This open cluster in the constellation Puppis caught Charles Messier's eye in 1771 but it is doubtful that he noticed planetary nebula NGC 2438, which pops out in color in my filtered, long exposure image.

Tech Stuff: Borg 71FL/1.08x Borg Flattener/ZWO ASI 1600MC/IDAS LPS-V4 filter. 16 minutes of 4 second unguided exposures, captured in SharpCap livestacks and processed with PixInsight and Topaz Denoise AI. From my yard in Westchester County, NY, Bortle 7 (SQM-L reading 18.4).

I will be teaching techniques used for this image for New York City's Amateur Astronomers Association starting in February, see aaa.org/event/urban-astrophotography-deep-sky-imaging-202...

TS65APOQ, SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro, Altair Hypercam 183C. ROI. 80% of 50 Subs Captured in SharpCap Pro. Processed in PIPP and Registax6. Finished in Lightroom.

24 Jun 2025, 0240 UT; Spotsylvania, Virginia USA. Bortle 4.5 zone.

Celestron C8 SCT at f/7.2. Orion Atlas AZ/EQ-G mount. QHY294M Pro mono camera, bin 2x2, exposure 16.2s, gain 1750, stack of 305 frames, no filter, no guiding, no calibration frames, sensor -10°C. Captured in Sharpcap Pro. Processed in PixInsight. Image scale: 1.3 arcsec/pixel. SkyCal used to refine focus.

Clouds: clear

Transparency (AL): 5

Seeing (AL): G

Moon illuminated 3%, age 28 days

Description:

Apparent magnitude 7.9

Apparent size 29x27'

Type SAB(rs)cd HII

from Wikipedia

The Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101, M101 or NGC 5457) is a face-on, counterclockwise intermediate spiral galaxy located 21 million light-years (6.4 megaparsecs) from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and was communicated that year to Charles Messier, who verified its position for inclusion in the Messier Catalogue as one of its final entries.

On February 28, 2006, NASA and the European Space Agency released a very detailed image of the Pinwheel Galaxy, which was the largest and most detailed image of a galaxy by Hubble Space Telescope at the time. The image was composed of 51 individual exposures, plus some extra ground-based photos.

Pierre Méchain described it as a "nebula without star, very obscure and pretty large, 6' to 7' in diameter, between the left hand of Bootes and the tail of the great Bear. It is difficult to distinguish when one illuminates the [grating] wires."

William Herschel wrote in 1784 that the galaxy was one of several which "...in my 7-, 10-, and 20-feet [focal length] reflectors shewed a mottled kind of nebulosity, which I shall call resolvable; so that I expect my present telescope will, perhaps, render the stars visible of which I suppose them to be composed."

Lord Rosse observed the galaxy in his 72-inch-diameter Newtonian reflector during the second half of the 19th century. He was the first to make extensive note of the spiral structure and made several sketches.

Though the galaxy can be detected with binoculars or a small telescope, to observe the spiral structure in a telescope without a camera requires a fairly large instrument, very dark skies, and a low-power eyepiece.

M101 is a large galaxy, with a diameter of 252,000 light-years. By comparison, the Milky Way has a diameter of 87,400 light-years. It has around a trillion stars. It has a disk mass on the order of 100 billion solar masses, along with a small central bulge of about 3 billion solar masses. Its characteristics can be compared to those of Andromeda Galaxy.

M101 has a high population of H II regions, many of which are very large and bright. H II regions usually accompany the enormous clouds of high density molecular hydrogen gas contracting under their own gravitational force where stars form. H II regions are ionized by large numbers of extremely bright and hot young stars; those in M101 are capable of creating hot superbubbles. In a 1990 study, 1,264 H II regions were cataloged in the galaxy. Three are prominent enough to receive New General Catalogue numbers—NGC 5461, NGC 5462, and NGC 5471.

M101 is asymmetrical due to the tidal forces from interactions with its companion galaxies. These gravitational interactions compress interstellar hydrogen gas, which then triggers strong star formation activity in M101's spiral arms that can be detected in ultraviolet images.

In 2001, the X-ray source P98, located in M101, was identified as an ultra-luminous X-ray source—a source more powerful than any single star but less powerful than a whole galaxy—using the Chandra X-ray Observatory. It received the designation M101 ULX-1. In 2005, Hubble and XMM-Newton observations showed the presence of an optical counterpart, strongly indicating that M101 ULX-1 is an X-ray binary. Further observations showed that the system deviated from expected models—the black hole is just 20 to 30 solar masses, and consumes material (including captured stellar wind) at a higher rate than theory suggests.

It is estimated that M101 has about 150 globular clusters, the same as the number of the Milky Way's globular clusters.

M101 has six prominent companion galaxies: NGC 5204, NGC 5474, NGC 5477, NGC 5585, UGC 8837 and UGC 9405. As stated above, the gravitational interaction between it and its satellites may have spawned its grand design pattern. The galaxy has probably distorted the second-listed companion. The list comprises most or all of the M101 Group.

Six supernovae have been recorded in M101:

-SN 1909A (type unknown, mag. 10) was discovered by Max Wolf on 21 February 1909.

-SN 1951H (type unknown, mag. 17.5) was discovered by Milton Humason on a photographic plate taken on 3 February 1951. Analysis of the light curve suggested that the supernova was probably of type II, with maximum magnitude of 11 to 12 occurring around October 1950.

-SN 1970G (type II, mag. 11.5) was discovered by Miklós Lovas on 30 July 1970.

-SN 2011fe (type Ia, mag. 17.2) was discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory on 24 August 2011. Initially designated PTF 11kly, it reached visual magnitude 9.9 at its peak, making it the brightest supernova of 2011.

-M101 OT2015-1, a luminous red nova, was discovered by Dumitru Ciprian Vîntdevară on 10 February 2015.

-SN 2023ixf (type II, mag. 14.9) was discovered by Kōichi Itagaki on 19 May 2023, and immediately classified as a Type II supernova.

This is a mosaic stitched from 16 panels taken at 1625mm.

Telescope: Skywatcher 130PDS

GSO Barlow x2.5

Camera: ZWO ASI 120MM-s

Mount: SW EQ3

Software: Sharpcap, Autostakkert!, Photoshop.

Third Quarter Moon

50.2% Illuminated

Moon Altitude:32.25

Date: 10th Oct. 2020

Location: Zagreb

Taken from Oxfordshire, UK with a William Optics 70mm refractor + ASI120MC camera fitted with a 3x Barlow. The mount was my Skywatcher AZ GTi on a tripod. I had to use my portable set up because the Moon was too low to get above the trees from my permanent pier or from the observatory shed.

I grabbed the telescope because I wanted to capture the Lunar X and V on the 44% Waxing Crescent Moon before the Moon set. I had to dodge endless patches of cloud which were making my life miserable! Given the conditions I'm really really happy with the photos I got!

I captured a 1,000 frame video using SharpCap. I stacked the best 50% of those frames in Autostakkert! 3, then processed the images in Lightroom and Fast Stone Image Viewer.

Sol Regiones Activas 2740 y 2741 - Barlow Powermate 2'5X

Foto izquierda Región Activa 2740

Telescopio: Skywatcher Refractor AP 120/900 f7.5 EvoStar ED

Cámara: ZWO ASI178MM

Montura: EQ5 Bresser EXOS2 motorizada sin goto

Filtros: - Baader Neutral Density Filter 1¼" (ND 0.6, T=25%)

- Baader Solar Continuum Filter 1¼" (540nm)

Accesorios: - Baader 2" Cool-Ceramic Safety Herschel Prism

- TeleVue Lente de Barlow 2,5x Powermate 1,25"

Software: SharpCap, Pipp, AutoStakkert, Registax y Photoshop

Fecha: 2019-05-10

Hora: 17:05 T.U.

Lugar: 42.615 N -6.417 W (Bembibre Spain)

Vídeo: 2 minutos

Resolución: 1024 x 768

Gain: 100

Exposure: 0,000049

Frames: 13179

Frames apilados: 8%

FPS: 109.797

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Foto derecha Región Activa 2741

Telescopio: Skywatcher Refractor AP 120/900 f7.5 EvoStar ED

Cámara: ZWO ASI178MM

Montura: EQ5 Bresser EXOS2 motorizada sin goto

Filtros: - Baader Neutral Density Filter 1¼" (ND 0.6, T=25%)

- Baader Solar Continuum Filter 1¼" (540nm)

Accesorios: - Baader 2" Cool-Ceramic Safety Herschel Prism

- TeleVue Lente de Barlow 2,5x Powermate 1,25"

Software: SharpCap, Pipp, AutoStakkert, Registax y Photoshop

Fecha: 2019-05-10

Hora: 16:59 T.U.

Lugar: 42.615 N -6.417 W (Bembibre Spain)

Vídeo: 2 minutos

Resolución: 1024 x 768

Gain: 100

Exposure: 0,000049

Frames: 14662

Frames apilados: 10%

FPS: 121.95

For those wondering the dots on the right are Jupiter's moons Io and Ganymede, respectively. Last night it was too cloudy for deep sky imaging but clear enough for some quick planet shots. This is probably my sharpest image of Jupiter yet (I'm pushing this 5" scope to the limit). Captured on July 24th, 2020.

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**[Equipment:](i.imgur.com/ml6iyvo.jpg)**

* TMeade ETX125-EC (1900mm f/15)

* Orion Sirius EQ-G

* ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro

* Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector

* ZWO EFW 8x1.25"/31mm

* Astronomik LRGB+CLS Filters- 31mm

* Astrodon 31mm Ha 5nm, Oiii 3nm, Sii 5nm

* Meade #64 adapter

* Moonlite Autofocuser

**Acquisition:** (camera at gain 200)

* R- 1000x41ms

* G- 1000x26ms

* B- 1000x48ms

**Capture Software:**

Captured using Sharpcap. [N.I.N.A.](nighttime-imaging.eu/) for filter wheel and mount control.

**Processing:**

* Stacked the best 15% of frames in Autostakkert!3 (2x resample used)

* Wavelet sharpening in Registax

* ChannelCombination to combine monochrome stacks into color image in PixInsight

* ColorCalibration

* ChannelMatch (red channel was slightly misaligned)

* [Curves](i.imgur.com/g302IVT.png)Transformation (saturation boost and slight darkening)

* Unsharp mask

* Extract L channel, LRGBCombination to reduce chrominance noise

* TGVDenoise

* Lightness curve and MorphologicalTransformation to make Io and Ganymede brighter (star mask used)

* Another curve (contrast increase)

* DynamicCrop to 1920x1080

* Annotation

Solar Eclipse today.

Imaged on June 21st 2020.

Tech details:

500 frames of Sun, 25% gain, 11ms exposure

500 frames of Prominence , 70% gain, 111ms exposure

Equipment:

Scope: Coronado PST

Mount: NEQ6

Imaging camera: ZWO ASI130MM

Software: SharpCap 3.2, AutoStakkert, Registax, Lightroom, Photoshop

First test with Dual Narrowand Optolong L-eNhance filter.

16 x 60 sec frames stacked with sharpcap (livestacking).

Zwo ASI 224 MC + Canon fd 50mm f1.4 @f2.0. No darks, no flats.

Post-processed with SIRIL, GIMP and Lightroom.

Celestron NexStar 6SE, ZWO asi224mc with IR cut filter, 2.5x TeleVue Powermate and ZWO ADC. 90 second video Captured in SharpCap, processed in PIPP, AutoStakkert, RegiStax Wavelets then Lightroom.

14.09.20 NGC6960 Western Veil Nebula (Witch’s Broom) and Pickering's Triangle.

RGBHOO Process 3hours of data.

Captured with my Altair Astro 72EDF x0.8 reducer fitted and AA183C PROTEC Hypercam.

90 mins of RGB using L-Pro-MAX filter and a similar amount of time using the #AATRIBAND filter.

Ha and OIII mono data extracted from RGB Triband data with Astro Pixel Processor, reintegrated and recombined with the LPro RGB data to generate an RGBHOO integration.

Processed with Pixinsight and Photoshop 2020.

EQUIPMENT:

Altair Astro 72EDF refractor (f/6)

AA Lightwave x0.8 reducer

AA IMX183C PROTEC Hypercam

AA #LPROMAX light pollution suppression filter

AA #TRIBAND filter

AA 50mm Guider with AA GPCAM2 130M

iOptron CEM25P mount and iPolar alignment camera

AA Portable Pier

CAPTURE SOFTWARE:

SharpCap 3.3Pro Beta

PHD2 Guiding

DATA:

All lights captured at unity gain (398)

Black Level = 24

TEC Temp = -10°C

90x 60sec using LPRO-MAX Filter

60x Flats (LPro)

45x Darks

60x Dk Flats

32x 180sec using TRIBAND Filter

60x Flats (triband)

45x Darks

60x Dk Flats

INTEGRATION & PROCESSING:

Astro Pixel Processor 1.080

PixInsight 1.8.8-6 Ripley

Photoshop 2020

Ecco una foto di Saturno e dei satelliti Titano, Dione, Teti e Rea. Titano, il satellite più grande, venne scoperto da Christiaan Huygens nel 1655 e possiede un'atmosfera molto densa che ha reso la superficie invisibile all'osservazione fino al 14 gennaio 2005, quando ci fu l'atterraggio della sonda Huygens. L'atmosfera di Titano è composta quasi completamente da azoto e da altri gas come il metano in quantità molto minori, inoltre sul satellite sono presenti laghi, fiumi e piogge di idrocarburi.

Le altre tre lune visibili nella foto invece furono scoperte sempre nel Seicento da Giovanni Domenico Cassini e oggi sono 82 i satelliti naturali confermati.

Per ottenere questa immagine ho usato la tecnica della doppia esposizione per rendere maggiormente visibili Titano e gli altri satelliti.

Dati:

Telescopio Celestron 114/910 Newton

Montatura eq2 con motore AR con pulsantiera

Camera QHY5L-II-C

Barlow 2x Celestron Omni acromatica

Filtro UV-IR cut

Saturno: Sharpcap per un video di 4 minuti contenente 3530 fotogrammi con tempo di esposizione di 41 ms

Satelliti: Sharpcap per un video contenente 250 fotogrammi con tempo di esposizione di 670 ms

Autostakkert3! e Registax6 per le elaborazioni

Registax 6 e GIMP per contrasto e luminosità

GIMP per unire i risultati

Data: 24 agosto 2022 alle 23:49 UTC ( 25 agosto 2022 01:49 ora locale)

Luogo: Cabras, Sardegna, Italia

Been learning some more PixInsight and Photoshop tricks. This is the same data from last month but reprocessed for a better final image. It's much cleaner and more balanced than the prior version. Astrophotography is an iterative process.

The Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters and Messier 45, are an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. The stars in this cluster lie around 444 light years away.

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: 16*4 mins @ 100 Gain, -25C

- Dark Frames: 16*4 mins

- Flat Frames: 50

- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker

- Processed in PixInsight and Adobe Lightroom

Genova, Italy (20 Oct 2020 - 00:26 GMT+2)

Orange vintage C8 (203 F10 SC Telescope) on EQ5 Mount + QHY5L-II Color Camera @ F25 (Barlow APO 2.5x).

Best 14499 frames of 48330 (30%)

Recording: SharpCap 3.2 (320x240 @ 130fps)

Stacking: AutoStakkert! 3.1.4

Wavelets: Registax 6.1

Final: GIMP 2.10.8

Gear:

Imaging Camera: ASI294MM- Pro w/ EAF, EFW

Filters: Astrodon 1.25" 3nm Ha, OIII

Main Scope: Orion 8" f4 Newt 800mm FL

Guidescope: Williams Optics 50mm Uniguide

Guidecam: ASI120MM mini

Mount: SW EQ6R Pro

Coma Corrector: Skywatcher Quattro

-

Image details:

107x300s, Ha, Gain 120, -10c, bin 2x2

92x300s, OIII, Gain 120, -10c, bin 2x2

30x300s, SII, Gain 139, -10c, bin 2x2

20 darks, flats, darkflats

19 hrs total integration

Bortle 5/6 sky

-

Acquisition/Edits:

SharpCap, NINA, PHD2, Stellarium, Pixinsight, Photoshop

Epsilon Lyrae è un sistema stellare che si trova nella costellazione della Lira, non lontano dalla stella Vega e ben osservabile durante le notti estive. La sua distanza dalla Terra è di circa 160 anni luce e, grazie a un buon binocolo, si può facilmente separare in due componenti distanti circa 3 primi d'arco e chiamate Epsilon 1 e Epsilon 2. Al telescopio, a circa 100x, si scopre che ognuna di queste è a sua volta una stella doppia e per questo motivo il sistema viene chiamato anche doppia doppia.

La Epsilon1, visibile a destra nella foto, è composta da due stelle con magnitudini di circa 5 e 6,1 e il periodo orbitale è di circa 1700 anni.

Le stelle di Epsilon 2 hanno magnitudini molto simili di circa 5,1 e 5,4 e un periodo orbitale di 585 anni.

Il periodo orbitale dell'intero sistema è estremamente lungo a causa dell'enorme distanza che separa le due componenti principali. Intorno a Epsilon 2 esiste anche una quinta componente scoperta nel 1985.

Telescopio Celestron 114/910 Newton

Camera QHY5L-ll-C

Filtro UV-IR cut

Sharpcap 4.1 per un video contenente 3531 fotogrammi

Tempo di esposizione: 151 ms

AS!4, Registax 6, Astrosurface V1 e Gimp per elaborare il 40% dei fotogrammi

Data e ora: 30 luglio 2024 01:58 UTC (03:58 ora locale)

Seeing medio

Luogo: Cabras, Sardegna, Italia

Celestron NexStar 6SE, ZWO asi224mc with IR cut filter, 2.5x TeleVue Powermate and ZWO ADC. 2 minute video Captured in SharpCap, processed in PIPP, AutoStakkert, RegiStax Wavelets then Lightroom.

The Dumbbell Nebula is a planetary nebula in the constellation Vulpecula.

Captured at Curramore, 2 hours north of Brisbane. Bortle class 2.

25*30 subs, around 12 minutes total capture time.

Captured using SharpCap

Camera temp = 2 deg

Gain = 300

Processed in AstroPixel Processor, lights only

Polar alignment = PoleMaster

no guiding

Single shot

AR2880 (right), AR2882 (left)

2021-10-06 10:07:25 UT

250mm f4.8 Newtonian

QHY168C

IDAS-D2 filter and black polymer solar film

Exposure 0.9ms

Capture in SharpCap

Processing inPhotoshop

I'm continuing to experiment with streamlined equipment choices and acquired the data for this image with a 55 mm/ 250mm focal length lens, a mono CMOS camera with manual filter wheel and alt-az mount. Filters provide benefits for managing light pollution, but assembling this color image required many manual processing steps, so I expect that I'll want to stick with a color camera for casual observing and outreach, and save the mono for more serious imaging attempts (which this was not).

Tech stuff: Borg 55FL lens on QHY163 mono camera on Ioptron CubePro in Alt-Az mode.

Broadband (Televue Nebustar) 64 x 5 seconds;

HA 71 X 10 seconds

OIII 325 X 3 seconds

Stacked live in Sharpcap, assembled and processed with PixInsight

Celestron NexStar 6SE, ZWO asi224mc with IR cut filter, 2.5x TeleVue Powermate and ZWO ADC. 2 minute video Captured in SharpCap, processed in PIPP, AutoStakkert, RegiStax Wavelets then Lightroom.

IC405 Flaming Star. Framing could be better. Needs more data. Scope: TSAPO65Q. Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro. Camera: ZWO ASI294MC Pro. Guiding: Altair GPCAMv2 130M with Orion 50mm. 9x3 Mins Captured in SharpCap Pro. Processed in APP. Finished in Adobe CC.

Riprese effettuate il 5/7/12/13 Giugno 2024 da Ariccia Provincia di Roma

Zenith sky brightness info (2015)

SQM 19.20 mag./arc sec2

Brightness 2.25 mcd/m2

Artif. bright. 2080 μcd/m2

Ratio 12.2

Bortle class 6

Elevation 302 meters

Luna : da Mezzaluna calante a Primo quarto

Magnitudine visuale: da -5.6 a -11.2

Dimensione: da 0° 32' 35.0" a 0° 29' 54.8"

Illuminazione: da 1.7% a 55.2%

Età: da 28.4 giorni a 7.8 giorni

Dati di scatto, Strumentazione e Software:

Telescopio : Tecnosky LUX60 60mm 360mm F/6 APO FPL53 doppietto

Fotocamera : ZWO ASI 2600MC

Montatura : Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro

Autoguida : ASI 120MMini & Svbony SV165 30mm 120mm F/4

Luci : 148x600s @100 Guadagno, -5°C, 40 Dark, 40 Flat

Acquisizione : SharpCap

Guida : PHD2

Filtri : IDAS NGS1

Elaborazione : SharpCap, Siril, GraXpert, Starnet++, Photoshop CC, NoiseXterminator

Autore: Carlo Mollicone

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NGC7023 / LBN487 (talvolta nota come Nebulosa Iris o con la sigla C4 "Caldwell 4") è una nebulosa diffusa visibile nella costellazione boreale di Cefeo a 1300 anni luce dalla Terra.

All'interno vediamo una calda stella neonata, HD2000775, di 10 masse solari che emerge da un'enorme nube di polvere.

I suoi venti solari hanno ripulito una zona bilobata circostante che misura 5x2,5 anni luce.

La polvere circostante disperde la luce visibile della stella, proprio come la nostra atmosfera disperde la luce solare nel cielo, rendendo la nebulosa blu.

Nei filamenti sopra la stella, la polvere converte la luce ultravioletta invisibile in luce rossa visibile mediante la fotoluminescenza.

La nebulosa blu è circondata da scure nubi di polvere che la oscurano.

Anche se la nebulosa Iris viene spesso chiamata NGC7023, questo non è del tutto corretto.

NGC 7023 si riferisce all'ammasso stellare aperto associato a ovest.

La designazione corretta per la nebulosa stessa è LBN487.

La nube di polvere che circonda la nebulosa è LDN1174.

Storia delle osservazioni

Storicamente c'è stata una certa confusione sulla natura dell'oggetto; William Herschel, il suo scopritore, affermò correttamente che si trattava di un oggetto nebuloso che circondava una stella di settima grandezza, come pure la prima edizione del New General Catalogue che lo catalogò appunto col numero 7023.

La confusione probabilmente iniziò quando Per Collinder, famoso per aver compilato il suo catalogo di ammassi aperti, lo scambiò con uno di questi, inserendolo nel suo catalogo con la sigla Cr 429.

L'errore fu poi ripreso in seguito, al punto che persino il database SIMBAD lo riporta solo come un ammasso aperto.

In realtà l'ammasso si trova all'interno della nebulosa.

Altri oggetti:

The Ghost Nebula vdB141 (nota anche come Sh2-136) è una nebulosa a riflessione nella costellazione di Cefeo.

Si individua nella parte occidentale della costellazione, circa un grado a est della celebre nebulosa NGC7023.

Il periodo più indicato per la sua osservazione nel cielo serale ricade fra i mesi di luglio e dicembre ed è notevolmente facilitata per osservatori posti nelle regioni dell'emisfero boreale terrestre, dove si presenta circumpolare fino alle regioni temperate calde.

Si tratta di un globulo di Bok isolato, situato nel grande sistema nebuloso oscuro che maschera la luce della Via Lattea in direzione della costellazione di Cefeo.

La sua distanza è pari a circa 450parsec (circa 1470anni luce).

Il globulo centrale è noto con la sigla CB230, esso ospita la sorgente di radiazione infrarossa IRAS 21169+6804, associata a un oggetto stellare giovane posto al centro di un getto bipolare.

Assieme a una vicina sorgente visibile nel vicino infrarosso formano una coppia di protostelle che potrebbero costituire un sistema binario. Il getto è orientato in senso nord-sud e ha una lunghezza complessiva di circa 0,06anni luce.

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Approfondimento: Le nebulose oscure

Le nebulose oscure sono nubi interstellari che contengono un'alta concentrazione di polvere.

Hanno masse che arrivano anche al milione di masse solari, e si estendono per centinaia di anni luce.

Se il Sistema Solare fosse all’interno di una nebulosa oscura, occuperebbe meno di un centesimo delle sue dimensioni.

Le nebulose oscure sono per lo più composte da carbonio e idrogeno molecolare, cioè una particolare molecola costituita da 2 atomi di idrogeno che condividono gli elettroni.

In quantità minori contengono anche molecole di acqua, ammoniaca, alcool etilico, e persino zucchero e aminoacidi.

La densità di queste molecole è molto alta rispetto allo spazio interstellare vuoto: si va dalle 100 alle 300 molecole per centimetro cubo.

Le nebulose oscure sono anche ambienti gelidi, in cui la temperatura va dai -170°C ai -260°C, temperature prossime allo 0 assoluto che è di -273°C.

Ma come facciamo a vederle? e perché sono così scure e così fredde?

Le nebulose oscure si presentano a noi grazie a tre scenari.

1 - Il più frequente, e forse meno spettacolare, è quello in cui la nebulosa oscura si staglia tra noi e un campo stellare di fondo.

2 - Un altro scenario è quello in cui la nebulosa oscura si trova tra noi e una luminosa nebulosa ad emissione, filtrando quindi una parte della luce proveniente dalla nebulosa retrostante.

3 - L'ultimo scenario è quello in cui la nebulosa oscura si trova all'interno di una nebulosa ad emissione. Spesso in questi casi parte della nebulosa luminosa ha iniziato ad addensarsi più delle zone circostanti filtrando la luce. La fase successiva a questo fenomeno è l'inizio della formazione stellare.

Le nebulose oscure appaiono così nere a causa delle particelle di polvere che le compongono.

Queste particelle hanno all’incirca le dimensioni di un micrometro: un millesimo di millimetro.

Sono grandi come le polveri sottili che costituiscono il temuto PM10 nei centri cittadini. Un capello umano è largo circa 70 volte una di queste particelle.

Ma soprattutto queste particelle sono ricoperte da monossido di carbonio congelato: lo stesso gas che esce dalle nostre autovetture, e che quando è particolarmente denso rilascia una maleodorante nuvola scura.

Queste condizioni, protratte per anni luce, filtrano la luce delle stelle che hanno intorno.

E ora veniamo alla temperatura.

Abbiamo detto poco fa che le particelle che popolano le nebulose oscure bloccano la luce delle stelle che ci sono intorno.

In realtà non bloccano solo la luce visibile ma tutte le radiazioni dello spettro elettromagnetico, eccetto una parte degli infrarossi.

All'interno di una nebulosa oscura penetra meno di un millesimo della radiazione stellare rispetto allo spazio interstellare, e l'unica forma di riscaldamento è fornita dai raggi cosmici.

Ecco quindi che ai margini più esterni delle nebulose la temperatura resiste ancora intorno ai -170°, ma spingendosi più verso il centro, dove le radiazioni sono sempre più minime, la temperatura arriva quasi allo zero assoluto.

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#astrofotografia #astrophotography #zwo #deepsky #deepspace #universetoday #nebulae #nightsky #astronomy #astrophoto #nightphotography #longexposure #cosmos #space #universe #sky #dark #stars #stargazing

astrofotografia astrophotography zwo deepsky deepspace universetoday nebulae nightsky astronomy astrophoto nightphotography longexposure cosmos space universe sky dark stars stargazing

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Better seeing than my effort from the day before so this shows some hints of cloud detail. Celestron NexStar 6SE, ZWO asi224mc, Zwo ADC and Tele Vue 2.5x Powermate. Captured in SharpCap.

Taken on 25 July 2017 at 22.51 BST, on a rare clear night, with NexImage 5MP Camera, connected to Celestron NexStar 6 SE Telescope, using SharpCap. I think this is my best Saturn picture so far! :)

Transparency (4/5)

Seeing (3/5)

Exposure 40 X 1.5 sec-ish

C9.25 EDGEHD (F=2350mm)

ZWO120MC

SharpCap

Winjupos

AutoStakkert

PixInsight

2021-08-25-1212_8__pipp_lapl4_ap58_Drizzle15_convRS3 PS3

12" skywatcher dob, 5x Tele Vue Powermate, ZWO224mc, SharpCap, Pipp, AS3

Telescopi o obiettivi di acquisizione: Orion Mini Guidescope

Camere di acquisizione: SVBONY SV305

Montature: Celestron SLT

Software: SharpCap Pro 3.2 Sharcap · PixInsight 1.8 Ripley Pisinsight 1.8 · photoshop

Date:19 Gennaio 2021

Pose: 84x15"

Integrazione: 0.3 ore

Giorno lunare medio: 6.15 giorni

Fase lunare media: 36.99%

Very ordinary seeing conditions (2/5) and gusty winds meant I should have stayed inside instead of trying to image this. Still, not a bad effort.

ZWO ASI120MC camera, Celestron C8, 2x barlow, Celestron CGEM mount.

41 frames per second and about 1400 frames captured in SharpCap. STacked in AutoStakkert with mild tweaks in Lightroom.

Lunt 60, QHYIII174,Televue 2.5x Barlow, AM3 mount, SharpCap acquisition. Northern Arizona

At 15:32 GMT on 10th December, the International Space Station transited the 46% Waxing Crescent Moon. Most of the transit was across the shadow side of the Moon so it can't really be distinguished from the background sky! Given the windy conditions. lots of cloud, the Moon was still quite low above the houses and the fact it was a daytime event I'm pleased to have caught anything at all!

Taken with a William Optics 70mm refractor and ASI120MC. Video was captured in SharpCap. The video was debayered using PIPP then I used Movie Maker to show the real-time speed twice, then at half speed, then at a quarter speed.

There is a VLOG all about this event over on my You Tube channel which you can view here:

youtu.be/VsIuZ5ZTuJE

Taken on 26 February 2019 at 18.22 ut, with Celestron NexStar 6SE SCT with ZWO ASI224mc camera, using 1 micron passfilter. AVI video captured in SharpCap, processed in Autostakkert and touched-up inc desaturation in PS.

Messier 57, the Ring Nebula, is a planetary nebula formed by a exploded shell of gas from a dying star before the star begins its turning into a white dwarf star. An average star is roughly the size of our sun. Our sun is roughly one million times the size of the earth. When a star runs out of the hydrogen gas fuel that powers its nuclear reactions, its matter compresses toward its center driven by its intense gravity. It compresses down to a size about one millionth of its previous dimensions, or about the size of our earth. As it does so, its matter loses their electrons and greatly increases in density. Matter that would normally fit into a teaspoon, and weigh an ounce or two, would then weigh as much as several tons. In this image, the tiny star at the center of the Ring Nebula is the white dwarf remnant core of the explosion.

This image was taken on the Ritchey-Chretien 6 inch telescope with a Canon T7i DSLR attached at the prime focus. Guiding was through a SkyWatcher 50ED Evoguide refractor (Aperture: 50mm) with an ASI183MC camera and PHD2 auto-guiding software. The mount was a SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro. Exposures were 6 x 240s at ISO 800. Polar alignment was with SharpCap Pro.

The Crab Nebula has an interesting history. Key astronomers in the 18th century spotted it and Messier listed it first in his catalog of objects which should not be confused with comets. But it took until 1928 for Edwin Hubble to make the connection between this nebula and the supernova which formed it, recorded by Chinese astronomers in 1054!

It is not a particularly bright or prominent object -- Messier only spotted it when actively searching the constellation Taurus for Halley's Comet. Invisible to the naked eye, it can be seen as a grey blob from a small telescope or binoculars, while astrophotography reveals a fascinating and colorful inner structure. This Narrowband image features more of the lacy inner structure than my previous attempts.

Tech stuff: Borg 71FL with 2X TV Powermate for 800mm fl (f/11)

iOptron CubePro 8200 EQ mode guided with PHD2

QHY 163 mono bin 2; 8 and 15 second exposures livestacked with SharpCap 3.2 using dark and flat subtraction, -30° C

Astronomik Ha filter 90 minutes;

Astronomk O3 filter 50 minutes;

processed with PixInsight, GIMP, and ACDSee18

Imaged over 5 nights between Feb 11 and March 8, 2019 from my yard 10 miles north of New York City as part of my ongoing exploration of ultraportable urban/suburban imaging techniques

During the total phase of the lunar eclipse on May 15-16, 2022, part of the Moon's Northern Hemisphere intersected the ecliptic, therefore falling very close to the center of the shadow cast by the Earth.

In the above images, the darkest part of our planet's shadow is seen moving from the northwest to the northeast regions of the lunar disk, as the Moon crossed the the path of totality, where no direct sunlight can reach it.

Each image is the result of the stacking of video segments of about 100 frames, comprising 80-120 seconds each, representing different moments of the past lunar eclipse, highlighting the dynamic nature of that particular stage.

The field of view provided by the combination of the camera and the telescope with the attached accessory enabled an optimal use of the sensor dimensions and resolution.

The recordings were made possible due to the collaboration of my friend Romualdo Caldas.

Equipment:

Telescope: Skywatcher 80ED Apochromatic Refractor

Accessory: Televue Powermate 2x

Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro

Camera: QHY183C

Software:

Capture: SharpCap

Trimming: PIPP

Stacking: Autostakkert!

Processing: Photoshop

Video editing: VSDC

Aquí os comparto mi segundo intento con Saturno.

Me gustaría decir que es la 6ª roca desde el Sol, pero Saturno es un planeta gaseoso...

Hace unas noches intenté captar este precioso planeta con mi telescopio Bresser Maksutov 150, pero me fue imposible encontrarlo, a pesar de los 1900mm de focal del telescopio, y de que es el segundo planeta en tamaño del sistema solar (obviamente el tamaño aparente es minúsculo y a simple vista parece una estrella más del firmamento estas noches de verano).

El 25 de agosto volví a intentarlo, porque la astrofotografía es un poco para cabezotas, hay muchas noches de errores, pero hay que perseverar...

En esta seguna ocasión pude centrar mi telescopio, no sin esfuerzo, en este planeta.

Para obtener esta foto usé una cámara planetaria, la QHY5 462C, con un filtro UV/IR Cut, y tomé varios vídeos.

Tras ello, los procesé con varios programas específicos para planetaria: PIPP, Autostakkert, Registax, y Winjupos (en ese orden(, para obtener la imagen final que se ve aquí.

Como siempre usé mi montura Explore Scientific EXOS2 PMC8 wifi, y el soft de captura Sharpcap, para tomar los vídeos.

Espero que os guste.

Saludos.

P.D. La próxima vez intentaré usar una lente Barlow para captar más detalle, aunque el cielo contaminado de El Altet es un obstáculo.

Genova, Italy (12 Aug 2021 - 02:03 GMT+2)

Orange vintage C8 (203 F10 SC Telescope) on EQ5 Mount

QHY5L-II Color Camera @ F25 (Barlow APO 2.5x)

Recording: SharpCap 4.0 (640x480 @ 38fps - 2min)

Best 3686 frames of 4607 (80%)

Stacking+Wavelets: AstroSurface REDSHIFT-1

Final: GIMP 2.10.8

The Crescent Nebula is one of the great features to be found in the constellation Cygnus this time of year. Here I have used my Borg 71FL lens and an IDAS light pollution filter designed to emphasize the H-alpha and O3 wavelengths in one go-round.

Tech Stuff: Borg 71FL at native 400mm focal length; IDAS LPS-V4 filter; Baader MPCC; ZWO ASI1600MC; 97 minutes of 12 second exposures stacked live in SharpCap Pro; iOptron CubePro 8200 mount guided with PHD; Processed with PixInsight. Imaged from my yard 10 miles north of New York City.

Nébuleuse du sorcier NGC 7380.

Zwo ASI224 MC + Leica-R Apo-Telyt 180mm f3.4 (@f4) adapted through DIY 3D printed adapter.

Dual narrowband with Optolong l-Enhance filter in bortle 7 area.

Post-processed with Gimp and Lightroom.

140 x 15 sec light pictures (total time 2100 sec) stacked wth Sharpcap.

The Moon, about 3 days before full moon (Colongitude 61°).

Object: Moon

Colongitude: ~61°

Optics: Celestron 9.25 F10

Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R

Camera: ZWO ASI 183MM Pro @-20°C

Filter: ZWO EFW 7x36mm, ZWO 36mm Filters

Panels: 7

Exposure: R 10% of 400 Frames

Date: 2018-10-21 21:50:00Z

Location: Schwaig

Capture: SharpCap 3.1

Image Acquisition: Stephan Schurig

Image Processing: Stephan Schurig

AutoStakkert 3.0.14: Analysis, Stack

Photoshop 20.0.0: Unsharp Masking, Smart Sharpen w. Denoise, HighPass Sharpening, Color Balance

First attempt at this object. Several hours of data here taken during a very cold, clear evening. I guess the monkey is looking up to the upper right here. Okay then...

NGC 2174 is an H II emission nebula located in the constellation Orion and is associated with the open star cluster NGC 2175. It is thought to be located about 6,400 light-years away from Earth.

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

- Filter: ZWO Duo Band (HA & OIII)

- Acquisition Software: Sharpcap

- Guiding Software: PHD2

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

- Light Frames: Set One: 10x5 mins @ 250 Gain, Temp -30C. Set Two: 40x2 mins @ 250 Gain, Temp -30C

- Dark Frames: 10*5 mins, 40x2 mins

- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker

- Processed in PixInsight, Adobe Lightroom and Topaz Denoise AI

Taken with 400mm Canon lens, ASI2600MC camera. Consist of 83 x 3 minutes exposures (4hrs 9m total) live stacked in SharpCap Pro.

Technical data:

Celestron 114/900 Newton

camera QHY5L-II-C

filter Uv -Ir cut

Sharpcap, Autostakkert 3, Registax 5.1

Autostitch, Camera raw, Adobe

Photoshop

Date: 2021 December 16

Location: Cabras, Italy

The western edge of the Veil Nebula supernova remnant in Cygnus is known as the Witch's Broom. Its Hydrogen and Oxygen regions are entwined in a lacy red, white and blue structure which flies high in the summer night sky.

Tech Stuff: Borg 71FL at native 400mm focal length; IDAS LPS-V4 filter; Baader MPCC; ZWO ASI1600MC; 99 minutes of 12 second exposures stacked live in SharpCap Pro; iOptron CubePro 8200 mount guided with PHD; Processed with PixInsight. Imaged from my yard 10 miles north of New York City.

Skywatcher 200p on NEQ6 mount. ASI294MC Pro camera. Optolong CLS-CCD filter.

Approximately 2000 0.75ms images at gain 121 and sensor temperature -20C. Recorded as a .ser video and the best 50% of the images used by Registax to align and stack.

30th October 2020

Test image using the new ZWO Duo Band Filter of the Sword of Orion Region. this is in HA and OIII. Getting decent data. There's a lot of "stuff" in this image, so it's hard to tell if the filter is picking up extra dust and gas or if I have some sort of issue. Now I need to learn how to process these (splitting channels etc.) and merge with RGB...

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

- Filter: ZWO Duo Band (HA & OIII)

- Acquisition Software: Sharpcap

- Guiding Software: PHD2

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

- Light Frames: 12*5 mins @ 100 Gain, Temp -20C

- Dark Frames: 12*5 mins

- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker

- Processed in PixInsight, Adobe Lightroom, Photmatix Pro HDR and Topaz Denoise AI

m31_core-252x8-g2098-imx224-85f5_6

I was playing around here and wanted to see how much of M31 I could pick up in under 35 minutes.

Technical:

252x8 sec @ 2098 Gain (100-5000 range.)

Televue TV-85 at F/5.6

Rising Tech Sony IMX224 Eyepiece/Guider Cam

Atlas EQ-G w/EQMOD

Orion 30mm Ultra-Mini/Orion Starshoot, PHD Guiding2

Sharpcap 2.9

Bortle Red zone conditions.

Leo Triplet (M65, M66, NGC 3628) - A cosmic sad face!

5/4/21 and 6/4/21

A triplet of gravitationally bound galaxies approximately 35 million light-years away in the constellation of Leo

Equipment:

- Skywatcher HEQ5-pro (Rowan Belt Mod)

- Canon 800d (modded)

- Explore Scientific ED APO 102mm F7 FCD-100 Triplet Carbon Fibre

- Hotech SCA 1x field flattener

- ZWO ASI-120MM-mini guide camera

- Skywatcher Evoguide 50ED guidescope

- 2 inch mounted Optolong L-Pro

Acquisition:

- Sharpcap polar alignment, ASCOM guiding/dithering with PHD2

- APT image acquisition

- Lights - 67 x 300s ISO400 (5 hours 35 minutes)

- Darks – 25 + 25

- Bias - 30 + 30

- Flats - 30 + 30

Instagram @paradoxctor and @inourcosmos