Con la focale di 1260mm non potevo non puntare il mio telescopio verso la bella e luminosa "nebulosa planetaria" M27, denominata "Nebulosa Manubrio", catalogata anche con la sigla NGC 6853 e che si trova nella costellazione della Volpetta . La sua denominazione "artistica" è dovuta alla sua caratteristica forma nelle osservazioni visuali e foto. Ultimamente grazie ai nuovi sensori più performanti le foto si sono arricchite di altre nebulosità più deboli quasi a formare 2 ali di farfalla.

Il cuore della nebulosa è molto luminoso, al contrario delle parti più esterne che secondo me avevano bisogno di altra integrazione. Non è stato semplice estrapolare le "ali" dal fondo cielo, evidenziando per contro un discreto rumore, che sono riuscito a ridurre grazie anche ai recenti Python scripts di Siril 1.4.0 Graxpert e Cosmic Clarity.

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With a focal length of 1260mm, I couldn't help but point my telescope at the beautiful and bright "planetary nebula" M27, known as the "Dumbbell Nebula", also cataloged as NGC 6853 and located in the constellation Vulpecula. Its "artistic" name is due to its distinctive shape in visual and photographic observations. Recently, thanks to new, higher-performance sensors, the photos have been enriched with other, fainter nebulae that almost resemble two butterfly wings.

The heart of the nebula is very bright, unlike the outer parts, which in my opinion needed further integration. It wasn't easy to extract the "wings" from the background sky, revealing a fair amount of noise, which I was able to reduce thanks to the recent Python scripts from Siril 1.4.0: Graxpert and Cosmic Clarity.

________________

Optic: Celestron SC C8 203mm f/10+ Celestron riducer-corrector 0.63X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5-Pro

Seeing: 3-4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut

-158x180s 250gain/ 25 dark /23 flat / 23 darkflat /80 bias

t° sensor: -5°C

Date: 01-03/08/2025

Integration: 7h 54m

Temperature: 24°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6)

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert

A questa bellissima nebulosa diffusa non ho potuto dedicare il tempo che meritava anche perchè il suo piccolo diametro apparente necessitava di focali medio-alte. Dopo i risultati ottenuti su "M16" e "M20" ho puntato il mio C8 su questo target, la "Nebulosa Crescente", conosciuta anche con le sigle "NGC 6888" e C27.

E' un esempio di bolla di vento stellare. La nebulosa è stata generata da un particolare tipo di stella massiccia, la WR136 (una "stella di Wolf-Rayet", caratterizzata da espulsione di enormi quantità di materia con forti e veloci venti stellari) dopo la sua evoluzione in gigante rossa e ciò ha dato origine alla sua forma particolarissima.

Le 9h e 36m di integrazione mi hanno permesso, dopo tanti tentativi falliti, di evidenziare la nebulosità azzurra con emissione di O3 molto debole rispetto all'emissione Halfa. Molto bello anche il tappeto di idrogeno Halfa di cui è ricca quella parte della Via Lattea nela costellazione del Cigno.

Non so voi ma io sono soddisfatto del risultato.

___________

I couldn't devote the time it deserved to this beautiful diffuse nebula, partly because its small apparent diameter required medium-long focal lengths. After the results obtained on "M16" and "M20", I pointed my C8 at this target, the "Crescent Nebula", also known by the acronyms "NGC 6888" and C27.

It is an example of a stellar wind bubble. The nebula was generated by a particular type of massive star, WR136 (a "Wolf-Rayet star," characterized by the expulsion of enormous quantities of material with strong, fast stellar winds) after its evolution into a red giant, which gave rise to its very particular shape.

The 9 hours and 36 minutes of integration allowed me, after many failed attempts, to highlight the blue nebulosity with very weak O3 emission compared to the Halfa emission. The Halfa hydrogen carpet, which is abundant in that part of the Milky Way in the constellation Cygnus, is also very beautiful.

I don't know about you, but I'm satisfied with the result.

________________

Optic: Celestron SC C8 203mm f/10+ Celestron riducer-corrector 0.63X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5-Pro

Seeing: 3-4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut

-192x180s 250gain/ 25 dark /23 flat / 23 darkflat /80 bias

t° sensor: -5°C

Date: 22-23-25-27/07/2025

Integration: 9h 36m

Temperature: 22°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6)

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert

Finalmente era giunto il momento di dedicarmi alla famosa ed interessante Nebulosa Velo, chimata anche Cygnus Loop, Nebulosa Cirri e nebulosa Filamentaria. E' ciò che rimane dell'esplosione di una supernova avvenuta crca 10.000-20.000 anni fa.

Questa nebulosa diffusa, tuttora in espansione, ricchissima di Ha, OIII e S è molto vasta e per fotografarla nel suo insieme occorrono corte focali, ma focali più lunghe permettono di evienziarne gli intrecci e filamenti che la compongono anche se si è costretti ad inquadrarne solo una parte.

L'avevo già fotografata nel 2014 (flic.kr/p/oU4mqe) e nel 2024 (flic.kr/p/2q9HMCi) con il teleobiettivo Zenit Jupiter 11-A focale 135mm; in questa occasione ho fotografato con focale 420mm la parte orientale, alla quale sono state assegnate le sigle NGC6992, NGC6995 e IC1340.

Grazie alla sua luminosità l'elaborazione non è stata molto laboriosa anche se non è stato facile evidenziare anche le parti molto evanescenti.

Questo appagante risultato lo voglio dedicare a mio padre, che è venuto a mancare il 18 agosto scorso. Lui non era attratto da questo mio hobby, ma mi piace pensare e sperare che da lassù adesso possa godersi questo spettacolo dell'universo. Ciao papà!

________

The time had finally come to dedicate myself to the famous and interesting Veil Nebula, also called Cygnus Loop, Cirrus Nebula and Filamentary Nebula. It is what remains of a supernova explosion that occurred approximately 10,000-20,000 years ago.

This diffuse nebula, still expanding, rich in Ha, OIII, and S nebulae, is very large and requires short focal lengths to photograph it as a whole, but longer focal lengths allow you to highlight the interweavings and filaments that compose it even if you are forced to frame only a portion.

I had already photographed it in 2014 (flic.kr/p/oU4mqe) and in 2024 (flic.kr/p/2q9HMCi) with the Zenit Jupiter 11-A telephoto lens with a focal length of 135mm; On this occasion, I photographed the eastern portion with a 420mm focal length, which was assigned the designations NGC6992, NGC6995 and IC1340.

Thanks to its brightness, processing wasn't very laborious, although it wasn't easy to highlight even the very faint parts.

I want to dedicate this satisfying result to my father, who passed away on August 18th. He wasn't drawn to this hobby of mine, but I like to think and hope that from up there he can now enjoy this spectacle of the universe. Goodbye, Dad!

Google Translate

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Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 3-4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut

-119x300s 250gain/ 35dark /21flat / 21darkflat /80 bias

t° sensor: -5°C

Date: 26-28-31/08/2025, 01/09/2025

Integration: 9h 55m

Temperature: 21°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6)

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert

Continua la mia nuova esperienza con il Celestron SC C8, e dopo averlo provato con la "M16" l'ho puntato su un'altra famosa nebulosa nella stessa zona di cielo: la bella "Nebulosa Trifida", catalogata come "Messier 20" o M20 e come NGC 6514. Distante circa 5000 anni luce si trova in piena Via Lattea nella costellazione del Sagittario ed è facilmente osservabile con piccoli strumenti amatoriali. Grazie anche alla sua luminosità è uno degli oggetti DS più fotografati dagli astrofili.

Malgrado alcune difficoltà oggettive (autoguida, seeing, trasparenza del cielo, Inquinamento luminoso...) ho cercato di estrapolare tutto il segnale possibile e migliorarla esteticamente.

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My new experience with the Celestron SC C8 continues, and after trying it with "M16", I pointed it at another famous nebula in the same area of the sky: the beautiful "Trifid Nebula", cataloged as "Messier 20" or M20 and as NGC 6514. About 5,000 light-years away, it is located in the Milky Way in the constellation Sagittarius and is easily observed with small amateur instruments. Thanks in part to its brightness, it is one of the most photographed DS objects by amateur astronomers.

Despite some objective difficulties (autoguiding, seeing, sky transparency, light pollution, etc.), I tried to extract as much signal as possible and improve its aesthetics.+

Google Translate

_______________

Optic: Celestron SC C8 203mm f/10+ Celestron riducer-corrector 0.63X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5-Pro

Seeing: 4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut

-149x180s 250gain/ 25 dark /23 flat / 23 darkflat /80 bias

t° sensor: -5°C

Date: 16-17-19/07/2025

Integration: 7h 27m

Temperature: 24°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6)

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert

Prospetticamente attorno ad una delle più luminose stelle del cielo, la stella multipla e variabile Gamma Cassiopeiae (γ Cas), chiamata Tsih o Navi, si trova la regione di H II (idrogeno ionizzato) conosciuta con la sigla Sh2-185, e al cui interno spiccano due nebulose catalogate con le sigle IC59 e IC63.

Pensavo che riuscire a fotografare questa regione fosse una cosa più semplice invece devo ammettere che la nebulosità più debole di Sh2-185 è veramente molto evanescente e la presenza di gradienti causati da Inquinamento luminoso ha complicato le cose; quindi sono stato costretto mio malgrado ad utilizzare con decisione i tool di denoise per ridurre il rumore.

Ma ciò che ha reso più difficile elaborare questa immagine è stata la presenza della luminosa Gamma Cassiopeiae il cui riverbero abbagliava una parte dell'immagine e attorno alla quale c'era un antiestetico alone penso causato da riflessioni all'interno del riduttore 0.6X.

Ciò malgrado penso di aver raggiunto un discreto risultato.

________

Perspectively surrounding one of the brightest stars in the sky, the multiple variable star Gamma Cassiopeiae (γ Cas), called Tsih or Navi, lies the H II (ionized hydrogen) region known by the acronym Sh2-185, within which stand out two nebulae cataloged as IC59 and IC63.

I thought photographing this region would be easier, but I have to admit that the faintest nebulosity of Sh2-185 is truly very evanescent, and the presence of gradients caused by light pollution complicated matters; so, against my will, I was forced to vigorously use denoising tools to reduce the noise.

But what made processing this image more difficult was the presence of the bright Gamma Cassiopeiae, whose glare dazzled part of the image and which had an unsightly halo around it, I think caused by reflections within the 0.6X reducer.

Even so, I think I achieved a decent result.

____________

Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut

-199x180s 250gain/ 23dark /27flat /80 bias

-64x300s 250gain/ 35dark /27flat /80 bias

t° sensor: -5°C

Date: 2025-10-25, 27 + 2025-11-12,13

Integration: 15h 17m

Temperature: 16°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6) flic.kr/p/8AWHek

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL 1.4, PS, GraXpert

A wide-field 2 panel mosaic, of the cosmic dust clouds that cross the rich field of stars of Corona Australis (Latin for the Southern Crown).

Gear:

William Optics Star 71mm f/4.9 Imaging APO Refractor Telescope.

QHY163M Camera Sensor cooled to -30°C.

Technical Card:

Integration Time: 18 hours total (9 hours per panel).

L = 9 hours total (Binning 1x1).

R = 3 hours total (Binning 2x2).

G = 3 hours total (Binning 2x2).

B = 3 hours total (Binning 2x2).

Calibration frames:

Bias, Darks & Flats.

Image Acquisition:

Guiding in Open PHD.

Image acquisition in Sequence Generator Pro.

Plate Solving in Platesolve 2 via SGP Framing & Mosaic Wizzard.

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

star separation with StarNet++ Pi Plug-in,

and finished in Photoshop.

Astrometry Info:

Center (RA, Dec): 285.970, -37.530

Center (RA, hms): 19h 03m 52.739s

Center (Dec, dms): -37° 31' 46.701"

Size: 3.63 x 2.86 deg.

Radius: 2.312 deg.

Pixel scale: 8.17 arcsec/pixel.

Orientation: Up is 162.5 degrees E of N.

View an Annotated Sky Chart of this image.

View image in the WorldWideTelescope.

This image is part of the Legacy Series.

Flickr Explore:

2022-12-21

Photo usage and Copyright:

Medium-resolution photograph licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Terms (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). For High-resolution Royalty Free (RF) licensing, contact me via my site: Contact.

Martin

-

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A narrowband (HOO Palette) image of an interesting section in the Vela Supernova Remnant (also known as Vela XYZ; Gum 16; SNR G263.9-03.3; 1E 0840.0-4430; RE J083854-430902).

The Vela Supernova Remnant is in the Southern constellation Vela. Its source (a Type II Supernova) exploded approximately 11,000–12,300 years ago, at a distance of about 800 light-years away. The association of the Vela Supernova Remnant with the Vela Pulsar, is direct observational evidence of Supernovae form Neutron stars. The Vela Supernova Remnant includes NGC 2736, and it also overlaps with the Puppis Supernova Remnant. Both the Puppis and Vela Remnants are among the largest and brightest features in the X-ray sky.

Elements are made at different stages in a star's life-cycle, and spread through the Universe in Supernova explosions. “The Nitrogen in our DNA, the Calcium in our teeth, the Iron in our blood, the Carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.” ― Carl Sagan, Cosmos.

Technical Info:

Lights/Subs total integration time: 15 hours.

42 x 600 sec. 7nm Hydrogen-Alpha (Ha).

48 x 600 sec. 6.5nm Doubly Ionized Oxygen (OIII).

William Optics Star 71mm f/4.9 Imaging APO Refractor.

Sensor cooled to -20°C on my QHY163M.

Calibration frames: Bias, Darks and Flats.

SGP Mosaic and Framing Wizard.

PlaneWave PlateSolve 2 via SGP.

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight, Starnet++ and Straton was used for star separation, and final processing was done in Photoshop.

Astrometry Info:

Center RA, Dec: 127.762, -43.909

Center RA, hms: 08h 31m 02.897s

Center Dec, dms: -43° 54' 30.752"

Size: 1.62 x 1.32 deg

Radius: 1.046 deg

Pixel scale: 3.65 arcsec/pixel

Orientation:Up is 87.3 degrees E of N

View this image in the WorldWideTelescope.

This image is part of the Legacy Series.

Flickr Explore:

2021-06-26 & 2021-08-25

Photo usage and Copyright:

Medium-resolution photograph licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Terms (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). For High-resolution Royalty Free (RF) licensing, contact me via my site: Contact.

Martin

-

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[3D VFX & Mocap] [Science & Physics] [Python Coding]

Questo target riprende la nebulosa NGC 6820, nota anche con le sigle Sh2-86 e LBN 135, all'interno della quale si trova l'ammasso aperto NGC 6823.

Avevo visto per caso questa nebulosa sul web e mi aveva attratto non solo la sua struttura ma anche il complesso di nebulose ad emissione, riflessione ed oscure che la circonda. Non ho fatto però i conti che l'immagine che avevo visto aveva un'integrazione di ben 48h. Avevo programmato l'acquisizione di una congrua integrazione in banda larga ma purtroppo sono ruscito ad acquisirne solo 3,5h. Speravo che acquisendo oltre 14h in banda stretta avrei potuto compensare la carenza della banda larga, ma così non è stato. E' stata una delle mie più complicate elaborazioni. Forse perchè le condizioni del cielo durante alcune sessioni non erano favorevoli, forse perchè la nebulosa è di per sè molto debole ma credo che un buon risultato si sarebbe ottenuto facilmente con molta acquisizione in banda larga.

Eppure penso che nel complesso la fatica elaborativa abbia dato i suoi frutti con questa immagine abbellita dal colore delle stelle acquisite in banda larga.

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This target captures the nebula NGC 6820, also known as Sh2-86 and LBN 135, within which lies the open cluster NGC 6823.

I had accidentally seen this nebula on the web and was intrigued not only by its structure but also by the complex of emission, reflection, and dark nebulae surrounding it. However, I hadn't noticed that the image I had seen had an integration of a full 48 hours. I had planned to acquire a suitable broadband integration, but unfortunately I only managed to acquire 3.5 hours. I hoped that by acquiring more than 14 hours in narrowband I could compensate for the lack of broadband, but that wasn't the case. It was one of my most complicated processings. Perhaps because the sky conditions during some sessions weren't favorable, perhaps because the nebula itself is very faint, but I believe a good result would have been easily achieved with extensive broadband acquisition.

Yet I think that overall the processing effort has paid off with this image embellished by the color of the stars acquired in broadband.

___________________

Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 4 (scala Antoniadi)

_

Filter: SVbony SV231

-71x180s 250gain /23 dark/ 21 ftats/ 80 biases t° sensor: -10°C only stars

date: 02/07/2025

location for: Monti Nebrodi (Sicily-Italy) 1600m slm

integration only stars 3h 33min

_

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut

-172x300s 250gain /250gain / 35 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /80 bias T°sensor:-5°C

Date: 6-22-23-24-25-26/08/2025

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6)

Integration: 14h 20m

Temperature: 21°C (media)

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert

2020 was an unusual year as we all know. It was a very busy year for me working on a 3D Animated Motion Capture Series and Music Video from home, and as a result I didn't manage to image much.

About the Nebula:

The Elephant's Trunk Nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust with-in the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396 (located in the constellation Cepheus), about 2,400 light-years away from Earth.

Reprocessing old data:

I don't often do this, but decided to reprocess old data from 2017 in the SHO Palette (SII, Hα & OIII). IC 1396 was imaged on my first "budget friendly" Telescope (a 6" GSO Newtonian Astrograph). This was one of my first attempts at Narrowband Astrophotography, and the data that I captured back then was less than ideal, but a nice challenge to process. It is all part of the never ending lifelong learning experience.

I would like to revisit the IC 1396 region again, and image the very interesting surrounding structure with my wide-field APO Refractor Telescope. It is interesting to look back and see what you've learnt (which is why I've always kept my old learning images as a record).

Wavelengths of the Electromagnetic Spectrum of Light:

Hydrogen-Alpha (656.3nm)

Oxygen-III (500.7nm)

Sulfur-II (672.4nm)

Astrometry Info:

Center RA, Dec: 323.737, 57.633

Center RA, hms: 21h 34m 56.951s

Center Dec, dms: +57° 37' 59.617"

Size: 46.8 x 60.6 arcmin

Radius: 0.638 deg

Pixel scale: 2.02 arcsec/pixel

Orientation: Up is 269 degrees E of N

View an Annotated Sky Chart of this image.

View this image in the WorldWideTelescope.

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight, and finished in Photoshop (Starnet++ was also handy).

Gear and Tech Card:

See original 2017 image for more detail.

Flickr Explore:

2020-10-14

Photo usage and Copyright:

Medium-resolution photograph licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Terms (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). For High-resolution Royalty Free (RF) licensing, contact me via my site: Contact.

Martin

-

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Avevo già fotografato 10 anni fa (flic.kr/p/oW1HnY) la grande nebulosa associata all'ammasso aperto "IC1396" con lo stesso telescopio e la Canon 550D (T2i) ottenendo un discreto risultato con meno di 4h di integrazione.

Era giusto provare nuovamente con la nuova camera ASI533MC-P e in Banda Stretta (fotografando da zona con Inquinamento Luminoso) anche se il FOV inquadrato è relativamente più piccolo e ritrae la nebulosa oscura "VdB142" o Collinder439, denominata per la sua forma "Proboscide di Elefante".

Per avere un buon segnale mi sono dovuto spingere a quasi 10 ore di integrazione ottenendo questo risultato che non mi dispiace affatto.

Non nascondo che integrare molte ore in più sessioni fotografiche richiede a volte molti giorni/mesi a causa delle condizioni meteo e qualità del cielo. A questo si aggiungono difficoltà tecnico-logistiche per chi è costretto a dover montare e smontare il setup ogni volta; fortunatamente non nel mio caso.

______

I had already photographed 10 years ago (flic.kr/p/oW1HnY) the large nebula associated with the open cluster "IC1396" with the same telescope and the Canon 550D (T2i) obtaining a decent result with less than 4h of integration.

It was right to try again with the new ASI533MC-P camera and in Narrow Band (photographing from an area with Light Pollution) even if the framed FOV is relatively smaller and portrays the dark nebula "VdB142" or Collinder439, named for its shape "Elephant's Trunk".

To get a good signal I had to push myself to almost 10 hours of integration obtaining this result that I do not mind at all.

I do not deny that integrating many hours in multiple photographic sessions sometimes requires many days / months due to weather conditions and sky quality. Added to this are technical-logistical difficulties for those who are forced to assemble and disassemble the setup each time; fortunately not in my case.

(translated by Google)

________________

Optic: APO Rifractor Scopos TL805 80mm/f7 + WO 0.8X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 4 (scala Antoniadi inversa)

filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2"

BS 119x300s 121gain / 26 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /100 bias

t° sensor: -10°C

Date: 6+11+13/10/2024

Integration: 9h 55min

Temperature: 17°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS.

A two panel wide-field mosaic of the Blue Horsehead Nebula (IC 4592), a faint reflection nebula in the constellation Scorpius. The nebula is lit by the multiple Star System Nu Scorpii.

Gear:

William Optics Star 71mm f/4.9 Imaging APO Refractor Telescope.

QHY163M (Sensor cooled to -20°C).

Optolong L-Pro, R, G, B filters.

Technical Card:

Integration Time:

24 hours total (12 hours per panel).

L = 6 hours x 2 mosaic panels (Binning 1x1).

R = 2 hours x 2 mosaic panels (Binning 2x2).

G = 2 hours x 2 mosaic panels (Binning 2x2).

B = 2 hours x 2 mosaic panels (Binning 2x2).

Calibration frames:

Bias, Darks & Flats.

Image Acquisition:

Guiding in Open PHD.

Image acquisition in Sequence Generator Pro.

Plate Solving in Platesolve 2 via SGP Framing & Mosaic Wizard.

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop.

Astrometry Info:

Center RA, Dec: 244.286, -19.402

Center RA, hms: 16h 17m 08.686s

Center Dec, dms: -19° 24' 08.014"

Size: 4.46 x 2.97 deg.

Radius: 2.681 deg.

Pixel scale: 10 arcsec/pixel.

Orientation: Up is 186 degrees E of N.

View an Annotated Sky Chart of this image.

View this image in the WorldWideTelescope.

This image is part of the Legacy Series.

Photo usage and Copyright:

Medium-resolution photograph licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Terms (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). For High-resolution Royalty Free (RF) licensing, contact me via my site: Contact.

Martin

-

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[3D VFX & Mocap] [Science & Physics] [Python Coding]

Era doveroso, dopo 13 anni, ritornare su questa bellissima nostra "vicina di casa" extragalattica, la grande Galassia di Andromeda, catalogata con le sigle M31 e NGC224 distante dalla Terra circa 2,5 milioni di a.l.. Se i nostri occhi fossero molto sensibili e non ci fosse l'Inquinamento luminoso la vredremmo in tutta la sua grandezza: le sue dimensioni apparenti sono più di 6 volte quelli del disco lunare.

Con il mio setup ho dovuto realizzare un mosaico con 2 pannelli, ma dopo l'esperienza faticosa con la NGC7000, questa volta ho trovato il modo migliore per unire i 2 pannelli grazie all'applicazione Siril 1.4 che permette di unire più pannelli con opportuni accorgimenti, che rende il risultato finale più equilibrato nei punti di unione tra i pannelli (vd youtu.be/4apAdLWJ3Dg?si=gwMaWN7lphNVQitW).

Volevo integrare più ore in banda larga, utilizzando il filtro UHC, ma condizioni meteo avverse non lo hanno permesso con la galassia sempre meno alta sull'orizzonte e in una zona di cielo più inquinata.

Quindi mi sono concentrato sulle tantissime nebulose Ha presenti tra i bracci della galassia.

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It was only right, after 13 years, to return to this beautiful extragalactic "neighbor" of ours, the large Andromeda Galaxy, catalogued with the acronyms M31 and NGC224, about 2.5 million light years away from Earth. If our eyes were very sensitive and there were no light pollution, we would see it in all its grandeur: its apparent dimensions are more than 6 times those of the lunar disk.

With my setup, I had to create a mosaic with two panels, but after the tiring experience with the NGC7000, this time I found the best way to join the two panels thanks to the Siril 1.4 application, which allows you to join multiple panels with appropriate adjustments, making the final result more balanced at the joins between the panels (see youtu.be/4apAdLWJ3Dg?si=gwMaWN7lphNVQitW).

I wanted to integrate more broadband hours, using the UHC filter, but adverse weather conditions prevented it, with the galaxy increasingly low on the horizon and in a more polluted area of the sky.

So I focused on the many Ha nebulae present in the galaxy's arms.

Google Translate

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Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 3-4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2"

panel1: 132x300s 250gain/ 35dark /27flat /80 bias

Integration: 11h 0m

panel2: 128x300s 250gain/ 35dark /27flat /80 bias

Integration: 10h 40m

Filter: Broadband Angeleyes UHC 1"

Panel1: 35x180s 250gain/ 23dark /27flat /80 bias

Integration: 1h 45m

Panel2: 43x180s 250gain/ 23dark /27flat /80 bias

Integration: 2h 9m

Date: 2025-11-19, 20, 23, 28, 29, 30

t° sensor: -10°C

Total integration: 25h 34m

Temperature: 14°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6) flic.kr/p/8AWHek

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL 1.4, PS, GraXpert

Durante lo Star Party del Gruppo Astrofili Catanesi astrofilicatanesi.net/ (02-04/08/2024), il cielo pur essendo discreto a causa dell'Inquinamento luminoso non mostrava bene la Via Lattea a declinazione negativa. Ho dovuto scegliere un target vicino allo zenit: il Muro del Cigno. Una vasta e ricca nebulosità che fa parte della grande nebulosa Nord America (NGC7000) it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebulosa_Nord_America.

La prima notte purtroppo ho acquisito (non so cosa sia successo) senza raffreddare il sensore della ASI533MC-pro (circa 15°C). Speravo nella seconda notte ma a causa delle nuvole ho acquisito solo 5 frame.

Ciò malgrado l'immagine combinata era abbastanza buona. Ho deciso allora di riprendere da casa un pò di segnale in banda stretta per aggiungerlo all'immagine RGB ed enfatizzare il segnale H-alfa.

Sono rimasto piacevolmente sorpreso nel vedere durante l'elaborazione che la prima sessione di 43 frame a +15° aveva un segnale sufficente per regalarmi questo risultato.

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During the Star Party of the Gruppo Astrofili Catanesi astrofilicatanesi.net/ (02-04/08/2024), the sky, although discrete due to light pollution, did not show the Milky Way well at negative declination. I had to choose a target close to the zenith: the Cygnus Wall. It is a large and bright nebulosity that is part of the great North American nebula (NGC7000) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America_Nebula#:~:text=The%20...(NGC,its%20shape%20resembles%20North%20America.

Unfortunately the first night I acquired (I don't know what happened) without cooling the sensor of the ASI533MC-pro (about 15°C). I was hoping for the second night but due to the clouds I acquired only 5 frames.

Despite this the combined image was quite good. I then decided to take some narrowband signal from home to add it to the RGB image and emphasize the H-alpha signal.

I was pleasantly surprised to see during the processing that the first session of 43 frames at +15° had enough signal to give me this result.

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Optic: Rifrattore APO Scopos TL805 80mm/f7 + WO 0.8X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Narrowband filter Optolong L-eNhance 2"

Seeing: 3 (scala Antoniadi inversa)

RGB 43x300s 121gain / 12 dark /20 flat / 21 darkflat /0 bias sensor +15°C

RGB 5x300s 121gain / 12 dark /20 flat / 21 darkflat /0 bias sensor -5°C

Ha+OIII 13x600s 121gain / 15 dark /21 flat / 21 darkflat /0 bias sensor -5°C

Date: 3-4-21/08/2024

Integration: 6h 10min

Temperature: 21°C (media)

Location for RGB: Maniace (CT) , monti Nebrodi (Sicily-Italy) 890m slm

location for Ha+OIII: Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, GraXpert, SIRIL, PS.

Nella mia vita di astrofilo non ero mai riuscito a dedicare il tempo necessario alla bellissima "Nebulosa Omega".

Questa nebulosa ad emissione, nel cui interno c'è attività di formazione stellare, è nota anche come nebulosa Cigno, nebulosa Ferro di Cavallo, nebulosa Aragosta o con le sigle "M 17" o NGC 6618, e si trova nella grande costellazione del Sagittario.

Grazie alla sua luminosità, al filtro a banda stretta, che ha tagliato buona parte dell'inquinamento luminoso, e all'integrazione generosa il risultato ottenuto è stato per me appagante. Se nell'immagine lineare era visibile soltanto il cuore della M17, lo strecth ha fatto risaltare anche le nebulose ad emissione più deboli che circondano M17. E questo ha evidenziato anche le nebulose oscure che con i loro intrecci tortuosi, insieme alle sfumature e bordi delle nubi Ha, eccitate dalle giovani e calde stelle al loro interno, danno un effetto di profondità a tutta la nebulosa.

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In my life as an amateur astronomer I had never managed to dedicate the necessary time to the beautiful "Omega Nebula".

This emission nebula, in which there is star formation activity, is also known as the Swan Nebula, the Horseshoe Nebula, the Lobster Nebula or by the acronyms "M 17" or NGC 6618, and is located in the large constellation of Sagittarius.

Thanks to its brightness, the narrow band filter, which cut out a good part of the light pollution, and the generous integration, the result obtained was satisfying for me. If in the linear image only the heart of M17 was visible, the stretch also highlighted the fainter emission nebulae surrounding M17. And this also highlighted the dark nebulae that with their tortuous interweavings, together with the shades and edges of the Ha clouds, excited by the young and hot stars inside them, give an effect of depth to the entire nebula.

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Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut

-130x300s 250gain /250gain / 35 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /80 bias

t° sensor: -10°C

Date: 27-30-31/05/2025, 1-2/06/2025

Integration: 10h 50min

Temperature: 16°C (media)

location: Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6)

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert

Stellar magnitude > 18th (GAIA-DR3).

Ho fotografato altre volte la bellissima "Nebulosa Aquila", ma non sono mai riuscito a raggiungere una buona integrazione che mi permettesse di elaborarla efficacemente. Questa volta, grazie al filtro multi banda stretta Optolong L-eNhance ho raggiunto un'integrazione di 13h senza essere assediato dall'Inquinamento luminoso. Il risultato personalmente mi soddisfa molto.

La Nebulosa Aquila, nota anche come "M16", "IC4703" o Regina delle Stelle, vasta e luminosa nebulosa ad emissione HII si trova in mezzo alla Via Lattea nella costellazione della Coda del Serpente e al suo interno ospita l'ammasso aperto di giovani stelle NGC 6611.

E' molto conosciuta per le formazioni singolari al suo interno, fra tutte i ""Pilastri della Creazione"".

Per le sue caratteristiche il FOV inquadrato presenta zone con intensità luminosa non omogenea con il cuore della nebulosa molto luminoso e le zone più esterne molto deboli; quindi ho dovuto trovare un buon compromesso per evidenziare le parti deboli e non bruciare quelle luminose.

Spero di esserci riuscito.

I have photographed the beautiful "Nebulosa Aquila" other times, but I have never managed to achieve a good integration that would allow me to process it effectively. This time, thanks to the Optolong L-eNhance narrow band multi-filter, I have achieved an integration of 13h without being besieged by light pollution. The result personally satisfies me a lot.

The Eagle Nebula, also known as "M16", "IC4703" or Queen of the Stars, a vast and bright HII emission nebula is located in the middle of the Milky Way in the constellation of the Serpent's Tail and within it hosts the open cluster of young stars NGC 6611.

It is well known for the singular formations within it, among all the ""Pillars of Creation"".

Due to its characteristics, the framed FOV presents areas with non-homogeneous light intensity with the heart of the nebula very bright and the outer areas very weak; therefore I had to find a good compromise to highlight the weak parts and not burn the bright ones.

I hope I succeeded.

Google translator

___________________

Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut

-156x300s 250gain /250gain / 35 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /80 bias

t° sensor: -10°C

Date: 5-22-23-25/06/2025

Integration: 13h

Temperature: 21°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6)

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert

Stellar magnitude > 16.5 th (GAIA-DR3).

Dopo la galassia M106 il mio interesse è passato alla bella coppia di galassie "Messier 81", nota anche come M81, NGC 3031 o galassia di Bode, e "Messier 82", nota anche come NGC 3034 , Galassia Sigaro o M82, ed entrambe si trovano nella costellazione dell'Orsa Maggiore. Queste ed altre galassie tra le costellazioni dell'Orsa Maggiore e Giraffa, fanno parte di un folto gruppo di galassie chiamato ""Gruppo M81"". Anche in questo FOV sono presenti circa una dozzina di galassie ma escludendo "NGC 3077" e UGC05247 le altre sono prospetticamente molto piccole.

Speravo di evidenziare maggiori dettagli deboli, ma forse il cielo non proprio trasparente unito all'inquinamenrto luminoso hanno distrutto il segnale più debole.

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After the galaxy M106 my interest moved to the beautiful pair of galaxies "Messier 81", also known as M81, NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy, and "Messier 82", also known as NGC 3034, Cigar Galaxy or M82, and both are located in the constellation of Ursa Major. These and other galaxies between the constellations of Ursa Major and Giraffe, are part of a large group of galaxies called ""Gruppo M81"". Also in this FOV there are about a dozen galaxies but excluding "NGC 3077" and UGC05247 the others are very small in perspective.

I was hoping to highlight more weak details, but perhaps the not very transparent sky combined with light pollution have destroyed the weakest signal.

Google Translate

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Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 4-5 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Astronomik CLS+ SVbony UV-IR cut

-250x180s 250gain /23 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /80 bias (CLS)

t° sensor: -10°C

Date: 17-19-21-25-26/05/2025

Integration: 12h 30min

Temperature: 14°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6)

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert.

Stellar magnitude > 20th (GAIA-DR3).

Anche in questa occasione sono andato alla ricerca di segnale debole. Il DSO è stato la "Nebulosa Girino", indicata anche con la sigla "IC410" dentro la quale si trova l'ammasso aperto "NGC1893" nella costellazione dell'Auriga.

Ho volutamente decentrato la nebulosa per inserire nello stesso FOV il gruppo di stelle che si vedono a sinistra, il cui asterismo ricorda la costellazione della Lira. Così ho potuto anche fotografare i filamenti nebulari molto deboli che circondano la nebulosa principale.

L'uso del filtro a banda stretta, il cielo non sempre buono e l'inquinamento luminoso hanno ridotto il rapporto segnale-rumore (SNR) soprattutto delle nebulosità più deboli, ma mi ritengo comunque molto soddisfatto del risultato ottenuto.

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Also on this occasion I went looking for a weak signal. The DSO was the "Tadpole Nebula", also indicated with the acronym "IC410" within which the open cluster "NGC1893" is located in the constellation of Auriga.

I deliberately decentralized the nebula to include in the same FOV the group of stars that can be seen on the left, whose asterism recalls the constellation of Lyra. In this way I was also able to photograph the very faint nebular filaments that surround the main nebula.

The use of the narrow band filter, the not always good sky and the light pollution have reduced the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) especially of the weaker nebulae, but I am still very satisfied with the result obtained.

Google translator

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Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut

-153x300s 121gain / 26 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /100 bias (L-eNhance 2")

-19x20s 121gain/ 20dark/ 100bias (UV-IR cut) for color of the stars

t° sensor: -10°C

Date: 18+29+30/12/2024, 02+05/01/2025

Integration: 12h 45min

Temperature: 5°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert.

No need to present the most famous nebula in the sky. 33 light-years across, and 1500 light-years away from us, the reflexion and emission gas cloud is one of the deep sky wonders of the winter sky.

Picture data:

60x300s and 22x60s exposures with a TSAPO81Q F4.4 refractor and QHY10 CCD camera. Acquisition with Astroart and PHDGuiding. Processing with Astroart, Photoshop and Registax.

Da tanti anni avrei voluto fotografare questo target e finalmente è arrivata l'occasione giusta, Si tratta della "nebulosa Pacman", indicata in diversi cataloghi con le sigle NGC281, Sh2-184, o LBN616.

E' una nebulosa ad emissione molto carina immersa nella Via Lattea che mostra al suo interno l'ammasso aperto IC1590 e una caratteristica nube oscura frastagliata che la rende molto particolare.

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For many years I wanted to photograph this target and finally the right opportunity has arrived. It is the "Pacman nebula", indicated in various catalogs with the acronyms NGC281, Sh2-184, or LBN616.

It is a very nice emission nebula immersed in the Milky Way that shows inside it the open cluster IC1590 and a characteristic jagged dark cloud that makes it very particular.

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Optic: Rifrattore APO Scopos TL805 80mm/f7 + WO 0.8X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 4 (scala Antoniadi inversa)

Narrowband filter Optolong L-eNhance 2"

BS 91x300s 121gain / 18 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /100 bias sensor -5°C

Date: 30/09/2024 + 01/10/2024

Integration: 7h 35min

Temperature: 19°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, GraXpert, SIRIL, PS.

Lots of StarStuff...

A widefield mosaic of the Sagittarius Trio - M8, M20 and NGC 6559. This is a dense region of stars, interstellar dust clouds, and dark nebulae, reflection nebulae and emission nebulae.

Image Acquisition:

Sequence Generator Pro with the Mosaic and Framing Wizard.

Plate Solving:

Astrometry.net ANSVR Solver via SGP.

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop.

Astrometry Info:

View Annotated Sky Chart for this image.

RA, Dec center: 271.636470386, -23.829939492 degrees

Orientation: 2.08453689517 deg E of N

Pixel scale: 7.63283615011 arcsec/pixel

View this image in World Wide Telescope.

About the Milky Way, and Earth's place within it:

The Milky Way Galaxy is estimated to have over 400 billion stars. Stars are suns, and just like in our Solar System, many of the stars have planets and moons. Our sun is a middle aged Yellow Dwarf star, located in the Orion Arm (or Orion Spur) of the Milky Way Galaxy. It’s a minor side spiral arm, located between two larger arms of the Milky Way Galaxy's spiral. The Milky Way is merely one mid-sized barred spiral Galaxy, amongst over 100 billion other Galaxies in the observable Universe. When we look up at the night sky from Earth, we see a glimpse of the Carina–Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. It takes about 250 million years for the Milky Way Galaxy's spiral arms to complete one rotation.

The size, distance and age of the Universe is far beyond human comprehension. The known Universe is estimated to contain over One Billion Trillion stars (the latest estimates are substantially higher).

Billion Trillion Stars:

1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000

Flickr Explore:

explore-2016-12-22

Martin

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E' incredibile ma vero. Avevo acquistato lo Schmidt-Cassegrain Celestron C8 (203mm f/10) nel 2000 e non lo avevo mai provato per la fotografia Deep-Sky. Neanche dopo aver acquistato il suo riduttore-correttore 0.63x, perchè non solo il suo campo corretto è più piccolo del formato APS-C ma ero anche convinto che la mia HEQ5-pro non fosse in grado di gestirne adeguatamente il peso e la guida. La ASI533MC-P, con il suo sensore da 1" (11.31x11.31mm) mi ha spinto a provare.

Ho iniziato con un target luminoso e quale migliore occasione che ripuntare la nebulosa M16?

Il controllo con la HEQ5 è al limite e alcune volte le oscillazioni per le folate di vento creano problemi. L'autoguida fa quello che può e la turbolenza spesso non mi ha aiutato.Forse un'ottica adattiva potrebbe fare miracoli, ma sono comunque rimasto piacevolmente sorpreso da questo primo rsultato ottenuto. Comunque c'è da dire che è stato un grande vantaggio per me avere sul tetto di casa "l'ossservatorio", che mi ha semplificato molto il processo di acquisizione, composto da 4 sessioni fotografiche.

I Pilastri della Creazione, la Guglia stellare, le nebulose oscure che si stagliano nel vasto tappeto di emissione Ha e i contorni delle nubi di idrogeno: questo spettacolo visto con una focale di 1260mm è stato veramente appagante.

Per i dettagli sulla Nebulosa Aquila vi rimando all'immagine flic.kr/p/2reF7PA

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It's incredible but true. I purchased the Celestron C8 Schmidt-Cassegrain (203mm f/10) in 2000 and had never tried it for deep-sky photography. Not even after purchasing its 0.63x reducer-corrector, because not only is its corrected field smaller than that of an APS-C format, but I was also convinced that my HEQ5-pro wouldn't be able to adequately handle its weight and guiding. The ASI533MC-P, with its 1" sensor (11.31x11.31mm), encouraged me to try.

I started with a bright target, and what better opportunity than to refocus on the M16 nebula?

Control with the HEQ5 is at its limits, and sometimes the oscillations caused by gusts of wind create problems. The autoguider does what it can, and the turbulence often didn't help. Perhaps adaptive optics could work miracles, but I was still pleasantly surprised by this first result. However, it must be said that it was a great advantage for me to have "the observatory" on the roof of my house, which greatly simplified the acquisition process, which consisted of 4 photographic sessions.

The Pillars of Creation, the Stellar Spire, the dark nebulae that stand out in the vast carpet of Ha emission and the outlines of hydrogen clouds: this spectacle seen with a focal length of 1260mm was truly rewarding.

For details on the Eagle Nebula, I refer you to the image flic.kr/p/2reF7PA

Google translation

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Optic: Celestron SC C8 203mm f/10+ Celestron riducer-corrector 0.63X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5-Pro

Seeing: 4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut

-153x180s 250gain/ 25 dark /23 flat / 23 darkflat /80 bias

t° sensor: -5°C

Date: 12-13-14-15/07/2025

Integration: 7h 39m

Temperature: 25°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6)

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert

Dopo aver fotografato la Nebulosa Velo Orientale era opportuno dedicarsi anche alla Velo Occidentale(NGC6960, Sh2-103) che si trova a ridosso di altre nebuose, la più nota chiamata Triangolo di Pickering, che la dividono dalla parte orientale.

Tutti questi componenti che compongono la famosa Nebulosa Velo o Anello del Cigno sono ciò che rimane dell'esplosione di una supernova avvenuta crca 10.000-20.000 anni fa.

Questa nebulosa diffusa, tuttora in espansione, ricchissima di Ha, OIII e S è molto vasta e per fotografarla nel suo insieme occorrono corte focali, ma focali più lunghe permettono di evienziarne gli intrecci e filamenti che la compongono anche se si è costretti, in base alle dimensioni del sensore fotografico, ad inquadrarne solo una parte .

Infatti questa è un mosaico composto da 2 pannelli: a sinistra il Triangolo di Pickering e le nebulose NGC6974 e NGC6979 mentre a destra la NGC6960 sulla quale spicca la stella 52Cyg.

Anche se la Nebulosa Velo è abbastanza luminosa, acquisendo in banda stretta occorrono più sessioni per registrare un discreto segnale; quindi più notti, diversa trasparenza, diverso seeing. E Alla fine non sempre è facile comporre un mosaico: gradienti diversi da inquinamento luminoso, segnale diverso ecc.

Ho cercato con le mie modeste capacità e conoscenze di equilibrare luminosità e colore tra i 2 pannelli e successivamente di estrarre dal fondo cielo anche le nebulosità più tenui. Sono molto soddisfatto del risultato ottenuto e lo dedico al mio caro amico astrofilo e maestro di elaborazione Piero Lavoratti di Pistoia (www.aavapieri.org/piero/ciao.htm) che in questo mese ha compiuto 90 anni: auguri Piero!!!

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After photographing the Eastern Veil Nebula, it was appropriate to also focus on the Western Veil Nebula (NGC6960, Sh2-103), which is located close to other nebulae, the most famous of which is called Pickering's Triangle, which separate it from the eastern part.

All these components that make up the famous Veil Nebula or Cygnus Loop are the remains of a supernova explosion that occurred approximately 10,000-20,000 years ago.

This diffuse nebula, still expanding, rich in Ha, OIII, and S, is very large. Photographing it as a whole requires short focal lengths, but longer focal lengths allow you to highlight its interweavings and filaments, even if you're limited to capturing only a portion of it, depending on the size of your camera sensor.

In fact, this is a mosaic composed of two panels: on the left, Pickering's Triangle and the nebulae NGC6974 and NGC6979, and on the right, NGC6960, which features the star 52Cyg.

Although the Veil Nebula is quite bright, acquiring in narrowband requires multiple sessions to record a decent signal; therefore, multiple nights, different transparency, different seeing. And ultimately, it's not always easy to compose a mosaic: different gradients from light pollution, different signals, etc.

I tried, with my modest skills and knowledge, to balance brightness and color between the two panels and then extract even the faintest nebulosity from the background sky.I am very satisfied with the result obtained and I dedicate it to my dear friend, amateur astronomer and processing master Piero Lavoratti from Pistoia (www.aavapieri.org/piero/ciao.htm), who turned 90 this month: happy birthday Piero!!!

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Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 3-4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut

panel1 (NGC6979) -129x300s 250gain/ 35dark /21flat / 21darkflat /80 bias

Integration: 10h 45m

Date: 2025-09-06,15,16

panel2 (NGC6960) -105x300s 250gain/ 35dark /21flat / 21darkflat /80 bias

Integration: 8h 45m

Date: 2025-09-19,21

t° sensor: -5°C

Total integration: 19h 30m

Temperature: 20°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6)

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL 1.4, PS, GraXpert

The Lagoon Nebula (M8, Messier 8 or NGC 6523), is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. M8 is estimated to be between 4000 - 6000 light-years from Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy, and is classified as an emission nebula.

About this image:

Imaged in three key wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum of light (Hydrogen-Alpha, Sulfur-II and Oxygen-III), over a few nights (due to poor Astronomical seeing conditions, as a result of a very strong jet stream).

About Emission nebulae:

Emission nebulae are glowing clouds of interstellar gas which have been excited by some nearby energy source, usually a very hot star. The red light seen in this picture is glowing Hydrogen captured in the Hydrogen-Alpha (Hα) Infrared wavelength of light at 656nm. The blue light is from doubly ionized Oxygen ions (O2+) emitting at a wavelength of 500.7nm.

Gear:

William Optics Star 71mm f/4.9 Imaging APO Refractor Telescope.

William Optics 50mm Finder Scope.

Celestron SkySync GPS Accessory.

Orion Mini 50mm Guide Scope.

Orion StarShoot Autoguider.

Celestron AVX Mount.

QHYCCD PoleMaster.

Celestron StarSense.

MBox USB Meteostation.

RoboFocus RF3 Focuser.

Optolong 6.5nm & 7nm SHO Narrowband filters

QHYCFW2-M-US Filterwheel (7 position x 36mm).

QHY163M Cooled CMOS Monochrome Astronomy Camera.

Tech:

Guiding in Open PHD 2.6.3.

Image acquisition in Sequence Generator Pro.

Lights/Subs:

QHY Sensor Sensitivity:

Gain: 120

Offset: 60

Imaged at -25°C

2 Stage CMOS Cooling

Narrowband Acquisition time:

S = 32 x 300 sec. 16bit FITS.

H = 38 x 300 sec. 16bit FITS.

O = 38 x 300 sec. 16bit FITS.

9 hours of SHO data.

Calibration Frames:

50 x Bias/Offset.

25 x Darks.

20 x Flats & Dark Flats.

Image Acquisition Software:

Sequence Generator Pro with the Mosaic and Framing Wizard.

Plate Solving:

Astrometry.net ANSVR Solver via SGP.

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop.

Wavelengths of light:

Optolong SHO Narrowband filters:

OIII line 500.7nm (6.5nm bandwidth)

H-Alpha line 656nm (7nm bandwidth)

SII line 672nm (6.5nm bandwidth)

PixInsight Channel combination PixelMath:

R = (0.5*SII)+(0.5*Ha)

G = (0.2*Ha)+(0.8*OIII)

B = OIII

Additional Ha+SII Layering in Photoshop.

Astrometry Info:

Annotated Sky Chart for this image.

Center RA, Dec: 271.027, -24.321

Center RA, hms:18h 04m 06.473s

Center Dec, dms: -24° 19' 16.595"

Size: 56.1 x 41.6 arcmin

Radius:0.582 deg

Pixel scale: 2.11 arcsec/pixel

Orientation:Up is 178 degrees E of N

View this image in the WorldWideTelescope.

Sky Conditions:

Unihedron Sky Quality Meter:

SQM-L Reading: 19.17 (Average Value)

Ambient Temperature: 11°C - 16°C

Meteoblue Astronomical Seeing:

Mostly Clear Skies

Relative Humidity = 54% - 65%

Seeing:

Arc Sec = 5

Index 1 = 5

Index 2 = 4

Jet Stream = 45 - 55 m/s (high)

Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent - Maximum 38%

Photo usage and Copyright:

Medium-resolution photograph licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Terms (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). For High-resolution Royalty Free (RF) licensing, contact me via my site: Contact.

Martin

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Non fotografavo dal 2013 questa bella galassia a spirale, chiamata anche galassia del Triangolo (M33, NGC598) it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galassia_del_Triangolo , ricca di nebulose . Adesso con l nuovo setup era giusto riprovarci.

L'occasione propizia è stato lo Star Party del Gruppo Astrofili Catanesi astrofilicatanesi.net/ (02-04/08/2024)

La prima notte con un cielo discreto, purtroppo ho acquisito (non so cosa sia successo) senza raffreddare il sensore della ASI533MC-pro (circa 15°C). Speravo nella seconda notte ma a causa delle nuvole ho acquisito solo 17 frame.

Ciò malgrado l'immagine combinata era abbastanza buona ma scarsa di informazioni H-alfa. Ho deciso allora di riprendere da casa un pò di segnale in banda stretta per aggiungerlo all'immagine RGB.

_________________

I hadn't photographed this beautiful spiral galaxy, also called the Triangulum Galaxy (M33, NGC598) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulum_Galaxy, rich in nebulae since 2013. Now with the new setup it was right to try again.

The right occasion was the Star Party of the Gruppo Astrofili Catanesi astrofilicatanesi.net/ (02-04/08/2024)

The first night with a decent sky, unfortunately I acquired (I don't know what happened) without cooling the sensor of the ASI533MC-pro (about 15°C). I was hoping for the second night but due to the clouds I only acquired 17 frames.

Nevertheless, the combined image was quite good but lacking in H-alpha information. I then decided to take some narrow band signal from home to add it to the RGB image.

_______

Optic: Refractor APO Scopos TL805 80mm/f7 + WO 0.8X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Narrowband filter Optolong L-eNhance 2"

Seeing: 3 (scala Antoniadi inversa)

RGB 15x300s 121gain / 12 dark /21 flat / 21 darkflat /0 bias sensor +15°C

RGB 17x300s 121gain / 12 dark /21 flat / 21 darkflat /0 bias sensor -5°C

Ha+OIII 9x600s 121gain / 15 dark /21 flat / 21 darkflat /0 bias sensor -5°C

Date: 3-4-25/08/2024

Integration: 4h 10min

Temperature: 21°C (media)

Location: Maniace (CT) , monti Nebrodi (Sicily-Italy) 890m asl

acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding;

Processing: DSS, GraXpert, SIRIL, PS.

Continua la mia esperienza in Banda Stretta (BS) aquisendo dalla città in cui vivo e dove molti anni fà ho autocostruito un piccolo " osservatorio privato".

Questa volta la mia ettenzione si è rivolta alla grande nebulosa emissione "Sh2-171" indicata anche con la sigla "Ced 214".

Le 3 sessioni sono state con un cielo quasi sempre trasparente e questo mi ha permesso di avere un discreto segnale.

Non ho ancora molta esperienza con i nuovi software di elaborazione post-produzione, ma mi ritengo abbastanza soddisfatto del risultato e della profondità raggiunti.

________

My experience in Narrow Band (NB) continues by acquiring from the city where I live and where many years ago I self-built a small " private observatory".

This time my attention was focused on the large emission nebula "Sh2-171" also indicated with the acronym "Ced 214".

The 3 sessions were with an almost always transparent sky and this allowed me to have a decent signal.

I still don't have much experience with the new post-production processing software, but I am quite satisfied with the result and depth achieved.

(translated by Google)

____

Optic: Rifrattore APO Scopos TL805 80mm/f7 + WO 0.8X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 3 (scala Antoniadi inversa)

Narrowband filter: Optolong L-eNhance 2"

BS 87x300s 121gain / 12 dark /21 flat / 13 darkflat /100 bias

t° sensor: -5°C

Date: 26-27-29/09/2024

Integration: 7h 15min

Temperature: 18°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, GraXpert, SIRIL, PS.

Dopo le versioni del 2010 utilizzando la canon 350D e la più recente del 2024 ho voluto dedicarmi nuovamente alla bellissima e grande "Nebulosa Nord America" (NGC7000) ma stavolta ripresa interamente in banda stretta Ha+Hb+OIII. E con il mio setup astrofotografico ho dovuto realizzare un mosaico con 2 pannelli.

Devo ammettere purtroppo che elaborare un mosaico fotografando da zone con un discreto Inquinamento Luminoso (IL) non è molto semplice a causa di diversi gradienti presenti in ogni pannello. Ho utilizzato le mie modeste conoscenze di Photoshop (PS) dopo una prima preelaborazione con la quale ho eliminato i gradienti da IL.

Ho scelto la composizione HHOO dopo aver estratto i 2 canali Ha e OIII attraverso uno script di SIRIL 1.4. L'immagine master compositata si presentava tipicamente e uniformemente con una tonalità rossa, ma con PS sono riuscito ad evidenziare il verde-ciano dell'OIII. Questa separazione dei colori ha creato un effetto 3D: spiccano infatti meglio sul fondo ciano non solo le nebulose oscure ma ancor più le nebulose rosse Ha. Dopo le dovute e personali rifiniture estetiche, sono rimasto piacevolmente sorpreso del risultato ottenuto. Spero lo stesso anche voi.

___________

After the 2010 versions using the Canon 350D and the more recent 2024, I wanted to focus again on the beautiful and large "North America nebula" (NGC7000), but this time imaged entirely in the narrowband Ha+Hb+OIII. And with my astrophotography setup, I had to create a mosaic with two panels.

Unfortunately, I must admit that processing a mosaic photographing from areas with a fair amount of Light Pollution (LP) is not very easy due to the different gradients present in each panel. I used my modest knowledge of Photoshop (PS) after an initial preprocessing that eliminated the LP gradients.

I chose the HHOO composition after extracting the two channels, Ha and OIII, using a SIRIL 1.4 script. The composited master image typically had a uniform red hue, but with PS I was able to highlight the green-cyan of the OIII. This color separation created a 3D effect: not only the dark nebulae stand out better against the cyan background, but even more so the red Ha nebulae. After the necessary and personal aesthetic finishing touches, I was pleasantly surprised by the result. I hope you are too.

Google Translate

_______________

Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 3-4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut

panel1: 101x300s 250gain/ 35dark /34flat /80 bias

Integration: 8h 25m

panel2: 98x300s 250gain/ 35dark /34flat /80 bias

Integration: 8h 10m

Date: 2025-10-04, 17, 24, 25

t° sensor: -10°C

Total integration: 16h 35m

Temperature: 15°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6) flic.kr/p/8AWHek

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL 1.4, PS, GraXpert

Best viewed LARGE.

Click on the image to Zoom In & Out on the Bubble Nebula. The "Bubble" is tagged in the image.

A widefield LRGB and SHO (SII+Ha+OIII) Narrowband image of the Bubble and Lobster Claw Nebula. The Bubble Nebula is also know as NGC 7635, Sharpless 162, or Caldwell 11 (a H II region emission nebula) in the constellation Cassiopeia. It lies close to the open star cluster Messier 52.

Also take a look at a closer view of the Bubble Nebula.

The "bubble" is created by the stellar wind from a massive hot, 8.7 magnitude young central star, SAO 20575 (BD+60°2522). 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.

The Lobster Claw Nebula (Sharpless 157), is a bright emission nebula, and is clearly visible at the bottom right.

Gear:

William Optics Star 71mm f/4.9 Imaging APO Refractor Telescope.

William Optics 50mm Finder Scope.

Celestron SkySync GPS Accessory.

Orion Mini 50mm Guide Scope.

Orion StarShoot Autoguider.

Celestron AVX Mount.

QHYCCD PoleMaster.

Celestron StarSense.

Aurora Flatfield Panel.

Optolong 36mm L-Pro, LRGB & SHO filters.

QHYCFW2-M-US Filterwheel (7 position x 36mm).

QHY163M Cooled CMOS Monochrome Astronomy Camera.

Tech:

Guiding in Open PHD 2.6.3.

Image acquisition in Sequence Generator Pro.

Image Acquisition:

Sequence Generator Pro with the Framing Wizard.

Plate Solving:

Astrometry.net ANSVR Solver via SGP.

Photographed in the following wavelengths of light:

Imaged over several sessions in LRGB & SHO.

OIII line 500.7nm (6.5nm bandwidth)

H-alpha line 656nm (7nm bandwidth)

SII line 672nm (6.5nm bandwidth)

Enhanced emission lines:

OIII (496, 500nm)

H-beta (486nm)

NII (654, 658nm)

H-alpha (656nm)

SII (672nm)

Infrared cut-off at 700-1100nm

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop.

Astrometry Info:

View an Annotated Sky Chart for this image.

Center RA, Dec:349.675, 60.791

Center RA, hms:23h 18m 42.072s

Center Dec, dms:+60° 47' 28.518"

Size: 2.07 x 2.36 deg

Radius: 1.571 deg

Pixel scale: 4.14 arcsec/pixel

Orientation: Up is 358 degrees E of N

View this image in the World Wide Telescope.

Flickr Explore:

2017-09-09

Martin

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A widefield image of the Andromeda Galaxy, also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224.

M31 a large Spiral Galaxy approximately 2.5 million light-years from Earth. It is the nearest major Galaxy to the Milky Way, in the constellation of Andromeda. At approximately 220,000 light years across, it is the largest galaxy of the Local Group, which also contains the Milky Way, the Triangulum Galaxy, and about 44 other smaller Galaxies.

Photographed in the rural dark skies of the Waterberg, Limpopo, South Africa.

Gear:

William Optics Star 71mm f/4.9 Imaging APO Refractor.

William Optics 50mm Finder Scope.

Celestron SkySync GPS Accessory.

Orion Mini 50mm Guide Scope.

Orion StarShoot Autoguider.

Celestron AVX Mount.

QHYCCD PoleMaster.

Celestron StarSense.

Canon 60Da DSLR.

Astronomik Clip-In CLS Light Pollution Filter.

Tech:

Guiding in Open PHD 2.6.2.

Image acquisition in Sequence Generator Pro.

Lights/Subs:

18 x 180 sec. ISO 3200 CFA FIT (FITS).

Calibration Frames:

40 x Bias/Offset.

25 x Darks.

18 x Flats & Dark Flats.

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop.

Astrometry Info:

Annotated Sky Chart for this image.

RA, Dec center: 10.7378305835, 41.2789774153 degrees

Orientation: 2.07712528532 deg E of N

Pixel scale: 7.65066770001 arcsec/pixel

View this image in the interactive World Wide Telescope.

Martin

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The Carina Nebula (also known as the Grand Nebula, Great Nebula in Carina, or Eta Carinae Nebula) is the closest giant star-forming region to our Solar System, in the Carina-Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy (7 500 light years from Earth). It is situated in the Southern Hemisphere Constellation Carina (The Keel).

The Carina Nebula is one of the largest Diffuse Nebulae in our skies, and contains at least two stars with a combined luminosity over five million times that of the Sun. The star Eta Carinae is at least a hundred times more massive than our star (the Sun), and is a candidate for a Supernova.

Photographed in the rural dark skies of the Waterberg, Limpopo, South Africa.

Gear:

William Optics Star 71mm f/4.9 Imaging APO Refractor.

William Optics 50mm Finder Scope.

Celestron SkySync GPS Accessory.

Orion Mini 50mm Guide Scope.

Orion StarShoot Autoguider.

Celestron AVX Mount.

QHYCCD PoleMaster.

Celestron StarSense.

Canon 60Da DSLR.

Astronomik Clip-In CLS Light Pollution Filter.

Baader H-alpha 7nm Narrowband Filter.

Baader OIII 8.5nm Narrowband Filter.

Tech:

Guiding in Open PHD 2.6.2.

Image acquisition in Sequence Generator Pro.

Lights/Subs:

14 x 30 sec. ISO 1600 CLS RGB (CFA FITS)

14 x 180 sec. ISO 1600 Ha (CFA FITS)

12 x 300 sec. ISO 1600 OIII (CFA FITS)

Calibration Frames:

40 x Bias/Offset.

25 x Darks.

20 x Flats & Dark Flats.

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop.

Amateur Astronomy Picture of the Day:

AAPOD - 2017-05-14

Astrometry Info:

View Annotated Sky Chart for this image.

RA, Dec center: 161.076234347, -59.8538345716 degrees

Orientation: 1.76761322817 deg E of N

Pixel scale: 6.5527307987 arcsec/pixel

View this image in the World Wide Telescope.

Martin

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Era giunto il momento di provare ad acquisire ed elaborare foto astronomiche solo in Banda Stretta (BS). E per chi non lo sapesse questa scelta è dettata dal fatto che nelle zone con Inquinamento Luminoso (IL), soprattutto ultimamente con l'illuminazione a Led, è praticamente quasi impossibile fare fotografia Deep-Sky. Quindi gli astrofili ripiegano utilizzando filtri per fotografare oggetti celesti che emettono su una gamma di lunghezze d'onda specifica (H-alfa, H-beta, OIII, SII) come le nebulose ad emissione. Negli ultimi anni sono stati sviluppati filtri dual, tri e quad-band sempre più selettivi.

Per contro però al sensore arriva poco segnale quindi spesso i tempi di posa si debbono alzare come pure il numero di pose.

Inoltre l'immagine risultante presenta un certo sbilanciamento dei colori soprattutto le stelle.

Non è facile trovare un buon compromesso.

Eppure sarà stata la "fortuna del principiante", questa prova mi ha soddisfatto per il risultato raggiunto. Forse la luminosità dell'oggetto fotografato ha contribuito.

Si tratta della bellissima nebulosa ad emissione IC5070, detta

"Pellicano", acquisita con filtro Optolong L-eNhance (tri-band: H-alfa, H-beta e OIII).

L'immagine combinata in modalità RGB presentava la nebulosa con una dominante uniformemente rosso-arancio, che soffocava l'eventuale presenza di OIII (tipicamente blu-grigio). Poi, informandomi con altri astrofili e viaggiando sul web ho provato con SIRIL l'estrapolazione dei canali Ha e OIII e successivamente ho ricomposto in modalità RGB rispettivamente i canali HOO. Così facendo sono riuscito ad evidenziare entrambi i gas tra i quali si intrappolano molte nebulose oscure spettacolari.

________________

The time had come to try to acquire and process astronomical photos only in Narrow Band (NB). And for those who do not know, this choice is dictated by the fact that in areas with Light Pollution (LP) especially lately with LED lighting it is practically almost impossible to do Deep-Sky photography. So amateur astronomers fall back on using filters to photograph celestial objects that emit on a specific range of wavelengths (H-alpha, H-beta, OIII, SII) such as emission nebulae. In recent years, increasingly selective dual, tri and quad-band filters have been developed.

On the other hand, however, little signal reaches the sensor so often the exposure times must be increased as well as the number of exposures.

Furthermore, the resulting image presents a certain imbalance of colors especially the stars.

It is not easy to find a good compromise.

Yet it must have been "beginner's luck", this test satisfied me for the result achieved. Perhaps the brightness of the photographed object contributed.

This is the beautiful emission nebula IC5070, called "Pelican",

acquired with an Optolong L-eNhance filter (tri-band: H-alpha, H-beta and OIII).

The image combined in RGB mode presented the nebula with a uniformly red-orange dominant, which suffocated the possible presence of OIII (typically blue-gray). Then, by informing myself with other amateur astronomers and by traveling on the web, I tried with SIRIL the extrapolation of the Ha and OIII channels and subsequently I recomposed in RGB mode the HOO channels respectively. By doing this I was able to highlight both gases between which many spectacular dark nebulae are trapped.

(translated by Google)

___________

Optic: Rifrattore APO Scopos TL805 80mm/f7 + WO 0.8X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 3 (scala Antoniadi inversa)

Narrowband filter Optolong L-eNhance 2"

BS 37x600s 121gain / 15 dark /21 flat / 13 darkflat /0 bias sensor -5°C

BS 41x300s 121gain / 12 dark /21 flat / 13 darkflat /0 bias sensor -5°C

Date: 25-27-30/08/2024, 02/09/2024

Integration: 9h 35min

Temperature: 20°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, GraXpert, SIRIL, PS.

Buon Natale!

Che meraviglia questa zona di cielo nella costellazione di Orione!!!

Quanta materia, quante nebulose ad emissione e riflessione, quante nebulose oscure: Bellissima!!!

E' un vero peccato che i nostri occhi non hanno la sensibilità per poterla ammirare.

La Nebulosa Testa di Cavallo(comprendente le nebulose IC434, B33) e la Nebulosa Fiamma (catalogata con la sigla NGC2024) fanno parte del Complesso di Orione, una grande nube molecolare distante 1500-1600 a.l.. In questa immagine sono osservabili altri oggetti Deep Sky tra i quali le nebulose LBN944, IC431, IC432, IC435, LBN946, LBN958, LBN953, LBN954, NGC2023.

Ero curioso di vedere cosa sarei riuscito a scorgere con il mio ultimo setup astrofotografico. Acquisire da una città Bortle (5-6) e sotto un cielo non sempre con buona trasparenza e buon seeing non è il massimo anche se si utilizzano filtri a multi banda stretta, ma l'integrazione di 8h e 45min mi hanno permesso di raggiungere questo risultato che a me piace molto.

Ho provato molti metodi di combinazione con l'app Deep Sky Stacker (DSS), che ormai uso da tantissimi anni, ma ognuno era carente in qualcosa. Mi è venuta allora l'idea di provare a combinare i masterlights sempre con DSS e sorprendentemente con il metodo "Media soppesata autoadattiva" ho ottenuto un masterlight finale migliore.

Gestire la stella Alnitak non è stato facile a causa della sua luminosità e conseguentemente agli aloni provocati dalle 4 lenti del seppur ottimo riduttore 0.6X.

Colgo l'occasione qui per augurare a tutti voi Buon Natale e un Felice Anno Nuovo. Cieli sereni!

________

Merry Christmas!

This patch of sky in the constellation of Orion is marvelous!!!

So much matter, so many emission and reflection nebulae, so many dark nebulae: truly beautiful!!!

It's a real shame that our eyes aren't sensitive enough to admire it.

The Horsehead Nebula (including the nebulae IC434, B33) and the Flame Nebula (cataloged with the acronym NGC2024) are part of the Orion Complex, a large molecular cloud 1500-1600 light years away. Other deep-sky objects can be observed in this image, including the nebulae LBN944, IC431, IC432, IC435, LBN946, LBN958, LBN953, LBN954, NGC2023.

I was curious to see what I could see with my latest astrophotography setup. Acquiring from a Bortle city (5-6) and under a sky that isn't always transparent and seeing well isn't ideal, even when using narrow-band multi-filters, but the 8h 45min integration allowed me to achieve this result, which I really like.

I tried many combination methods with the Deep Sky Stacker (DSS) app, which I've been using for many years, but each one was lacking in some way. Then I came up with the idea of combining the masterlights again with DSS, and surprisingly, with the "Self-adaptive weighted averaging" method, I obtained a better final masterlight.

Managing the star Alnitak was not easy due to its brightness and consequently to the halos caused by the 4 lenses of the excellent 0.6X reducer.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Clear skies!

___________

Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut

-105x300s 250gain/ 35dark /27flat /80 bias

t° sensor: -10°C

Date: 2025-11-19, 30 +2025-12-09

Integration: 8h 45m

Temperature: 12°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6) flic.kr/p/8AWHek

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL 1.4, PS, GraXpert

Le condizioni meteo, nel periodo autunno-inverno non sono favorevoli per l'astrofotografia, soprattutto quando si è costretti ad acquisire tante ore di integrazione.

Mi ero dedicato alla "Nebulosa Mago"

(Sh2-142) associata all'ammasso aperto "NGC7380", ma non ho avuto la possibilità di acquisire le tante ore necessarie quando si utilizzano filtri a banda stretta.

Questa volta però ho pensato di unire insieme anche l'acquisizione fatta il mese precedente con un altro telescopio (Scopos TL805). Forse non ho aggiunto dettagli ma un pò di SNR l'ho guadagnato, ottenendo un'immagine gradevole e recuperando un discreto segnale debole Ha.

__________

The weather conditions in the autumn-winter period are not favourable for astrophotography, especially when you are forced to acquire many hours of integration.

I had dedicated myself to "Wizard Nebula"

(Sh2-142) associated with the open cluster "NGC7380", but I did not have the opportunity to acquire the many hours necessary when using narrow-band filters.

This time, however, I thought of combining the acquisition made the previous month with another telescope (Scopos TL805). Maybe I did not add details but I gained a bit of SNR, obtaining a pleasant image and recovering a fairly weak signal Ha.

______________

Optics: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X and Scopos TL805+0.8X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2"

-85x300s 121gain /26 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /100 bias (with Scopos TL805+0.8X)

-69x300s 121gain /26 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /100 bias (with Askar 103APO)

t° sensor: -10°C

Date: 29/10/2024, 03+16/11/2024, 10+16/12/2024

Integration: 12h 50min

Temperature: 6°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert.

Questa bella e interessante nebulosa nella costellazione dell'Auriga si è dimostrata abbastanza debole e di difficile elaborazione. Infatti speravo di aumentare l'integrazione per migliorarne il segnale, ma dai primi giorni di Febbraio ad oggi praticamente non ci sono state serate serene: sempre molto nuvolose o coperte. Quindi mi sono dovuto accontentare delle 7 ore di integrazione.

la Nebulosa "IC405", nota anche con la sigla C31 e denominata "Flaming Star nebula" ( nebulosa Stella Fiammeggiante) ha una particolarità dovuta alla sua stella principale di +6^ magnitudine ( "AE Aurigae") che con le sue radiazioni la illumina. "AE Aurigae" non si è formata all'interno della nebulosa IC405 ma è una stella "fuggitiva" formatasi presso la nebulosa di Orione circa 2-3 milioni di anni fà e, a causa di interazioni gravitazionali, è stata sospinta via disperdendosi in direziione della nebulosa che sta attaversando ad alta velocità.

____________

This beautiful and interesting nebula in the constellation of Auriga has proven to be quite faint and difficult to process. In fact, I was hoping to increase the integration to improve the signal, but from the first days of February to today there have been practically no clear evenings: always very cloudy or overcast. So I had to settle for 7 hours of integration. The Nebula "IC405", also known by the acronym C31 and called "Flaming Star nebula" (Flaming Star nebula) has a peculiarity due to its main star of +6th magnitude ( "AE Aurigae") which illuminates it with its radiation. "AE Aurigae" was not formed inside the IC405 nebula but is a "runaway" star formed near the Orion Nebula about 2-3 million years ago and, due to gravitational interactions, was pushed away dispersing in the direction of the nebula that it is crossing at high speed.

Google translator

_________________

Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 4-5 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut

-142x180s 250gain /23 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /80 bias (L-eNhance 2")

-18x20s 121gain/ 20 dark/ 80 bias (UV-IR cut) for color of the stars

t° sensor: -10°C

Date: 26+27/01/2025, 03/02/2025

Integration: 7h 6min

Temperature: 5°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6)

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert.

Continuano i miei studi e prove elaborative con i nuovi software e tool adesso disponibili anche in versione "open source".

Contrariamente alla convinzione comune che con le nuove camere astrofotografiche conviene acquisire con il guagagno unitario (che per la mia ASI533MC-P=100g), ho letto che in determinate condizioni, per esempio in caso di utilizzo di filtri a banda stretta, è invece consigliato utilizzare gain più alti. Quindi ho deciso di provare i 250gain. Il miglioramento del rapporto segnale-rumore è stato significativo quindi mi sono potuto permettere di forzare un pò la mano sull'elaborazione estetica post-produzione.

Ho appurato anche che l'immagine grezza con con un buon segnale risponde meglio a taluni tool elaborativi. Ho trovato molto interessante e ben progettata l'app GraXpert 3.1.0cr2 (beta). Questa versione ha integrato un nuovo tool di deconvoluzione separato DSO e stelle, oltre a quelli per la riduzione dei gradienti e rumore molto efficaci. Mi complimento con colui o coloro che hanno progettato questo software. E grazie anche a GraXpert ho raggiunto qst risultato che mi soddisfa molto.

In questa immagine è catturata la famosa e vastissima nebulosa ad emissione HII, chiamata "Rosetta" ed indicata con la sigla "NGC2237". Ci sono altri molteplici oggetti Deep Sky: l'ammasso aperto al suo interno "NGC2244", altre nebulose interne alla Rosetta come NGC2238, NGC2239, NGC2246, LBN943

e nebulose oscure di svariate forme, come gli interessanti "Globuli di Bok". Non trovate affascinanti i colori delle nubi O3 immerse e circondate da quelle Ha?

______________________

I continue my studies and processing tests with the new software and tools now also available in "open source" version.

Contrary to the common belief that with the new astrophotography cameras it is better to acquire with the unit gain (which for my ASI533MC-P = 100g), I read that in certain conditions, for example in case of using narrow band filters, it is instead recommended to use higher gains. So I decided to try the 250gain. The improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio was significant so I was able to force my hand a bit on the post-production aesthetic processing.

I also found that the raw image with a good signal responds better to certain processing tools. I found the GraXpert 3.1.0cr2 (beta) app very interesting and well designed. This version has integrated a new separate DSO and star deconvolution tool, in addition to those for the reduction of gradients and very effective noise. I congratulate the person or persons who designed this software. And thanks also to GraXpert I achieved this result that satisfies me a lot.

In this image the famous and vast HII emission nebula is captured, called "Rosetta" and indicated with the acronym "NGC2237". There are several other Deep Sky objects: the open cluster inside it "NGC2244", other nebulae inside the Rosetta such as NGC2238, NGC2239, NGC2246, LBN943 and dark nebulae of various shapes, such as the interesting "Bok Globules". Don't you find the colors of the O3 clouds immersed and surrounded by the Ha ones fascinating?

_____________

Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 4-5 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut

-103x300s 250gain / 35 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /80 bias (L-eNhance 2")

-38x15s 121gain/ 21 dark/ 80 bias (UV-IR cut) for color of the stars

t° sensor: -10°C

Date: 08+24/01/2025

Integration: 8h 35min

Temperature: 7°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert.

Da qualche anno pensavo di cambiare il rifrattore Scopos TL805, compagno di tante avventure sotto cieli stellati; quindi dopo tanti dubbi, rinvii e prediligendo un telescopio con un rapporto focale il più basso possibile, visto che l'Inquinamento luminoso spesso mi costringe ad utilizare filtri a banda stretta, la mia scelta è caduta sul tripletto apocromatico Askar 103APO con il suo riduttore 0.6X.

E la sua prima luce nel mese di dicembre non poteva che essere la "Grande nebulosa di Orione" nota anche come "M42" . Con il rapporto focale f/4 è stato bello riuscire e scorgere anche le nubi interstellari più deboli. Mi ritengo molto soddisfatto di questo primo risultato e mi auguro il primo di una lunga serie.

Buon Natale a tutti.

___________

For some years I had been thinking about changing the Scopos TL805 refractor, companion of many adventures under starry skies; so after many doubts, postponements and preferring a telescope with a focal ratio as low as possible, given that light pollution often forces me to use narrow-band filters, my choice fell on the Askar 103APO apochromatic triplet with its 0.6X reducer.

And its first light in December could only be the "Great Orion Nebula" also known as "M42" . With the focal ratio f/4 it was nice to be able to see even the faintest interstellar clouds. I am very satisfied with this first result and I hope for the first of a long series.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Google translator

______________

Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 3-4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2"

-104x180s 121gain / 35 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /100 bias

-18x30s 121gain / 20 dark /100 bias

t° sensor: -10°C

Date: 10+16/12/2024

Integration: 5h 12min

Temperature: 7°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6)

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert.

Questa è una bellissima zona della Via lattea nella costellazione di Cassiopea ai confini con quella del Cefeo. L'immagine ritrae la famosa "Nebulosa Bolla", indicata con le sigle "NGC7635", C11, LBN548, Sh2-162. Nei suoi dintorni insieme al noto ammasso aperto "M52 (NGC7654)", con il suo vicino prospettico MWSC 3726 (da the Milky Way Star Cluster catalog), spiccano altre nebulose ad emissione Ha, come "NGC7538", Sh2-159, Sh2-161, e nebulose oscure come LDN1231, LDN1232, LDN1225.(vedi note sull'immagine)

Probabilmente il 5h e 45 min di integrazione in banda stretta non sono tante (meglio sarebbe stato integrare 12-15h), ma in questo periodo dell'anno ci vorrebbero anche mesi.

Ciò malgrado, il rapporto focale f/4 mi ha dato la possibilità di estrapolare dicreto segnale debole senza portarmi dietro troppo rumore.

_____________________

This is a beautiful area of ​​the Milky Way in the constellation of Cassiopeia on the border with Cepheus. The image depicts the famous "Bubble Nebula", indicated with the acronyms "NGC7635", C11, LBN548, Sh2-162. In its surroundings together with the well-known open cluster "M52 (NGC7654)", with its prospective neighbor MWSC 3726 (from the Milky Way Star Cluster catalog), other Ha emission nebulae stand out, such as "NGC7538", Sh2-159, Sh2-161, and dark nebulae such as LDN1231, LDN1232, LDN1225. (see notes on the image)

Probably the 5h and 45 min of narrow band integration is not much (it would have been better to integrate 12-15h), but in this period of the year (winter) it would take even months.

Nevertheless, the f/4 focal ratio gave me the ability to extract a decent amount of weak signal without carrying too much noise.

Google translator

______________

Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2"

-69x300s 121gain / 26 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /100 bias

t° sensor: -10°C

Date: 18/12/2024, 02+05/01/2025

Integration: 5h 45min

Temperature: 5°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert.

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Horsehead and flame

18x10mn with canon 1000d sw80ed heq5

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Canon EOS 60D and TS APO 804 Triplet on a HEQ5 unguided mount.

ENG: The Great Cluster in Hercules, also known as M13 or NGC6025, is one of the brightest deep sky objects of boreal hemisphere. It's 24.000 light years away from us and it has a diameter of about 150 light years. Hundreds of thousands of stars reside inside of it.

Like the others globular clusters it rotates around a galactic core and it's estimated that it has an age of 12-14 billion of years.

ITA: Il Grande ammasso globulare di Ercole, conosciuto anche come M13 o NGC6025, è uno degli oggetti celesti più luminosi dell'emisfero boreale. Distante da noi 24000 anni luce, ha una dimensione di circa 150 anni luce e contiene centinaia di migliaia di stelle.

Come tutti gli ammassi globulari orbita attorno al centro galattico della galassia che lo ospita. Si stima che abbia un'età di circa 12-14 miliardi di anni.

► IN THE FOV:

Galaxies: NGC6207

Globular Clusters: M13

► TECHNICAL DETAILS:

480mm - f/6.0 - ISO800

Light Frames: 15x90''

Dark Frames: 7x90''

Bias Frames: 30x

Click HERE for more astrophotography and details! ;)

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Per questa "Sh2-155", denominata anche "Nebulosa Grotta" credo che abbia osato troppo. Non immaginavo che fosse così ostica ma soprattutto così debole, e per peggiorare le cose l'ho fotografata non solo a Banda Stretta ma anche con un rapporto focale F/7. Complice il cielo Bortle5-6 della mia città (Biancavilla-CT) ma anche la sua non eccezionale trasparenza durante le 5 sessioni di acquisizione, le oltre 18 ore d'integrazione non sono bastate per raggiungere un buon rapporto segnale-rumore.

Alla fine le condizioni meteo avverse mi hanno fatto desistere ed ho cercato di fare il possibile in post-produzione concentrandomi più all'aspetto estetico generale e non alla ricerca dei dettagli. spero di esserci riuscito.

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For this "Sh2-155", also called "Cave Nebula" I think I dared too much. I did not imagine it was so difficult but above all so weak, and to make things worse I photographed it not only in Narrow Band but also with a focal ratio F/7. Accomplice the Bortle5-6 sky of my city (Biancavilla-CT) but also its not exceptional transparency during the 5 acquisition sessions, the over 18 hours of integration were not enough to achieve a good signal-to-noise ratio.

In the end the adverse weather conditions made me give up and I tried to do my best in post-production focusing more on the general aesthetic aspect and not on the search for details. I hope I succeeded.

Google translate

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Optic: APO Rifractor Scopos TL805 80mm/f7

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan

Seeing: 3-4 (scala Antoniadi)

Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2"

-54x600s 121gain / 21 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /100 bias

-109x300s 121gain / 26 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /100 bias

t° sensor: -10°C

Date: 18+19+23+24+25/11/2024

Integration: 18h 5min

Temperature: 12°C (media)

location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm

Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding

Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert.

A quick wide-field capture of something interesting that one doesn't have the opportunity to see often. Comet C/2016 M1 (PANSTARRS), passing between the constellation Norma and Ara (close to the Open Star Cluster NGC 6152) at 01:00 on 15 July 2018.

The Comet doesn't have much of a tail at the moment, but has a beautiful green coma. The green color is caused by Cyanogen (CN) and diatomic Carbon (C2), which glows green when illuminated by the Sun in space.

Click on the image to zoom in a bit LARGER.

Gear:

William Optics Star 71mm f/4.9 Imaging APO Refractor Telescope.

William Optics 50mm Finder Scope.

Celestron SkySync GPS Accessory.

Orion Mini 50mm Guide Scope.

Orion StarShoot Autoguider.

Celestron AVX Mount.

QHYCCD PoleMaster.

Celestron StarSense.

MBox USB Meteostation.

RoboFocus RF3 Focuser.

Optolong L-Pro & RGB filters.

QHYCFW2-M-US Filterwheel (7 position x 36mm).

QHY163M Cooled CMOS Monochrome Astronomy Camera.

Tech:

Guiding in Open PHD 2.6.5.

Image acquisition in Sequence Generator Pro.

Camera Settings:

QHY Sensor Sensitivity:

Gain: 120

Offset: 35

Imaged at -20°C

LRGB:

L = 10 x 30 sec.

R = 10 x 30 sec.

G = 10 x 30 sec.

B = 10 x 30 sec.

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop.

Astrometry info:

View an Annotated Sky Chart for this image.

Center RA, Dec: 248.960, -52.563

Center RA, hms: 16h 35m 50.336s

Center Dec, dms: -52° 33' 45.078"

Size: 2.93 x 2.22 deg

Radius: 1.837 deg

Pixel scale: 6.59 arcsec/pixel

Orientation: Up is 90.5 degrees E of N

View this image in the World Wide Telescope.

SQM-L Sky Quality Reading:

20.5

About the Milky Way, and Earth's place within it:

The Milky Way Galaxy is estimated to have over 400 billion stars. Stars are suns, and just like in our Solar System, many of the stars have planets with moons orbiting them. Our sun is a middle aged Yellow Dwarf star, located in the Orion Arm (or Orion Spur) of the Milky Way Galaxy. It’s a minor side spiral arm, located between two larger arms of the Milky Way Galaxy's spiral. The Milky Way is merely one mid-sized barred spiral Galaxy, amongst over 100 billion other Galaxies in the observable Universe. When we look up at the night sky from Earth, we see a glimpse of the Carina-Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. It takes about 250 million years for the Milky Way Galaxy's spiral arms to complete one rotation.

The size, distance and age of the Universe is far beyond human comprehension. The known Universe is estimated to contain over One Billion Trillion stars.

1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000

Flickr Explore:

2018-07-16

Martin

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A cropped narrowband image of the Elephant's Trunk Nebula, a concentration of interstellar gas and dust with-in the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396 (located in the constellation Cepheus), about 2,400 light-years away from Earth.

Gear:

GSO 6" f/4 Imaging Newtonian Reflector Telescope.

Baader Mark-III MPCC Coma Corrector.

Celestron SkySync GPS Accessory.

Orion Mini 50mm Guide Scope.

Orion StarShoot Autoguider.

Celestron AVX Mount.

QHYCCD PoleMaster.

Celestron StarSense.

Aurora Flatfield Panel.

Optolong 36mm SHO filters.

QHYCFW2-M-US Filterwheel (7 position).

QHY163M Cooled CMOS Monochrome Astronomy Camera.

Lights/Subs:

Ha = 24 x 420 sec.

SII = 24 x 420 sec.

OIII = 24 x 420 sec.

Camera Settings:

Gain = 17 (equivalent to 170 now)

Offset = 70

CMOS Cooled to -25°C

Calibration Frames:

50 x Bias/Offset.

25 x Darks.

20 x Flats and Dark Flats.

Image Acquisition:

Sequence Generator Pro via the Mosaic and Framing Wizard.

Plate Solving in SGP via the Astrometry.net ANSVR Solver.

Autoguiding via Open PHD Guiding.

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop.

Wavelengths of the Electromagnetic Spectrum of Light:

Hydrogen-Alpha (656.3nm)

Oxygen-III (500.7nm)

Sulfur-II (672.4nm)

PixelMath:

Mapped Color Channel Combinations.

R = (0.5*SII)+(0.5*Ha)

G = (0.2*Ha)+(0.8*OIII)

B = OIII

Astrometry Info:

View an Annotated Sky Chart for this image.

Center RA, Dec: 323.737, 57.633

Center RA, hms: 21h 34m 56.902s

Center Dec, dms: +57° 37' 59.929"

Size: 46.8 x 60.6 arcmin

Radius: 0.638 deg

Pixel scale: 2.02 arcsec/pixel

Orientation: Up is 268 degrees E of N

View in the World Wide Telescope.

Martin

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A time-lapse video of what seems to be a high altitude Satellite passing through my FOV whilst photographing around the beautiful region of Rho Ophiuchi (close to IC 4603).

About this video:

A time-lapse sequence of a Satellite captured in 10 x 3 minute (ISO 6400) exposures, travelling through my wide field Telescope's view. Note the object's rotation in the varying line thickness of each 3 minute exposure trail. Photographed in the rural dark skies of the Karoo (Northern Cape, South Africa).

Real-Time Duration: 30 minutes to cross 2 degrees of Arc.

About the Star Colors:

You will notice that star colors differ from red, orange and yellow, to blue. This is an indication of the temperature of the star's Nuclear Fusion process. This is determined by the size and mass of the star, and the stage of its life cycle. In short, the blue stars are hotter, and the red ones are cooler.

Gear:

GSO 6" f/4 Imaging Newtonian Reflector Telescope.

Baader Mark-III MPCC Coma Corrector.

Astronomik CLS Light Pollution Filter.

Orion StarShoot Autoguider.

Celestron AVX Mount.

Celestron StarSense.

Canon 60Da DSLR.

Tech:

Guiding in Open PHD 2.6.1.

Image acquisition in Sequence Generator Pro.

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop.

Astrometry Info:

nova.astrometry.net/user_images/1187386#annotated&;

Basic FITS Header Data:

RA = 246.394201383277 / Object Right Ascension in degrees

DEC = -24.376321106111 / Object Declination in degrees

CRVAL1 = 246.394201383277 / RA at image center in degrees

CRVAL2 = -24.376321106111 / DEC at image center in degrees

OBJCTRA = '16 25 34.608' / Object Right Ascension in hms

OBJCTDEC = '-24 22 34.756' / Object Declination in degrees

AIRMASS = 1.25760852461339 / Average airmass

OBJCTALT= 53.0083763980286 / Altitude of the object

CENTALT = 53.0083763980286 / Altitude of the object

DATE-LOC= '2016-07-03T19:44:33' / Local observation date

DATE-OBS= '2016-07-03T17:44:33' / UTC observation date

Martin

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A sense of scale - a cosmic perceptive.

A wide-field mosaic of Messier 24 (M24), also known as the Sagittarius Star Cloud. M24 is a large Milky Way star cloud in the constellation Sagittarius.

The Sagittarius Star Cloud lies at an approximate distance of 10,000 light-years from Earth. It has the designation IC 4715 in the Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars. M24 is about 600 light-years wide and lies in the Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy (the next inner spiral arm from the Orion Arm that our Solar System is located in). It occupies an area 90 arc minutes in apparent diameter and contains different types of objects, including stars and clusters that lie at a distance of 10,000 to 16,000 light years from Earth (which gives the cloud a significant depth). In the night sky, the star cloud appears about nine times larger than the full Moon.

About the Milky Way, and Earth's place within it:

The Milky Way Galaxy is estimated to have over 400 billion stars. Stars are suns, and just like in our Solar System, many of the stars have planets and moons. Our sun is a middle-aged Yellow Dwarf star, located in the Orion Arm (or Orion Spur) of the Milky Way Galaxy. It’s a minor side spiral arm, located between two larger arms of the Milky Way Galaxy's spiral. The Milky Way is merely one mid-sized barred spiral Galaxy, amongst over 100 billion other Galaxies in the observable Universe. When we look up at the night sky from Earth, we see a glimpse of the Carina–Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. It takes about 250 million years for the Milky Way Galaxy's spiral arms to complete one rotation.

The size, distance and age of the Universe is far beyond human comprehension. The known Universe is estimated to contain over One Billion Trillion stars (the latest estimates are substantially higher).

A Billion Trillion Stars:

1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000

Image Acquisition:

Sequence Generator Pro with the Mosaic and Framing Wizard.

Plate Solving:

Astrometry.net ANSVR Solver via SGP.

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop

Astrometry Info:

Annotated Sky Chart for this image.

RA, Dec center: 274.976540124, -18.8147939343 degrees

Orientation: 2.26265021784 deg E of N

Pixel scale: 8.50037285998 arcsec/pixel

View this image in World Wide Telescope.

Martin

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[Home Page] [Photography Showcase] [eBook] [Twitter]

[Facebook] [3D VFX & Mocap] [Science & Physics Page]

Ha+OIII+SII Narrowband widefieled image of a section of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), including the Cygnus Wall and Pelican Nebulla (IC 5070). The North America Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, close to the star Deneb.

The Cygnus Wall is a term for the "Mexico and Central America part" of the North America Nebula. The Cygnus Wall has the most concentrated star formation in the nebula. The North America Nebula and the nearby Pelican Nebula are in fact parts of the same interstellar cloud of ionized hydrogen (H II region). The nebula complex is estimated to be about 1,800 light-years from Earth.

Gear:

William Optics Star 71mm f/4.9 Imaging APO Refractor Telescope.

William Optics 50mm Finder Scope.

Celestron SkySync GPS Accessory.

Orion Mini 50mm Guide Scope.

Orion StarShoot Autoguider.

Celestron AVX Mount.

QHYCCD PoleMaster.

Celestron StarSense.

QHYCFW2-M-US Filterwheel (7 position x 36mm).

QHY163M Cooled CMOS Monochrome Astronomy Camera.

Tech:

Guiding in Open PHD 2.6.3.

Image acquisition in Sequence Generator Pro.

Lights/Subs:

2 Stage CMOS Cooling

Imaged at -25°C

Narrowband:

S = 8 x 300 sec. 16bit FITS.

H = 24 x 300 sec. 16bit FITS.

O = 16 x 300 sec. 16bit FITS.

Calibration Frames:

50 x Bias/Offset.

25 x Darks.

20 x Flats & Dark Flats.

Image Acquisition:

Sequence Generator Pro with the Mosaic and Framing Wizard.

Plate Solving:

Astrometry.net ANSVR Solver via SGP.

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop.

Photographed in the following wavelengths of light:

Optolong SHO Narrowband filters:

OIII line 500.7nm (6.5nm bandwidth)

H-alpha line 656nm (7nm bandwidth)

SII line 672nm (6.5nm bandwidth)

PixelMath Channel combination expression:

R = 0.5*SII + 0.5*Ha

G = 0.15*Ha + 0.85*OIII

B = OIII

Astrometry Info:

View an Annotated Sky Chart for this image.

Center RA, Dec: 313.661, 43.942

Center RA, hms: 20h 54m 38.668s

Center Dec, dms: +43° 56' 29.414"

Size: 2.43 x 1.92 deg

Radius: 1.549 deg.

Pixel scale: 5.47 arcsec/pixel

Orientation: Up is -92.4 degrees E of N

View this image in the World Wide Telescope.

Martin

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[Home Page] [Photography Showcase] [My Free Photo App]

[Flickr Profile] [Facebook] [Twitter] [My Science & Physics Page]

Click HERE for more astrophotography and details! ;)

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A widefield HaRGB mosaic of the Veil Nebula Complex (Supernova Remnant).

The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus. It constitutes the visible portions of the Cygnus Loop (radio source W78, or Sharpless 103), a large but relatively faint supernova remnant. The source supernova exploded circa 3,000 BC to 6,000 BC, and the remnants have since expanded to cover an area roughly 3 degrees in diameter (about 6 times the diameter, or 36 times the area, of the full moon).

The Veil Nebula Complex has three main visual components:

The Western Veil (also known as Caldwell 34), consisting of NGC 6960 (the "Witch's Broom", "Finger of God", or "Filamentary Nebula") near the foreground star 52 Cygni;

The Eastern Veil (also known as Caldwell 33), whose brightest area is NGC 6992, trailing off farther south into NGC 6995 (together with NGC 6992 also known as "Network Nebula") and IC 1340; and

Pickering's Triangle (or Pickering's Triangular Wisp), brightest at the north central edge of the loop, but visible in photographs continuing toward the central area of the loop.

NGC 6974 and NGC 6979 are luminous knots in a fainter patch of nebulosity on the northern rim between NGC 6992 and Pickering's Triangle.

Imaging:

Photographed in Adobe RGB and the Narrowband Hydrogen-Alpha (Hα) spectral line of 656.28nm.

Image Acquisition:

Sequence Generator Pro with the "Mosaic and Framing Wizard".

Plate Solving:

Astrometry.net ANSVR Blind Solver via SGP.

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop

Astrometry Info:

RA, Dec center: 312.872737183, 31.1089230819 degrees

Orientation: 2.03140875657 deg E of N

Pixel scale: 9.65149745813 arcsec/pixel

Annotated Sky Chart for this image.

View this image in the interactive virtual World Wide Telescope.

Martin

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A widefield HaRGB mosaic of the Veil Nebula Complex (Supernova Remnant).

The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus. It constitutes the visible portions of the Cygnus Loop (radio source W78, or Sharpless 103), a large but relatively faint supernova remnant. The source supernova exploded circa 3,000 BC to 6,000 BC, and the remnants have since expanded to cover an area roughly 3 degrees in diameter (about 6 times the diameter, or 36 times the area, of the full moon).

The Veil Nebula Complex has three main visual components:

The Western Veil (also known as Caldwell 34), consisting of NGC 6960 (the "Witch's Broom", "Finger of God", or "Filamentary Nebula") near the foreground star 52 Cygni;

The Eastern Veil (also known as Caldwell 33), whose brightest area is NGC 6992, trailing off farther south into NGC 6995 (together with NGC 6992 also known as "Network Nebula") and IC 1340; and

Pickering's Triangle (or Pickering's Triangular Wisp), brightest at the north central edge of the loop, but visible in photographs continuing toward the central area of the loop.

NGC 6974 and NGC 6979 are luminous knots in a fainter patch of nebulosity on the northern rim between NGC 6992 and Pickering's Triangle.

About Star Colors:

You will notice that star colors differ from red, orange and yellow, to blue. This is an indication of the temperature of the star's Nuclear Fusion process. This is determined by the size and mass of the star, and the stage of its life cycle. In short, the blue stars are hotter, and the red ones are cooler.

Imaging:

Photographed in Adobe RGB and the Narrowband Hydrogen-Alpha (Hα) spectral line of 656.28nm.

Image Acquisition:

Sequence Generator Pro with the "Mosaic and Framing Wizard".

Plate Solving:

Astrometry.net ANSVR Blind Solver via SGP.

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop.

Astrometry Info:

View an Annotated Sky Chart of thie image.

Center RA, Dec: 312.888, 31.164

Center RA, hms: 20h 51m 33.081s

Center Dec, dms: +31° 09' 51.606"

Size: 3.3 x 2.46 deg

Radius: 2.059 deg

Pixel scale: 6.61 arcsec/pixel

Orientation: Up is 178 degrees E of N

Martin

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[Home Page] [Photography Showcase] [My Free Photo App]

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Billions of stars...

Best viewed LARGE.

The image is not at full resolution, but is still best viewed LARGE. Zoom in and out by clicking on the image, or view in Lightbox Mode.

About this image:

A widefield mosaic of M8 and M20. This is a dense region of stars, interstellar dust clouds, and dark nebulae, reflection nebulae and emission nebulae.

The Trifid Nebula (M20)

The Trifid Nebula, a star-forming region in the Scutum spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Trifid Nebula (M20, Messier 20 or NGC 6514) is an H II region located in Sagittarius. Trifid means 'divided into three lobes'. The object is an unusual combination of an open cluster of stars; an emission nebula (the red portion), a reflection nebula (the blue portion) and a dark nebula (the apparent 'gaps' within the emission nebula that cause the trifurcated appearance; these are also designated Barnard 85).

The Lagoon Nebula (M8)

The Lagoon Nebula (M8, Messier 8 or NGC 6523), a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. The Lagoon Nebula is estimated to be between 4000 - 6000 light-years from Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy, and is classified as an emission nebula.

Image Acquisition:

Sequence Generator Pro with the Mosaic and Framing Wizard.

Plate Solving:

Astrometry.net ANSVR Solver via SGP.

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop

Billions of stars...

The size, distance and age of the Universe is far beyond human comprehension. The known Universe is estimated to contain over One Billion Trillion stars (the latest estimates are substantially higher).

"Lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home." - Carl Sagan - Cosmos.

Astrometry Info:

View the Annotated Sky Chart for this image.

Center RA, Dec: 270.970, -23.524

Center RA, hms: 18h 03m 52.787s

Center Dec, dms: -23° 31' 24.628"

Size: 3.68 x 2.39 deg

Radius: 2.192 deg

Pixel scale: 6.47 arcsec/pixel

Orientation: Up is 91.7 degrees E of N

View this image in the World Wide Telescope.

Martin

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[Home Page] [Photography Showcase] [My Free Photo App]

[Flickr Profile] [Facebook] [Twitter] [My Science & Physics Page]