lens

58frames x120s = 1h54min total exposure

ISO 3200

Not happy with the result, but this is stock camera, object is very faint and I'm still learning.

www.astrobin.com/324936/

Technical card

Imaging telescope or lens: Altair Astro RC250-TT 10" RC Truss Tube

Imaging camera: QHYCCD QHY5III174

Focal reducer: Baader Planetarium Hyperion Barlow x2.25

Software: Registax, Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight

Filter: Optolong UV/IR cut

Accessory: MoonLite CSL 2.5" Focuser with High Res Stepper Motor

Resolution: 1920x1200

Date: Dec. 6, 2017

Time: 04:56

Frames: 1000

FPS: 80.00000

Focal length: 4500

Locations: Berga Resort, Berga, Barcelona, Spain

More Info: astrobackyard.com/north-america-nebula/

Here is a re-process of my data collected with the Canon EOS 60Da and RedCat 51.

This is 53 x 4-minutes at ISO 1600 on the iOptron SkyGuider Pro. I used an Optolong L-eNhance filter to help block out the glow of the intense light pollution that surrounds me.

This time around, I focused on carefully processing the individual channels. I had to pull the blues and greens way up to not produce another one of my patented "Super Red Sky" Images.

The stars were difficult to restore back to something that resembles a broadband image - but I think this works.

Thanks for looking!

April 22nd & 24th 2021

Williams Optics Redcat 51

ZWO183mc pro

Optolong l-extreme filter

ZWO air pro

Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro

250 mins Lights. Flats , Darks and Bias.

Gain 122 at -10C

Processed in APP and Pixinsight

Continuing to work on the SHO palette

A widefield shot showing the Jellyfish and Monkeyhead nebulae with open star cluster M35 and the much tighter NGC 2158 in the top left.

Captured with a ZWO2600 MC Pro OSC camera and a William Optics Redcat51, 5 hours of data taken with an Optolong L-eXtreme filter and 5 hours taken with a luminance filter. All post-processing was carried out in PixInsight.

This is a portrait of the main glowing nebulas amid star clusters in Monoceros, the Unicorn.

The main nebula at bottom is the Rosette Nebula, aka NGC 2237-9/45 surrounding the star cluster NGC 2244. But in this long exposure streams of nebulas extend north to connect to a large region of diffuse nebulosity around the Christmas Tree Cluster, NGC 2264, with the main nebula at top catalogued as Sharpless 2-273 and containing a region of bright blue reflection nebulosity. Just below that blue nebula is the dark, conical Cone Nebula. Just below it is the tiny (on this scale) Hubble's Variable Nebula, NGC 2261, a small bright triangular patch. The blue reflection nebula at upper right is IC 2169, surrounded by other smaller patches of reflection nebulosity including NGC 2245 and IC 446. The V-shaped dark nebula at top is LDN 1603. The star cluster just below that is Trumpler 5.

This is a stack of 8 x 12-minute exposures at ISO 3200 through an Optolong L-Enhance narrow-band nebula filter, blended with a stack of 8 x 8-minute exposures without a filter (for more natural star colors and the blue reflection nebulas) at ISO 800. All were with the Canon EOS Ra camera through the f/5 51mm William Optics RedCat astrograph with a Starizona filter drawer. Autoguiding was with the Lacerta MGEN3 autoguider which applied a dithering shift between each frame to help cancel out thermal noise when stacking. No darks or LENR were used here on this mild winter night at -5° C or so.

All stacking, alignment and blending was in Adobe Photoshop 2021. Luminosity masks (DM2, D and M) applied with Lumenzia helped bring out the faint nebulosity.

14x300s

ASI071MC-Cool, Optolong L-Extreme, WO SpaceCat, CGX.

This huge galaxy is the nearest galaxy to us and it equals six full moons across the sky. It’s double the size of our Milky way galaxy and located 2.5 million light years from Earth. This galaxy is the farthest object that could be seen by the naked eye from a dark sky. It’s moving toward our galaxy in a speed of 110km/sec. It will collide Milky way in 3.75 billion years. Total exposure is 3 hours. Light subs 60 x 180 sec, Darks 20, Flat 20, Bias 50. Gear setup: Celestron RASA 8 @ f/2.0, iOptron GEM 45 guided by ZWO Mini guide scope and ZWO 120MM-S, Optolong L-Pro filter, ZWO 2600MC @ 0, Celestron Motor Focuser. Stacked in APP and processed in PI & PS.

www.astrobin.com/r77l43

Description

First image captured with the new dual rig configuration.

More than 56 hours of integration time. (Usually I am integrating 25 hours.. now dual rig :D is working ).

NGC 7635, also known as the Bubble Nebula, Sharpless 162, or Caldwell 11, is an H II region emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. It lies close to the direction of the open cluster Messier 52. The "bubble" is created by the stellar wind from a massive hot, 8.7 magnitude young central star, SAO 20575.

The nebula is near a giant molecular cloud which contains the expansion of the bubble nebula while itself being excited by the hot central star, causing it to glow. (Desc creditcs: Wikipedia)

Technical card

Imaging telescopes or lenses:Altair Astro RC250-TT 10" RC Truss Tube, Teleskop Service TS Photoline 107mm f/6.5 Super-Apo

Imaging cameras:ZWO ASI183MM-Cool, ZWO ASI1600MM-Cool

Mounts:Mesu 200 Mk2, Skywatcher EQ6R Pro

Guiding telescopes or lenses:Teleskop Service TSOAG9 Off-Axis Guider, Celestron OAG Deluxe

Guiding cameras:ZWO ASI174 Mini, ZWO ASI290 Mini

Focal reducers:Riccardi Reducer/Flattener 0.75x, Telescope-Service TS 2" Flattener

Software:Main Sequence Software Seqence Generator Pro, Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight

Filters:Optolong OIII 6.5nm 36mm, Optolong SII 6.5nm 36mm, Astrodon HA 36mm - 5nm, Astrodon B Gen.2 E-series 36mm, Astrodon G Gen.2 E-series 36mm, Astrodon R Gen.2 E-series 36mm, Astrodon S-II 36mm - 5nm, Astrodon O-III 36mm - 5nm

Accessories:ZWO EFW, MoonLite NiteCrawler WR30, MoonLite CSL 2.5" Focuser with High Res Stepper Motor

Resolution: 2090x1760

Dates:Oct. 1, 2019, Oct. 11, 2019, Oct. 16, 2019, Oct. 18, 2019, Oct. 23, 2019, Oct. 28, 2019

Frames:

Astrodon B Gen.2 E-series 36mm: 70x30" (gain: 75.00) -20C bin 1x1

Astrodon G Gen.2 E-series 36mm: 70x30" (gain: 75.00) -20C bin 1x1

Astrodon HA 36mm - 5nm: 162x600" (gain: 200.00) -20C bin 1x1

Optolong OIII 6.5nm 36mm: 83x600" (gain: 111.00) -15C bin 1x1

Astrodon R Gen.2 E-series 36mm: 70x30" (gain: 75.00) -20C bin 1x1

Astrodon S-II 36mm - 5nm: 82x600" (gain: 111.00) -15C bin 1x1

Integration: 56.2 hours

Avg. Moon age: 12.78 days

Avg. Moon phase: 51.26%

Astrometry.net job: 3037365

RA center: 350.189 degrees

DEC center: 61.178 degrees

Pixel scale: 1.007 arcsec/pixel

Orientation: 270.802 degrees

Field radius: 0.382 degrees

Locations: AAS Montsec, Àger, Lleida, Spain

Data source: Own remote observatory

Remote source: Non-commercial independent facility

This was taken Two consecutive night no moon in the edge of the city of Perth. This was a View I forgot to take so was very high in the sky.

Taken with ZWO CMOS camera 116 Files 10 min files Shot With

ZWO ASI071MC Pro @ -10c

ZWO AEF,

Optolong LeNhance filter,

Skywatcher Black DiamondED80 OTA

Skywatcher EQM35Goto

Guided PHD2,

DSS, Pixinsight, Ps, Lr.

La nebulosa Velo è un antico resto di supernova; la stella che ha originato quest'oggetto è esplosa diversi millenni fa. Ciò che ora è visibile sono dei debolissimi filamenti, ancora in espansione alla velocità di decine di km/s; nelle foto a lunga posa o con un CCD si distinguono diversi filamenti disposti in tre gruppi principali: il più ad ovest è quello di NGC 6960 (C 34), in direzione della brillante stella 52 Cygni; il secondo, poco più ad est, è formato dalle nebulose NGC 6974 e NGC 6979, disposto con la concavità ad est come il precedente; l'ultimo, ad est, è formato dalle sezioni NGC 6992 (C 33) e NGC 6995 (ai quali si aggiunge IC 1340), orientato in modo speculare rispetto agli altri due. Questa parte è conosciuta pure come Nebulosa Rete (Inglese Network).

Si pensa che nel giro di pochi millenni questa "meraviglia" del cielo boreale scomparirà, perché ad una grande velocità di espansione corrisponde pure un elevato indice di dispersione della sua materia, che presto esaurirà la sua energia ricevuta durante l'esplosione, e si disperderà nel mezzo interstellare, "quasi" senza lasciare traccia.

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Telescopi o obiettivi di acquisizione: Vixen AX103S

Camere di acquisizione :ZWO ASI ASI 294 PRO

Montature: iOptron iEQ45-pro

Telescopi o obiettivi di guida: Artesky Ultraguide 60/240 mm

Camere di guida: QHYCCD qhy5

Riduttori di focale: Vixen HD 0.77x

Software: Pleiades Astrophoto S.L. PixInsight V1.8 , PHD2 Guiding PHD 2.6.2

Filtri: Optolong L-eNhance

Date: 25 Agosto 2020

Pose: Optolong L-eNhance: 52x300" (gain: 200.00) -5C

Integrazione: 4.3 ore

Dark: ~45

Flat: ~35

camera: ZWO ASI6200MM Pro with EFW 7x2"

filters: Optolong LRGB and Chroma 3-nm Ha/O3

telescope: TEC 140 f/7

mount: 10Micron GM2000 QCI

guider: ZWO ASI120 mini on 50-mm f/4 guidescope

exposure: L 22x10min (1x1) + RGB 15x5min (2x2) + Ha/O3 22x20min (2x2)

location: Les Granges, 900 m (Hautes Alpes, France)

software: TheSkyX Pro, CCD Commander, Pixinsight, PS CC

date: 21 Sep - 6 Nov 2021

This is another test image using a Canon lens with an attached ZWO ASI071mc-Pro camera. This is a region northwest of the star Sirius (near the lower right corner) called the Seagull Nebula (IC 2177).

Tech Specs: Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM lens set at 70mm, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, ZWO ASI071mc-Pro camera, 1 hour and 30 minutes total exposure (calibrated with darks from the library and flats the next morning) using 300 second subs, guided using a ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope and ZWO 120 Mini, controlled with a ZWO ASIAir Pro running v1.5 Beta software, processed in PixInsight. Image date: January 11, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

M14 (NGC 6402) is another globular cluster in Ophiuchus, east of M10 and M12 in the sky.

Shot with LRGB filters from my backyard in Long Beach, CA.

L: 27 20 s exposures

R: 17 60 s exposures

G: 17 60 s exposures

B: 20 60 s exposures

All taken with an Atik 414-EX mono camera on a Celestron Edge HD 925 at a focal length of 1530 mm. LRGB filters are from Optolong.

Pre-processing in Nebulosity; registration, stacking, channel combination, and processing in PixInsight; final touches in Photoshop.

IC 1805 is an emission nebula in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia, approximately 7500 light years from earth. The brightest part of the nebula (to the left) is separately classified as NGC 896. The open cluster of stars in the middle of the "heart" is known as Melotte 15.

Rio Rancho NM Bortle 5 zone,

November 8-12, 2022

William Optics Redcat 51

ZWO 183mm pro

ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope and ZWO 120 Mini

Optolong Ha and OIII filters

ZWO ASI Air Pro

Sky-Watcher HEQ5

90 X 300s Ha

150 x 300s OIII

110 x 300s SII

Darks bias dithering

Gain 111 at -10C

Processed in DSS and PS

Takahashi FSQ-106 telescope

Paramount MX mount

ZWO ASA 2600mm CMOS camera

Optolong RGB filters

Data acquired remotely from IC Astronomy Observatory, Oria, Spain.

RGB image.

R: 35 x 120s

G: 35 x 120s

B: 35 x 120s

Image acquisition:

22 January 2023

Processed with Astro Pixel Processor, PixInsight, Blur Xterminator, Star Xterminator, Noise Xterminator, Affinity Photo.

Astronomy tutorials and music videos on my You Tube Channel:

www.youtube.com/channel/UCdNHCly_2ueWSe-Hh4OiuDA

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THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR 1.8 MILLION + VIEWS!!!👍👍

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Nikkor Z 135 mm F1.8 Plena

Nikon Z6 Modified

Optolong Clear Sky front Filter 82 mm

120 min exposure time (60 x 2 min)

Tomada el 26/03/2018 00:00

Canon 6D - Filtro Optolong L-Pro - Star Adventurer

16 tomas de 120s - No hay archivos de calibración

ISO 800 - Lente Sigma 70/300 APO en 200mm @f/8 - Crop 2945 x 2166

Procesado: AstroPixelProcessor y Lightroom

This is a 2 panel mosaic of the North America and Pelican Nebula shot with a modified Nikon D5300 (plus Optolong L-eNhance filter), Astrotech AT65EDQ Telescope on a Sirius EQ-G Mount (Rowan Belt Modified). Each panel is a 50 x10minute stack of exposures at ISO 200, images were acquired with BackyardNIkon/Sequence Generator Pro, guiding performed with PHD2 (dithered every frame), editing performed in PixInsight.

46x3 min Halfa + 45x3min OIII

Takahashi FS60CB + ASI1600MM pro + Optolong filters

NEQ6pro mod + 60mm Guidescope + QHY5LII

80 darks

An impossibly beautiful region of hydrogen in Cygnus.

This is 72 x 4-minutes using the ZWO ASI294MC Pro and Sky-Watcher Esprit 100 Refractor.

For this 4 Hour and 42-minute exposure, I used an Optolong L-eNhance dual bandpass filter in front of my one-shot-color camera. (Taken June 6, 2019)

This area is dense with HII nebulosity, and I tried to frame up an area with the most action.

72 x 4-minute (Gain 120)

ZWO ASI294MC Pro

Optolong L-eNhance

Sky-Watcher Esprit 100

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Mount

The Jellyfish Nebula, also known by its official name IC 443, is the remnant of a supernova lying 5,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Gemini.

Tech Specs: Williams Optics Redcat, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, ZWO ASI2600MC-P camera, Optolong L-eNhance 2" filter, 60 x 300 seconds at -10C with darks from the library and flats taken the next morning, guided using a ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope and ZWO 120 Mini. Captured using ZWO AAP and processed using PixInsight. Autofocus using the ProAstroGear Black-CAT and ZWO EAF. Image date: November 5, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).