The Sun chromosphere - full disk from 4/15/2022

Telescope - Lunt LS100MT, internal etalon and B1200 blocking filter. HA spectra.

Camera: ASI174MM

Stack of 75% of 4000 frames

Software: SharpCap Pro, AutoStakkert, ImPPG, PS5

Details:

- Telescope - Lunt LS100MT internal etalon and B1200 blocking filter - HA spectra/Chromosphere

- Hutech Hinode Solar Guider

- Camera: ASI174MM

- 2x Meade Barlow

Stacked Best 50% of 1000 frames.

Software:

-SharpCap Pro (Version=4.0.8667.0)

-AutoStakkert (3.1.4 x64)

-ImPPG (v0.6.4)

-PS5

The Sun chromosphere - HA Partial disk and prominence 04/14/2022

Telescope - Lunt LS100MT internal etalon and B1200 blocking filter -HA spectra

Camera: ASI174MM

Stack of 30% of 2000 frames

Software: SharpCap Pro, AutoStakkert, ImPPG, PS5

The Dumbbell Nebula, M27 or NGC 6853 is a planetary nebula in the constellation Vulpecula, at a distance of about 1227 light-years. This object was the first planetary nebula to be discovered by Charles Messier in 1764.

Equipment:

Celestron 9.25” 2350mm Edge-HD Telescope

Celestron .7 EdgeHD Reducer Lens

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount

Orion 50mm Helical Guide Scope & StarShoot AutoGuider

Celestron 9x50 Finder Scope

ZWO ASI294MC Pro Color Camera

PHD2 Guiding Software

ZWO 1.25” Duo-Band Filter

SharpCap Pro

Thank you for your comments,

Gemma

The Sun chromosphere - HA Partial disk and prominence 04/22/2022

-Telescope - Lunt LS100MT internal etalon and B1200 blocking filter -HA spectra

-Camera: ASI174MM

-2x Meade Barlow

Stack of 30% of 4000 frames (Exposure=1.1380ms each @ Gain=163)

Capture Area=1936x1216

Software:

-SharpCap Pro (Version=4.0.8667.0)

-AutoStakkert(3.1.4 x64)

-ImPPG(v0.6.4)

-PS5

Mein erstens richtiges Sonnenfoto in H-Alpha, aufgenommen am 14.03 2020. Die Protuberanz und die Oberfläche sind seperat belichtet (in Schwaz/Weiß), später zusammengefügt und halbwegs passend eingefärbt.

Coronado SolarMax 60/400mm

EQ5 AZ GT-Pro

Zwo Asi 120mm-s

5% @ 2000 Frames

Sharpcap

Postproduktion:

Autostakkert

Photoshop

The Sculptor Galaxy is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor and a stardust galaxy, which means that is is currently undergoing a period of intense star formation.

The Galaxy was discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783 during one of her systematic comet searches.

The Sculptor Galaxy is located at the center of the Sculptor Group, one of the nearest groups of galaxies to the Milky Way.

It is the brightest one in the group and one of the intrinsically brightest galaxies in the vicinity of ours, only surpassed by the Andromeda Galaxy and the Sombrero Galaxy.

Equipment:

Celestron 9.25” 2350mm Edge-HD Telescope

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount

Orion 50mm Helical Guide Scope & StarShoot AutoGuider

Celestron 9x50 Finder Scope

ZWO ASI294MC Pro Color Camera

Celestron .7 EdgeHD Reducer Lens

PHD2 Guiding Software

SharpCap Pro

Thank you for your comments.

Gemma

The southern Lunar region as imaged by a Questar 3.5-inch Quartz Standard f/14.4 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope with a Celestron Ultima SV-Series 2x Barlow, and a ZWO ASI224MC astro-camera.

The best 41% of 1956 frames captured in SharpCap 4 were pre-processed in PIPP, aligned and stacked in Autostakkert!3, with wavelet application in Registax 6.

19_40_38_pipp_lapl6_ap239_conv P41 Moon 2 Dec 2022 V2

Portion of the Eastern Veil Nebula also known as Caldwell 33, whose brightest area is NGC6992.

The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus.

The Nebula was discovered on 1784 by William Herschel.

Given a distance of 2400 Light Years, this gives the radius of the entire nebula as 64 Light Years.

Undulations in the surface of the shell lead to multiple filamentary images, which appear to be intertwined.

Equipment:

Celestron 9.25” 2350mm Edge-HD Telescope

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount

Orion 50mm Helical Guide Scope & StarShoot AutoGuider

Celestron 9x50 Finder Scope

ZWO ASI294MC Pro Color Camera

Celestron .7 EdgeHD Reducer Lens

PHD2 Guiding Software

SharpCap Pro

Thank you for your comments.

Gemma

The moon on the evening of 5/1/2023. Watching this in live-view for our guests at Badlands Observatory seemed a good time to grab a capture.

This is our full FOV (24 minutes x 36 minutes of arc) using 26" f/4.8 Newtonian Reflector Telescope and ZWO ASI6200MM camera.

Video capture using SharpCap. Processed in PIPP, Autostakkert, Registax and Photoshop. Stack of 25 from 100 frames.

Plato Crater with Montes Alpes. The crater measures 101 km (63 miles) in diameter. The valley, Vallis Alpes, extends 166kn (104 miles) through the range.

Imaged using a ZWO ASI120MC camera on a 20cm (8-inch) Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.

The best 261 out of 1184 frames, captured using SharpCap 3.0, were processed in Registax 6.

Since the entire camera sensor area is shown with no cropping (and no Barlow lens), the approximate magnification is 333X.

The Helix Nebula, also known as NGC 7293, is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Aquarius and lies about 650 light-years away.

The Nebula was discovered by Karl Ludwig Harding, probably before 1824, this object is one of the closest to the Earth of all the bright planetary nebulae.

Equipment:

Celestron 9.25” 2350mm Edge-HD Telescope

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount

Orion 50mm Helical Guide Scope & StarShoot AutoGuider

Celestron 9x50 Finder Scope

ZWO ASI294MC Pro Color Camera

Celestron .7 EdgeHD Reducer Lens

PHD2 Guiding Software

SharpCap Pro

Thank you for your comments.

Gemma

A wonderful music, for all of you - Caravelli-Wigwam

youtu.be/Kz0nvo9DDkU

South is towards the left.

From left to right (south to north), the major craters are Eratosthenese, Archimedes, Autolycus, Aristillus, and Eudoxus.

Mare Imbrium is to the west (top), Mare Serenitatis to the northeast (right) and Mare Vaporum to the southeast (bottom left).

Imaged using a ZWO ASI120MC camera mounted directly on the axial port (prime focus) of a Celestron C8 (Classic orange tube). The best of 616 frames, captured using SharpCap 3.0, were processed in Registax 6.

Since the entire camera sensor area is shown with no cropping (and no Barlow lens), the approximate magnification is 333.3X.

The Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Apple Core Nebula, Messier 27, M27, or NGC 6853) is a planetary nebula in the constellation Vulpecula, at a distance of about 1227 light-years. This object was the first planetary nebula to be discovered by Charles Messier in 1764.

Equipment:

Astro-Tech AT80EDT f/6 ED Triple Refractor Telescope

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount

Orion 50mm Helical Guide Scope & StarShoot AutoGuider

ZWO ASI294MC Pro Color Camera

Orion 38mm clear-aperture Field Flattener

PHD2 Guiding Software

SharpCap Pro

Thank you for your comments,

Gemma

I took 200 captures and stacked the best 25%. (upper half)

Techdata: TSRC 8" @ 1090mm, Sharpcap.

Processed in AstroSurface, GIMP, LR

You can download original size 5301x2982px and use as desktop wallpaper (16:9 wide format).

The Andromeda Galaxy also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224 and originally the Andromeda Nebula, is a spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 million light-years from Earth, and the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way. The galaxy's name stems from the area of Earth's sky in which it appears, the constellation of Andromeda.

The virial mass of the Andromeda Galaxy is of the same order of magnitude as that of the Milky Way, at a trillion solar masses.

The number of stars contained in the Andromeda Galaxy is estimated at one trillion, or roughly twice the number estimated for the Milky Way.

The Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are expected to collide in around 4.5 billion years, merging to form a giant elliptical galaxy or a large lenticular galaxy. With an apparent magnitude of 3.4, the Andromeda Galaxy is among the brightest of the Messier Objects making it visible to the naked eye from Earth on moonless nights, even when viewed from areas with moderate light pollution.

(Wikipedia.org)

Equipment:

Celestron 9.25” 2350mm Edge-HD Telescope

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount

Orion 50mm Helical Guide Scope & StarShoot AutoGuider

Celestron 9x50 Finder Scope

ZWO ASI294MC Pro Color Camera

Celestron .7 EdgeHD Reducer Lens

PHD2 Guiding Software

SharpCap Pro

Thank you for your comments.

Gemma

I spent Sunday night setting up my scope again, aligning it, and tracking the Triangulum Galaxy. The Triangulum Galaxy lies ~2.7 million light years away from Earth and is part of our local group of galaxies. It lies in the constellation Triangulum, from where it gets its name. Charles Messier cataloged it first in 1764. He published his Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters in 1771 and listed it as object number 33, hence the name M33.

Equipment:

SkyWatcher EQ6-R

Nikkor 500mm f/4 P AI-S at f/5.6

Sony a7RIII (unmodified)

ZWO 30mm Guide scope

GPCAM2 Mono Camera

Acquisition:

Taos, NM: my front yard - Bortle 3

28 x 301" for 2 hours, 26 min, and 56 sec exposure time.

3 dark frames

15 flats frames

15 bias frames

Guided

Software:

SharpCap

PHD2

DeepSkyStacker

Photoshop

Lightroom

My Sony a7RIII and adapted Nikkor 500mm f/4 P AI-S were mounted on an ADM vixen rail and secured to the SkyWatcher EQ6-R mount. I polar aligned my mount using SharpCap Pro. The guide scope/camera was attached to the camera's hot shoe. I used PHD2 to autogude during the imaging session. DeepSkyStacker was used to combine all frames, and then I processed the TIFF file in Photoshop. I stretched the 32-bit file and used Gradient XT on the image. I then made it a 16-bit file and continued to stretch the file in levels, then curves. I used the color sampler tool and levels to do my best to help keep colors accurate. I then used my skillset, including some dodging & burning, and relied on Astronomy Tools Action Set and Topaz Denoise to give the image a polished look. I brought it into Lightroom to do final color corrections and add EXIF data.

The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy 2.73 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. It is catalogued as

Messier 33 or NGC 598. The Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, behind the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy.

The Triangulum Galaxy was probably discovered by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna before 1654.

Additionally, the Galaxy was independently discovered by Charles Messier on the night of August 25-25, 1764.

It was published in his Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters (1771) as object number 33; hence the name M33.

Equipment:

Celestron 9.25” 2350mm Edge-HD Telescope

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount

Orion 50mm Helical Guide Scope & StarShoot AutoGuider

Celestron 9x50 Finder Scope

ZWO ASI294MC Pro Color Camera

Celestron .7 EdgeHD Reducer Lens

PHD2 Guiding Software

SharpCap Pro

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Gemma

The Strawberry Full Moon name comes from the Algonquin tribes of North America because the June full moon was a sign for them to begin harvesting wild strawberries.

As the moon, Earth, and the sun go through their orbital dance, the part of the moon that's illuminated by sunlight moves in and out of our view, creating a predictable series of lunar phases. In any given month we see eight distinct phases of the moon, defined by how much of the lunar disk is illuminated from our perspective and whether the moon is heading toward or away from being full.

This image was taken on June 17th from our backyard.

Equipment:

Astro-Tech AT80EDT f/6 ED Triple Refractor Telescope

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount

Orion 50mm Helical Guide Scope & StarShoot AutoGuider

ZWO ASI294MC Pro Color Camera

Orion 38mm clear-aperture Field Flattener

SharpCap Pro

Thank you for your comments,

Gemma

Galaxie du Moulinet (M101) C'est une galaxie spirale située dans la Grande Ourse et distante d'environ 7 Mpc (∼22,8 millions d'années lumières).

C'est le premier résultat que j'obtiens avec ma caméra après quelques nuits de galère.

Prise de vues sur 3 nuits en Avril 2021.

Monture EQM-35 et mise en station avec Polemaster

Lunette TS Photoline 80/560 à F5.53 avec réducteur de 0.79

Camera monochrone ALTAIR 183 MM PRO TEC refroidie à -15 °

Capture avec Sharpcap sans autoguidage

Traitement Siril et assemblage LRVB avec PS

Filtre RVB ZWO

Luminance : 192 vues de 45 " Bin 1x1

Rouge : 70 vues de 45 " Bin 1x1

Vert : 67 vues de 45 " Bin 1x1

Bleu : 68 vues de 45 "" Bin 1x1

Temps total : 4H57'

2 fois : 25 darks, 50 offsets et 15 flats

This picture was captured using a telescope with a Hydrogen-alpha (Hα) filter. This lets us see the Sun's chromosphere. As a result we can see many solar features, such as sunspots (seen here as black dots, plage (beach), seen here as bright white areas, filaments (black lines) and prominences (seen around the edge).

Photo was captured in Meadow Bridge, West Virginia USA

Telescope: Lunt 60mm Hα with double stack

Camera: ZWO I178MM monochrome

Note: Yellow color was added using PhotoShop

Capture Software: SharpCap

Processing Software:

AutoStakkert, Light Room Classic, Photo Shop

The graceful, winding arms of the majestic spiral galaxy M51 appear like a grand spiral staircase sweeping through space. They are actually long lanes of stars and gas laced with dust. Such striking arms are a hallmark of so-called grand-design spiral galaxies.

In M51, also know as the Whirlpool galaxy, these arms serve an important purpose: they are star-formation factories, compressing hydrogen gas and creating clusters of new stars.

Discovered by Charles Messier in 1773, M51 is located 31 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici.

Messier 51 (The Whirlpool Galaxy) NASA

www.nasa.gov

Equipment:

Astro-Tech AT80EDT f/6 ED Triple Refractor Telescope

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount

Orion 50mm Helical Guide Scope & StarShoot AutoGuider

ZWO ASI294MC Pro Color Camera

Orion 38mm clear-aperture Field Flattener

PHD2 Guiding Software

SharpCap Pro

Thank you for your comments,

Gemma

The Triangulum Galaxy is part of our local group of nearby galaxies. It is ~only~ 2.7 million light years away from us. It is the third largest after our Milky Way and then Andromeda. The Triangulum Galaxy faces us head on so it is not as bright as Andromeda which shines nearly 8 times as bright. I could not make it out in my telescope, only after a long exposure could I see it on my LCD screen.

Equipment:

Celestron CGEM Mount

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

Sony a7RIII (unmodified)

Altair 60mm Guide scope

GPCAM2 Mono Camera

Acquisition:

Taos, NM: my backyard - Bortle 3

42 x 211" for 2 hours 47 min and 13sec of exposure time.

7 dark frames

15 flats frames

15 bais frames

Guided

Software:

SharpCap

PHD2

DeepSkyStacker

Photoshop

My mount was polar aligned with SharpCap (what an amazing system for aligning). I'm not comfortable using my SCT as my lens yet. My solution is to piggyback my Sony a7RIII and adapted Nikkor 500mm f/4 P Ai-s on a ADM dovetail rail on the top of my optical tube. I used DeepSkyStacker to combine all frames and then processed the TIFF file in Photoshop. I stretched the 32 bit file and used Gradient XT on the image. I then made it a 16 bit file and stretched in level, then curves. I used the color sampler tool and levels to do my best to keep the background space black. I did use layer masks to bring out the color in the galaxy without making the stars look like christmas lights. I then using my skillset and relyed on Astronomy Tools Action Set, and dodging and burning a bit to give the image the finishing touches.

Our nearest neighbour, captured in the Ha wavelength

Location: West Midlands, UK

Scope: Coronado SM60 II / BF10 / TAL 2x barlow

Camera: ASI 178MM

Mount: CEM60-EC

Integration: 6 panel mosaic, best 200 of 2000 frames for each panel

Acquisition: Sharpcap Pro

Processing: Autostakkert 3.1 / ImPPG / Photoshop

Data - 04/10/2022

Hora - 01:21 UT

Local - João Pessoa, PB - Brasil

Bortle - Class 8

Telescopio - SW 150mm F8

Câmera - ZWO ASI 183MC PRO

GAIN - 244

EXP - 133,094 ms

Método - Projeção positiva

Ocular - 9mm Plossi GSO

Montagem - EQ5

Motorização - On Step Brasil

Ligth - 107 frames (70%)

Software Captura - SharpCap

Softwares Processamento - AS3/Registax/PS

#astfotbr

I been reading a book on Lunar imaging, Shoot The Moon by Nicolas Dupont-Bloch, Then I started using RegiStax6 and adjustments on the wavelets setting, and saving my settings too, I uploaded the same image back in Nov 7, looks ok, this one is a big inprovement, once you get your pictures looking good with RegiStax6 save your settings for the next picture(s), Doesn't hurt to play with the settings either....

A "sucker hole" is an astronomer's term for a very short term break in the cloud cover. This is what I was dealing with. I had to wait a frustratingly long time for these sucker holes to open so I could get a view of the Sun, focus the camera, and grab so images. These steps took place as the holes became available. In the end, I had less than 5 minutes available to capture the image you see above. It was definitely worth the effort.

Photo was captured in Elkridge, Maryland USA

Telescope: Lunt 60mm Hα with double stack

Camera: ZWO I178MM monochrome

Note: Yellow color was added using PhotoShop

Capture Software: SharpCap

Processing Software:

AutoStakkert, RegiStax 6, Light Room Classic, Photo Shop

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in the early morning of January 27, 2023.

The comet was discovered in March 2022 at the Zwicky Transient Facility telescope, thus the ZTF name.

Equipment:

SkyWatcher EQ6-R

Nikkor 500mm f/4 P AI-S at f/4

Sony a7RIIIa (unmodified)

ZWO 30mm Guide scope

GPCAM2 Mono Camera

Acquisition:

Taos, NM: my back yard - Bortle 3

4 x 121" for 8 minutes and 4 seconds of exposure time.

2 dark frames

15 flats frames

15 bias frames

Software:

SharpCap

DeepSkyStacker

Photoshop

Lightroom

My Sony a7RIII and adapted Nikkor 500mm f/4 P AI-S were mounted on an ADM vixen rail and secured to the SkyWatcher EQ6-R mount. I polar aligned my mount using SharpCap Pro. I struggled with getting guiding going and decided to trust my mount to track accurately. I took 4 121-second exposures and dark, flat, and bias frames. DeepSkyStacker was used to combine all frames, and then I processed the TIFF file in Photoshop. I stretched the 32-bit file using Levels. I then made it a 16-bit file and continued to stretch the file in levels and curves. I used the color sampler tool and levels to do my best to help keep colors accurate. I then used my skillset, including some dodging & burning, and relied on Astronomy Tools Action Set and Topaz Denoise to give the image a polished look. I brought it into Lightroom to do final color corrections and add EXIF data. I did not attempt to account for the comet's movement, and you can see the nucleus is elongated.

The Crescent Nebula is a faint emission nebula in the constellation of Cygnus, at around 5000 light-years away from Earth. Discovered by William Herschel in 1792.

Imaged from my backyard in Gérgal, Almería, Spain

8 imaging sessions 16th- 27th May 2022

Ha 66x 300s BIN 2x2 Gain 200 -10C

Oiii 257x 300s BIN 2x2 Gain 200 -10C

Ha 5.5 Hours

Oiii 21 Hours

Telescope: Celestron C11 Edge HD x0.7 f/7 @ 1960mm

Image Camera: ZWO ASI 6200MM Pro

Guiding: ZWO OAG L with ZWO ASI 192MM Mini

Filters: ZWO Ha 7nm, ZWO Oiii 7nm

Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro

Computer: PrimaLuceLab Eagle 4

Capture software: NINA, PHD2, Sharpcap Pro

Processing software: PixInsight, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator, Adobe Lightroom, Topaz Sharpen AI

Discovered by Charles Messier in 1764, M20 is a star-forming nebula located 9,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. Also known as the Trifid Nebula, M20 has an apparent magnitude of 6.3 and can be spotted with a small telescope.

Image Details:

- Imaging Scope: William Optics 61mm Zenithstar II Doublet

- Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI183MC Color with UV/IR Blocking filter

- Guiding Scope: William Optics 66mm Petzval

- Guiding Camera: Orion Starshoot Auutoguider

- Acquisition Software: Sharpcap

- Guiding Software: PHD2

- Capture Software: SharpCap Pro (LiveStack mode with dithering)

- Light Frames: 20*4 mins @ 100 Gain, Temp -20C

- Dark Frames: 12*4 mins

- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker

- Processed in PixInsight, Adobe Lightroom, and Topaz Denoise AI

Moon again. Test for stacking AstroSurface

Shot with TSRC8 reduced to 1088mm. Captured with SharpCap, stacked with AstroSurface, pp in Lightroom.

Maybe you want to see the image in original size : www.flickr.com/photos/58977655@N06/52413116386/sizes/o/

The Spaghetti Nebula is located in the constellations of Auriga and Taurus within the Milky Way and is a supernova remnant from an exploding star. These extremely faint and fine filaments of ionised hydrogen, sulphur and oxygen are all that remains from the explosion approximately 40,000 years ago. It's distance from our solar system is estimated to be 3000 light-years.

The size of the nebula is extremely large, approximately 3 degrees, and using my small 81mm telescope, the image almost entirely fills a full frame camera sensor. To capture this image I used over 28 hours of images using 3 narrow band filters for each gas.

Technical details:

Location:

Gérgal, Almeria, Spain. Bortle class 4.5

Filters used:

Ha: 256 @ 120s 512 min

Oiii: 342 @ 120s 684 min

Sii: 251 @ 120s 502 min

Total integration: 28.3 hours

Equipment:

Telescope: William Optics GT81 with x0.8 Field Flattener f/5.6 385mm

Image Camera: ZWO ASI 6200MM Pro @ -5 C

Pegasus Astro Falcon rotator

Pegasus Astro Focus Cube

ZWO 7 Position filter wheel

ZWO Filters 7nm Sii, Oiii and Ha

Guide scope: William Optics 50mm Uniguide 200mm f/4

Guide camera: ZWO ASI 192 MM Mini

Software:

N.I.N.A, PHD2, Sharpcap Pro, PixInsight, Photoshop, Lightroom and Topaz Denoise.

View of the "Lunar X," at the intersection of the rims of Blanchinus, La Caille and Purbach craters as was visible on January 28th, 2023.

7.2 day-old Moon as imaged through a Questar Quartz 3.5" Standard Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, a ZWO ASI224MC CMOS astronomy camera with over 5000 frames captured by SharpCap, processed in Autostakkert!3 and Registax 6.

20_00_33_lapl5_ap387_conv P52 28 Jan 2023 V3

Just under 39 million miles from Earth, 7 days before its Perihelion Opposition on October 13th.

Image captured using a 1965 quartz Questar 3.5-inch Maksutov Cassegrain telescope, a ZWO ASI120MC camera

90-second capture of 1971 frames using SharpCap 3.0 and Registax 6 for stacking and processing, minor adjustments with PS Elements.

Orion, by John White

My favorite constellation is Orion.

I like it first and foremost

because on a cold clear winter night

it is easy to find in the sky.

On a very special night,

far from the cities and stress

you can actually see the Great Orion Nebula

a cloud of interstellar gases where stars are actually born.

With each thought we share,

each story, picture and sound,

we see a little more of each other.

I'm certain if we keep looking,

on a very special night,

far from our daily lives,

we will discover the universe together.

Equipment:

Celestron 9.25” 2350mm Edge-HD Telescope

Celestron .7 EdgeHD Reducer Lens

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount

Orion 50mm Helical Guide Scope & StarShoot AutoGuider

Celestron 9x50 Finder Scope

ZWO ASI294MC Pro Color Camera

PHD2 Guiding Software

ZWO 1.25” Duo-Band Filter

SharpCap Pro

Please stay safe, take care of yourself and your dear family.

Gemma

Another annual attempt, maybe my best yet. SOOOOO hard to process these! At least now I can see the red stuff in M82!

Image Details:

- Imaging Scope: William Optics 61mm ZenithStar APO

- Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI183MC Color with IR Cut filter

- Guiding Scope: William Optics 31mm Uniguide

- Guiding Camera: Orion Starshoot Auto Guider

- Acquisition Software: Sharpcap

- Guiding Software: PHD2

- Light Frames: 48*6 mins @ 50 Gain, Temp -20C

- Dark Frames: 48*6 mins

- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker

- Processed in PixInsight, Adobe Lightroom and Topaz Denoise

RGB 120 each @ 15 seconds Gain 200

30 darks

Scope: Orion 8" f4 Astrograph with Baader Coma Corrector

Mount: iOptron iEQ45 pro

Camera: ZWO ASI183M non cooled

ZWO 8 position 1.25 filter wheel filter wheel

ZWO LRGB

Moonlite focuser CR2

Moonlight Hi Res stepper motor

MyFocuer Pro v2 (Robert Brown) controller

Bahtinov mask

Home Observatory

Software: N.I.N.A., PHD2, Sharpcap, CdC, Pixinsight, Photoshop, Team Viewer

April 24, 2022. Follow the spots across the disc for another day.

SkyWatcher Esprit 80mm, IR cut filter, Daystar Quark solar filter, QHY 174 camera. SharpCap acquisition program. Stacked the best 15% of 1000 frames of a .ser video file in AutoStakkert. then processed using IMPPG, NAFE, combined these in Photoshop. Topaz DeNoise, Lightroom for final sharpening and adjustments.

This is one active Sun. There are 9 Active Regions (AR) in this image. This picture was captured in Elkridge, Maryland USA.

Telescope: Lunt 60mm Hα with double stack

Camera: ZWO I178MM monochrome

Note: Yellow color was added using PhotoShop

Capture Software: SharpCap

Processing Software:

AutoStakkert, RegiStax 6, Light Room Classic, Photo Shop

This picture was captured at the Green Bank Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia USA. I was attending Star Quest 2022.

Telescope: Lunt 60mm Hydrogen alpha (double stack configuration)

Camera: ZWO ASI178 monochrome

Capture software: SharpCap Pro

Post Processing:

AutoStakkert

Light Room Classic

PhotoShop

note: yellow coloring was added in post processing

= Acquisition info =

William Optics Zenithstar 73ii (FL 430mm)

Risingcam IMX571 color

iOptron CEM26

Sharpcap

= Séance photo =

@Astrobox 2.0

St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec

Bortle 9

28 septembre 2024 à 10h30

Filtre UV/IR

Best 350 de 3500 x 8 ms

Gain 100, refroidi -10oC

= Traitement/processing =

PIPP, Autostakkert, Registax & Affinity Photo 2

AstroM1

The comet to see of 2021 ~57 million miles away from Earth in the pre-dawn sky over Taos, New Mexico. | December 4, 2021.

Equipment:

Celestron CGEM Mount

Nikon 500mm f/4 P AI-s at f/5.6

Sony a7RIII (unmodified)

Altair 60mm Guide scope

GPCAM2 Mono Camera

Acquisition:

Taos, NM: my front yard - Bortle 3

4 x 75" for 5 minutes and 4 seconds of exposure time.

5 dark frames

15 flats frames

15 bais frames

Software:

SharpCap

DeepSkyStacker

Photoshop

Guided

My mount was polar aligned with SharpCap (what an amazing system for aligning). I then mounted my a7RIII and adapted Nikon 500mm f/4 P Ai-s lens to the top rail of my scope. I used SharpCap to achieve "excellent" polar alignment. I shot ISO 3200, f/5.6 and 75" exposures. I stacked lights/darks/flats/bias frames in deepskystacker. I then processed the TIFF file in photoshop stretching the file, cropping and I used Astronomy Tools Action Set to help bring out details and colors along with Topaz Denoise to help smooth things out.

This color capture of Our Sun is displaying very interesting features. A sunspot, plages, filaments, and prominences are active. For reference this sunspot is AR3264

Photo was captured in Elkridge, Maryland USA

Telescope: Lunt 60mm Hα with double stack

2X Barlow

Camera: ZWO1294MC Pro

Capture Software: SharpCap

Processing Software:

AutoStakkert, RegiStax 6, Light Room Classic, Photo Shop

Peek toward the handle of the Big Dipper with a telescope and you can find the Pinwheel Galaxy also known as M101. It lies 21 million light-years away, meaning the light traveled for 21 million years before hitting my camera's sensor. Discovered in 1781 by Pierre Méchain, one of Charles Messier's colleagues, the spiral arms stretches 170,000 light-years wide—almost twice the size of our Milky Way Galaxy.

Equipment:

SkyWatcher EQ6-R

Nikkor 800mm f/5.6 AI-S at f/5.6

Sony a7rIII (unmodified)

ZWO 30mm Guide Scope

GPCAM2 Mono Camera

Acquisition:

Taos, NM: my front yard - Bortle 3

40 x 212-second exposures for 2 hours, 11 minutes and 20 seconds of exposure time.

5 dark frames

15 flats frames

15 bias frames

Guided

Software:

SharpCap

PHD2

PixInsight

Photoshop

Lightroom

My a7rIII and adapted Nikon 800mm f/5.6 lens were mounted to my SkyWatcher EQ6-R mount using a vixen rail. The guidescope/camera was fixed to the front of the rail. I used SharpCap to achieve "excellent" polar alignment. I shot ISO 1600 at f/5.6. I took 212-second exposures using PHD2 with my guidescope to keep tracking accurately. I brought the lights/darks/flats/bias frames into PixInsight for stacking and aligning and then used: STF, Cropping, GraXpert, Dynamic Background Extraction, BlurXTerminator, plate solving, color correction, NoiseXTerminator, and then the galaxy was separated from the stars using StarXterminator, and both files processed and stretched separately and then recombined using PixelMath. That file was brought into Lightroom for Metadata and EXIF tags, light post-processing, and cropping. I used Photoshop to sharpen the final image.

Last Quarter with 53% illumination, This is a composite image of 3 images blended in photoshop. Two images are composed of stacking 80% of 5000 frame acquired @20 FPS, 2 x 2 Bin, Gain 100. One over exposed image to show the glowing shine of the Moon. Gear setup: Celestron edge HD 800with F/R @f/7, iOptron GEM45, ZWO EFW 2”, Baader Moon & Skyglow filter, ZWO 2600MC @ 0, Captured by Sharpcap pro, Stacked by Autostakkart!, wavelets by Registax, Processed by PS.

My Friday night was spent setting up my scope and targeting the Andromeda Galaxy. It is the furthest object visible to the naked eye as it lies relatively close to us at only ~2.5 million light years from Earth.

Equipment:

SkyWatcher EQ6-R

Nikkor 500mm f/4 P AI-S at f/5.6

Sony a7RIII (unmodified)

ZWO 30mm Guide scope

GPCAM2 Mono Camera

Acquisition:

Taos, NM: my front yard - Bortle 3

36 x 210" for 2 hours, 6 min, and 30 sec exposure time.

5 dark frames

15 flats frames

15 bias frames

Guided

Software:

SharpCap

PHD2

DeepSkyStacker

Photoshop

Lightroom

My Sony a7RIII and adapted Nikkor 500mm f/4 P AI-S were mounted on an ADM vixen rail and secured to the SkyWatcher EQ6-R mount. I polar aligned my mount using SharpCap Pro. The guide scope/camera was attached to the camera's hot shoe. I used PHD2 to autogude during the imaging session. DeepSkyStacker was used to combine all frames, and then I processed the TIFF file in Photoshop. I stretched the 32-bit file using Levels. I then made it a 16-bit file and continued to stretch the file in levels and curves. I used the color sampler tool and levels to do my best to help keep colors accurate. I then used my skillset, including some dodging & burning, and relied on Astronomy Tools Action Set and Topaz Denoise to give the image a polished look. I brought it into Lightroom to do final color corrections and add EXIF data.

Went out Monday night, IC5070, IC405 and M42&M43

Orion 80mm ED refractor, Zwo 294MC Pro cooled color camera, Used an electronic focuser, Nice to have!!

Optolong L eNhance filter

#SharpCap Pro, PoleMaster

Ioptron i45 Pro EQ mount, PHD2 guiding

Orion 60mm guidescope SSAG

220 Gain offset 10 -10c cooling,

IC5070 was 90 minutes, 1 minute exposure each

IC405 was 90 minutes, 1 minute exposure each

M42&M43 was 55 minutes, 1 minute exposure each

Weather was good, Getting cooler too with some dew forming.... High thin clouds trying to cover up M42

75 darks 100 flats and 75 bias frames

Astro Pixel Processor and PS

Annular Solar Eclipse 2023-10-14 imaged in hydrogen alpha, near Bluff, UT at one of the San Juan River Rincon's (abandoned oxbow).

It's been a difficult road in so many ways preparing for this eclipse but experiencing this moment without a cloud in the sky and no equipment malfunctions made this a lifetime memory. More images to follow as time permits.

Equipment:

Coronado Solarmax III 70mm solar telescope.

ZWO ASI 174mm mono camera.

Orion Atlas Pro EQ mount.

Software:

SharpCap 4.0

AutoStakkert

Lightroom

PhotoShop

The Lagoon Nebula is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. It is classified as an emission nebula and as an H II region. The Lagoon Nebula was discovered by Giovanni Hodierna before 1654 and is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the eye from mid-northern latitudes. The nebula lies around 4,077 light years away.

While I love the Great Orion Nebula, I am growing more enamored with this particular nebula. Take a closer look at everything going on here - dust lanes, waves of hydrogen clouds and more. It's a gorgeous nebula!

Image Details:

- Imaging Scope: William Optics 61mm Zenithstar II Doublet

- Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI183MC Color with ZWO Duo Band filter

- Guiding Scope: William Optics 66mm Petzval

- Guiding Camera: Orion Starshoot Auutoguider

- Acquisition Software: Sharpcap

- Guiding Software: PHD2

- Capture Software: SharpCap Pro (LiveStack mode with dithering)

- Light Frames: 20*5 mins @ 100 Gain, Temp -20C

- Dark Frames: 20*5 mins

- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker

- Processed in PixInsight, Adobe Lightroom, and Topaz Denoise AI

I imaged the Pleiades about a month ago. I used my 300mm lens. After getting some time on the Dumbbell Nebula, I took off the teleconverter and shot this target again with a longer focal length than I had before. I also used ISO 3200 and f/5.6 to bring out those diffraction spikes, which I think look really cool.

Equipment:

Celestron CGEM Mount

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

Sony a7RIII (unmodified)

Altair 60mm Guide scope

GPCAM2 Mono Camera

Acquisition:

Taos, NM: my backyard - Bortle 3

35 x 90" for 53 min and 5 sec of exposure time.

9 dark frames

15 flats frames

15 bais frames

Guided

Software:

SharpCap

PHD2

DeepSkyStacker

Photoshop

My mount was polar aligned with SharpCap (what an amazing system for aligning). I'm not comfortable using my SCT as my lens yet. My solution is to piggyback my Sony a7RIII and adapted Nikkor 500mm f/4 P Ai-s on a ADM dovetail rail on the top of my optical tube. I used DeepSkyStacker to combine all frames and then processed the TIFF file in Photoshop. I stretched the 32 bit file and used Gradient XT on the image. I then made it a 16 bit file and stretched in level, then curves. I used the color sampler tool and levels to do my best to keep the background space black. I then using my skillset and relyed on Astronomy Tools Action Set, and dodging and burning a bit to give the image the finishing touches.