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The heart nebula, IC1805, is a beautiful object in the northern hemisphere's sky for moderate magnification. Coincidentally, it is actually rather well visible around Valentine's Day, although this specific image was acquired a few weeks earlier (you never know how the weather will turn out...).
The image was taken using the newly-installed William Optics Redcat 71 at the Volkssternwarte München, with an ASI 294 MC Pro camera and IDAS NBZ-II duo-narrowband filter.
Image information:
Telescope: William Optics Redcat 71 (350 mm f/4.9)
Camera: ASI 294 MC Pro
Mount: equatorial
Filter: IDAS NBZ-II
Location: Volkssternwarte München
Exposure: 153x 60 s (2h 33min)
Gain: 120
Camera temperature: -5 °C
Capture software: SharpCap Pro
Stacking: Deep Sky Stacker (re-stacking of raw data from live stacking)
Processing: SiRiL, fitswork, Luminar 2018
Quando la Luna è in una fase prossima al primo quarto si possono osservare alcune configurazioni ottiche situate nei pressi del terminatore, la linea che separa il lato notturno da quello diurno.
Quindi a nord è visibile la "V" causata dalla luce solare che lambisce il cratere Ukert e altri più piccoli, la "X" che si forma per la presenza dei crateri La Caille, Blanchinus e Purbach e infine anche una "L" situata più a sud.
Queste configurazioni si possono osservare in questa fase lunare solo per poche ore al mese.
Dati tecnici:
- Telescopio Celestron 114/910 Newtoniano
- Montatura Eq2 con motore AR
- Camera planetaria QHY5L-II-C
- Filtro UV-Ir cut
- Sharpcap per acquisire 10 video da 20 secondi ognuno
- Autostakkert 3 e Registax 6 per elaborare i video
- Autostitch per creare il mosaico
- GIMP per regolare luminosità e contrasto
- Frazione illuminata: 52%
- Luogo: Cabras (OR), Italia
- Data: 8 febbraio 2022
- Ora: dalle 18:50 alle 18:59 UTC
It' was a little too cloudy tonight for deep space imaging so I captured this quick shot of the moon instead (even caught the lunar V and X as a bonus).
200 frames captured with Sharpcap Pro using a QHY163M mono camera attached to an Altair Wave 115ED with 0.79x focal reducer. Processed using Autostakkert2 and Registax 6.
Unusual capture through the modded finder of my Questar. This is a 4 hour capture from last night, using livestacks of 8 second exposures. The modification is a Televue lens with 112 mm focal length replacing the standard Q finder, which allows me to bring a filtered camera to focus.
Tech stuff: Finderscope on 3.5” Questar/ QHY 5iii178 color/ Astronomik CLS filter/ SharpCap/PixInsight/ ACDSee. From my yard in Westchester SQM-L 18.7
I've tried doing panos of the moon in the past but have mostly failed. I would never leave quite enough overlap between my frames for a pano to assemble properly leaving black gaps in the middle of my final image, or my focus would be off. This time, I took my time to ensure that I had plenty of overlap in each of my frames. And I'm quite pleased with the final result
46% Moon from April 22, 2018
30 panel pano
Acqisition:
- Explore Scientific ED80
- Meade Series 4000 2x shorty Barlow
- Celestron AVX
- ZWO ASI120MC-S camera
- Captured with SharpCap
Processing:
- Pre-processed in PiPP
- Stacked in Autostakkert!3
- Pano blended using Photoshop CC 2018 Photomerge
- Sharpening using AstraImage plugin for Photoshop (Lucy-Richardson deconvolution)
Each panel is a 1024 x 768 stack of the best 1000 of 2000 frames.
Seen in the constellation of Cygnus.
M: iOptron EQ45-Pro
T: William Optics GTF81
C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled
F: No Filter
G: PHD2
GC: OAG: ZWO ASI120mini
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -15 DegC
Gain 200;
10 x Exp 300s
Frames: 10 Lights; 10 Darks; 10 flats; 10 Dark Flats
80% Crop
Capture: SharpCap
Processed: DSS; LR & PS
Sky: No moon, calm, minimal cloud, warm, good seeing.
I realise the bloating of the stars is due more to careless processing than major focus issues.
m101-206x30-g37-o15-116x60-g20-o15-qhy183c_-20C-uhcs-85f5_6-v2.jpg
Technical:
Taken on Feb 29, 2020 UT. 206x30 sec @ Gain 37 (1 to 54 range,) Offset 15 and 116x60 sec @ Gain 20, Offset 15, QHY183c at -20C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6, Atlas EQ-G w/EQMOD, Orion Mini-Guidescope with Rising Tech Sony IMX224 eyepiece cam.
Acquisition: Livestacking in SharpCap 3.2 with dither, PHD2 Guiding.
Location: Metro area location with heavy LP (Bortle 8 Red Zone.)
NGC 2141 is another rich open cluster found in Orion's Club. It has a magnitude of 9.3 and is about 13,100 light years away from Earth. This is an old open cluster with estimates in the 1.7 billion year range, the age of the stars and the location behind Orion have a reddening effect on the stars color. Not many young blue stars in this group.
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. Image date: January 1, 2020. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.
Jupiter and moons Ganymede and Io.
Celestron C9.25" at F/10 on NEQ-6 Pro.
Camera ASI-120mm, 1500 images/colors.
SharpCap, AS!2, Reg6, PS3.
Québec, 6 avril 2014.
Genova, Italy (06 Sep 2022 01:14 UT)
Planet: diameter 49.1", mag -2.9, altitude ≈ 46°
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 about 7246
Alignment/Stacking: AutoStakkert! 3.1.4
Wavelets/Deconvolution: AstroSurface T3
Final Elaboration: GIMP 2.10.30
This image is a re-processing of my old & new data captured last year and this year. This beautiful nebula is called crescent nebula. Its mainly composed of Hydrogen & Oxygen gas. The powerful stellar wind that produced from Wolf-Rayet star is responsible for expanding & energizing Hydrogen gas to glow in red, and Oxygen to glow in blue. Actually, this star is in its final stage of life, which expel its outer layer of gases which appears as crescent in this nebula. This star is located in the central region. Lights Ha 48 x 300, O iii 40 x 300, total exposure of 7 hours. Gear setup: Ioptron GEM45, Celestron Edge HD8 @f/7, ZWO EFW 2”, Antila Ha 3nm, Antila O III 3nm, ZWO 2600MM @ 0. Captured by APT, Sharpcap pro, PHD2. Stacked in APP & processed in PS and Pixinsight.
First Light for my Esprit 120 ED scope and I gave it a favourite but difficult target of a black object against a black background!
Its only 11 x 5 minutes integration and this target needs several hours to bring out the subtleties but overall pleased with optics, flats and darks.
I had some problems with my electronic focuser slipping and causing problems with both "manual" and auto-focusing routines but hopefully a little bit of bench testing will sort that.
I think autofocus would have got the stars a little sharper than my "manual" efforts here.
i think the subs are also good enough to bank and add to any future sessions on this target.
Technical Card
840/120mm f/7 SkyWatcher Esprit 120ED triplet refractor.
SkyWatcher 1.0 x FF with 2 inch IDAS LPS P3 filter
ZWO ASI2600MC; 11 x 300 second subs, Gain 100, Offset 25, Temp = -15c.
EQ6 pro mount with Rowan belt drives. EQMOD control. Pegasus Astro Focus Cube electronic focuser.
Session control; SharpCap 4.0 on laptop with WiFi link to IPad.
Automated plate solving GOTO via ASTAP (5 secs exp at Gain 643)
Automated FWHM multistar focusing every 11 frames. (5 secs exp at Gain 643).
34 dark frames
49 flat frames (electroluminescent panel, (2600ms exposure at Gain 0).
Post processed in PixInsight 1.8.9.
Light Pollution and Weather:
Gusts of wind up to 21km/hr
SQM (L) 19.42 at 2130 hrs
Session ended by focuser clutch slipping during autofocus. I probably should have continued but was concerned about electronic focuser performance.
Polar Alignment:
PoleMaster alignment
Error measured by PHD2= 0.7 arc minute.
RA drift + 2.65 arcsec/min
Dec drift + 0.2 arcsec/min
Guiding:
PHD2 guiding with ZWO ASI290mm/Primalucelab
240/60mm guider. Every 4th sub dithered.
RA RMS error 1.6 arcsec
Dec RMS error 1.02 arcsec
Astrometry:
Resolution: 0.900 arcsec/px
Rotation: 4.005 deg
Focal distance: 862.09 mm
Pixel size: 3.76 um
Field of view: 1d 2' 27.8" x 1d 16' 35.3"
Image centre: RA: 5 47 15.781 Dec: +0 11 30.53
Update: the focuser problem seems to have been a loose ratchet on the focuser - it has been replaced.
Brocchi's Cluster or Collinder 399, or Al Sufi's Cluster. Commonly named after it's appearance of a coathanger.
Located in the constellation of Vulpecula.
M: iOptron EQ45-Pro
T: William Optics GTF81
C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled
F: No Filters
G: PHD2
GC: ZWO ASI120mini
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -15 DegC
Gain 200; Exp 90s
Frames: 23 Lights; 5 Darks; 0 flats
98% Crop
Capture: SharpCap
Processed: APP; PS, Astrotools
Sky: No moon, calm, mild, light cloud.
An assortment of unrelated stars between 613 and 2237 million light years distant.
M97: The Owl Nebula in the constellation of Ursa Major [Blue 'Owl eyes]
M108: The Surfboard Galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major [Bottom Right]. Also known as NGC 3556.
First run at this target on a moonless night.
M: iOptron EQ45-Pro
T: William Optics GTF81
C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled
F: No Filters
G: PHD2
GC: ZWO ASI120mini
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -15 DegC
Gain 139
11 x Exp 600s
Frames: 11 Lights; 2 Darks; 200 flats
60% Crop
Capture: SharpCap
Processed: DSS; PS; Grad Exterminator.
Sky: No Moon, calm, no cloud, cold, excellent seeing.
M97: 2.03 thousand light years distant.
M108: 45.9 million light years distant.
Description:
The Ring Nebula (also catalogued as Messier 57, M57 or NGC 6720) is a planetary nebula in the mildly northern constellation of Lyra. Such nebulae are formed by a starburst – ionized gas has expelled into the surrounding interstellar medium by a star to form a vast luminous envelope containing the star in its last stages of its evolution before becoming a white dwarf.
This nebula was discovered by the French astronomer Charles Messier while searching for comets in late January 1779. Messier's report of his independent discovery of Comet Bode reached fellow French astronomer Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix two weeks later, who then independently rediscovered the nebula while following the comet. Darquier later reported that it was "...as large as Jupiter and resembles a planet which is fading" (which may have contributed to the use of the persistent "planetary nebula" terminology).
(Wikipedia.org)
Technical Information for This Image:
Site: Landers, CA, USA Bortle 4
Telescope: TPO Ritchey-Chretien 6 inch with a FL 1370mm.
Guide Scope: Orion 50mm FL 242mm
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI183MC
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro
Main camera: ASI294MC PRO cooled to -5C. Exposures: 98 x 35s with Gain at 120, Bin 2 x 2
No darks, flats or bias frames.
Guiding Software: PHD 2
Post Processing: PixInsight
Polar Alignment: SharpCap Pro.
Combined the HA data with the blue layer from my DSLR image for a false NB image. Used HA for red, Blue layer for blue and 50/50 for green.
data from dslr here: www.flickr.com/photos/141707873@N03/29078228358/in/datepo...
30@ 300 seconds HA filter
15 darks
Scope: AT65EDQ
Mount: iOptron iEQ45
Camera: ZWO ASI183M non cooled
Guide camera: QHY5Lii
Guide Scope: Meade 60mm achro fl 300
Orion 5 position manual filter wheel
ZWO LRGB
Schuler HA 9nm, Schuler 9nm Sii
MyFocuer Pro v2 (Robert Brown)
Bahtinov mask
Software: APT, PHD2, Sharpcap, CdC, Pixinsight, Photoshop, Nic Dfine 2, Astronomy Tools plug in, Google Chrome Remote Desktop, autostakert!3, Registax
Quando la Luna è prossima al primo quarto si possono osservare una lettera X e una lettera V lungo il terminatore.
La X si forma perchè la luce del Sole lambisce i bordi dei crateri La Caille, Blanchinus e Purbach. La V invece si forma a causa della luce che arriva principalmente al cratere Ukert. Queste configurazioni si possono osservare in questa fase lunare solo per poche ore al mese.
Dati tecnici:
- Telescopio Celestron 114/910 Newtoniano
- Montatura Eq2 con motore AR
- Camera planetaria QHY5L-II-C
- Filtro UV-Ir cut
- Sharpcap per acquisire 10 video da 20 secondi ognuno
- Autostakkert 3 e Registax 6 per elaborare i video
- Autostitch per creare il mosaico
- GIMP per regolare luminosità e contrasto
- Frazione illuminata: 52%
- Luogo: Cabras (OR), Italia
- Data: 8 febbraio 2022
- Ora: dalle 18:50 alle 18:59 UTC
just the Lum data from the previous image.
M33
LUM: 80@ 180 seconds each, Gain 50
30 darks at 30F
no flats, no bias
Scope: AT65EDQ
Mount: iOptron iEQ45
Camera: ZWO ASI183M non cooled
Guide camera: QHY5Lii
Guide Scope: Stellarvue 60mm
Orion 5 position manual filter wheel
ZWO LRGB
MyFocuer Pro v2 (Robert Brown)
Software: APT, PHD2, Sharpcap fro PA, CdC, Pixinsight, Photoshop, Team Viewer, N.I.N.A. for focusing
My first Jupiter image built from separate R, G, and B channels. Imaged with a Celestron Edge HD with 2x Barlow, ZWO EFW filter wheel, ZWO ASI120MM camera, and Optolong RGB filters. Recorded in SharpCap 3.2, then stacked in AutoStakkert 3. Initial wavelets in PixInsight, then channel derotation and combination in WinJUPOS. Brought the resulting RGB image back into PixInsight for some sharpening and color correction, then some final touches in Photoshop.
Stacks were shot from about 2:00am to 2:35am local time. Jupiter was at a distance of about 612 million km (34.0 light minutes). It was at an altitude of about 43° from my backyard in Long Beach, CA.
M27 is a bright and colorful deep sky target which can be imaged from cities. It's the remnant of a collapsed star about 1400 light years away.
Tech Stuff: Questar 3.5"/unguided/QHY5iii178 color/Sharpcap/Astronomik CLS filter/0.5x focal reducer/4 second exposures with dark subtraction/captured in 9 6 minute livestacks (54 min total integration time)/Processed in Pixinsight finished in GIMP and ACDSee. From my yard 10 miles north of New York City.
Messier 1 [M1]. A supernova remnant in the constellation of Taurus.
M: iOptron EQ45-Pro
T: William Optics GTF81
C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled
F: IDAS-LPS D2 (Light Pollution Filter)
G: PHD2
GC: ZWO ASI120mini - OAG
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -15 DegC
Gain 250;
19 x Exp 400s
1 x Exp 300s
Frames: 20 Lights; 10 Darks; 20 flats; 20 Dark Flats.
20% Crop
Capture: SharpCap
Processed: APP; PS
Sky: 10% Crescent moon, calm, minimal cloud, cold, good seeing.
6,523 light years distant.
Messier 50 (M50) is an open cluster that can be found in the constellation Monoceros. The cluster is about 3,200 light years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 5.9, there are about 50 members in this cluster.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Celestron CGEM-DX mount (pier mounted), ZWO ASI071MC-Pro running at -25C, 7 x 120 second exposures, GAIN 200, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope. Captured using SharpCap v3.2. Image date: January 21, 2020. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.
Went out 2 nights, IC1396, NGC6888, NGC2244, NGC7293, IC1805 and IC434
Orion 80mm ED refractor, Zwo 183MC Pro cooled color camera
Optolong L eNhance filter
#SharpCap Pro, PoleMaster
Ioptron i45 Pro EQ mount, PHD2 guiding
Orion 60mm guidescope SSAG
220 Gain offset 20 0c cooling,
IC1396 was 90 minutes, 1 minute exposure each
IC434 was 60 minutes, 1 minute exposure each
NGC2244 was 15 minutes, 1 minute exposure each
IC1805 was 60 minutes total, 1 minute exposure each
NGC7293 was 60 minutes total 1 minute exposure each
NGC6888 was 90 minutes total 1 minute exposure each
Weather was good all night for me, Getting colder too with some dew forming
50 darks 50 flats and 50 bias frames
Astro Pixel Processor and PS
Taken from Oxfordshire UK on Christmas Eve morning. I had the solar scope set up because there was an ISS solar transit visible from here at 11:09 GMT. There were two sunspot groups visible as well as a huge prominence on the eastern limb and a couple of smaller ones on the south western limb. The prominence in this photo is one of the biggest I've ever photographed. I used the solar ruler to measure its height and it was just over the 50,000 km mark, and it was approximately 150,000 km long!
Photo taken with a Coronado PTS solar telescope, ASI120MC camera with 2x Barlow fitted onto it. The telescope was on an EQ5 Pro mount on a permanent pier.
2,000 frame video was shot using SharpCap, then the best 75% of those frames were stacked using Autostakkert! 3. The stacked image was processed in Lightroom and Fast Stone Image Viewer
Took these pictures Friday night, M15 and M27
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, 65 minutes, for M15, M27 was 80 minutes,1 minute exposure each
50 darks 50 flats and 50 bias frames
Astro Pixel Processor and PS
79% moon....
Actually a test image that came out alright! Taken with a ZWO Duo band filter, revealing all that hydrogen! Look carefully at center for the so-called "Pillars of Creation". About 7,000 light years away.
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 Auto Guider
- Acquisition Software: Sharpcap
- Guiding Software: PHD2
- Light Frames: 36*3 mins @ 100 Gain, Temp -15C, 40x2 mins @ 150 Gain, Temp -20C
- Dark Frames: 36*3 mins, 40x2 mins
- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker
- Processed in PixInsight, Adobe Lightroom and Topaz Denoise
Markarian's Chain
Taken with the WO RedCat refractor
ASI Zwo 294MC Pro cooled color camera IR/cut filter
Had clear skies last night, No guiding
#SharpCap Pro, PoleMaster
Orion Skyview Pro EQ mount
120 Gain offset 10 -10c cooling,
Markarian's Chains was 142 minutes, 30 seconds each
50 darks 50 flats and 50 bias frames
Astro Pixel Processor and PS
The other picture is from All Sky Plate Solver
Taken on 1/21/2023 under excellent skies. This is my first image processed using the BlurXTerminator add-on tool in PixInsight. It does a great job of bringing out DSO detail and minimizing stars and star bloat. This little module comes in super handy when dealing with a faint galaxy like this. Love the result, and this is my best M33 image yet.
Spiral galaxy M33 is located in the triangle-shaped constellation Triangulum, earning it the nickname the Triangulum galaxy. About half the size of our Milky Way galaxy, M33 is the third-largest member of our Local Group of galaxies following the Andromeda galaxy (M31) and the Milky Way. The galaxy lies about
2.7 million light years away.
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: 25*4 mins @ 50 Gain, Temp -10C
- Dark Frames: 25*4 mins
- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker
- Processed in PixInsight, Adobe Lightroom and Topaz Denoise
NGC 488 is a face-on spiral galaxy in the constellation Pisces. It is at a distance of about 90 million light-years away from Earth. Its diameter is estimated to be 52,6 Kpc. The galaxy has a large central bulge, and is considered a prototype galaxy with multiple spiral arms. Its arms are tightly wound.
Extremely difficult to process this one. Took me weeks!
Image Details:
- Imaging Scope: Celestron C8 SCT
- Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI183MC Color with ZWO IR cut filter
- Guider: Celestron Starsense Autoguider
- Mount: Celestron CGEM
- Acquisition Software: Sharpcap
- Guiding Software: Celestron
- Capture Software: SharpCap Pro (LiveStack mode with dithering)
- Light Frames: 30*4 mins @ 100 Gain, Temp -20C
- Dark Frames: 30*4 mins
- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker
- Processed in PixInsight, Adobe Lightroom, and Topaz Denoise AI
Haven't imaged this for years. Nice to revisit it with slightly newer gear and better image processing techniques.
This galaxy looks very similar to how our own Milky Way galaxy would look from the same distance, which is about 2.5 million light years away. Actually, this galaxy is naked-eye visible from darker skies, and if the human eye could detect it completely, it would appear 5-6 moon-lengths in size! Another interesting tidbit is that this galaxy is on a collision course with the Milky Way, expected to “touch” in about 4.5 billion years from now!
.
Image Details:
- Imaging Scope: William Optics 66mm Petzval
- Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI183MC Color with UV/IR Blocking filter
- Guiding Scope: AstroTelescopes 80mm ED Refractor
- Guiding Camera: Orion Starshoot Auto Guider
- Acquisition Software: Sharpcap
- Guiding Software: PHD2
- Light Frames: mins @ 100 Gain, -25F
- Dark Frames: 24*5 mins
- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker
- Processed in PixInsight and Adobe Lightroom
The Rosette Nebula (Caldwell 49) is a large spherical H II region. The open cluster stars at its centre were formed from the nebula’s matter.
Object Details:
Constellation: Monoceros.
Visual magnitude: +5.5
Apparent diameter: 80′ x 60′ (over 2 Lunar Diameters).
Actual diameter: 128 light years.
Distance: 5,500 light years.
Altitude: 50° above northern horizon.
Image:
Exposure: 25.7 min: 18 @ 85.76 sec
Stacked: live 18 of 22
Gain: 210
Date: 2019-01-25
Location: The Oaks, NSW.
Sky: semi-dark rural.
Cloud: clear.
Moonrise: 11.10 pm at which imaging ceased.
Image acquisition and live stacking software: SharpCap.
Image post-processing: GIMP.
Cropping: minor trim.
Trailing: only at high image zoom.
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: not essential.
Telescope mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R.
Polar aligning method: QHYCCD PoleMaster.
Polar alignment error: ShatpCap estimated 1′ 57″
Field flattener: yes; filter: no.
Taken with 150mm refractor and ASI294MC Pro camera. Consists of 41 x 25 seconds exposure. Captured and stacked on the fly with SharpCap. Using Optolong L-Pro for light pollution.
Equipment:
Celestron CGEM Mount
Zeiss C/Y 35mm f/1.4
Sony a7RIII (unmodified)
Altair 60mm Guide scope
GPCAM2 Mono Camera
Acquisition:
Taos, NM: my backyard - Bortle 3
6 x 60" for 6 minutes for exposure time.
10 dark frames
15 flats frames
15 bais frames
Unguided
Software:
SharpCap
PHD2
DeepSkyStacker
Photoshop
After spending some time on M5 I thought it would be fun to try some widefield Milkyway shots. I had to rebalance and go through the alignment procedure for my scope. I switched the 500mm for a more modest 35mm f/1.4 lens. I decided to shoot it at f/2.8 so it wasn't just wide open and trust my mount that had been polar aligned with SharpCap to do it's thing. I wanted a bright star to help define the area of the sky, so I chose Altair which can be seen in the middle right of this frame and let the gear do it's thing. Images stacked in DeepSkyStacker and processed in Photoshop.
A monochrome capture of M63, 400 billion stars 29 million light years away. One of the more prominent Messier objects in the winter sky. Here I've used my 3.5" Questar telescope on a robotic strain wave mount to facilitate capture during what has been a difficult season for imaging.
Tech Stuff: Questar 3.5"/ ZWO ASI 533 MM/ RST-135-E mount. 2 hours total of livestacked 8-second exposures, captured in SharpCap Pro and processed in PixInsight. From my yard in Westchester County, 10 miles north of NYC.
Taken from North Oxfordshire, UK with an Orion 10" Dobsonian telescope, Celestron 3x Barlow and ZWO ASI120MC camera. The telescope has tracking and GoTo but we are having some technical issues with it at the moment so I had to manually slew the telescope, keeping Jupiter in frame, while I captured a 2,000 frame video using SharpCap. I shot several videos over a ten minute period, whilst deal with stripes of thin cloud. I stacked the best 5%, 10% and 15% of the frames. This image was the best of the bunch and it was a stack of 5% of 2,000 frames.
The images were stacked using Autostakkert! 3, sharpened using Focus Magic, then processed in Lightroom and Fast Stone Image Viewer. Considering the technical issues + cloud I am surprised I got this much detail! The dot to the left is Jupiter's Moon Io.
Some interesting solar prominences today. This composite image was captured using an Altair GPCam V2 290 mono camera attached to a specialist Lunt LS50THa B600 Hydrogen Alpha solar telescope.
I used SharpCap Pro to control the camera, with the best 50% of the frames stacked using AutoStakkert2 and pre-processed using Registax 6. Final processing was done using Photoshop CC.
Very nice prominence off the right edge of the solar disk. Thanks to my friend Steve J. for making me aware of it.
I was able to capture this picture through a thin cloud layer. They just did not want to entirely clear for me.
This was captured as a monochrome (B&W) image and for artistic impact, artificially colored using Adobe Lightroom Classic. My viewers love the yellow Sun. :-)
This picture was capture using a 60mm Lunt Hα telescope in the double stack configuration.
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Capture software: SharpCap
Messier 52 Star Cluster and NGC 7635 The Bubble Nebula
Messier 52 or M52, also known as NGC 7654, is an open cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia. It was discovered by Charles Messier on September 7, 1774. M52 can be seen from Earth with binoculars. (Wikipedia.org)
NGC 7635, also known as the Bubble Nebula, Sharpless 162, or Caldwell 11, is an H II region emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. It lies close to the direction of the open cluster Messier 52. The "bubble" is created by the stellar wind from a massive hot, 8.7 magnitude young central star, SAO 20575 (BD+60°2522). The nebula is near a giant molecular cloud which contains the expansion of the bubble nebula while itself being excited by the hot central star, causing it to glow. It was discovered in 1787 by William Herschel. (Wikipedia.org)
Technical Information for This Image
This image was taken with a William Optics Zenithstar 81 APO Doublet Refractor on an iOptron CEM25P mount. The main imaging camera, attached to the prime focus of the telescope was a ZWO ASI294MC Pro cooled camera which was cooled to -5C. The exposures were 35x120 seconds at Bin 2x2. The gain was set to 120. Auto guiding was done using a William Optics 50mm guide scope with a 200mm FL. Attached to the guide scope was a ZWO ASI290MC camera which was connected to PHD2 autoguiding software. Capturing was done with Astrophotography Tool (APT) software and post processed with Pixinsight software with finishing touches put in using Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud. Polar Alignment for the evening was done using SharpCap software.
The Sun continues to provide stunning views. You are looking at the Sun's chormosphere. This is accomplished using a Hydrogen-alpha (Hα) filtered telescope that is also properly filtered to block out the harmful rays.
Telescope: Lunt 60mm Hα with double stack
2X Barlow (picture on right)
Camera: ZWO1294MC Pro
Capture Software: SharpCap
Processing Software:
AutoStakkert, RegiStax 6, Light Room Classic, Photo Shop
Equipo Principal: SW Explorer 200p + SW Coma Corrector 0.9x + ZWO ASI 1600 mm-pro + ZWO EAF + ZWO 7x2" EFW + SW EQ6-R-Pro
Equipo guía: ZWO M68 OAG + camara guia ZWO ASI 120mm mini
*Gain 139, -20 º C, Ha 7nm 2" Optolong, 93x180"
*Gain 139, -20 º C, Oiii-CCD 6.5 nm 2" Optolong, 50x180"
*Gain 139, -20 º C, Sii-CCD 6.5 nm 2" Optolong, 50x180"
100 Darks
55 Flats por filtro
100 Dark-Flats por filtro
Polar Align: SharpCap 4
Adquisición: SGP 3.1
Procesado: Pixinsight 1.8.9, PS
Taken from Oxfordshire UK on Christmas Eve morning. I had the solar scope set up because there was an ISS solar transit visible from here at 11:09 GMT. There were two sunspot groups visible as well as a huge prominence on the eastern limb and a couple of smaller ones on the south western limb.
Photo taken with a Coronado PTS solar telescope, ASI120MC camera with 2x Barlow fitted onto it. The telescope was on an EQ5 Pro mount on a permanent pier.
2,000 frame video was shot using SharpCap, then the best 75% of those frames were stacked using Autostakkert! 3. The stacked image was processed in Lightroom and Fast Stone Image Viewer
Mars as seen on the 16th January 2025 at 01:27.
This is Mars at opposition as seen through my 14" telescope. Many features are visible in this photo including the main Arabia Terra region in the centre, the North polar cap and clouds on the far left limb of the planet.
This was only the second time ever that I had photographed Mars. I'm so happy I was able to capture it at opposition as usually it's completely clouded here in the UK for any celestial event.
Equipment / affiliate links
- Skywatcher 350P / 14" dobsonian - www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-3...
- ZWO 585MC - www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras/zwo-asi-585mc-usb-3-...
- TeleVue 3x barlow - www.firstlightoptics.com/barlow-eyepieces/tele-vue-barlow...
- ZWO ADC - www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-125-atmosphe...
- PIPP
- SharpCap 4.1
- Autostakkert
- AstroSurface
2020-07-13-1457_7-RGB RS4-denoise-denoise cs1 ab
Saturn from the backyard.
Equipment: Telescope 12" goto Skywatcher dobsonian, Camera QHY163m, baader rgb filters, Tele Vue 5x powermate.
Software: Sharpcap, PIPP, AutoStakkert 3, WinJupos, RegiStax 6, Topaz Denoise Ai, CS6.
Taken with Espirit 150 mm scope. ASI2600MC camera and Optolong L-Pro filter. 42 frames of 5 minutes each Live Stacked and calibrated on the fly in Sharpcap Pro.
The image shows:
the (upside down) Horsehead Nebula, Barnard 33;
the red emission nebula IC434 (mag 7.3);
the emission nebula NGC 2024, Flame Nebula (mag 10);
the very bright star Alnitak (mag +1.7 and +3.7 double);
the smaller nebula NGC 2023 (mag 10); and
an Earth orbiting satellite trail.
The Horsehead is a challenging object for visual observers to detect but using live stacking photography it is a sheer joy to behold, as it it slowly reveals, on site, the red nebulosity and the dark outline of the Horsehead itself.
Object Details:
Barnard 33
Constellation: Orion.
Visual magnitude: na
Apparent size: 6′ x 4′
Distance: 1,600 light years.
Altitude: 47° above NE horizon.
Image:
Exposure: 61 x 60 sec = 61 min. Live stacked.
Gain 337
Date: 2018-12-08 commencing approx 11.15 pm
Location: The Oaks, NSW.
Conditions:
Sky: semi-dark rural.
Cloud: clear.
Moon: no.
Processing:
Image acquisition software: SharpCap.
Image post-processing: GIMP.
Cropping: no.
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: 1′ 51″.
Field flattener: yes; filter: no.
Observing Notes:
This was another frustrating night because again the mount would not carry out a successful three star alignment. It will shortly be on it’s way back to the manufacturer for replacement under warranty.
I was determined not to let the problems beat me and I managed to image not only the Horsehead but also Comet 46P Wirtanen.
Despite my alignment woes, I was able to manually manoevre the telescope to find the Horsehead. Regardless of its dark nature, it was surprisingly easy to find, being very close to the bright star Alnitak in Orion’s Belt.
A young star throws out gas and matter as it settles down onto the main sequence. It will eventually become a B class giant at about 8-10 solar masses.
Another early star throwing off matter can be seen at 5 o'clock down from the central star of the Iris giving off a small cone of bright light/matter.
UV light from the star is scattered through the surrounding dust clouds giving a blue colour. the cold dust clouds further out are red-brown in colour.
My previous attempt at imaging this nebula using a robotic scope in Grand Mesa Observatory, Colorado is here:
Technical Card
SkyWatcher Esprit 120ED triplet refractor.
SkyWatcher 1.0 x FF with 2 inch IDAS LPS P3 filter
ZWO ASI2600MC;
50 x 180s subs, Gain 100, Offset 25, Temp = -10c.
EQ6 pro mount with Rowan belt drives. EQMOD control. Pegasus Astro Focus Cube electronic focuser.
Session control; SharpCap 4.0 on laptop with WiFi link to IPad.
Automated plate solving GOTO via ASTAP (4 secs exp at Gain 450)
30 dark frames
30 flat frames (electroluminescent panel, 3000ms exposure at Gain 0).
Post processed in PixInsight 1.8.9.2.
BlurXterminator and StarXterminator plug-ins used.
Light Pollution and Weather:
Clear throughout. I collected 54 subs but discarded the worst 4 as measured by Sub Frame Selector in PixInsight.
SQM (L) was 20.36 - Bortle 4.5
Polar Alignment:
PoleMaster alignment
Error measured by PHD2= 4.3 arc minute.
RA drift + 0.4 arcsec/min
Dec drift + 0.42 arcsec/min
Guiding:
PHD2 guiding with ZWO ASI290mm/Primalucelab
240/60mm guider.
RA RMS error 0.61 arcsec
Dec RMS error 0.66 arcsec
Astrometry:
Resolution ............... 0.900 arcsec/px
Rotation ................. -81.757 deg
Focal distance ........... 861.37 mm
Pixel size ............... 3.76 um
Field of view ............ 1d 10' 39.9" x 49' 40.3"
Image center ............. RA: 21 01 22.892 Dec: +68 02 07.47
Copernicus Crater – diameter is 96 km, named after the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. It typifies craters that formed during the Copernican period in that it has a prominent ray system. Tech Specs: Meade 12” LX90, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, ASI290MC, best 2.5k of 5k frames, AutoStakkert! V3.0.14 (x64), FireCapture v2.5.10 x64 and Registax v6. Photographed on July 4, 2017 from Weatherly, Pennsylvania.
thought I'd try this target in my little scope. Only got 40 minutes under average conditions. Too tiny to spend more time on but I like capturing interesting targets.
40 @ 60 seconds gain 50 LUM
Scope: AT65EDQ
Mount: iOptron iEQ45
Camera: ZWO ASI183M non cooled
Guide camera: QHY5Lii
Guide Scope: Stellarvue 60mm
Orion 5 position manual filter wheel
ZWO LRGB
Schuler HA 9nm, Schuler 9nm Sii
MyFocuer Pro v2 (Robert Brown)
Bahtinov mask
Software: APT, PHD2, Sharpcap, CdC, Pixinsight, Photoshop, Nic Dfine 2, Astronomy Tools plug in, Google Chrome Remote Desktop, autostakert!3, Registax