View allAll Photos Tagged RCOS
An SD60M and an SD40-2, one of the RCO-equipped hump sets at BNSF's Argentine Yard in Kansas City, KS, is working on shoving another cut over the hump, seen here on the North Hump Lead. On the left, a pair of Geep's assigned to BNSF train Y-KCK2161-14A are switching autoracks at Turner, easing through CP 72 as they use Main Track 5 of the BNSF Emporia Sub for head room. 5/14/22.
At the end of May 2017 I had just completed RCO training and at that time being at the bottom of the remote qualified roster meant you'd be working out of Green River, Wyoming. So I loaded up and across the state I went, of course stopping for pictures along the way.
Climbing the grade out of Rock River and rounding 'Pine Ridge' a solid set of EMDs wheel an eastbound Z across the Overland Route.
UP 8768 ~ ZCIG1 ~ Pine Ridge, Wyoming
Union Pacific's Laramie Subdivision
05.28.2017
A close up look at Mel 15 in the core of the Heart Nebula IC1805
The Heart of [the] Matter!
19 Hours data Taken on the 14.5" RCOS at Deep Sky West
Imaging telescope or lens: RCOS 14.5"
Imaging camera: SBIG STX KAF-16803
Mount: Paramount-ME
Guiding telescope or lens: RCOS 14.5"
Guiding camera: SBIG STX KAF-16803
Software: Pixinsight 1.8
Filters: Ha 5nm, Astrodon Blue, Astrodon Red, Astrodon Green
Resolution: 3251x3519
Dates: Jan. 30, 2017, Jan. 31, 2017, Feb. 1, 2017
Frames:
Astrodon Blue: 14x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Green: 9x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Red: 10x1200" bin 1x1
Ha 5nm: 19x1800" bin 1x1
Integration: 20.5 hours
Here we have Thors Helmet - NGC 2359.
This is one of those targets that you see and just want to get a picture of, one day!
So finally got around to having a go.
This target lent itself well to a depth of field experiment, the foreground area being very sharp and contrasting against the softer background. Would be interested in hearing if this approach has worked?
Wikipedia says....
GC 2359 (also known as Thor's Helmet) is an emission nebula in the constellation Canis Major. The nebula is approximately 3,670 parsecs (11.96 thousand light years) away and 30 light-years in size. The central star is the Wolf-Rayet star WR7, an extremely hot star thought to be in a brief pre-supernova stage of evolution. It is similar in nature to the Bubble Nebula, but interactions with a nearby large molecular cloud are thought to have contributed to the more complex shape and curved bow-shock structure of Thor's Helmet.
It is also catalogued as Sharpless 2-298 and Gum 4.
The nebula has an overall bubble shape, but with complex filamentary structures. The nebula contains several hundred solar masses of ionised material, plus several thousand more of unionised gas. It is largely interstellar material swept up by winds from the central star, although some material does appear to be enriched with the products of fusion and is likely to come directly from the star. The expansion rate of different portions of the nebula varies from 10km/s to at least 30km/s, leading to age estimates of 78,500 - 236,000 years. The nebula has been studied at radio and x-ray wavelengths, but it is still unclear whether it was produced at the class O main sequence stage of development, as a red supergiant, luminous blue variable, or mainly as a Wolf-Rayet star.
NGC 2361 is a bright knot of nebulosity on one edge of the central ring of NGC 2359.
YSP75R prepares to shove off of the main at Q Junction, and work industries around Hardman Avenue in South St. Paul. The former SP GP38N pair was a nice sight.
For some reason, this industry job went to RCO a few months back. Doesn't seem to make much sense as it is still a 2 man crew, and someone is usually in the cab to protect crossings and such.
We're not at Livingston, MT, but here at the former Santa Fe Argentine LMIT, a pair of Montana Rail Link SD40-2XR's languish after being plucked from home rails close to a month and a half ago. They've resided at the BNSF Argentine Yard DSF after they were initially planned to be hump and bowl set mates for RCO jobs. Three left Montana for this purpose, the 251 for Galesburg and the 253 & 263 for Kansas City. All three have since moved west for RCO service in New Mexico.
The three SD40-2XR's and the 4300 series SD70ACe's have so far been the only power to be dispersed from MRL rails since BNSF assumed control on January 1, 2024. I remember when MRL SD40's and SD45's would roam the BNSF system 20 years ago, and I haven't seen an MRL standard cab engine since then.
Both of these units began their lives as straight SD40's, the 263 for the CNW and the 253 for the BN. Since coming to the MRL, they've been rebuilt and classified as SD40-2XR's. 8/2/25.
Imaging telescopes or lenses: Astro-Physics RH 305, RCOS 14.5"
Imaging cameras: SBIG STX KAF-16803, FLI MicroLine 8300 CCD-camera FLI
Mount: Paramount-ME
Software: Pixinsight 1.8
Filters: Astrodon Luminance, Astrodon Blue, Astrodon Red, Astrodon Green
Accessory: FLI Atlas
Resolution: 3723x3338
Dates: Jan. 19, 2017, Feb. 1, 2017, Feb. 2, 2017, March 5, 2017, March 19, 2017
Frames:
Astrodon Blue: 25x900" bin 1x1
Astrodon Green: 24x900" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 31x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 16x30" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 12x300" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 83x600" bin 1x1
Astrodon Red: 22x900" bin 1x1
Ha 5nm: 13x1200" bin 1x1
Ha 5nm: 16x1800"
Here we have a look at M81 with some excellent RC data and some very nice test data from the new AP RH 305. I could have pushed the IFN but felt this balance worked well. Hope you enjoy.
BNSF 1952 shoves a pair of gons back towards a long string of cars that the two SD40-2s will eventually pull out and continue sorting in the BNSF Pueblo Yard in Pueblo, CO.
The coal train in the foreground is on the main going around the yard. Perspective-wise, the coal train is coming toward the viewer.
Westfälische Landes-Eisenbahn 82 (187 010) at Misburg with freight 52452 (Rheine - Sachsendorf) consisting of Railco BeLog CZ-RCO Faccns wagons, on August 4, 2020, 12:47.
A pair of Geeps works industries off of Dallerup Yard in east Houston on the YHO75R. The RCO engineer is the guy standing to the left.
UP 553 is still looking quite sharp for wearing nearly 10 year old paint. Can't say the same for the twice as old paint on UP 1043.
YHO75R 27
UP GP38-2 #553
UP GP60 #1043
Houston, TX
December 27th, 2022
So if you have a RCOS 14.5" version of M82 and M81 what to you do (no you don't make a M163!).
Seeing them together would be nice so used some data from the RH and drizzled it to create a background with stars that are acceptable then added the two targets over the top.
Think this will finish my detailed look at this area, for now!
Hope you enjoy.
Imaging telescopes or lenses: RCOS 14.5", Officina Stellare Veloce RH 200
Imaging cameras: SBIG STX KAF-16803, FLI MicroLine 8300 CCD-camera FLI
Mount: Paramount-ME
Guiding telescope or lens: Borg 77 ED
Software: Pixinsight 1.8
Filters: Astrodon Red, Astrodon Green, Ha 5nm, Astrodon Luminance
Accessories: FLI Atlas, Starlight Xpress lodestar 2
Resolution: 4106x2294
Dates: Jan. 5, 2017, Jan. 19, 2017, Jan. 31, 2017, Feb. 1, 2017, Feb. 2, 2017, Feb. 15, 2017, Feb. 25, 2017, Feb. 27, 2017, March 2, 2017, March 5, 2017, March 7, 2017, March 19, 2017, March 23, 2017, March 30, 2017
Frames:
Astrodon Blue: 13x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Blue: 14x600" bin 1x1
Astrodon Blue: 25x900" bin 1x1
Astrodon Green: 13x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Green: 8x600" bin 1x1
Astrodon Green: 24x900" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 52x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 16x30" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 12x300" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 167x600" bin 1x1
Astrodon Red: 12x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Red: 30x600" bin 1x1
Astrodon Red: 25x900" bin 1x1
Ha 5nm: 12x1200" bin 1x1
Ha 5nm: 27x1800" bin 1x1
Integration: 103.6 hours
M51
Contains: NGC 5195, Whirlpool galaxy, M 51, NGC 5194
Here is my look at M51.
The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a, M51a, or NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus in the constellation Canes Venatici. In the Catalogue of Named Galaxies, it is called Typhon Canum Venaticorum, after the Greek god Typhon. It was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. Recently it was estimated to be 23 ± 4 million light-years from the Milky Way, but different methods yield distances between 15 and 35 million light-years. Messier 51 is one of the best-known galaxies in the sky. The galaxy and its companion, NGC 5195, are easily observed by amateur astronomers, and the two galaxies may even be seen with binoculars. The Whirlpool Galaxy is also a popular target for professional astronomers, who study it to further understand galaxy structure (particularly structure associated with the spiral arms) and galaxy interactions.
I was interested to see how much detail could be found in the data. [Wikipedia]
I recently saw an article on AFP-R to maximise detail, however, it is very similar to what I already do running small iterations of LHE at different settings in PI and stacked high pass layers selectively applied in PS. Great to see some new techniques worth a look if you have not seen. I will stick with my approach for now.
Imaging telescope or lens: RCOS 14.5"
Imaging camera: SBIG STX KAF-16803
Mount: Paramount-ME
Guiding telescope or lens: RCOS 14.5"
Software: Pixinsight 1.8
Filters: Astrodon Red, Astrodon Green, Astrodon Blue, Ha 5nm, Astrodon Luminance
Resolution: 3096x3180
Dates: May 16, 2017, June 15, 2017, June 16, 2017, June 18, 2017, June 24, 2017
Frames:
Astrodon Blue: 11x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Green: 10x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 30x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Red: 12x1200" bin 1x1
Ha 5nm: 17x1800" bin 1x1
Integration: 29.5 hours
Locations: Deep Sky West Remote Observatory (DSW), Rowe, New Mexico, United States
A foreman (what CSX refers to their yard conductors as) walks ahead to line a switch on a brutally cold day in CSX's yard in Decatur. This line is now the property of Watco's Decatur & Eastern Illinois.
Interested in purchasing a high-quality digital download of this photo, suitable for printing and framing? Let me know and I will add it to my Etsy Shop, MittenRailandMarine! Follow this link to see what images are currently listed for sale: www.etsy.com/shop/MittenRailandMarine
If you are interested in specific locomotives, trains, or freighters, please contact me. I have been photographing trains and ships for over 15 years and have accumulated an extensive library!
If you squint your eyes and try to look past the worn paint, this could be a vehicle train 20 years ago heading to the bluff yard.
In reality, this is the BNCP transfer heading downhill at Mississippi St. Doing the honors today is a pair of Northtown's finest. The well-worn warbonnet dash 9s have been demoted to yard/local service. I'm conflicted on if I think this is cool or sad. I love fallen flags, and with these units captive to Northtown, it's like shooting fish in a barrel. On the other hand, the RCO equipment makes these units feel as though their wings have been clipped.
For now, I suppose I'll keep shooting these things in their retirement home roles.
One of the many RCO pull jobs working Conway’s west end gets headroom out of yard limits. This move happens dozens of times a day, used to double up westbound road freights on the staging tracks beside Five Yard.
"But I think you know that already
You call me evil but how would you know it
Unless you live it already?
You think you're better right?
Because nobodies seen what you've done in the dark
But if I put your life in this light
You would crumble and fight to survive or die
But bitch I fucking knew that already
I ain't special
But I specialize in making you feel especially stupid
For judging a human, while you sit at home
And the whole world judge can't watch what you doing
Or follow and hate all your movements
I ain't complaining but I know the people who do it
Are sicker than me, and I'm sick enough I just might lose it
Yeah, you think you know me 'cause you double tap on a picture
I hate the fact that you judge me, it's driving me crazy
So when it's too deep I say, "Fuck it"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-KJV5r_cho&rco=1
--------------------------
In the new year I want to go back to my old blogging habits.
I'll start with a release from SOMNIUM that you were able to get your hands on in December.
For me, this set has resolved an idea in my head that concerns me personally and gives you an insight into my inner self.
I'm sure some of you can feel this image.
You can find the credits here on my blogpage: highsnobiety.home.blog/2025/01/01/im-the-demon-you-made-me/
You find the gown in SOMNIUM´S Mainstore in alot of different colors as well as the bloody version I am wearing here!
Give it a go <3
With an Ex-SP GP40-2 facing out, remote job UP train YFX82R-10 finishes switching out a cut at UP's Quindaro Yard at the Fairfax District in Kansas City, KS. To the left are pair of SD40N's that have recently been assigned to UP train YFX77, the evening transfer to 18th St. Yard. 8/10/22.
In the evening, an extra job moves south on the CPKC Pittsburg Sub on the steel viaduct above 63rd St Trafficway with cars being transferred from CPKC's Knoche Yard to IFG at Grandview, MO. Leading the way are a couple of KCS four axle EMD's, an RCO-equipped MP15DC and a GP40-3, a pair rarely seen outside of the yard. A small cut of Schneider stacks are up front, while the rest of the train was made up mostly of autoracks and a few plastic pellet covered hopper cars.
It's after sunset, and the lighting (or lack thereof) makes photographing tough, but it's even tougher to willingly miss out on shooting a Switcher and a Geep leading a train with stacks on the head end if you can help it. How many other places are you going to find an end cab switcher leading on a Class 1 main line, even for only 20 miles or less? Not something I expected to see in 2025. 6/2/25.
SE-RCO : Boeing 737-33A : Fly Me
FlyMe was a Swedish charter airline, operating between 2004 and 2007.
It flew from/to Oslo twice on this day, bringing football fans for a Scotland v. Norway international in Glasgow on the following day.
Norway won 1-0.
Image recorded at DeepSkyWest with a RCOS 14.5 and SBIG STX 16803.
Color data come from FSQ106EDXIII and QSI683.
L: 6x600s
RGB: (11, 11, 3)x300s
Copyright: R. Colombari / DeepSkyWest
_________________________
The Trifid Nebula (catalogued as Messier 20 or M20 and as NGC 6514) is an H II region located in Sagittarius. It was discovered by Charles Messier on June 5, 1764.[3] Its name means 'divided into three lobes'. The object is an unusual combination of an open cluster of stars; an emission nebula (the lower, red portion), a reflection nebula (the upper, blue portion) and a dark nebula (the apparent 'gaps' within the emission nebula that cause the trifurcated appearance; these are also designated Barnard 85). Viewed through a small telescope, the Trifid Nebula is a bright and peculiar object, and is thus a perennial favorite of amateur astronomers.[4]
The Trifid Nebula is a star-forming region in the Scutum spiral arm of the Milky Way.[5] The most massive star that has formed in this region is HD 164492A, an O7.5III star with a mass more than 20 times the mass of the Sun.[6] This star is surrounded by a cluster of approximately 3100 young stars.[7]
Source: Wikipedia
Imaging telescope or lens: RCOS 14.5"
Imaging camera: SBIG STX KAF-16803
Mount: Paramount-ME
Guiding telescope or lens: RCOS 14.5"
Software: Pixinsight 1.8
Filters: Astrodon Luminance, Astrodon Blue, Astrodon Red, Astrodon Green
Resolution: 3214x3256
Dates: Feb. 25, 2017, March 2, 2017, March 20, 2017, March 30, 2017
Frames:
Astrodon Blue: 16x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Green: 7x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 25x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Red: 13x1200" bin 1x1
Integration: 20.3 hours
NGC 2264 - Cone Nebula Area
Something new - managed to find some time on the train to do this one (about the only spare time i can find just now)
Imaging telescope or lens: RCOS 14.5"
Imaging camera: SBIG STX KAF-16803
Mount: Paramount-ME
Guiding telescope or lens: RCOS 14.5"
Software: Pixinsight 1.8
Filters: Astrodon Luminance, Astrodon Blue, Astrodon Red, Astrodon Green
Resolution: 4028x3798
Dates: Feb. 17, 2017, Feb. 22, 2017, Feb. 24, 2017
Frames:
Astrodon Blue: 17x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Green: 17x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 18x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Red: 25x1200" bin 1x1
Integration: 25.7 hours
Locations: Deep Sky West Remote Observatory (DSW), Rowe, New Mexico, United States
Here we have a look at the Cone/Christmas tree area nebulae in LRGB.
Very bright stars here which are very dominant - no point battling with them when they are this bright.
Again the longer focal length seems to have found some more colour variation showing some yellows and gold in the area not often seen so clearly.
Y193 goes about its switching duties on the Old Even at Wyoming Yard with MP15DC #1146 and RCPHE4 #9120. The drone was 1 of 4 former GP40s converted to RC drones that called Grand Rapids home for many years. 3 wore Chessie paint while the other was in MOW orange. A few years later all were rebuilt into 2300 series RDMT Road Slugs.
Interested in purchasing a high-quality digital download of this photo, suitable for printing and framing? Let me know and I will add it to my Etsy Shop, MittenRailandMarine! Follow this link to see what images are currently listed for sale: www.etsy.com/shop/MittenRailandMarine
If you are interested in specific locomotives, trains, or freighters, please contact me. I have been photographing trains and ships for over 15 years and have accumulated an extensive library!
A pair of Geeps shove a cut of scrap gons into Tri Coastal Trading in east Houston. The scrap will be loaded into barges on Buffalo Bayou on the opposite side of the facility.
YHO75R 27
UP GP60 #1043
UP GP38-2 #553
Houston, TX
December 27th, 2022
Short Line east end RCO job, YDM02R-22, pulls a large cut of cars over Fourmile Creek. This is actually the Iowa Interstate (ex-Rock Island), which is controlled by the yardmaster in Short Line. Power is a pair of SD40N's, 1619 and 1932.
This stellar nursery is located in the southern constellation of Carina. It’s located about 7500 light-years from Earth. Many hot young stars create intense ultraviolet radiation causing rich colours in the surrounding gas and dust.
This distinctive object is also known as The Gabriela Mistral Nebula and IC 2599. The wall of gas bears a strong resemblance to the Nobel Prise-winning poet from Chile. Stellar winds have opened up hollows in the surrounding gas and dust. I always find these areas most interesting when processing.
Exposure Details:
SII 18X1200 Bin2X2
Ha 29X900 Bin1x1
OIII 18X1200 Bin 2X2
NarrowBand Total Time: 17.92 Hours
Instruments:
Telescope: 10" Ritchey-Chrétien RCOS
Camera: SBIG STL-11000 Mono
Mount: Astro-Physics AP-900
Focal Length: 2310.00 mm
Pixel size: 9.00 um
Resolution: 0.82 arcsec/pix
Thanks for looking
Taken from Savannah Skies Observatory using an SBIG STXL-6303 camera and 33-cm RCOS telescope on a Software Bisque PME Mount.
The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula, south of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion.
I remember having the opportunity to view Orion through a large telescope many years ago. It was indeed a WOW moment. What struck me was that I could see colour through the eyepiece. The many shades of green were easy seen, but it was the hues of reds and pinks were most impressive. I had never seen red nebulosity through an eyepiece before this experience, and this incredible experience was etched into my mind.
I wanted to capture that vision I had in my head and attempt to recreate an image of that experience. Orion is an incredibly high dynamic range object. It is very bright at its core, includes many dynamic caverns of roiling dust and gas throughout, with beautiful subtle dim wisps of gas everywhere in this complex structure.
This is my first attempt to create an image of Orion. It has its challenges as is quite a complex structure to process to reveal the range of feature within. My highlights would have to be the very subtle wisps of gases, shockwaves, and huge caverns of gas that create this dramatic image.
Exposure Details:
Red 68 X 30 Seconds
Green 50 X 30 Seconds
Blue 69 X 30 Seconds
Red 25 X 300 Seconds
Green 22 X 300 Seconds
Blue 22 X 300 Seconds
Lum 92 X 10 Seconds
Lum 45 X 300 Seconds
Lum 81 X 600 Seconds
Lum 4 X 900 Seconds
Total Time: 25.8 hours
Instruments:
Telescope: 10" Ritchey-Chrétien RCOS
Camera: SBIG STL-11000 Mono
Mount: Astro-Physics AP-900
Focal Length: 2310.00 mm
Pixel size: 9.00 um
Resolution: 0.82 arcsec/pix
Link to full resolution version.
live.staticflickr.com/65535/50862060367_81d6547e67_o.png
Thanks for looking...
This is probably one of the most identifiable objects in our skies. It’s located in the constellation Orion, a summer time object for us in the Southern Hemisphere. About 1500 light years away, it has a striking resemblance to a horse’s head in silhouette. Barnard 33 is a diffuse dark nebula, and its shape is simply the result of dust obscuring a direct line of sight to the bright red emission nebula IC 434. It’s incredible how an absence of light can yield something awesome. I love the star in the lower left. In my head, it appears to be a vortex or tunnel is forming straight out of a SciFi movie.
I used Ha filter to create this image, highlighting the glowing ridges and curtains of light in the top.
Large Version:
live.staticflickr.com/65535/51837744675_03d76fc7e7_o.jpg
Instruments
Telescope: 10" Ritchey-Chrétien RCOS
Camera: SBIG STL-11000 Mono
Mount: Astro-Physics AP-900
Focal Length: 2310.00 mm
Pixel size: 9.00 um
Resolution: 0.82 arcsec/pix
11.16 Hours
Thanks for looking.
Terry
GP38-2 #2520 and RCPHE4 #9120 kick cars on the Old Even in Wyoming yard back on a cold spring day in 2007. The old Chessie drones and their former GE counterparts were fixtures in Grand Rapids for years before CSX started installing RCO equipment onto actual locomotives.
Interested in purchasing a high-quality digital download of this photo, suitable for printing and framing? Let me know and I will add it to my Etsy Shop, MittenRailandMarine! Follow this link to see what images are currently listed for sale: www.etsy.com/shop/MittenRailandMarine
If you are interested in specific locomotives, trains, or freighters, please contact me. I have been photographing trains and ships for over 15 years and have accumulated an extensive library!
Here is my look at NGC 2903.
I have again persisted with my manual HDR approach to realise as much detail and colour variance as possible. I also experimented with various levels of deconvolution, while applying too much creates 'white-worm' type artefacts it does provide more sharpening to the darker details. So I took a few versions and layered in the sharper dark detail (being careful to eliminate any bright areas and star dark halos) back onto the standard decon version.
Despite being one fo the brightest galaxies in the northern hemisphere it was excluded from the Messier catalogue. There is a nice write up here www.universetoday.com/35296/i-coulda-been-a-contender-ngc... by the late Tammy Plotner that provides some interesting insight into this galaxy.
Enjoy.....
Imaging telescope or lens: RCOS 14.5"
Imaging camera: SBIG STX KAF-16803
Mount: Paramount-ME
Software: Pixinsight 1.8
Filters: Astrodon Red, Astrodon Green, Astrodon Blue, Astrodon Luminance
Resolution: 2971x3006
Dates: Jan. 28, 2017, Jan. 29, 2017
Frames:
Astrodon Blue: 20x900" bin 1x1
Astrodon Green: 16x900" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 30x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Red: 18x900" bin 1x1
Integration: 23.5 hours
Imaging telescope or lens: RCOS 14.5"
Imaging camera: SBIG STX KAF-16803
Mount: Paramount-ME
Software: Pixinsight 1.8
Filters: Astrodon Red, Astrodon Green, Astrodon Blue, Astrodon Luminance
Resolution: 3484x3422
Dates: March 13, 2017, April 24, 2017, May 20, 2017
Frames:
Astrodon Blue: 16x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Green: 12x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 19x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Red: 16x1200"
Integration: 21.0 hours
Locations: Deep Sky West Remote Observatory (DSW), Rowe, New Mexico, United States
Back after being under the weather and then moving house (again!)
Here we have a look at NGC 4565 a giant spiral galaxy that is more luminous than M31 yet missed was missed by Messier in his catalog.
I was pleased to see what I would consider a super example of a central bulge, probably one of the best I have worked on in this edge on view. c40mly away and 100kly wide. I was also pleased with the clear blue colour in the outer arms indicating younger stars.
Hope you enjoy.
Imaging telescope or lens: RCOS 14.5"
Imaging camera: SBIG STX KAF-16803
Mount: Paramount-ME
Guiding telescope or lens: RCOS 14.5"
Software: Pixinsight 1.8
Filters: Ha 5nm, Astrodon Luminance, Astrodon Blue, Astrodon Red, Astrodon Green
Resolution: 3605x3417
Dates: Feb. 27, 2017, March 2, 2017, March 7, 2017
Frames:
Astrodon Blue: 13x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Green: 13x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 20x1200" bin 1x1
Astrodon Luminance: 5x600" bin 1x1
Astrodon Red: 12x1200" bin 1x1
Ha 5nm: 12x1800" bin 1x1
Integration: 26.2 hours
I recently published a well-received version of M81, it seemed rude not to process its compatriot.
In order to realise all the details you could argue the image is actually a L, L, L, L, L, L, L, L, L, L, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, RGB, RGB, RGB, RGB, RGB, RGB, rather than just a HaLRGB image!
In order to realise all the details I have been persisting with my (very time-consuming approach) of building the main layers from multiple stretches of the main frames from very dark to very light, a manual HDR (but with full control) most of the work is done in PI but the layering and masking has to be done in PS for control. I am finding at the longer focal lengths this really lets me realise all details from the dark (often washed out by brightness on such targets) to the very light, I can even stretch beyond the limit to realise the fainter details.
Anyway, hope you all like - not a quick process taking about 8 hours solid to process over a few days.
As well as realising some great detail I was pleased to see the inner structures showing well including the mushroom shape to the right and the double boundary of the left side (inner ring just about visible)
Now usually relegated to yard duty at Northtown (note the RCO equipment and strobe light), this pair of warbonnets got out on the main line overnight with mixed traffic from Northtown to Dilworth. The morning fog and clouds had just cleared when they came around the corner in the distance.
Presented are two Dark Nebula found within the Sagittarius Star Cloud. These dark areas are clouds of interstellar dust blocking our view of the stars behind. Five filters were used to create this image. Luminance, Red, Green, and Blue filtered light were combined to create a traditional colour image. This resulted in an almost uniform blanket of colourful stars across my field. With the additional data from a Hydrogen-Alpha filter, large areas of red reveal the presence of hydrogen gas. When combined, the resulting image creates a contrast of Ha against a sea of colourful stars while enhancing the Dark Nebula.
Near the centre of the image is Barnard 92. I think it looks like an Anglerfish with its lure dangling in space to entice its prey.
Barnard 93 is just to the right. When I first saw looked at this, I immediately saw a mandril with a huge mane of red. The long muzzle in the bottom right, two eyes above, and a mane of red flowing upwards.
Instruments:
• 10 Inch RCOS fl 9.1
• Astro Physics AP-900 Mount
• SBIG STL 11000m
• FLI Filter Wheel
• Baader Planetarium H-alpha 7nm Narrowband-Filter
• Astrodon Lum, Red, Green, Blue Filters
Exposures Details:
• Lum 42 X 900
• Red 12 X 900
• Green 8 X 900
• Blue 8 X 900
• Ha 78 X 900
Total Time: 37 Hours
Thanks for looking
Terry
1942 De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth G-AOJJ RAF DF128 WWII Trainer RCO-U
Photo taken at Shuttleworth Museum Old Warden Aerodrome Biggleswade Bedfordshire 3rd June 2022
ZAA_5521
Just a few minutes before sunset, YG304R 07 poses for a photograph before nightfall. UP1678 and UP 3843. The 1678 was the UP 3940 and before that MP 6040.
The blue galaxy located to the right is NGC 4536, an Intermediate Spiral Galaxy in the Virgo constellation. It is close to the celestial equator and is partly visible from both hemispheres. NGC 4536 is undergoing strong burst formation. Based on X-ray emission from the core, it may contain a small supermassive back hole. It is 50 million light-years away and has an apparent magnitude of 11.1.
The small galaxy closer to the centre is NGC 4533. It has a surface brightness of 23.04 mag/arcsec and is 1.82 X 0.389 arcmin.
The galaxy to the left is NGC 4527. It has an angular size of 6.3 X 1.3 arcmin. Its classification is an Intermediate Spiral (Hubble galaxy morphological classification), similar to the Andromeda Galaxy. It is about 48.9 million lightyears away.
Instruments:
Telescope: 10" Ritchey-Chrétien RCOS
Camera: SBIG STL-11000 Mono
Mount: Astro-Physics AP-900
Focal Length: 2310.00 mm
Pixel size: 9.00 um
Resolution: 0.82 arcsec/pix
Exposure Details:
Lum 39X600
Red 12X600
Green 12X600
Blue 8X600
Total Exposure 11.8 hours
Thanks for looking
These beautiful galaxies are located in the southern constellation Antlia (pronounced ˈæntliə). This constellation is south of the celestial equator. It also has the name of “The Air Pump” and is abbreviated as “Ant” (International Astronomical Union) or “Antl” (NASA).
The small Spiral Galaxy near the centre is NGC 3354. It has a visual magnitude of 13.18 and an angular size of 0.7 X 0.7 arcmin (a relatively small target). The larger galaxy to the left is a Barred Spiral Galaxy, NGC3347.
If you look carefully, there appears to be a bridge of matter between the two. I find this fascinating. Imagine living on a planet circling a star somewhere between the two galaxies. What would you see? Would it look comparable to what I might see on Earth with the centre of our Milky Way high overhead and a larger version of the Magellanic Clouds on the other side of my horizon?
The final galaxy is NGC3358, a Lenticular Galaxy, located in the top right of the frame.
Exposure Details:
Red 12 X 600
Green 12 X 600
Blue 4 X 600
Lum 44 X 600
Total Exposure: 12.0 Hours
Instruments:
Telescope: 10" Ritchey-Chrétien RCOS
Camera: SBIG STL-11000 Mono
Mount: Astro-Physics AP-900
Focal Length: 2310.00 mm
Pixel size: 9.00 um
Resolution: 0.82 arcsec/pix
Thanks for looking.