Processed by me, data from Telescope Live Network.

PixInsight, APP and Photoshop.

The Plejades, also known as Messier 45 or the Seven Sisters. The star cluster with hot blue B-type stars formed during the last 100 million years and is passing through dust clouds reflecting and scattering the light.

Telescope: Esprit 100 f5.5, Camera: QHY16200 @-15C.

78x300sec Red, 69x300sec Green, 74x300sec Blue (18.4 hrs)

Imaged on 5,6,7,8,9 &10 october 2018.

Processed in AstroPixelProcessor and Pixinsight.

Knight Observatory, Tomar.

30x600" Lights

10x600" Darks

Here's a little experiment. The dotted line is the International Space Station (ISS) passing through the field of view of my small telescope, very near the interesting little object known as NGC 246, a planetary nebula sometimes called the Skull Nebula in the constellation Cetus.

This wasn't by chance. Watching for these sorts of coincidences, I consulted the trusty sky simulation software SkySafari and noticed that the path of the station would take it in front of a few interesting features in the sky, in addition to this one: M13, the Great Hercules Globular cluster in Hercules, Vega, the brightest star in Lyra, and The Veil Nebula in Cygnus.

Because of the tremendous difference in brightness, I captured the ISS and the nebula field separately. (The ISS is the third brightest object in the night sky, after the Moon and Venus). For the ISS pass, I made a short video with a Nikon Z 6 mirrorless camera and Explore Scientific 102mm f/7 refractor. The image of NGC 246 was made afterward with a ZWO ASI294MC camera and Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 lens @200mm, 15 6-minute exposures processed in Astro Pixel Processor and Lightroom. The ISS track is in the correct position and scale, composited in Photoshop. In addition, the inset is an enlargement of a few video frames and shows some detail in the ISS.

#astrophotography, #ISS

The area around the well-known "Ghost of Cassiopeia" had been on my agenda for a while, and this year I was finally able to make it happen. Once again, I wanted to use my fast f/2 optics and a 400mm focal length to capture not only RGB data but also as much H-alpha signal as possible across the entire region. My goal was to show how deeply IC 63 and IC 59 are embedded within the H-alpha clouds. For this, I gathered 9.5 hours of RGB and 6.75 hours of H-alpha data.

To ensure that the beautiful reflection nebulae of IC 63 and IC 59 weren’t completely overwhelmed by the narrowband data, I combined the H-alpha data in this area with the RGB data using continuum substraction. Finally, I invested a few more hours in finding a good balance between the RGB and narrowband components for the final image.

Hope you like it!!!

Celestron RASA 8 f/2

Celestron Motorfocus

EQ6-R Pro

ZWO ASI 2600 MC Pro (Gain 100, Offset 18, -10°)

RGB: 576 × 60″ (9h 36′)

TS 2600 MP (Gain 100, Offset 200, -10°)

Baader H-Alpha Highspeed 3.5nm: 202 × 120″ (6h 44')

Total: 16h 20'

Bortle 5 (19.50 SQM)

N.I.N.A., Guiding: ASI 120MM & PHD2

Astropixelprocessor, Photoshop, Pixinsight

Dati: 52 x 300 sec a gain 5 e offset 25 a -10° c + 70 dark + 30 flat e darkflat

Filtro: Astronomik UV/IR Block L2

Montatura: EQ6 pro

Ottica: Takahashi FSQ106

Sensore: QHY168C

Cam guida e tele: magzero mz5-m su Scopos 62/520

Software acquisizione: nina e phd2

Software sviluppo: AstroPixelProcessor e Photoshop

Temperatura esterna: 18 ° C - Umidità 68%

A starless process of the Elephant's Trunk nebula captured in narrowband (Ha, S2 and O3) then processed in the Hubble Palette (SHO)

Stacked in AstroPixelProcessor

Processed in PixInsight and Photoshop

6 hours total on M81 and M82

Stacked in AstroPixelProcessor and processed in PixInsight

QHY163m camera

I added another half hour of imagery to what I already had, so this image consists of 65 minutes of data. After shooting it this latest time, I realized that I hadn't been balancing my tracker correctly when shooting south, so when I image it again this fall, I hope to be more efficient with getting non-star-trailed 60-second subs.

Acquisition details: Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 65 x 60 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing with Astro Pixel Processor and GIMP, taken Oct. 6 2019 and Feb. 27, 2020 under Bortle 3/4 skies.

A complex, dynamic region of star formation in the constellation Auriga with three named objects: IC 417, IC 410, and IC 405, also known as the Flaming Star Nebula in the light of hydrogen, from suburban Bloomington, Indiana.

229 total exposures, 6 min. each (total 23 hours) in several overlapping tiles. Explore Scientific ED102 102mm f/7 refractor, 0.8x reducer/flattener, ZWO ASI2600MM monochrome CMOS camera, 7nm H-alpha filter, iOptron CEM25P mount, ASIAir controller, auto-guided. Processed in Astro Pixel Processor and Lightroom.

#Astrophotography #DeepSky

I've seen a number of images lately of the famous comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko* and thought I'd try my own. Here's the result from last night, clear enough after a modest snowfall during the day though with temps flirting with 0ºF overnight.

I'm a bit baffled by the tail that seems to be offset from the nucleus, which I don't recall seeing very often except in comets that are much closer to the Sun and sporting both ion and dust tails, and some oddball hybrid comet/asteroid objects.

The image is a composite of 100 frames, 90 seconds each; Explore Scientific ED102 102mm f/7 refractor, ZWO ASI294MC camera, UV/IR cutoff filter, iOptron CEM25P mount, Processed in Astro Pixel Processor and Lightroom.

*67P is most famous because it was visited by ESA's fabulous Rosetta spacecraft in 2014 and its Philae lander.

M51-Whirlpool Galaxy

My modest attempt at this popular DSO. Makes me wish for much more than 300mm!

Nikon D5300 - unmodded

Nikon 300mm f/2.8 AF-S

SW HEQ5

75 LIghts, 90sec, ISO400, f/4

20 Darks

50 Flats

50 Bias

Captured with APT, processed with APP/Gimp

Trifid nebula Lagoon nebula NGC 6514 NGC 6523; 33 x 300s; ISO 200. Farm Kiripotib, Namibia

© Julian Köpke

20 6-minute exposures, ZWO ASI 294MC camera, Nikon 200-500mm lens @500mm, iOptron CEM25P mount, ZWO ASIAir controller, dual narrow-band filter (H-alpha + [O III]).

There’s no better time to reprocess images than during cold and cloudy winter nights. I briefly imaged the California Nebula In September 2019. I planned to add many more hours of time on this target before posting it, but life and cloudy nights got I. The way, for now. .

The California Nebula is located 1,000 lys from Earth. .

This image consist of 20 minutes of data taken with: Stellarvue sv80ed, Asi294mc-p, ioptron iEQ30, baader uv/ir filter.

Data acquisition: 20x60sec @200 gain, 10 offset, 0 degrees.

Processed: #astropixelprocessor, pixinsight Lightroom, photoshop AND 1792 Bourbon.

Captured with: NINA.

Imaging from a Bortle class 2 site makes all the difference but still had a 1/3 moon to contend with. Problems with guiding, could not get ASIair to work, problems with the hand controller.. the list goes on but that's astrophotography for ya, Just push on.

35*30 seconds, total integration time 17 minutes

Gain: 300

Temp: 0

Mount: CEM40

Polar Alignment: Pole Mster

Capture software: SharpCap

Processing: AstroPixel Processor : lights only

What's in a colour-palette? Back when I first produced this as a regular HOO image in glowing red and purply-blue, I also experimented with a weirder palette in PixInsight, more like OHO but with a few tweaks. Figured the resultant blue-green tonality would suit this time of year much better :)

(Formula, if you really want it:

// R:

OIII^2 + Ha/2

// G:

(Ha+OIII^1.05)/2

// B:

Ha + 0.5*OIII^2

)

This is one of those astronomy targets where I cannot quite make out the relationship between the name and the visual appearance of the object, but nevertheless this is SH2-132 or commonly known as The Lion Nebula.

I think the dark lines near the two dark areas may represent the lions mouth like an upside down Y, but who knows. This region is rich in HII, but also very rich in OIII as you can see by the blue in the image. I have produced both the HOO (Hydrogen Alpha+Oxygen III + Oxygen III as RGB) and the Hubble Palette SHO (Sulphur Dioxide II + Hydrogen Alpha + Oxygen III as RGB)

Image Details:

Acquisition Dates: Aug. 9, 2022 · Aug. 20, 2022 · Sept. 17, 2022 · Sept. 19, 2022 · Sept. 25, 2022 · Sept. 28, 2022 · Nov. 4, 2022 · Nov. 17, 2022 · Nov. 19, 2022

Frames:

Baader H-alpha Highspeed(f/2) 50 mm: 101×150″(4h 12′ 30″) (gain: 100.00) -10°C bin 1×1

Baader O-III Highspeed(f/2) 50 mm: 101×150″(4h 12′ 30″) (gain: 100.00) -10°C bin 1×1

Integration: 8h 25′

Darks: 51

Flats: 51

Bias: 201

Equipment:

Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI Cameras ZWO Astronomy CamerasASI6200MM Pro Gain 100 -10C

Imaging Scope: Sharpstar Optics 20032PNT F3.2 Paraboloid Astrograph

Filters: Baader Planetarium Ultra Fast, Ultra Narrow Ha, OIII and SII 50.4mm filters

Filterwheel: ZWO ASI Cameras ZWO Astronomy Cameras 7x EFW

Guide Camera: ZWO ASI Cameras ZWO Astronomy Cameras ASI290MM

Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro German Equatorial Mount

Auto Focuser: Primalucelab Sesto Senso2

Environmental conditions: Primalucelab ECCO2

Observatory Control: PrimaLuceLab Eagle Eagle 4 Pro

Roof Control: Talon RoR

Image Acquisition: Main Sequence Software Sequence Generator Pro

Image Calibration and Stacking: Astro Pixel Processor

Image Processing: PixInsight, EZ Processing Suite and StarExterminator

Supernova remnant IC 443, sometimes known as the Jellyfish Nebula in the constellation Gemini in the light of sulfur (red), hydrogen (green), and oxygen (blue).23 hours total exposure. Explore Scientific ED102 102mm f/7 refractor, ZWO ASI294MC camera, dual narrow-band filter (Hα,[O III]), [S II] filter, [O III] filter, iOptron CEM25P mount, Processed in Astro Pixel Processor and Lightroom.

Imaging the Eastern Veil Nebula with a William Optics GT71 telescope, ASI183MM camera and Antlia 3.5nm HA and 03 filters.

All the gear is finally coming together.

6*600 secs HA

6*600 sec O3

Gain 111

Temp 0 Deg c

Using the Avalon Instruments m-zero mount with a rough polar alignment.

Image acquisition software was NINA.

Guiding PHD2.

Calibrated darks, flats and dark flats in AstroPixel Processor.

The latest postcard from the constellation Auriga, a group of gas clouds in the process of forming stars: IC 417 (upper left), IC 410 and the associated star cluster NGC 1893 (center), and IC 405, sometimes known as the Flaming Star Nebula (right). Taken on a single nice clear but cold and moonless night from suburban Bloomington, Indiana.

3x3 mosaic, each tile 10 6 minute exposures (9 hours total exposure). Explore Scientific 102mm f/7 refractor, ZWO ASI294MC camera, dual narrow-band fillter (H-alpha and [O III]), iOptron CEM25P mount, ASIAir Pro controller, processed in Astro Pixel Processor and Lightroom.

There's another bright-ish comet in the sky: 19P/Borelly, now the second brightest after the departing Leonard (which is best visible from the southern hemisphere now). I captured this from suburban Bloomington, Indiana. The green coma is very prominent (from emission of carbon molecules) and there's a narrow, straight tail just visible above the sky background. Also in this frame is a galaxy, NGC 275, the fuzzier streak at upper left, some 79 million light-years away.

40 3-minute exposures, Explore Scientific 102mm f/7 refractor, ASI294MC camera, UV/IR cutoff filter, iOptron CEM25P, ASIAir controller, processed in Astro Pixel Processor, Lightroom, and Photoshop.

A lot of exposure time was needed for this image, a total of 31 hours. The bright star on the left is Supergiant star HD21389 and the reflection nebula around it is vdB15. To the right (north) we see another Supergiant blue star HD21291 and reflection nebula vdB14. Faint Ha emission can be seen also.

The data for this image was shot on: 19 aug, 10,11,12,13,14,15,16 sep 2018 using the Esprit 100 telescope and QHY16200 CCD camera cooled to -15C.

82x 300 sec Red, 82x 300 sec Green, 128x 300 sec Blue and 40x 600 sec Ha (6nm). Processed with AstroPixelProcessor and Pixinsight.

Knight Observatory, Tomar

IC 1848, as known as Soul Nebula, is an emission nebula locatel in the constellation of Cassiopeia; far 7500 years light from the solar system. It conforms a great stars formation region, with visible huge extensions of ionized and excited gas. Soul nebula is integrated by many open star clusters, an intense radio source called W5 and by huge bubbles formed by the intense winds coming from massive young stars. W5 integrates large cavities that were carved out by radiation and winds from the region’s most massive stars, pushing gas together and causing it to ignite into successive generations of new stars. Dense large pillars of material can be seen around the nebula structure, pillars of around 10 light years with stars forming into them.

This image is taken through Ha, SII and OIII filters, and mapped in post-process as a variation of the SHO palette. Because of this, we can see differenciated areas, depending on the signal received. Hydrogen Alpha, Sulfur double ionized or Oxygen triple ionized. The narrowband astrophotography allows us to detect different chemical compositions of the ionized gas emited by the nebulas.

Technical data:

Remote Observatory "FarLightTeam"

Team: Jesús M. Vargas, Bittor Zabalegui,José Esteban, Marc Valero.

Telescope: Takahashi FSQ106 ED 530mm f/5

CCDs: QSI683 wsg8

Filters: Baader Planetarium - Halpha-SII-OIII

Mount: 10Micron GM1000 HPS

Imaging Software: Voyager

Processing Software: PixInsight-AstroPixelProcessor

Captured through 12 December 2021 to 21 February 2022, ( Fregenal de la Sierra ) Badajoz, Spain.

Processing: Marc Valero

Image composed by a Mosaic of 2 tiles:

Ha: 94x1200"

SII-OIII: 147x1200"

Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P f/3.5

QHYCCD Minicam8

LRGBHa

15 x 120sec. subs each filter (2.5hrs. total)

Processed with Astro Pixel Processor, GraXpert, NoiseXTerminator and Affinity Photo

M31 Andromeda Mosaic with M32 and M110. With special thanks to Stefan (astroartcologne).

© Julian Köpke

Asteroid 516 Amherstia showed up on one of the RGB Mosaic stacks of the California Nebula (NGC1499). Visible upper right in this resulting HaRGB Mosaic the small red-green-blue trace is visible, the inset shows an enlarged view. Amherstia was imaged on 01 jan 2019 between 19:00 and 20:30 UTC.

2 Panel Mosaic, 12x900 seconds H-alpha, 24R, 23G, 22 B x 120seconds.

Esprit100 refractor/QHY16200 CCD @-20C , processed with Astropixelprocessor and Pixinsight.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/516_Amherstia

Knight Observatory, Tomar

The bright star just off-center is Polaris, which is surrounded by Integrated Flux Nebulae (IFN) named the Polaris Flare, discovered in 1984 by Heiles (Panopoulou et al. 2015: doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv1301). Yildun, the brightest star in the lower right-hand corner, is the next star in the 'handle' of the Little Dipper.

Acquisition details: Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 78 x 60 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing with Astro Pixel Processor and GIMP, taken on Apr. 11, 2020 under Bortle 2/3 skies.

Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P f/3.5

Altair Astro Hypercam 585C OSC (Offset:10 / Gain:100)

HDR mode on

156 x 60 sec. subs (~2.5hrs.)

Processed in Astro Pixel Processor, GraXpert and Affinity Photo

What is an impressive and beautiful sight for us was a cosmic catastrophe. Mosaic Antares IC 4606 and IC 4592. Panorama of 31 tiles, 630 million pixels. Remastered.

© Julian Köpke

The Elephant's Trunk Nebula or IC 1396 as it is otherwise known, but never with such a wide field of view, at a distance of around 2400 light years from earth and is mainly illuminated by a single bright star. It is thought that this region of space is home to a pretty young star forming region.

RA: 21h39m00.01s

Dec: 57°29'24.00""

Constellation: Cepheus

Designation: IC1396

Image Details: 128x300S at Gain 100

Darks: 101 Frames

Flats: 101 Frames

Bias: 201 Frames

Acquisition Dates: Nov. 5, 2020 , Nov. 7, 2020 , Nov. 24, 2020 , Dec. 1, 2020 , Dec. 24, 2020 , Dec. 27, 2020

Total Capture time: 10.7 Hours

Equipment Details:

Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI6200MC Pro 62mpx Full Frame OSC

Imaging Scope: SharpStar 15028HNT Hyperboloid Astrograph

Guide Camera: StarlightXpress Lodestar X2

Guide Scope: 365Astronomy 280mm Guide Scope

Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro

Focuser: Primalucelab Sesto Senso V2

Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme 2"

Power and USB Control: Pegasus Astro USB Ultimate Hub Pro

Acquisition Software: Main Sequence Software. Sequence Generator Pro 3.2

Calibration and Stacking: Astro Pixel Processor

Processing Software: PixInsight 1.8.8 and EZ Processing Suite for Star Reduction

The Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405, at the top), a star-forming nebula, along with two rich open star clusters in the Messier Catalog: M36 (bottom) and M38 (left). A composite of 30 5 minute exposures, ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera, Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 lens, 200mm, f/4, dual narrow-band filter (Hα+[O III]), iOptron CEM25P mount, ZAO ASIAir controller, ZWO ASI120MM Mini guide camera and Astro-Tech 60mm f/4 guide scope.

Date: 2022-11-25

Location: Kamiwari-saki

Optics: Mamiya Apo-sekor 250mm F4.5, EOS6D (Twin)

Exposure: 240s x 99f + 10s x 10f, ISO1250 (left)

240s x 46f + 10s x 10f, ISO1250 (right), 2 panel mosaic

Processing: Pixinsight, AstroPixelProcessor, Photoshop

The Rosette Nebula, a star-forming nebuls, consisting of several catalogued objects: NGC 2237, 2238, 2239, 2244, and 2246. A composite of 30 4 minute exposures, ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera, Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 lens, 200mm, f/4, dual narrow-band filter (Hα+[O III]), iOptron CEM25P mount, ZAO ASIAir controller, ZWO ASI120MM Mini guide camera and Astro-Tech 60mm f/4 guide scope.

I am very happy to present the second image in which these interstellar shells can be seen at all, and at the same time, it is the first photo to show the shells so clearly thanks to the long exposure time.

Thanks to several clear nights in the fall, I was able to collect nearly 39.5 hours of narrowband data with the RASA at f/2, along with an additional hour of RGB for the stars. The processing was certainly challenging, but I managed to bring out many details in the OIII structures and the surrounding H-alpha clouds.

A few details about the objects in the image:

The bluish filaments in the center are listed in Simbad as “interstellar shells” with the designation GSH 122+02-77. These are not direct supernova remnants but rather part of the interstellar medium (ISM)—low-density material (mostly gas) that exists between stars. Stellar winds and nearby supernovae can interact with this material, forming irregular shells. The neighboring Wolf-Rayet star HD 4004 (WR1) could possibly be responsible, although there are no definitive research results on this yet.

In the upper left, you can see Sh2-181 with a pronounced OIII shell, while Sh2-175, a small emission nebula, is located on the right.

Celestron RASA 8 400mm f/2

Celestron Motorfocus

EQ6-R Pro

Camera 1 (OSC): ZWO ASI 2600 MC Pro (Gain 100, Offset 18, -10°)

RGB (Stars): 65 × 60″ (1h 5′)

Camera 2 (Mono): TS 2600 MP (Gain 100, Offset 200, -10°)

Baader H-alpha Highspeed Ultra-Narrowband 3.5nm Filter): 700 × 120″ (23h 20‘)

Baader OIII Highspeed Ultra-Narrowband 4nm Filter): 483 × 120″ (16h 6‘)

Total: 40h 31‘

Bortle 5 (19.50 SQM)

N.I.N.A., Guiding: ASI 120MM & PHD2

Astropixelprocessor, Photoshop, Pixinsight

I managed to catch a nova last night! That's an unusual astronomical event in which a star brightens tremendously in a short time. This one, known as Nova Cas 2021 was discovered in the constellation Cassiopeia just a few days ago and is now bright enough to see in binoculars and photograph with modest equipment. It also shares the view with some other interesting objects: an open cluster of stars, Messier 52 (M52) and a nice star-forming nebula, NGC 7635, known as the Bubble Nebula for the interstellar cavity being blown by a bright, young star.

By studying spectra (the distribution of the light across colors/wavelengths) and the light curve (the change in brightness over time), astrophysicists have determined that Nova Cas is a "classical nova" in which one of the stars in a close binary system transfers some of its mass to its white dwarf star companion, which eventually results in a tremendous nuclear explosion that we can see across the galaxy. Here's an article from Astronomy Now with more information: astronomynow.com/.../new-nova-in-cassiopeia.../.

Tech: ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 lens @500mm, 15x60sec. exposures, processed in Astro Pixel Processor and Lightroom.

#astrophotography #novacas2021

The Cave Nebula (Sh2-155) is a Hydrogen cloud (in the center) with a brighter rim and a star forming region in the large molecular cloud known as Cepheus B. The stars of the Cepheus OB3 association are less than 100,000 years old. Low mass star formation is occurring at a high rate within the dust clouds of Sh2-155.

The blue reflection nebula (lower left) is VDB-155.

Just south (in this image to the left) of the Cave nebula we can see some strange orange Nebulosity, the home of some Herbig Haro Objects. HH168, HH169 and HH174 are locations, where a star is born, still surrounded by dust and nebulosity, already shaped into a rotating disk. This material blocks the light of the new-born stars and the pressure can be released only at the disk poles and Jets of material are escaping from their northern and southern poles.

RGB: 72,71,70 x 600 sec bin 1x1: 22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30 July 2017

Ha: 63x 600 sec bin 1x1: 31 Jul, 2,3,4 aug 2017

Total integration time: 46 hrs.

QHY16200 CCD camera/ Esprit 100 f5.5/ 10 Micron GM2000 HPS

Knight Observatory, Tomar

Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P f/3.5

QHYCCD Minicam8

Hubble Palette

15 x 120sec. subs each filter (1.5hrs. total)

Processed with Astro Pixel Processor, NoiseXTerminator and Affinity Photo

IC 1396, a complex, dynamic region of star formation in the constellation Cepheus also called the Elephant Trunk Nebula for the prominent column left of center. That's a region of denser material being eroded and energized by nearby hot stars. The image was made in the light of hydrogen, from suburban Bloomington, Indiana.

90 total exposures, 6 min. each (total 9 hours) in six overlapping tiles. Explore Scientific ED102 102mm f/7 refractor, 0.8x reducer/flattener, ZWO ASI2600MM Pro monochrome CMOS camera, 7nm H-alpha filter, iOptron CEM25P mount, ASIAir controller, auto-guided. Processed in Astro Pixel Processor and Lightroom.

#Astrophotography #DeepSky

The Veil nebula consists of different parts, each with their own designation. The best known ones are NGC6960, or the Eastern Veil Nebula, and NGC6992/NGC6995, or the Western Veil Nebula.

"The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus.It constitutes the visible portions of the Cygnus Loop, a supernova remnant, many portions of which have acquired their own individual names and catalogue identifiers. The source supernova was a star 20 times more massive than the Sun, and it exploded between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago. The remnants have since expanded to cover an area of the sky roughly 3 degrees in diameter (about 6 times the diameter, and 36 times the area, of the full Moon)."

- Wikipedia

Shooting Location :

* 51° N 3° E

* Bortle class 5 backyard

Object Information

* Type : Supernove Remnant

* Visual Size : Approximately 3°

* Magnitude : 7.0

* Frame Center (J2000.0): RA 20h 51m 07s / DEC +30° 40' 07"

* Approximate distance : 2.400 lightyears

Hardware

* Mount : iOptron CEM25P

* Imaging Scope : Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM

* Focal Length Setting : 128mm

* Aperture Setting : f/2.8

* Imaging Camera : ZWO ASI 183MM

* Filter Wheel : ZWO EFW 7*36mm + Baader Ha 7nm, Baader OIII 8.5nm + Baader SII 8.5nm + Baader LRGB

* Guide Scope : --- No Guiding ---

* Guide Camera : --- No Guiding ---

Exposures

* Gain : 111

* Sensor Temperature : -20°C

* Light Frames :

- Baader Hydrogen-Alpha : 71x 120sec

- Baader Oxygen-III : 67x 120sec

* Dark Frames : 50x

* Total Integration Time : 4h36m

* Capture Dates : 2020-09-14 & 2020-09-21

Capture Software

* ZWO ASIair Pro

Color Mapping :

* Red : Hydrogen-Alpha

* Green : Oxygen-III

* Blue : Oxygen-III

Processing Software

* AstroPixelProcessor

* PixInsight

* Adobe Photoshop

27 * 15 sec exposures only. Unguided

Camera at 0 degrees C.

No darks/flats/bias frames

Imaged from middle of Brisbane city

When I first got into astrophotography, galaxies were what I was most interested in imaging. I quickly realized that to image most galaxies well (except for the few large ones like M31 and M33), I needed a long focal length lens and accompanying highly accurate tracking. My budget didn't allow for that, so I adjusted my aspirations and focused on widefield shots with a simple tracker. Still, I love a good galaxy picture and anticipate stepping up to more sophisticated equipment someday.

I turned my back on Orion last night (it was difficult) and shot north again for the first time in awhile. I didn't have high expectations for what I'd get from imaging Galaxy IC 342 with a 135mm lens. I'm guessing somebody has tried it, but I couldn't find any examples online.

I'm happier than anticipated with this image. Although small, there is a good variety of objects in this extent; in addition to IC 342, it contains 1) the yellow reflection nebula around star BE Camelopardalis in the center, 2) a dark nebula on the left (I think IREC 193), 3) star cluster NGC 1502 in the upper left, and 4) the asterism Kemble's Cascade below NGC 1502 (although it's difficult to distinguish among the surrounding smaller stars).

Here's a thorough report about the reflection nebula around star BE Cam that clued me into its existence: www.sternwarte-baerenstein.de/upload/be-cam_reflection_ne.... Also an excellent APOD of IC 342: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170708.html

I'm looking forward to doing some more widefield galaxy shots this spring.

Acquisition details: Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 56 x 60 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing with Astro Pixel Processor and GIMP, taken on Feb. 19, 2020 under Bortle 3/4 skies. I've cropped it but not extensively.

Probably my last view of comet C/2021A1 (Leonard). Schlepped out to Goose Pond Fish & Wildlife area in Greene County, Ind., a dark site with low horizons on a cold but crystal evening. The comet was very low by the time it got dark enough to emerge from the twilight so it appears redder than when higher in the sky. But I got enough exposures, to show some detail in the tail and coma. This is a composite, processed twice: registered on the comet and separately registered on the stars, combined in Photoshop.

30 15 sec. exposures, Explore Scientific 102mm f/7 refractor, ZWO ASI294MC camera, UV/IR cut filter, iOptron CEM25P mount, ASIAir Pro controller, processed in Astro Pixel Processor, Lightroom and Photoshop.

#cometleonard, #astrophotography

Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 33 x 60 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing with Astro Pixel Processor and GIMP, taken Nov 1 under Bortle 3/4 skies.

I love imaging Orion. My goal with this shot was to include the Flame and Horsehead Nebulae, Barnard's Loop, Messier 78, and Lynds' Dark Nebula (LDN) 1622, the Boogeyman Nebula (upper left). It seemed like a good target for Halloween night.

40x300" lights

Looking back, I see I took a 2 year break from posting photos. When I returned, I decided I wanted to review my favorite astrophotography tools & techniques - so I could make sure to produce some really high quality images. After all, in a few years, things do change.

I'm not one to keep secrets so here's what I found:

1. Telescope Cameras - I won't waste time with telescope cameras that have less than 16 megapixels of resolution.

2. Exposure Blending - The (fits) images produced by telescope cameras are not linear so I export multiple images that are stretched to varying degrees of brightness and then I blend them in photoshop. This may be my most important technique because it avoids a lot of the over-exposing that I often see in astro-pics.

3. Noise - I like On1 Photo Raw Max 2026 (using the NoNoise tool as a Photoshop plugin).

4. Resizing - This is another important step and I like On1 Photo Raw Max 2026 (using the Resize tool).

With these techniques (and more experience processing with Astro Pixel Processor), I'm finding that want to go back and revisit some locations (like this one from 2021). As one of the closest and richest star-forming areas near Earth, the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex is especially colorful. With a combination of blue reflection nebula, red glow from the giant star Antares, dark lanes of cold molecular dust, golden glow from dense star fields of the milky way, and M4 (the globular cluster), it's a "target rich environment" that's one of my favorites places to shoot.

Calibrated images came from iTelescope's T71 telescope in their Deep Sky Chile observatory in Rio Hurtado Valley, Chile. I processed the final result with Astro Pixel Processor, Photoshop and On1 Photo Raw 2026.

Exposure Settings

• 122 images with a 3 minute exposure time

• Red: 30

• Green: 30

• Blue: 30

• Luminance: 32

• Total Exposure Time: 6.1 hours

The Pacman Nebula (NGC 281) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia in the northern sky, 9,500 light-years from Earth. (Wikipedia)

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Mount: SkyWatcher HEQ5 Pro

Guiding: ZWO ASI 120MM Mini USB 2.0 Mono Camera - Orion 50mm Guide Scope

Filter: Astronomik CLS CCD EOS APS-C Clip-Filter

Camera: Canon EOS 70D (full spectrum modified)

Askar 80 PHQ F7.5 Quadruplet Astrograph Telescope

Focal length: 600mm

Astronomik CLS CCD Clip Filter

15 x 360 seconds frames - ISO 800 - f7.5

1 1/2hr total Integration

Darks: 20 frames

Flats: 20 frames

Bios: 20 frames

DarkFlats: 20 frames

Bortle 5/6

Apps: N.I.N.A. > PHD2 > ASCOM

Processing: AstroPixelProcessor > PixInsight > Photoshop >Topaz > Photoshop

Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P f/3.5

Player One Uranus-C OSC (Offset:20 / Gain:211 [HCG] )

UV/IR filter

240 x 15sec. subs (60 mins.)

Processed in Astro Pixel Processor and Affinity Photo.

I was excited to capture 30 minutes of imagery of my first comet, C/2017 T2 PANSTARRS, on Thursday, January 30, before clouds moved in.

Since I wasn't sure I'd get anything because of clouds, I didn't bother to drive to my Bortle 3/4 dark site, but instead shot from my Bortle 5 backyard, 60 x 30 seconds. I combined this imagery with some better imagery of the Heart and Soul Nebulae from this past fall (47 x 60 seconds under Bortle 3/4 skies), to create this small mosaic (the Heart and Soul Nebulae turned out a bit ugly from my Bortle 5 backyard). I was impressed with how well Astro Pixel Processor combined the imagery of such differing quality.

Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 60 x 30 sec for left half, 47 x 60 for the right half, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing and mosaicking with Astro Pixel Processor and GIMP, double cluster and comet imaged on Jan. 30, 2020 from my Bortle 5 backyard.