M45 Total Integration from 4 session: 3hrs 14 Mins RGB + 48 Mins Luminosity. RGB = TSAPO65Q + TeleVue 0.8X + ASI294MC Pro; L = Altair 102ED-R + ASI1600MM + L. Captured in SharpCap Pro. Processed in Astro Pixel Processor. Finished in Adobe CC.

Philips Toucam Pro II 12x 60s video @ 10fps > SharpCap > Registax 6 > Microsoft ICE > Registax 6 (wavelets) > Photoshop. Sky-Watcher 150P Explorer Newtonian, Baader Neodymium filter. Colour blend layer from separate DSLR shot. Fair seeing. Much less clipping along terminator (adjusted the gain and exposure).

The Crab Nebula is the remnant of a supernova which was recorded by Chinese astronomers in 1054 AD.

Tech Stuff: Questar 3.5" telescope at native 1500mm focal length, guided with ZWO120MC/100mm lens using PHD. QHY163mono imaging camera using Astronomik CLS for L layer and RGB filters; SharpCap Live stacking used to integrate 10-12 second exposures into 10 minute stacks. Total exposures in minutes: L 33; R 58; G 45; B 20. Processed with PixInsight. Imaged from my yard 10 miles north of New York City.

Messier 38 (M38), also known as the Starfish Cluster, is an open star cluster located in the northern constellation Auriga. The cluster lies at a distance of 4,200 light years from Earth. With an apparent magnitude of 7.4, it is invisible to the naked eye.

The cluster at lower left is NGC 1907, which is an open star cluster around 4,500 light years from Earth. It contains around 30 stars and is over 500 million years old.

Image Details:

- Imaging Scope: William Optics 61mm Zenithstar II Doublet

- Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI183MC Color with IR Cut filter

- Guiding Systeme: Celestron StarSense Autoguider

- Guiding Camera: Orion Starshoot Auutoguider

- Acquisition Software: Sharpcap

- Capture Software: SharpCap Pro

- Light Frames: 20*2 mins @ 100 Gain, Temp -20C

- Dark Frames: 10*2 mins

- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker

- Processed in PixInsight, Adobe Lightroom and Topaz Denoise AI

Taken on 26 June 2018 at 01.40 am BST, with Celestron NexStar 6SE SCT with NexImage 5MP Camera. AVI video captured in SharpCap and processed in Autostakkert 2. Touched-up in Lightroom.

A few low clouds started to roll in off the North Sea, trying to spoil my observing session. However, after processing it the next day, I'm pleased with the outcome.

A global sand storm was raging on Mars during Earth's northern summer of 2018.

Venus isn't a planet we get to image very often because it's usually visible just after sunset or just before sunrise due to its proximity to the Sun and those aren't convenient times to be imaging, but every so often an opportunity to capture it presents itself and we caught it just in time. What I'm hoping to do is get further captures of it over the next couple of months and create a sequence of it getting bigger and becoming more of a crescent as it gets closer to us but that will be dependent on weather and time. At the time this shot was taken Venus was 62.4% illuminated and 132,100,000 km away from Earth. We measured its angular diameter to be 18.91 arcseconds which translated to a diameter of 12109.17 km...not too far off the 12,103.6 km given by both Stellarium and Wikipedia.

Captured with SharpCap

Processed in PIPP, AutoStakkert and Registax

Post-processed in Photoshop

Image made from 9 x 1000 frame video files.

8,728 frames of video at 30 fps (23 seconds)

Gain 100%

Exposure range - 0.000184 to 0.000298 seconds

Image cropped by 50%

Equipment:

Sky-Watcher Explorer-150PDS

Sky-Watcher EQ5 Mount

ZWO ASI120 MC camera

x2 Barlow with extension tube (equivalent to x3.3)

Taken from Oxfordshire, UK with a Coronado PST H-alpha solar telescope + Celestron 3x Barlow and ASI120MC camera. The telescope was on an EQ5 Pro mount, tracking at solar rate.

2,000 frame video captured with SharpCap, the best 75% stacked using Autostakkert! 3, then processing was done using Lightroom, Photoshop CS2, Fast Stone Image Viewer and Focus Magic.

This was an impressive region of prominence activity on the south eastern limb, and it was amazing to see how the area had changed in the space of an hour. There were several filaments visible on the disc as well.

I finally finished processing a time-lapse of the Europa transit of Jupiter that occurred on the 5th May. It's only a five second sequence of 53 frames but each frame is made from a 500 frame video and it took a while to process each frame and make it all look consistent and run smoothly at 10 frames per second. I'm pretty pleased with the result although it would have been nice to have caught the start of the transit. Unfortunately trees were blocking the view so the video starts 30 minutes into the transit but it was a very clear night so we carried on shooting until Jupiter disappeared behind more trees three hours later. Another regret is missing the Great Red Spot which rotated out of view just as the transit began. In this video you can see Europa and its shadow traverse Jupiter and emerge on the right side of the planet while Io (furthest left) and Callisto (also on the left) continue their orbits (Ganymede is out of the shot much further to the left). Jupiter reached opposition on the 8th May so it is currently at its biggest and brightest viewed from Earth. Because this was shot so close to Jupiter reaching opposition Europa and its shadow appear very close together.

Made from 53 x 500 frame videos with a three minute pause between each shot.

Captured with SharpCap.

Processed in PIPP, AutoStakkert, Registax and Photoshop.

Video compiled in Virtual Dub and Windows Movie Maker.

Equipment:

Sky-Watcher Explorer-150PDS

Sky-Watcher EQ5 Mount

ZWO ASI120 MC camera

x2 Barlow with extension tube

Plato is one of the most famous and observed impact craters on the Moon. It is located on the northern bank of the Mare Imbrium and was formed about 3.84 billion years ago. Its region is one of the most beautiful and photographed on the lunar surface. It had its bottom covered by lava produced by eruptions from faults in the inner subsoil of the crater caused by the impact. The lava flood that occurred 3.5 billion years ago buried a likely central peak and created a flat, smooth appearance with a dark appearance, making it a shallow crater just 1 km deep and with no peaks in the center. Before being flooded with lava, Plato was probably 4 km deep, with the edges of the walls looking like steps or level curves (as in Copernicus) and mountains in the center.

🇧🇷 Plato é uma das mais famosas e observadas crateras de impacto da Lua. Está situada na margem norte do Mare Imbrium e foi formada a cerca de 3,84 bilhões de anos atrás. Sua região é uma das mais lindas e fotografadas da superfície lunar. Teve seu fundo coberto por lava produzida por erupções provenientes de falhas do subsolo interno da cratera causadas pelo impacto. A inundação de lava ocorrida há 3,5 bilhões de anos soterrou um provável pico central e criou um aspecto plano e liso, com uma aparência escura, tornando-a uma cratera rasa com apenas 1 Km de profundidade e sem picos no centro. Antes de ser inundada por lava, provavelmente Plato tinha 4 Km de profundidade, com as bordas das paredes parecendo degraus ou curvas de nível (como em Copernicus) e montanhas no centro.

🔹🔹🔹

27-08-2021 / 06:22 UTC

Sky-Watcher 150mm - f/8

ZWO ASI 120MC-S + Barlow 2x + UV/IR Cut

SharpCap + PIPP + AS!3 + Astrosurface

Porto Real-Brazil

Bortle 4/5 Sky

Reprocessed in Astro Pixel Processor 1.064. Scope: TSAPO65Q, Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro, Cam: ZWO ASI294MC Pro, Filter: ZWO IR/UV Cut. Captured in SharpCap Pro: 9 x 90 secs. Processed in APP 1.064 and Adobe CC.

My major August project! About 5 hours' worth of 7 minute frames captured over three nights. This is also my first attempt at this object. It's quite magnificent - check out all those dust lanes!

The Pelican Nebula is an emission nebula located in the constellation Cygnus, which represents the Swan, near the bright star Deneb. The nebula was named for its resemblance to a pelican and is associated with the neighboring North America Nebula (NGC 7000).

The Pelican Nebula is one of several notable nebulae found in the area of the night sky with the Northern Cross. It is located around 1,800 light years away from the Solar System and is an active star forming region with a particularly active mix of star formation and evolving gas clouds.

Image Details:

- Imaging Scope: William Optics 61mm Zenithstar II Doublet

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

- Guiding Scope: William Optics 66mm Petzval

- Guiding Camera: Orion Starshoot Auutoguider

- Acquisition Software: Sharpcap

- Guiding Software: PHD2

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

- Light Frames: 38*7 mins @ 100 Gain, Temp -20C

- Dark Frames: 38*7 mins

- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker

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

Sol Región Activa 2740

Lástima el viento que movía un poco la montura.

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: 2019-05-04

Hora: 14:47 T.U.

Lugar: 42.615 N -6.417 W (Bembibre Spain)

Vídeo: 2 minutos

Resolución: 600 x 800

Gain: 127

Exposure: 0,000032

Frames: 18492

Frames apilados: 5.8%

FPS: 153.81

Petite image du triplet du lion

Le triplet du Lion (aussi appelé le groupe de M66) est un petit amas de galaxies situé à environ 35 millions d'années-lumière dans le constellation du Lion. Cet amas regroupe les galaxies spirales M65, M66, et NGC 3628.

Image issue de 24 poses de 180s faites avec une ZWO 1600MC-C installée sur la FSQ-106ED et monture NEQ6 pro goto

Autoguidage avec caméra ZWO224MC montée sur lunette APM60*240

logiciel acquisition : sharpcap

logiciel guidage : phd2

traitement avec deepskystacker, Siril

J'espère que cette image vous plaira

Gérard

Waxing Gibbous Moon captured at 20:34BST (19:34GMT) 69% illuminated 9 days since New Moon - 31.05.2020

Altair Astro 72EDR (f/6) telescope (432mm focal length)

Camera: Altair Astro IMX178C Hypercam (CMOS)

Mount: SkyWatcher AZ-GTI

Data: 5000 frames captured with SharpCap 3.2Pro

(EXP = 2.25ms / Gain = 215)

Processing: Best 15% of data stacked with AutoStakkert 3, white balance adjusted with Registax6.

Post processing with Astra Image Deconvolution plugin and final curve tweaks with Photoshop 2020

Celestron C11, ZWO-ASI174MM, Celestron AVX Mount, ZWO Filters

Sharpcap 3.0, Autostakkert 3.0, Photoshop & Registax 6.0

14 Panel Mosaic -- best 60% of 650 frames, stacked and processed

Saturn.

Celestron NexStar 6SE,

ZWO asi224mc with IR cut filter,

TeleVue 2.5x Powermate,

2.5 minute capture in SharpCap run through PIPP saving the best 1200 to run through AutoStakkert!2 and stacking the best 20%, sharpened in RegiStax and finished in Lightroom.

Saw that my driveway was in the middle of a [transit path](i.imgur.com/v7LmYHD.png) and the skies were clear, so I couldn't pass up an oppostunity to photograph the space station. I also made a short [tutorial video explaining how to photograph solar ISS transits](youtu.be/cIe6axdc60I) like this one. Here is the transit as a [slowed down gif](i.imgur.com/gH6LbmF.gifv) as well as a [real time gif](i.imgur.com/Y7wgjEk.gifv)

---

**[Equipment:](i.imgur.com/6T8QNsv.jpg)**

> TPO 6" F/4 Imaging Newtonian

> 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

> Astrozap Film Solar Filter

> Moonlite Autofocuser

**Acquisition:** (Camera at Unity Gain, -20°C)

> Exposure - 0.3 ms at ~27fps

> Video Capture started ~ 1 min before predicted transit

**Capture Software:**

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

**Processing:**

> Frames containing the ISS isolated using PIPP

> ISS frames brought into photoshop, added as layers and blended using the 'darken' mode

> Composite converted from grayscale to monochrome RGB

> [Curves](i.imgur.com/Y40vFXX.png) to colorize the monochrome image

* Red: Input=105 Output=134

* Green: Input=97 Output=43

* Blue: Input=196 Output=79

> Image brought into PixInsight, slight motion blur deconvolution to sharpen ISS details

> Annotation

From my backyard (in a higlly light polluted area).

45min live stack with sharpcap.

Zwo ASI 224MC with Leica-R Apo-Telyt f3.4 @f4

Ni filters. No calibration.

Post-processed with GIMP and Lightroom

Object Details: Having viewed Saturn in my first scope in the 1960's, it has remained one of my favorite objects to observe.

Over the intervening decades I have had the pleasure of viewing and imaging it using a plethora of optics & under extremely varying atmospheric conditions, ranging from using a 3-inch refractor and viewing through the rain from underneath an umbrella during a sudden very localized downpour in Hawaii, to my friends incredible 20", f/5 Obsession dob under skies so clear & still at my home last summer that the planet appeared three-dimensional & frozen in space (being lucky to catch it under just the right conditions and with wonderful optics, the latter were the best views I have ever had of the ringed planet in over 50 years)!

Image Details: On various occasions over the past 17 years I have also been fortunate to image it with many of those same friends from the RoR observatory I built at my home here in upstate, NY using our vintage 1970, 8-inch, f/7 Criterion.

When we first started imaging it we were using a Celestron 2X barlow which came free with the 10-inch, f/4.5 Meade newt. I purchased second hand in the 80's connected to a Phillips webcam with it's lens replaced by a 1.25" nosepiece. More recently we've been utilizing a 3X Televue barlow and a ZWO ASI290MC planetary camera / autoguider; and as can be seen at the links below, in addition to standard luminance filters we have also recently been employing IR & CH4 filters.

Having first compiled this type of composite two years ago, I've added the last two images (from 2020 & 2021 respectively); and hope to be able to continue to add to it over the coming years. Although it certainly has a detrimental effect on the detail visible, for purposes of comparison I have reduced the size / resolution of the images taken over the latter years to better match that of the former. If luck is with us we can possibly see them go near edge-on again in 2025!

Wishing clear, dark & calm skies to all !

Recent composites Of Saturn (Using Luminance, IR & CH4 Wavelength Filters):

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51345118465/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51007634042/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51316298333/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50347485511/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50088602376/

A 95% Waxing Moon

M: iOptron EQ45-Pro

T: Celestron C8 SCT + F6.3 Reducer.

C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled

F: No Filters

G: PHD2

GC: ZWO ASI120mini [OAG]

RAW16: SER

Temp: -15 DegC

Gain: 139

Lights: 200 x 0.001236s

Darks: 0

Flats: 0

80% Crop

Capture: SharpCap

Processed: DSS; PS

Sky: 95% Moon, no wind, 0% to 5% cloud, cold and damp, good seeing.

Bortle 5 Sky.

Distance from Earth: 384,400 km

Equipment used;

Celestron hd edge 8

ZWOasi224mc camera

Celestron x-cel lx 2 x Barlow

Captured using sharpcap, stacked in AS2, sharpened in registax and photoshop

Dopo aver ripreso Saturno e dato che le condizioni del cielo erano molto buone, ho deciso di riprendere anche Giove. Il pianeta è ben visibile luminoso prima dell'alba e ricordo che sarà in opposizione il 26 settembre prossimo.

Il video contiene 6160 fotogrammi e la ripresa è durata 90 secondi.

Grazie al buon seeing ho potuto ottenere un'immagine bella e abbastanza dettagliata dell'atmosfera del gigante gassoso con le bande colorate e la Grande Macchia Rossa, la gigantesca tempesta che dura da almeno 3 secoli sul pianeta.

In basso a destra nell'immagine è visibile il satellite Io, uno dei 4 satelliti galileiani.

Dati:

– Telescopio Celestron 114/910 Newtoniano

– Montatura Eq2 con motore AR con pulsantiera

– Camera planetaria QHY5L-II-C

– Filtro UV-Ir cut

– Barlow 2x Celestron Omni

-Sharpcap per acquisire un video da 90 secondi

– Autostakkert!3 e Registax 6 per elaborare circa il 25% dei fotogrammi

- Registax e Gimp per regolare il contrasto

– Luogo: Cabras, Sardegna, Italia

– Data e ora della ripresa: 14 luglio 2022 alle 3:01 UTC( 5:01 ora locale)

Genova, Italy (17 Oct 2020 - 00:25 GMT+2)

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

Best 9009 frames of 30030 (30%)

Recording: SharpCap 3.2 (320x240 @ 130fps)

Stacking: AutoStakkert! 3.1.4

Wavelets: Registax 6.1

Final: GIMP 2.10.8

It's been a while since I did any Moon photography and because clear nights almost invariably coincide with the full Moon, making deep sky imaging difficult, I thought I'd give the 127 Mak telescope a long-overdue outing and try a few Moon shots. This image was taken on 27th October just after the full Moon and when it was about 93% illuminated so there was only a small area around the terminator where shadows were interesting. The image is of the features very close to Lunar north polar region but because of the Lunar librations (an apparent wobble caused by the Moon's axis being slightly inclined relative to the Earth's axis and also the Moon's varying rate of travel along its slightly elliptical orbit around the Earth) the north polar region appears tilted towards the east.

More information about Lunar librations here:

www.wwu.edu/skywise/lunar_libration.html

svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4604

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libration

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f_21N3wcX8

Created from 2 x 1000 frame videos. Both shots were stacked and the resulting pictures joined to make a two-panel mosaic.

Captured with SharpCap Pro

Processed in AutoStakkert, Registax, Microsoft ICE, and Photoshop

Celestron NexStar 127 SLT

Alt-Az Mount

ZWO ASI120 MC camera

x2 Barlow lens

I reprocessed the same data from the last image of M101. I was not happy with the graininess of the first image. Also not cropped here.

M101 In the constellation of Ursa Major.

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;

73 x Exp 300s

Frames: 73 Lights; 10 Darks; 200 flats

100% Crop

Capture: SharpCap

Processed: PIPP; DSS; PS; Grad Exterminator.

Sky: No moon, calm, minimal cloud, cold, fair seeing.

20.87 million light years distant.

NGC2244

12x300s Ha

12X300s O

50x300s Darks no flats or bias

Starwave Ascent 80ED

Altair Hypercam 1600m ProTec Gain 350 Offset 50

Starlight Express EFW with Altair Filters and Pegasus Focus cube

Guided in PHD2 with SW Evoguide 50 and GPCAM 290M

iOptron CEM 60 Captured in Sharpcap, stacked in DSS and tweaked in PS3

www.flickr.com/photos/sharkeyward/

OTA: Celestron C8N, 8" newtonian reflector

Camera: ZWO ASI1600mm

Captured with SharpCap

Stacked and processed with Registax 6

Wide field image of an object that really should be a more narrow field.

The Bubble Nebula, or NGC 7635 (just below centre), found in the constellation of Cassiopeia.

NGC 7538 is top left and is located in the constellation of Cephus.

M: iOptron EQ45-Pro

T: WO GTF81 Refractor

C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled

G: 200mm (FL) Finder and PHD2

GC: ZWO ASI120MC

App: SharpCap Pro

RAW16; FITs

Temp: -20 DegC

Gain 240; Exp 300s

Frames: 28 Lights; 4 Darks; 0 flats

Processed: DSS; LR, PS, Gradient Exterminator.

Sky: No moon, calm, Slight cloud, good seeing.

NGC 7635 is approx 8786.8 light years distant.

NGC 7538 is approx 9,100.0 light years distant.

First "proper" image of Jupiter. Taken 130821 with 6" cass. at 1836 FL using AA294C. Sharpcap and ROI. Much to learn with planetary imaging ! Poor seeing.

Messier 37 (M37) is an open cluster in the constellation Auriga. It has the designation NGC 2099 in the New General Catalogue. M37 is the brightest, richest and largest of the three open clusters in this constellation that were catalogued by Messier. It has an apparent magnitude of 6.2 and lies at a distance of 4,511 light years from Earth.

Image Details:

- Imaging Scope: William Optics 61mm Zenithstar II Doublet

- Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI183MC Color with IR Cut filter

- Guiding Systeme: Celestron StarSense Autoguider

- Guiding Camera: Orion Starshoot Auutoguider

- Acquisition Software: Sharpcap

- Capture Software: SharpCap Pro

- Light Frames: 20*2 mins @ 100 Gain, Temp -20C

- Dark Frames: 10*2 mins

- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker

- Processed in PixInsight, Adobe Lightroom and Topaz Denoise AI

Telescopio: Refractor Bresser Messier Acro 102/460 f4.5

Cámara: ZWO ASI178MM

Montura: EQ5 Bresser EXOS2 motorizada sin goto

Filtros: Baader L CCD Filter

Software: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, Registax y Photoshop

Fecha: 2019-05-11

Hora: 21:42 T.U.

Fase lunar: 47.5% 6.87 días Creciente

Lugar: 42.615 N -6.417 W (Bembibre Spain)

Vídeo: 3 minutos

Resolución: 3096 x 2080

Gain: 94

FPS: 15.22

Exposure: 0,001323

Frames: 1828

Frames apilados: 50%

A processed image using the same data for 9/16/18 as this timelapse movie www.flickr.com/photos/124244349@N07/44737796122/in/photos... . Green Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner is moving towards orange Propus (Eta Gemini) and away from blue-white Messier 35, an open cluster. The PixInsight Comet Alignment utility assists in the assembly of two images -- one freezing the motion of the stars, the other freezing the faster movement of the comet. They are combined here into one image. The red Jellyfish Nebula can be found just to the East of Propus. From my yard 10 miles north of New York City.

Tech Details: Borg 55FL astrograph/IDAS LPS-D2filter/ZWOASI 1600MC astrocam/iOptronCubePro 8200mount unguided/18 X 3 minute SharpCap Livestacks of 4 second exposures, processed with PixInsight.

Object Details: Mother Nature seems to be bringing us a new sunspot group. The attached is a quick composite showing the departure of sunspot group AR3004 at right and a yet to be numbered region that is just rotating on today at left.

In spite of the fact that the winds were troublesome today and the seeing was 'less-than-desirable' to say the least (the effect of which was making the Sun's limb appear to ripple, as can be seen along portions of these single-frame shots), I'm looking forward to seeing what I can pull out of the data once it is stacked & processed,

Given the attached are just single-frames with very low signal-to-noise ratios and it may be easier to determine once the data are stack & processed; the relatively high amount of faculae (brighter & hotter regions) surrounding the the new sunspot group that the images hint at may indicate this region could be fairly active in the days and weeks to come.

Stay tuned !

Image Details: The images making up this composite were taken by Jay Edwards on the afternoon of May 8, 2022 from the RoR observatory I built at my home here in upstate, NY using a vintage 1970, 8-inch, f/7 Criterion newtonian reflector with a home-made Baader (visual grade material) off-axis solar filter and a ZWO ASI290MC planetary camera / auto-guider.

As mentioned above the are single-frames captured from videos consisting of several thousand frames that I have yet to stack or process.

The ASI290MC was placed at prime focus and was controlled by SharpCap Pro and the scope was tracked using a Losmandy G-11 goto mount running a Gemini 2 control system.

I also took shots of the new group using a UV filter, and AR3004 using a UV, IR & Methane filters (all in addition to the over-the-aperture Baader filter of course) as well as a Orion ED80T CF (i.e. an 80MM, f/6 carbon-fiber apochromatic refractor) with a 0.8X Televue field-flattener / focal reducer and a Canon 700D (t5i) DSLR controlled by APT, but have yet to examine any of that data.

As shown here the entire composite has been resized down to HD (half of it's original resolution).

I'm hoping the new group brings us some wonderful geomagnetic activity as it traverses the Sun's Earth-facing side.

Happy Mother's Day To All !!!

Similar composites or various solar system objects, many using additional wavelengths, can be found at the links attached below:

Solar:

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/52056574582/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/52034939249/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51992208177/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51948806640/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51747214403/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50815383151/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50657578913/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51027134346/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51295865404/

Saturn:

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51489515877/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51345118465/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51007634042/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51316298333/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50347485511/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50088602376/

Jupiter:

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51405393195/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51679394534/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51307264271/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50303645602/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50052655691/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50123276377/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50185470067/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50993968018/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51090643939/

Mars:

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50425593297/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50594729106/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50069773341/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50223682613/

Now this really was one heck of a challenge! There was an International Space Station daytime lunar transit visible from our garden at 11:55:26. The Moon was only a 15% Waxing Crescent and on a bright sunny day with patches of cloud, even getting the Moon in shot was a challenge. I had my laptop in a box but still it was incredibly difficult to see the Moon on the screen so it was really hard to focus. The seeing was terrible and the gusts of wind were bouncing the telescope around.

I honestly didn't think I had a hope in hell of capturing this, so I was astonished when I was watching the screen and saw the ISS zoom past. Knowing how bad the seeing was, I didn't have high hopes of getting anything top quality, so I'm really pleased with this result.

William Optics 70mm refractor and ASI120MC camera with a 2x Barlow. 1,500 frames captured with Sharpcap. I debayered the video using PIPP then used Movie Maker to create the video which you can view here: flic.kr/p/2m5tLfY

I also extracted all of the individual frames from the original video then processed the 30 frames that contained the ISS, then stacked them using StarStaX then made final tweaks in Fast Stone Image Viewer

Genova, Italy (17 Oct 2020 - 01:24 GMT+2)

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

Best 15075 frames of 50250 (30%)

Recording: SharpCap 3.2 (320x240 @ 130fps)

Stacking: AutoStakkert! 3.1.4

Wavelets: Registax 6.1

Final: GIMP 2.10.8

This is an incomplete mosaic made up of 9 images. I was concentrating on the crater/mountain shadow details across the terminator of light and dark, sadly the cloud rolled in before I could finish the full mosaic.

Altair Astro 102ED f/7 refractor

Altair Astro IMX224 colour GPCAM

TeleVue x2.5 Powermate

SkyWatcher AZ-EQ6

Each of the images is a stack captured from the best 30% of 2000 frames for each image.

Captured with SharpCap 3.0

Stacked with AutoStakkert 3

Post processed with Photoshop CC2018

Mosaic elements combined using AutoStitch.

Spanning 200 light years, the heart-shaped emission nebula lies some 7500 light years distant in the Perseus spiral arm of the Milky Way, appearing to us in the constellation Cassiopeia. The bright cluster of newborn stars at the center – Melotte 15 – is said to be providing the energy which illuminates the broader structure.

Tech Stuff: Borg 55FL astrograph; ZWO ASO1600 MC astro cam; IDAS LPS-V4 filter; guided iOptron CubePro 8200 mount. 70 minutes of 8 second exposures captured with SharpCap Pro and processed in PixInsight. Imaged from my driveway in Westchester County, 10 miles north of NYC.

A time-lapse of one of Jupiter's Galilean moons, Io, and its shadow transiting the planet. In this video, you can see the Io and its shadow transit from left to right while Ganymede (on the right) makes its way toward Jupiter. The Great Red Spot also bcomes visible as the planet rotates. We were lucky with the timing because Jupiter set behind houses shortly after the transit. This was shot 9 days before Jupiter reached opposition so the planet appears quite large and very bright. The video playback loops a few times at 18fps and a few times a 6fps.

17/09/2022

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Video made from 82 x 1,000 frame videos stacked to make 82 animation frames.

Total frames used: 82,108

Gain: 139 (unity gain)

Average Exposure: 0.048963 seconds

Time covered: 3 hours and 38 minutes

Video playback: 18 fps and 6fps

Video duration: 2 minutes and 42 seconds

Video loops numerous times

Captured with Sharpcap

Guided with PHD2

Processed in PIPP, Autostakkert, Registax, Photoshop

Video compiled in PIPP

Equipment:

Telescope: Sky-Watcher Explorer-150PDS

Mount: Skywatcher EQ5

Guide Scope: Orion 50mm Mini

Guiding Camera: ZWO ASI 1600MC Pro with USB-ST4

Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI120MC

Barlow: x2 with extension tube (x3.3)

The Rosette Nebula (Caldwell 49), a large diffuse H ll nebula region in the constellation of Monoceros (The Unicorn) with an open cluster of young hot stars at its heart, the Rosette is approx 4900 light years from Earth. This image is just over 1.5hours of exposure I captured from my garden in Stockport, UK. 01.03.21.

Altair Astro 72EDF f/6 x1.0 flattener 🔭

AA IMX183C PROTEC Hypercam 📷

AA Triband Filter

AA 50mm Guider with AA GPCAM2 130M guide cam

iOptron CEM25P mount and iPolar alignme

AA Portable Pier

Pegasus Astro Pocket Power Box

Data: 20x 300sec Lights

30x dark, 30 flat and 30 dark flat, calibration frames.

Gain: 398 Unity

Offset / Black level: 24

TEC Temp: -5 C

Capture software: SharpCap 4.0 beta

PHD2.6.9 dev4, using multi star guiding.

Integration with Astro Pixel Processor, HaOlll-colour process.

Processed with PixInsight and Photoshop 2021

Messier 51, the Whirlpool Galaxy ... the Little Blue Pearl with Distant Neighbors. Set against a coal black sky, this huge galaxy looks tiny in the vast expanse of the heavens. Two very distant and faint galaxies appear to the right of M51 on the way to the right margin of the photo along with another, brighter galaxy (NGC 5198) in the lower right of the photo. All together, there are at least 10 very distant and tiny appearing galaxies in this image that one could see by zooming in and patiently looking for elongated, little smudges.

This image, was taken from a Bortle 4 dark sky site in Landers, CA, USA on a New Moon night. Telescope: Explore Scientific ED102 APO refractor FL 714mm and f7. Guiding was with an Orion 50mm Guide Scope of FL 242mm with a ZWO ASI290MC for the guide camera. Mount: Celestron Advanced VX. Main imaging camera: Canon T7i DSLR at the prime focus of the telescope. Exposures: 98 x 45s with ISO 3200. No darks, flats or bias frames. Processed in PixInsight. Slight crop. Polar alignment was with SharpCap Pro.

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 video, 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.

The video consists of 9 images, with each being 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 images are not evenly spaced in time because of variable cloud cover. The nine segments were selected from a parent video of more than 40 minutes, centered a little after the "greatest eclipse" instant.

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

Second 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.

Having the chance to catch Jupiter's moon Io as it approach and then began to transit planet the last Sunday evening, I thought I'd try to capture several sequences showing the event in various wavelengths; the results from that effort are shown here.

Object Details: The attached is a composite consisting of images taken in succession while varying the filter used from Infrared ('pinkish'), through Methane ('purplish'), to Luminance ('natural color'). The first three images highlight Io as it approaches from the left, the middle set as the moon itself is framed against the planet's cloud tops, while the final set shows both Io and it's shadow as they both transit.

As can be seen, the appearance of the moon & it's shadow varies greatly depending on the filter utilized. In the latter set, the Methane (blocking) filter highlights the moon as the bright spot right of center and it's shadow as the black spot further left of center, while the IR shows the moon as not quite as bright, but the shadow much darker. The brightness of the moon & the darkness of it's shadow in the Luminance wavelengths being somewhat in-between their appearance via the IR & Methane.

Image Details: This composite was compiled from a selection and subsequent stacking of frames from a total of nearly half a terabyte of data collected on Jupiter over a 2 hour and 12 minute period that evening.

Shot by Jay Edwards on the of August 30, 2020 (UT date Aug. 21, 2020) at the HomCav Observatory, like some of the previous planetary composites linked below, these were also taken using a (vintage 1970) 8-inch, f/7 Criterion newtonian reflector with a 3X Televue barlow and an ASI290MC 'planetary camera / autoguider'. As usual, the scope was mounted on and tracked with a Losmandy G-11 running a Gemini 2 control system and the camera was controlled by SharpCap.

Since humans tend to see detail in images via the brightness & contrast, as opposed to the color, I have included a greyscale version beneath the 'one-shot-color' images.

As presented here, the individual shots have been processed using a combination of AS3, Reistax & PSP and have been resized down to approximately half their original resolution.

Similar composites can be found at the links attached here:

Jupiter:

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50052655691/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50123276377/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50185470067/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50185470067/

Saturn:

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50088602376/

Mars:

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50069773341/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50223682613/

Taken from Oxfordshire, UK with a William Optics 70mm refractor fitted with a Thousand Oaks glass filter. The camera was an ASI120MC fitted with a Baader Continuum filter and through a Celestron 3x Barlow. 2,000 frame video captured with SharpCap then the best 25% stacked in Autostakkert! 2.

72ED apo with various filter sets for three different views of the Sun. Coronado SM40/BF10 (pre Meade) for Ha,Lunt Cak B1200 module for calcium K and Herschel wedge/solar continuum for white light. QHY5III 178M and Sharpcap for recording the AVI's (between 800-1000 frames). Stacking and processing carried out in Astrosurface,adding false colour in PS CS2.

Taken on 17/12/20

Object Details (and a bit of a backstory ;) ): A snow storm early last week that dumped over 14 inches of snow at the airport a few miles from my home. At times coming down as a heavy slush throughout our area it caused a blackout the resulted in the loss of power for over 50,000 customers. Occurring Monday night at my home, the power was not restored until Friday. Although I had to wear snow boarding pants and a heavy winter jacket inside most of the time, fortunately it only dropped into the 40s inside and so the pipes did not freeze. As power was restored on Friday, Mother Nature provided a clear skies and a bit of warmth to complement the technological reprieve from the 'pre-industrial like' conditions I had been dealing with.

With clouds predicted to move back in by late morning, I decided to try to catch a few images of the huge sunspot groups that were current visible, and so actually got up before sunrise to do so (being retired, although I've watched the sunrise many times after an all-night observing / imaging session over the last few years, it was the first time I had gotten up prior to sunrise since the sunrise solar eclipse last June; priorities being what they are of course ! - lol).

Therefore the attached composite shows how the massive sunspot groups AR2993 & AR2994 appeared through a variety of scopes and filters as they were positioned near the center on the solar disk during the early morning hours of April 22, 2022. As can be seen in the images each of the three huge sunspots are larger than the entire Earth, and each exhibit their own unique structure; e.g. the upper one showing a long, brightly-lit, vertical split; appearing like a giant light-bridge.

These regions were extremely active, throwing a variety of flares including many M-class as well as an X1 on April 17th and an X2 on the 20th. They are also accompanied by a massive amount of faculae (bright, hotter regions surrounding the sunspots themselves). Since faculae are most visible when the groups are located near the Sun's limb, although I have yet to stack and process the data, it is clearly visible in the composite of single-frame screen shots taken when these groups were just rotating on to the visible surface on April 18th - linked here: www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/52014231690/

Image Details: The images making up this composite were taken by Jay Edwards on the early morning hours of April 22, 2022 under bad (1 out of 5) seeing from the RoR observatory I built at my home here in upstate, NY using:

At upper left: An Orion ED80T CF (i.e. an 80MM, f/6 triplet, carbon-fiber refractor) with a 0.8x Televue field flattener / focal reducer, Kendrick film solar filter and an unmodded Canon 700D DSLR controlled by APT, it is a stack of 32 frames taken at ISO 100 and with a 1/3200 second exposure;

At top center: A Celestron 'short-tube' 80MM, f/5 refractor with a Thousand-Oaks glass solar filter and an ASI290MC planetary camera / auto-guider controlled by SharpCap Pro, this is a stack of several hundred frames selected from several thousands shot at 0.340 milliseconds, and

At upper right & below, a vintage 1970, 8-inch, f/7 Criterion newtonian reflector with a home-made Baader (visual grade material) off-axis solar filter and the aforementioned ASI290MC. As with the 80MM Celestron shot, they are stacks of several hundred frames, in this case at various exposures, selected from short video clips consisting of several thousand.

In both cases the ASI290MC was placed at prime focus and was controlled by SharpCap Pro and all scopes were tracked using a Losmandy G-11 goto mount running a Gemini 2 control system. The images at bottom also utilized a set of specialized planetary filters (Infrared, Ultraviolet & Methane) in addition to the over-the-aperture solar filter. As shown here the entire composite has been resized down to HD (one-third of it's original resolution).

As these active regions are beginning to rotate off the visible surface, I'm looking forward to processing the files from the 18th to see what details I can pull out of the data.

Similar composites or various solar system objects, many using additional wavelengths, can be found at the links attached below:

Solar:

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51992208177/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51948806640/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51747214403/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50815383151/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50657578913/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51027134346/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51295865404/

Saturn:

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51489515877/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51345118465/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51007634042/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51316298333/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50347485511/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50088602376/

Jupiter:

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51405393195/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51679394534/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51307264271/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50303645602/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50052655691/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50123276377/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50185470067/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50993968018/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51090643939/

Mars:

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50425593297/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50594729106/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50069773341/

www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/50223682613/

Explore Scientific 152/988 with Altair Hypercam 183C and SharpCap.

5 minutes video in Autostakkert (best 125 frames), Wavelets in Registax

Mi primera Luna en color

Dobson 130mm Heritage / ZWO ASI 120MM / Sharpcap 3.2 / RegiStax 6

Coloreada con PhotoShop.