Here is a view on Earth’s moon in a region called Sinus Iridum (Bay of Rainbows), there are two capes, or points, named Promontorium Laplace and Promontorium Heraclides. This area has also been called the “jeweled scimitar” because of its resemblance to the scimitar sword (or sabre). If you look close, you can see some “wrinkle ridges” on the flat surface area. These were caused when lava cooled and contracted, they are also referred to as veins.

Tech Specs: Sky Watcher 120ED Esprit, Celestron CGEM-DX mount (pier mounted), ZWO ASI290MC, best 15% of 2500 frames, unguided. Captured using SharpCap Pro v3.2 and stacked in AutoStakkert! 3.0.14. Image date: December 7, 2019. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

2nd test of this new remote telescope: Cassegrain 8" 3500mm in Ager.

More info at

astro.carballada.com/new-cassegrain-8-ager/

Technical card

Imaging telescope or lens:GSO 8" f12 Classical Cassegrain

Mount:Mesu 200 Mk2

Focal reducer:Baader Q-Barlow

Software:SharpCap, Emil Kraaikamp Autostackert! 3, Registax

Filter:Astronomik Proplanet 642 - 842 nm

Accessory:ZWO EFW

Resolution: 2912x1787

Date:Jan. 5, 2020

Time: 21:14

Frames: 30

FPS: 90.00000

Focal length: 3500

Locations: AAS Montsec, Àger, Lleida, Spain

Data source: Own remote observatory

Remote source: Non-commercial independent facility

NGC7000 North America Nebula. Scope: TSAPO65Q with TeleVue NPR-1073 0.8x Reducer + ZWO IRCUT Filter. Mount: SkyWatcher EQM-35 Pro. Camera: ZWO ASI294MC Pro. Guide: SkyWatcher 50mm EvoGuide with Altair 130M. 25x3 Mins in SharpCap Pro. Processed in APP. Finished in Adobe CC.

The 'West Coast' of the North America Nebula [NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20] Seen in the constellation of Cygnus.

The bright 'West Coast' is often called the 'Cygnus Wall'.

The over exposed orange star towards the top is 'Xi Cygni', or 'ξ Cygni'.

M: iOptron EQ45-Pro

T: William Optics GTF81

C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled

F: IDAS filter (Light Polllution)

G: PHD2

GC: ZWO ASI120mini

RAW16; FITs

Temp: -15 DegC

Gain 200;

14 x Exp 200s

Frames: 14 Lights; 10 Darks; 100 Flats

100% Crop

Capture: SharpCap

Processed: DSS; APP, PS

Sky: 99% Moon, slight breeze, 30% to 80% cloud, mild, fair seeing.

Bortle 5 Sky.

Distance from Earth: 2,202 light years.

The Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula with a Zenithstar 61ii

This nebula pair in Orion is one of the most photographed Deep Space Objects in astrophotography. I used a small and simple rig consisting of a William Optics Zenithstar 61ii with an inexpensive Canon T7i DSLR mounted on it. The entire telescope and camera assembly could easily fit in a small backpack with plenty of room left over for other things. The unit was mounted on an iOptron CEM25P with guiding using a small ZWO 30mm fl 120mm guidescope and PHD2 guiding software. No darks or other calibration frames were taken ... just the 21 exposures at 240 seconds each. The ISO was set to 800. The site was a Bortle 4 and the temperature was 15 C (59 F). The Canon T7i DSLR sensor temperature was 21 C (70 F).

The exposures were captured with APT software. Processing was done with Pixinsight. Polar Alignment for the evening used SharpCap Pro. It's so relaxing to take such a small telescope out and use it to capture the beauty of the heavens while sitting back nearby in a comfortable chair with a cup of hot coffee in hand ... just looking with wonder at the sights above. What a blessing these nights are.

Exploring Messier 42 The Great Orion Nebula

Even though Messier 42 is one of the most photographed astrophotography targets, you can explore its details and change its poses tirelessly. My inexpensive little Orion 80ED APO could use a new focuser, but its optics are excellent. The little telescope is a technical powerhouse when used to explore the heavens. The scope was mounted on a Skywatcher HEQ5 with guiding via a very small ZWO 30mm fl 120mm guidescope and PHD2 guiding software. No darks or other calibration frames were taken. Exposures were 25x24s, 12x44s, and 50x12s with the ASI294MC Pro camera set to a gain of 120 and Bin of 2x2 and cooled to -5 C. No filters were used. The site was a Bortle 4 and the ambient temperature was 15 C (59 F).

Capturing the exposures was done with APT. Processing was done with Pixinsight with final touches put in with Corel Paintshop Pro. Polar Alignment for the evening used SharpCap Pro.

Here is a wide-field view of the northwest section of Mare Imbrium showing Sinus Iridum, the crater Plato and the Montes Rech mountain range.

Tech Specs: ZWO ASI290MC camera and Meade 12” LX90 telescope mounted on a Celestron CGEM-DX mount – an Antares Focal Reducer was used for the wide view. Software used included Sharpcap v2.9, AutoStakkert! Alpha Version 2.3.0.21, and ImagesPlus v5.75a. Best 2500 frames out of 10000 frames captured. Photographed on March 8, 2017 from Weatherly, Pennsylvania.

A stacked view of yesterday’s sun showing quite a few sunspots. Imaged in white light (glass filter), best 20% of 500 images. Solar cycle 25 is the current solar cycle, the 25th since 1755, when extensive recording of solar sunspot activity began. The peak solar activity month is currently estimated to be July 2025.

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera, best 20% of 500 images, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, captured with SharpCap Pro and processed in Autostakkert. Image Date: July 31, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

b33-262x30-g37-o200-qhy183c_-20C-lnh-85f5_6-v3

A full moon and Bortle 7-8 metro area conditions can't stop the Optolong L-eNhance filter. 131 minutes of 30 sec sub-images LiveStacked in SharpCap 3.2, QHY183c at -20C, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.

Still learning my new mono camera

ASI183MM non cooled (30 F ambient temps)

AT65EDQ APO

CG5 ASGT

QHY 5lii guide camera

meade 60mm achro 300mm guide scope

16 @ 300 seconds HA 9nm Schuler filter

Software: ASCOM POTH, SharpCap Pro 3.1, Photoshop CC 2017, Google remote desktop, CdC, APT - Astro Photography Tool, PixInsight 1.8 Ripley PixInsight, ProDigital Software Astronomy Tools Actions Set

Accessories:Arduino Focuser DIY FocuserPro2 arduino focus motor ( Robert Brown)

Data source: Backyard

R,G,B color composite image using IR650nm Longpass filter instead of Red. Images captured at 02:24, 02:26 and 02:29 UT July 6.

Software used, SharpCap, Autostakkert, Winjupos, Registax, Topaz Sharpen AI.

Genova, Italy (28 Oct 2022 21:25 UT)

Planet: diameter 48.0", mag -2.8, altitude ≈ 44°

Telescope: Orange 1977 vintage Celestron C8 (203 F/10 SC)

Mount: EQ5 with ST4 hand controller (no GoTo)

Camera: QHY5III462C Color

Barlow: GSO APO 2.5x

Filter: QHY UV/IR block

Recording scale: 0.150 arcsec/pixel

Equivalent focal length ≈ 3990 mm F/19.7

Image resized: +50%

Recording: SharpCap 4.0

(640x480 @ 60fps - 120 sec - RAW16 - Gain 120)

Best 25% frames of 7233

Alignment/Stacking: AutoStakkert! 3.1.4

Wavelets/Deconvolution: AstroSurface T5

Final Elaboration: GIMP 2.10.30

Here is a line of craters near the lunar terminator on October 22, 2018. From left to right it includes Pythagoras, Anaximander, Carpenter and Pascal.

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, ZWO ASI290MC, Televue 2.5x Powermate (1.25”), best 25% of 30k frames, captured using SharpCap Pro v3.1. Image date: October 22, 2018. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

Foto lograda sumando los datos de 2 equipos distintos (14 h de exposición Total):

1) ASI1600MM-pro + SW Esprit 100 + NEQ6pro rowan mod + optolong LRGB filters. Guide: guidescope 60mm and QHY5L II M – 68 x 3 min L, 20 x 3 min R, 20 x 3 min G, 19 x 3 min B. 100 flats per filter, 100 darks, gain 100: Capturado por Juan Filas

2) Equipo Principal: NIKON D7500 + SW Explorer 200p + SW Coma Corrector 0.9x + EQ6-R-Pro + ZWO EAF

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

ISO 800, 154 x 180" Lights

100 Darks

100 Flats

85 Bias

Polar Align: SharpCap 3.2

Adquisición: SGP 3.1

Capturado por Ariel Cappelletti

Procesado de Imagen: Juan Filas / Ariel Cappelletti

Capturado en Cielo clase Bortle 2, desde Observatorio la Banderita, La Pampa, Argentina.

Gracias Especiales a Leonardo Julio (www.astronomiapampeana.com.ar) por la invitación tanto a Juan como a mì para ir al Observatorio.

-------------------------------------

Image achieved by the addittion of data from to different equipments (14 h of total exposure):

1) ASI1600MM-pro + SW Esprit 100 + NEQ6pro rowan mod + optolong LRGB filters. Guide: guidescope 60mm and QHY5L II M – 68 x 3 min L, 20 x 3 min R, 20 x 3 min G, 19 x 3 min B. 100 flats per filter, 100 darks, gain 100: Captured by Juan Filas

2) Main Equipment: NIKON D7500 + SW Explorer 200p + SW Coma Corrector 0.9x + EQ6-R-Pro + ZWO EAF

Guiding Equipment: guidescope 60/240 mm, ZWO ASI 120mm mini

ISO 800, 154 x 180" Lights

100 Darks

100 Flats

85 Bias

Polar Align: SharpCap 3.2

Acquisition: SGP 3.1

Captured by Ariel Cappelletti

Image Processing By Juan Filas / Ariel Cappelletti

Taken under skies Bortle 2, from Observatorio La Banderita, La Pampa, Argentina, special thanks to Leonardo Julio for the invitation to Juan and me to travel to La Banderita (www.astronomiapampeana.com.ar).

Equipo Principal: ZWO ASI 178mc + SW Explorer 250pds + EQ6-R-Pro + ZWO EAF + Barlow Celestron X-Cel LX 3X

10% of 20.000 frames selected in PIPP and stacked in Registax6

scale: 4 pix/km

SharpCap 3.2, PIPP, Registax6, Pixinsight 1.8.8, PS

Here is a wide field shot of the open clusters Messier 35 and the compact open cluster designated NGC 2158, both found in the constellation Gemini. This is a huge open cluster that almost fills the same size in the sky as a full moon, it is about 2,800 light-years from Earth. As with any wide-field image of this open cluster, you get the added benefit of catching NGC 2158 nearby, not related to M35 as it lies about 9,000 light-years further away.

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Celestron CGEM-DX mount (pier mounted), ZWO ASI071MC-Pro running at -25C, 20 x 60 second exposures, GAIN 200, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope. Captured using SharpCap v3.2. Darks included. Image date: December 20, 2019. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

Prominent features are Mare Fecunditatus and the Langrenus Crater on its eastern edge and the Gutenberg and Goclenius craters on the southwest shore. Also predominant is the Petavius Crater to the southeast.

Celestron C90 (Vintage Orange) 1000mm f/11 Maksutov Cassegrain Telescope

ZWO ASI120MC, 2 minute exposure in SharpCap 2.9 and processed in Registax 6.

Live stacking in SharpCap

10 frames at 15 seconds each

Mars sets over Schüter and Grimaldi as the moon occults Mars. Since events precluded a realtime capture, I produced this composite from data shot 4 hours before the Occultation.

Location: 8-12-2022 St Helens UK.

Acquisition:Mars- best 5% of 5000x 2.5ms each RGB gain 400.

Moon- best 20% of 200x 1ms each RGB gain 400.

Equipment:Skywatcher 200P, EQ6R-Pro. Altair H183Mpro. ZWO EAF, EFWmini with RGB filters.

Software:Sharpcap Pro, EQMOD.

Processing:AutoStakkert, Registax 6, Affinity Photo2 with Topaz DeNoiseAI plug in.

The position of Mars with respect to the lunar craters was obtained from Stellarium. Since the data was obtained 4 hours before the time of the occultation, the details on the surface of Mars will be different due to its rotation.

ZWO ASI294MC-Pro Cooled + filtre IR-CUT ZWO M48 + adaptateur CCD TS Optics EOS/T2 + Sigma 150/600 à 600mm f6.3 sur Sky Watcher Star Adventurer.

247 poses de 30s soit 2h03 de pose - Gain 420/470 . Acquisition avec SharpCap 3.2 - Traitement Siril - Darktable - FastStone Image Viewer.

Latitude 48°29' N

M101 - Galaxie du Moulinet - Constellation de la Grande Ourse - Magnitude 7.86 - Distance 20.8 million d'années lumière.

Ngc 5474 - En bas à droite - Galaxie Magnitude 10.79 - Distance 19.6 million d'années lumière.

Ngc 5422 - En haut à gauche - Galaxie Magnitude 13.1 - Distance 100.8 million d'années lumière.

M57 The Ring Nebula

Taken with the Orion 80mm ED refractor

ASI Zwo ASI183MC Pro cooled color camera IR/cut filter

Had some clear skies last night, not good tracking due to windy conditions

#SharpCap Pro, PoleMaster

Ioptron i45 Pro EQ mount, PHD2 guiding

Orion 60mm guidescope Zwo 120MM mini

120 Gain offset 20, 0c cooling,

M57 was 80 minutes, 1 minute exposure each

Lost 27 frames to bad guiding, 53 minutes total

25 darks 25 flats and 25 bias frames

Astro Pixel Processor and PS

Messier 44 – The Beehive Cluster (or also called the Praesepe) is a open cluster that lies in the constellation Cancer. M44 has a visual brightness of magnitude 3.7, so it is easily visible using a modest telescope and can easily be seen using binoculars (it is actually much nicer in a wide-field view). Distance is around 577 light years. Total number of stars in this cluster are in the range of 200 to 350.

Tech Specs: Williams Optics REDCAT, Celestron CGEM-DX mount (pier mounted), ZWO ASI071MC-Pro running at -25C, 15 x 60 second exposures, GAIN 200, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope, ZWO UV/IR cut filter. Captured using SharpCap v3.2. Image date: December 22, 2019. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

Taken from my Bortle 7 skies in Sydney Australia. Taken with Espirit 150 refractor, ASI2600MC camera and Optolong filter. Image consists of 72 X 3 minutes livestacked and calibrated on the fly in SharpCap Pro.

As of last evening, the planet Venus is 27% illuminated and near its maximum brightness. Its brightness comes from its proximity to Earth, it is currently passing between us and the sun. The crescent phase will grow thinner and thinner until we lose sight of Venus in the western glow. It reappears in the morning skies of late June. You can check our EarthSky’s article on this at: earthsky.org/tonight/venus-at-its-brightest-in-late-april

Tech Specs: Meade 12” LX-90, ZWO ASI290MC, best 25% of 10,000 frames, UV/IR filter, unguided. Captured using SharpCap Pro. Image date: April 28, 2020. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

This is not my first image of the beautiful Orion Nebula and probably will not be my last. It was captured on a field night with Macarthur Astronomical Society, despite several equipment issues I had to deal with.

Object Details:

Messier 42, NGC 1976, LBN 974.

Constellation: Orion.

Visual magnitude: +4.0

Apparent diameter: 85 x 60.0 arc-min. (about 2 Lunar Diameters).

Actual diameter: 35 light years.

Distance: 1,400 light years.

Altitude: 41° above NE horizon.

Also visible:

Also visible in this image are: NGC 1973, NGC 1975, and NGC 1977, the Running Man Nebula; the smaller bright nebula, M43; open cluster NGC 1981.

Image:

Exposure: 52 x 90 sec = 78 min. Live stacked.

Gain 300

Date: 2018-12-03 commencing approx 11.15 pm

Location: The Oaks, NSW.

Sky: semi-dark rural.

Cloud: clear.

Moon: no.

Image acquisition software: SharpCap.

Image post-processing: GIMP.

Cropping: no.

Imaging log:

[ZWO ASI071MC Pro]

Debayer Preview=On

Output Format=FITS files (*.fits)

Binning=1

Capture Area=4944×3284

Colour Space=RAW8

Hardware Binning=Off

Turbo USB=80(Auto)

Flip=None

Frame Rate Limit=Maximum

Gain=223

Exposure=90

Timestamp Frames=Off

White Bal (B)=56(Auto)

White Bal (R)=39(Auto)

Brightness=64

Temperature=5.3

Cooler Power=100

Target Temperature=-10

Cooler=On

Auto Exp Max Gain=300

Auto Exp Max Exp M S=30000

Auto Exp Target Brightness=100

Mono Bin=Off

Anti Dew Heater=Off

Banding Threshold=35

Banding Suppression=0

Apply Flat=None

Subtract Dark=None

#Black Point

Display Black Point=0

#MidTone Point

Display MidTone Point=0.5

#White Point

Display White Point=1

TimeStamp=2018-12-03T13:43:15.2148775Z

SharpCapVersion=3.2.5871.0

TotalExposure(s)=4680

StackedFrames=52

Gear:

Imaging telescope: Skywatcher Esprit 120ED Super APO triplet refractor.

Focal length: 840 mm, focal ratio: f/7.

Imaging camera: ZWO ASI 071 MC Pro

Guiding: off (guide camera malfunction).

Telescope mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R.

Polar aligning method: QHYCCD PoleMaster.

Polar alignment error: estimated 4-6 arc-min.

Field flattener: yes; filter: no.

Observing Notes:

Well, I’ve had nearly a year of frustration with my SkyWatcher EQ6 mount, which has been giving me alignment errors since January. It’s been looked at twice by the dealer and the Australian Skywatcher supplier, Tasco. They found nothing wrong and I’ve had mixed results since getting it back.

I thought it was resolved but it played up again on this occasion and I ended up manually locating this easy object so I would not come away empty-handed. I now have reason to believe it was a power supply issue and have since bought a replacement battery to power the mount.

Sharpcap livestack performed well, once I was able to begin imaging.

Final version. Taken with a QHY183c camera, an Astro-Tech AT60ED at F/4.8 and a UHC-S filter. Acquired in SharpCap 3.2, initial adjustment in FitsWorks and final post processing in PS.

The Snow Moon February 2022 plus 1 day

Taken one day after the Full Moon on the 18th of February 2022. Unfortunately on the 17th of February we had high winds and 100% high cloud cover making imaging very difficult. This image is the closest I could get to being a Full Moon.

Taken from my backyard in Gérgal, Andalucía, Spain using my Tamron 150 - 600 mm telephoto lens connected to my ASI 183 MC Pro astro camera cooled to -10C. 1,000 high speed images were taken and the best 500 were selected and stacked to obtain the best details.

High speed imaging captured using Sharpcap Pro, the images were selected and stacked using Autostakert 3, final adjustments made in Adobe Lightroom and Topaz Labs Sharpen AI.

A quick RGB capture of several solar prominences this afternoon.

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, ZWO ASI290MC, Daystar Quark Chromosphere, SharpCap v3.2, best 10% of 500 frames. Image date: 9 June 2019. Location: The Dark Side Observatory in Weatherly, PA.

Saturn from 4:05am this morning, I can just about make out moon Iapetus’ shadow as it transits the face of Saturn.

Celestron NexStar 6SE

Zwo Asi224mc with IR cut filter

Zwo ADC

Tele Vue 2.5x Powermate

FireCapture for ADC tuning

Captured in SharpCap.

2 minute video 20K frames

Exposure-6.47ms Gain-360

Taken with ASI2600MC camera, Espirit 150 scope, Optolong L-Pro filter. LiveStacked in SharpCap Pro 34 X 7 minute exposures.

m27-60x60-g30-o15-qhy183c_-10C-uhcs-85f5_6-v6

M27 is now high enough to image during the early morning hours again. My first crack at it for this new season netted 60 minutes worth of 1 minute sub-images, which were LiveStacked in SharpCap 3.2. I obtained the data in metro area light pollution levels with a UHC-S filter. The camera was a QHY183c at -10C and the scope was a Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.

Just 30 minutes of M31 before clouds

LUM 60 @ 30 seconds Gain 200, offset 5

30 darks, no flats

Scope: Orion 8" f4 Astrograph with Baader Coma Corrector

Mount: iOptron iEQ45 pro

Camera: ZWO ASI183M non cooled

Guide camera: QHY5Lii

Guide Scope: Stellarvue 50mm

ZWO 8 position 1.25 filter wheel filter wheel

ZWO L

Moonlite focuser CR2

Moonlight Hi Res stepper motor

MyFocuer Pro v2 (Robert Brown) controller

Home Observatory

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

I imaged Bailly Crater on February 25, 2021, luckily the illumination provided enough shadow for a decent image. The unstable atmosphere and winds only allowed me to grab about 2000 frames during each run, so the final image is not as crisp as I would like it. From Wikipedia - One of the largest wall-surrounded plains on the moon, almost a "sea" in miniature, extending 150 miles from N. to S., and fully as much from E. to W. Named in honor of Jean Sylvain Bailly; French astronomer (1736-1793).

TECH SPECS: Meade 12” LX-90, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO ASI290MC, Antares Focal Reducer. Captured using SharpCap v3.2, stacked in Autostakkert (best 20% of 2000 images), sharpened in Registax, final image processed in Corel Paintshop Pro. Image Date: February 25, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a/NGC 6194) and M51b/NGC5195 and lots of other galaxies taken on the 2 nights of 13th/14th April and 15th/16th April 2020.

5 hours and 25 minutes of exposures. About half were 4 minutes (240s) exposures taken on night 1 and the other half are 5 minute (300s) exposures on night 2.

Camera: - Nikon D3100.

ISO: 400. Automated white balance

Flats taken with a Huion L4S Light Box. Used Bias frames too.

Wireless Remote: PIXEL TW-283 DC2 2.4G.

Telescope: - Skywatcher 130PDS Newtonian.

Mount: - Skywatcher EQ6R.

Guiding: Skywatcher EvoGuide 50ED & ZWO ASI120MM-Mini.

Polar Aligned with SharpCap Pro.

Control Software:- Stellarium Scope, Stellarium, Poth Hub, EQMOD, All Sky Plate Solver, PHD Guiding 2 and PHD Dither Timer.

Processing Software: Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and edited in Star Tools.

Moon: - Came up right at the end of work on night 1 and was not present in night 2.

Light Pollution and Location: - Bortle 8 in Davyhulme, Manchester.

Seeing: - Goodish

I think I’m getting better at this, having read quite a lot of topics on darks in astronomy forums I decided to ditch them. Its going from 20c in the day to about 2c at night which is far too much of a difference without having a cooled camera. It’s probably doing more harm than good. I decided to use dithering instead using the PHD Dither timer addon which I have to say seemed to work quite well.

I purchased Sharpcap Pro to try and improve my polar alignment. For some reason I would get it to read ‘Excellent’ and then when I did it again it went to ‘Good’, perhaps I’m not quite pointing it in the right direction or not turning it exactly 90 degrees. Will try and get better but not sure if I need to.

I am learning more about Star Tools, this is about my 5th process of this picture. I’m colour blind and struggle to see green. In my last picture I was asked ‘Why is it green?’ to which my response was ‘Is it?’. I’ve done some reading on this and apparently things being too green is a thing too. Something to do with the green pixels in a colour DSLR and maybe a bit to do with the light polution. This happened on one of my earlier process attempts of this picture, I thought it was good but was informed by why wife that it was green again! Again I read up on the colour module and think this is better. Maybe its too yellow in parts but maybe this is OK.

This is 2 hrs of 3 minute sub-images taken on Sep 26, 2021. Taken from a metro area with a QHY183c at -15C, an Optolong L-eNhance filter, an Astro-Tech AT60ED at F/4.8 and acquired and stacked in SharpCap 3.2 LiveStacking with dark substraction.

The glorious Double Cluster in Perseus. People that I teach astronomy to really enjoy looking at this through the eyepiece, so I thought I'd use it as a test image after setting up my refractor again for some DSO astrophotography over the coming months.

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: 20*4 mins @ 50 Gain, Temp -10C

- Dark Frames: 20*4 mins

- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker

- Processed in PixInsight, Adobe Lightroom and Topaz Denoise

الثريا هي عنقود نجمي يتألف من حوالي ٥٠٠ نجم و يقع في كوكبة الثور و على بعد ٤٤٠ سنة ضوئية. و كان العرب يستخدمونها في قياس حدة البصر، حيث ممكن رؤية ستة او سبعة نجوم منها بالعين المجردة. و كما تعد الثريا، سديم انعكاسي وذلك لوجود سحب من الغبار تعكس ضوء النجوم الساخنةالمحيطة لتضيئ باللون الازرق. و تكون النجوم الزرقاء اكثر سخونة من باقي النجوم حيث انها اسخن من الشمس بعدة اضعاف. Pleiades M45 or the “Seven sisters” is an open star cluster containing about 500 stars in the constellation Taurus. Six or Seven of these stars can be seen by the naked eye. The blue clouds around stars are called Reflection nebulae. They are composed of interstellar dust that reflect the light of the nearby extremely hot blue stars which are hotter than our Sun. Its distance from Earth is around 440 light year. Gear Setup: WO 73 Zenithstar, iOptron GEM 45 Guided by ZWO Mini guide scope, No filter, ZWO 533MC @ -10. Captured by Sharpcap pro, APT, PHD2, stacked & Calibrated in APP, Processed i PI. Total integration is 2 hours, 60 x 120sec subs. For more image details, visit my astrobin page: www.astrobin.com/full/bvqhk2/0/

Telescopio: Celestron C11 XLT Fastar

CMOS: ZWO ASI 174 mono Cooled

Montatura: iOptron CEM60

Software:Registax 6.1.0.8, Emil Kraaikamp Autostakkert 3.0.14, SharpCap 3.1 Pro, Zoner Photo Studio X v. 19, Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight 1.8, Astra Image 4 SI

Filtro Baader Planetarium IR-Pass 685nm

Focuser: Moonlite CF 2,5" focuser with high resolution stepper DRO

FPS: 65,00000 Lunghezza focale: 2.800 mm

Seeing: 3 Trasparenza: 9

Messier 81 (also known as NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy) is a grand design spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away, with a diameter of 90,000 light years, about half the size of the Milky Way, in the constellation Ursa Major. Due to its proximity to Earth, large size, and active galactic nucleus (which harbors a 70 million solar masses supermassive black hole), Messier 81 has been studied extensively by professional astronomers. The galaxy's large size and relatively high brightness also makes it a popular target for amateur astronomers.

(Wikipedia.org)

Technical Information for This Image: Messier 81, Bode's Galaxy, taken from a Bortle 4 site in Landers, CA, USA on a New Moon night. Telescope: TPO Ritchey-Chretien 6 inch with a FL 1370mm. Guiding was with Orion 50mm Guide Scope FL 242mm with a ZWO ASI183MC for the guide camera. Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro. Main imaging camera: ASI294MC PRO cooled to -5C. Exposures: 31 x 180s with Gain at 120 and Bin 2 x 2. No darks, flats or bias frames. Processed in PixInsight. A little cropped. Polar alignment was with SharpCap Pro.

First attempt at these objects, both in the same field of view with my 61mm Doublet!

NGC 6946, sometimes referred to as the Fireworks Galaxy, is a face-on intermediate spiral galaxy with a small bright nucleus, whose location in the sky straddles the boundary between the northern constellations of Cepheus and Cygnus. The galaxy lies around 25 million light years away.

By comparison, the the smaller star cluster NGC 6939, which appears in the same frame at left., lies only 3,800 light years away.

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 Auto Guider

- Acquisition Software: Sharpcap

- Guiding Software: PHD2

- Light Frames: 18*5 mins @ 100 Gain, Temp -10C

- Dark Frames: 18*5 mins

- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker

- Processed in PixInsight and Adobe Lightroom

Took these pictures Monday night, M2 and M33

Orion 80mm ED refractor, Zwo 294MC Pro cooled color camera

Zwo IR/cut filter

#SharpCap Pro PoleMaster

Ioptron i45 Pro EQ mount PHD2 guiding

Orion 60mm guidescope SSAG

120 Gain offset 10 0c cooling, 1 minute exposure, 60 minutes for M2, M33 was 120 minutes,1 minute exposure each

50 darks 50 flats and 50 bias frames

Astro Pixel Processor and PS

Short test exposure using the ASI071MC-Pro on the Sky Watcher, this is the Owl Cluster in Cassiopeia, also known as NGC 457. The smaller open cluster in the upper right is NGC 436. The Owl Cluster is about 7,900 light-years away.

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Celestron CGEM-DX mount (pier mounted), ZWO ASI071MC-Pro, 6 x 60 second exposures, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope. Captured using SharpCap v3.2 live stacking and saved in FITS format for processing. Image date: November 24, 2019. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

Risingcam IMX571 color

William Optics Zenithstar73ii

iOptron CEM26

Filtre UV/IR cut

Filtre Thousand Oaks Solarlite ND5

Exp. 20ms / Gain 100

Best 150 de 765

Aquisition: Sharpcap

Traitement: PIPP, AutoStakkert 4.0, Registax et Gimp

@Astrobox 2.0 / St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec

AstroM1

Our Moon photographed through my refractor telescope on 03.04.2021 @ 2:15 AM. Illuminated side is 65% with 20.7 days age. Gear setup: WO 71 APO Refractor f/5.9 with focal reducer x0.8, iOptron GEM 45 pro, ZWO 294 MC. 1000 frames Captured by Sharpcap pro and stacked for the best of 90% by Autostakkert!, wavelets by Registax 6 and final touch up by PS 2020 CC.

M52 Bubble Nebula

Nikon D5300

20 @ 180 seconds ISO 400

100 BAIS

no flats

no darks (dither every frame)

AT65EDQ

dithered

Nikon d5300

Celestron CG5 AS-GT

QHY 5LII-M guide camera

Astromania 60mm guide scope

Bahtinov mask

DIY FocuserPro2 arduino focus motor ( Robert Brown)

$65 laptop

Software: APT, PHD2, CdC, Sharpcap, ASCOM POTHUB, Pixinsight, PS/ACR, Google remote desktop

PS Plug ins: Nik Define 2, Astronomy Tools

Location: backyard, Bortle 4 skies

Taken with the ASI294MC camera, 150mm refractor and Optolong L-Pro filter. Image consist of 180 x 60 second exposures stacked and calibrated on the fly using the Live Satck function in SharpCap Pro software.

Taken from Bortle 7 skies and 77 % illuminated moon.

Telescope: Celestron C11 XLT

Camera: ZWO ASI120MM-S, ZWO RGB filters

GSO Barlow x2.5

EXP: Per channel 5000 x 3 - 1500 best ones + deroatation + final derotation of RGB channels

Software: Sharpcap, Autostakkert!3, WinJUPOS, PS

Location: Vojnićka Krivaja,

18.10.2020. UTC 21:25

Quick wide field view of today’s sunspots, visible are 2681, 2682 and 2683.

Tech Specs: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, 77mm Thousand Oaks Optical Solar Filter, Canon 2x Extender III, best 25% of 5,000 frames, captured with SharpCap Pro v3.0.3971.0 and processed in AutoStakkert! V3.0.14 (x64).

The Hercules Cluster is a large collection of stars called a globular cluster. Globular clusters are gravitationally bound densely packed groups of stars; it is estimated the Hercules Cluster contains ~300,000 stars. As the name suggests, it is found in the constellation Hercules and is easily visible with binoculars or a telescope. This cluster is ~25,000 lightyears away from Earth and ~145 lightyears across.

I love observing the Hercules Cluster through my telescope as it is one of the brightest globular clusters visible in the northern hemisphere. When I invite the public to view the night sky through my scope it is one of the objects we often look at.

Shot from my backyard near Taos, New Mexico.

Equipment:

SkyWatcher EQ6-R Mount

Nikon 800mm f/5.6 AI-S - shot at f/8

Nikon 1.4x Teleconverter

Sony a7RIII (unmodified)

ZWO 30mm Guide Scope

GPCAM2 Mono Camera

Acquisition:

Taos, NM: my backyard - Bortle 3

55 x 121" for 1 hour 50 min and 55 sec of exposure time.

8 dark frames

15 flats frames

15 bias frames

Software:

SharpCap

PHD2

PixInsight

Lightroom

Photoshop

My a7rIII and adapted Nikon 800mm f/5.6 AI-S lens were mounted to my SkyWatcher EQ6-R mount using a vixen rail. The guidescope/camera were fixed to the front of the rail. I used SharpCap to achieve "excellent" polar alignment. I shot ISO 1600, f/8 with a 1.4x teleconverter, making the focal length 1120mm. I took 121" 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, Dynamic Background Extraction, BlurXTerminator, plate solving, color correction, NoiseXTerminator HDR, and then the background of the cluster 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.