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Reprocess of data from a few months back.
Object Information - Cigar Galaxy (Left)
* Designation : M82, NGC 3034
* Type : Starburst Galaxy
* Magnitude : 8.4
* Location (J2000.0): RA 09h 55m 52s / DEC +69° 40' 47"
* Approximate distance : 11.4 - 12.4 million lightyears
Object Information - Bode's Galaxy (Right)
* Designation : M81, NGC3031
* Type : Spiral Galaxy
* Magnitude : 6.9
* Location (J2000.0): RA 09h 55m 33s / DEC +69° 03' 55"
* Approximate distance : 11.8 million lightyears
Hardware
* Mount : Celestron CGX
* Imaging Scope : SkyWatcher Explorer 150PDS
* Imaging Camera : Canon EOS 80D (unmodified)
* Guide Scope : 50mm f/4
* Guide Camera : ZWO ASI 120MM
Exposures
* Single Exposure Length : 120sec
* ISO : 1600
* Light Frames : 60x
* Flat Frames : None
* Dark Frames : 20x
* Bias Frames : 25x
* Total Integration Time : 2h00m
* Capture Dates : 2018-02-14
Capture Software
* Astro Photography Tool
* PHD2 Guiding
Processing Software
* Astro Pixel Processor 1.061
* Adobe Photoshop CC
* Astronomy Tools Action Set
10*180s subs = 30 minutes total integration time. Using the Avalon m-zero mount with near perfect guiding, amazing considering I guestimated polar alignment. Imaging telescope was the William Optics GT71 with FF 6A2 that I have finally got working with correct back focus. Still some walking noise from the bad PA,
Camera was the ASI1600mm at 0 degrees. Calibrated lights only in APP.
Again balcony astro, Brisbane city, Bortle 8 and a full moon.
IC5146 (The Cocoon Nebula) and the dark "Tail" Barnard 168 in the Constellation Cygnus imaged with an Esprit 100 refractor and QHY16200 CCD. 21 x 600 seconds Red, 21 x 600 seconds Green and 21x 600 seconds Blue.
Imaged on 2,3,13,14,15,16,17,21 and 22 July 2017. Processed with APP and Pixinsight.
Knight Observatory, Tomar
COBS (Comet OBSveration database) contributions indicates that C/2021 Leonard had a significant outburst just prior to its recovery in the evening sky on December 15/16 2021. The comet flared to mag 3.5 and then quickly subsided to mag 5 by December 18. These three images were captured with a Vixen VSD 100 mm telescope and a Nikon Z7II camera mounted on a Vixen SXP. About 2.5 minutes of images were acquired with subs and stacked with AstroPixelProcessor and finished with Photoshop. With clouds and haze in Tucson and Comet Leonard gaining altitude each day the differences shown are not normalized and are a qualitative product of the captures.
This complex of reflection nebulae lies some 6,000 light-years away, in the constellation Cygnus.Obscuring interstellar dust clouds appear in silhouette against reddish hydrogen emission nebulae, along with the dusty blue reflection nebulae. Ultraviolet radiation from the massive, hot, young stars of the extensive Cygnus OB2 association ionize the region's atomic hydrogen gas, producing the characteristic red glow as protons and electrons recombine. Embedded Cygnus OB2 stars also provide the blue starlight strongly reflected by the dust clouds.
Telescope: Esprit 100 APO refractor.
Camera: QHY16200 CCD @-10 (RGB) and -20C (Ha).
28x 300sec Red filter
24x 300sec Green filter
28x 300sec Blue filter
23x 900sec H-alpha filter (6nm)
(12.4 hrs total integration time)
Ha Imaged on 20/5, 8/6, 27/7,28/7,30/7 2017.
RGB Imaged on 4/4, 5/4, 28/7, 29/7 2019.
Processed with AstroPixelProcessor and Pixinsight.
Knight Observatory, Tomar
Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 41 x 60 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing with Astro Pixel Processor and GIMP, taken Jan 10, 2019.
This is a reprocess of data from earlier in the year - this time I used the 'remove light pollution' and 'HSL selective color' tools of Astro Pixel Processor after integrating light frames in DSS and before editing in GIMP. Also, my flats were introducing artifacts so I didn't use them, but instead corrected vignetting with the 'remove light pollution' tool.
I'm much happier with this version - the color and definition of the nebula are much better, and seem to be accurate in comparison with other images.
William Optics GT71 with ASI 294 MCPro
30 * 60 sec subs
Gain = 300
Temp = -10 Deg C.
Mounted on the Sky Watcher Star Adventurer and calibrated using AstroPixel Processor. Lights only.
Taken at Dayborough, Queensland, Bortle 4
32 * 88 secs at ISO 1600, f6.1 - unguided tracking.
Although there is a degree of trailing on the stars, it's a pleasing result given that the lens is at 200mm, so a 400mm FF equivalent. (OLYMPUS M.75-300mm F4.8-6.7 II)
Used the Skywatcher Star Adventurer for tracking & Pole Master for polar alignment. Astro Pixel Processor for all the image calibration, only jpg as still learning software (lights and darks only) then export to Photoshop.
The 48 panel version does not show the Veil nebula so i decided to extend to 8x8 panels. This 16 panel (2x8) strip shows 2 main "attractions". This version is made with single 15 minute exposures using a 6nm Ha filter. (QHY16200/ Esprit 100 on GM2000 unguided) Software: Sequence generator pro/ Astro Pixel Processor.
Image reduced to 25%.
Knight Observatory, Tomar
43x 600 sec( 7.2 hrs). through 6nm Ha filter and Esprit 100 refractor/ QHY16200 CCD camera @ -20C. On 17,18,19 and 20 November 2017.
Knight Observatory, Tomar
Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 60 x 60 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing with Astro Pixel Processor and GIMP, taken October 26 under Bortle 3/4 skies.
The faint haze on the right edge is integrated flux nebulae (IFN).
Nov. 2020 update: Tweaked color.
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
This wonderful dark nebula in Cepheus (Barnard 150 / LDN 1082) is commonly referred to as the "Seahorse Nebula", but in the orientation of my image, the structure reminds me much more of a mermaid, drifting through the cosmos with her long hair.
Its counterpart is played by an H-Alpha cloud, which already belongs to the adjacent "Flying Bat Nebula" (Sh2-129). To bring out this faint area, I captured 7 hours of Ha and then combined it with 10 hours and 24 minutes of RGB. I 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: 326 × 60″ (5h 26′)
TS 2600 MP (Gain 100, Offset 200, -10°)
RGB: 51 × 60″ (5h 51′), 131 × 120″ (4h 22′), 70 × 10″ (11' 40'′)
Baader H-Alpha Highspeed 3.5nm: 210 × 120″ (7h)
Total: 17H 24′ 40″
Bortle 5 (19.50 SQM)
N.I.N.A., Guiding with ZWO ASI 120MM and PHD2
Astropixelprocessor, Photoshop, Pixinsight
Dati: 29 x 300 sec a gain 5 e offset 25 a -10° c + 70 dark + 25 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
The Rosette Nebula (NGC 2244).
> The Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49) is an H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. The open cluster NGC 2244 (Caldwell 50) is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter. — Wikipedia
Stack of 20 exposures 3 minutes long at ISO 1600. Stacked in AstroPixelProcessor, and edited in Photoshop. I think this is a little grainy due to the higher ISO and using LENR instead of darks.
I used a SkyWatcher Esprit 100 telescope on a HEQ 5 Pro tracking mount, and the Nikon z 50.
Polaris & ses nébuleuses sombres
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Aujourd’hui, je vous fais découvrir les nébuleuses sombres qui accompagnent l’étoile polaire.
Cette étoile sert depuis des millénaires comme point de repère entre autre pour la navigation. Elle nous sert aussi à nous aligner pour nos montures équatoriales puisque toutes les constellations tournent autour de Polaris.
Que viennent faire les nébuleuses sombres dans cette histoire ?
Elles sont présentes autour de notre étoile polaire. En anglais, elles sont appelées IFN pour « Integrated Flux Nebula ». Elles sont principalement composée d’hydrogène moléculaire et d’hélium.
Cependant, ce n’est pas aisé de pouvoir les photographier. D’une part, comme leur nom l’indique, elles sont obscures.
Ce sont des nuages denses qui absorbent la lumière des étoiles en arrière plan.
D’autre part, au moment de la prise de vue, elles sont invisibles. Très pratique me direz vous… Même constat au moment de l’empilement, il n’y a que le traitement qui permettent de les mettre en valeur.
A titre d’exemple la tête de cheval (IC434) dans la constellation d’Orion fait partie des nébuleuses sombres les plus connues.
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Photographier sur deux nuits pour obtenir,
300 lights d’une minute soit 5h de temps d’intégration
Offset + Flats, No Dark.
Bortle 4
Traitement AstroPixelProcessor, Photoshop.
Starforming Nebula IC 410 in the constellation Auriga in the light of sulfur (red), hydrogen (green), and oxygen (blue). 19 hours total exposure, Explore Scientific ED102 102mm f/7 refractor, ZWO ASI294MC camera, dual narrow-band filter (Hα,[O III]), [S II] filter, iOptron CEM25P mount, Processed in Astro Pixel Processor and Lightroom.
Date: Nov. 1, 29 / Nov.29, 2019 /Dec. 27, 2019
Location: Amagi Highland, Shizuoka Pref., Japan / Asagiri Arena, Shizuoka Pref., Japan
Optics: SIGMA 135mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art (f/2.2)
Mount: SWAT-310 V-spec(single axis autoguiding)
Autoguider: QHY5L-II, LM75JC, PHD2
Camera: Canon EOS 6D (SEO-SP4)
ISO speed: 1600
Exposure: 30x180sec.x9panels
Processing: PixInsight, Astro Pixel Processor
Date: 22:55~25:30JST Nov. 26, 2022
Location: Asagiri Arena, Shizuoka Pref., Japan
Cloud Coverage: < 5%
Temperature: 5.9C ~ 9.3C
Humidity: 69% ~ 84%
Wind: 2 ~ 8kt
Lens: SIGMA 135mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art (f/2.2)
Mount: RainbowAstro RST-135
Autoguider: QHY5L-II, LM75JC, PHD2
Camera: Canon EOS 6D (mod/SEO-SP4)
ISO speed: 1600
Exposure: 45x90sec.x3panels
Processing: PixInsight, AstroPixelProcessor
Imaging the Western Veil Nebula in Cygnus in HA and 03 resulting in an HOO image.
200 minutes of O3
100 mins of HA.
4hrs imaging time all up
ASIi83MM at 0 degrees, gain 111
m-zero mount with rough PA
VdB 14 & 15 (left in the picture) are two very beautiful reflection nebulae, which also contain a few reddish emission components and belong to an even larger dust cloud in the inconspicuous constellation Camelopardalis. VdB 15 is the larger, lower area of the nebula and surrounds the star CE Cam, a variable supergiant. VdB 14, the upper part of the nebula, is located near the star CS Cam, which is also a supergiant. The distance to earth is around 3,000 lightyears.
The open star cluster Stock 23 can be found on the right in the picture and is also a nice object for visual observation. Its distance is estimated at 1,240 lightyears and it is surrounded by several spectacular dark clouds. It is embedded in the large but faint emission nebula SH2-202, which extends over the entire right half of the picture.
Equipment:
Celestron RASA 8 f/2
Celestron Motorfocuser
EQ6-R Pro
ZWO ASI 2600 MC Pro (Gain 100, Offset 18, -10°)
RGB (no filter): 300 × 30″ (2h 30′)
RGB (IDAS LPS-D3 Filter): 260 × 120″ (8h 40′)
TS 2600 MP Mono (Gain 100, Offset 50, -10°)
Ha: (Baader H-alpha Highspeed Ultra-Narrowband 3.5nm Filter): 130 x 60 (2h 10')
Total: 13h 20'
Flats, Darkflats, Dithering
N.I.N.A., Guiding with ZWO ASI 120MM and PHD2
Astropixelprocessor, Photoshop, Pixinsight
Date: November 23, December 8 & 15, 2022
Location: Hannover, Germany (Bortle 5-6)
Crescent Venus in daylight.
30 1/1000sec. 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.
More information on how this photo was made:
I played a bit with the Bodes and Cigar Galaxy again and cropped it a bit more too.
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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
20 x 360 seconds frames - ISO 800 - f7.5
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
Bortle 4.6 Location
Alt-az
10 second subs
347 subs
Stacked in AstroPixelProcessor, processed in PixInsight
imaged in July 2024 from Linden, Blue Mountains, Australia
A region of active star formation in the constellation Cygnus glowing in the light of hydrogen gas. On the left is NGC 7000, also known as the North America Nebula, and on the right is IC 5070, a.k.a. the Pelican Nebula.
This is a mosaic of seven tiles, taken with two different astro cameras on three nights in July and August. Explore Scientific 0.1m f/7 telescope, ZWO ASI 294MC (one-shot color) and ASI 2600MM (monochrome) cameras, UV/IR cut fillter, iOptron CEM25P mount, ASIAir controller, auto-guided. Processed in Astro Pixel Processor and Lightroom.
#astrophotography #deepsky region of active star formation in the constellation Cygnus glowing in the light of hydrogen gas. On the left is NGC 7000, also known as the North America Nebula, and on the right is IC 5070, a.k.a. the Pelican Nebula.
This is a mosaic of seven tiles, taken with two different astro cameras on three nights in July and August. Explore Scientific 0.1m f/7 telescope, ZWO ASI 294MC (one-shot color) and ASI 2600MM (monochrome) cameras, UV/IR cut fillter, iOptron CEM25P mount, ASIAir controller, auto-guided. Processed in Astro Pixel Processor and Lightroom.
#astrophotography #deepsky
Messier 45, also known as the Seven Sisters or the Pleiades is an Open Cluster located in Taurus. It can easyly be seen in a starry autumn or winter night as a constellation of approx. five stars even with the naked eye.
Object: M 45 (Pleiades)
Optics: William Megrez 72ED F6 + Long Perng 0,6x Reducer
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R
Camera: ZWO ASI 183MM Pro @-20°C, Gain=53, Offset=10
Filter: ZWO EFW 7x36mm, ZWO 36mm Filters
Exposure: total ~7h, R 87x60sec, G 90x60sec, B 106x60sec, L 65x120sec, L (mixed from RGB), 200 Bias, 40 Darks, 60 Flats per channel
Date: 2018-11-16, 2018-11-17
Location: Schwaig
Capture: Sequence Generator Pro
Guiding: APM50 Image Master, ASI120MM, PHD2
Image Acquisition: Stephan Schurig
Image Processing: Stephan Schurig
AstroPixelProcessor 1.070: Calibration, Registration, Normalization, Integration, Channel Combination, Background Flattening & Calibration, Star Colors Correction, Auto Digital Development
Photoshop 20.0.1: Levels, Curves, Exposure (Offset, Exposure), Masked Nik Dfine 2 Denoise, Masked Dynamic (Dynamic, Saturation), Star Shrink, Masked Unsharp Masking, Masked HighPass Sharpening, Camera Raw Lens Correction (Distorsion, Chromatic Abberation), Cosmetic Background Repair
M101 is about 25 million lightyears away from us. Its spiral arms show several "knots" that are regions of star forming.
101 x 180s @ ISO 800
Pentax K3ii and TS 130/910 APO.
This is the version stacked with AstroPixelProcessor.
Comet Leonard increased in brightness by more than 2 magnitudes and within a day faded and then faded further in the next day.
COBS (Comet OBSveration database) contributions indicates that C/2021 Leonard had a significant outburst just prior to its recovery in the evening sky on December 15/16 2021. The comet flared to mag 3.5 and then quickly subsided to mag 5 by December 18. These three images were captured with a Vixen VSD 100 mm telescope and a Nikon Z7II camera mounted on a Vixen SXP. About 2.5 minutes of images were acquired with subs and stacked with AstroPixelProcessor and finished with Photoshop. With clouds and haze in Tucson and Comet Leonard gaining altitude each day the differences shown are not normalized and are a qualitative product of the captures. On December 17 there was considerable haze that like reddened the coma shown.
The photos were converted to BW, stretched, and then a inverted to show the coma stretched greatly to show the faint coma. The outburst on Dec 15/16 ejected much coma material. This then appears to be observed as an extended coma trail 24 h later in the middle image on December 17, and without the continuing outburst on December 18th the coma is much smaller and compact in the faded comet.
Date: May.10 / Oct.2, 2021
Location: Amagi Highland, Shizuoka Pref., Japan
Optics: SIGMA 70mm F2.8 DG MACRO | Art (f/3.2)
Mount: RainbowAstro RST-135
Camera: Canon EOS 6D (mod/SEO-SP4)
ISO speed: 1600
Exposure: 15x120sec.x3panel + 12x150sec.x4panels
Processing: PixInsight, AstroPixelProcessor
Comet ATLAS C/2019 Y4, discovered in December 2019, has been quickly increasing in brightness over the last few months, and many of us hope that trend will continue; past projections put it as reaching naked-eye brightness this April or May. However, it's brightness has recently plateaued around magnitude +8. That and an elongated nucleus suggest that it might be disintegrating.
It was likely about magnitude +8 when I photographed it last night, April 9th, near Star 42 Camelopardalis. I'm not sure what the faint nebulosity is to the lower left of the comet: either Dark Nebula HSVMT 25, integrated flux nebula (IFN), or it's simply an artifact. Galaxy NGC 2366 is also apparent in the upper right corner.
Acquisition details: Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 50 x 30 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker (used comet stacking mode so stars and comet were stacked separately and then combined), editing with Astro Pixel Processor and GIMP, taken in the 30 minute-window between astronomic dusk and the rise of the 93% illuminated moon on April 9, 2020 under Bortle 3/4 skies.
Date: 21:10-28:15JST Oct.4, 2019
Location: Asagiri Highland, Shizuoka Pref., Japan
Cloud Coverage: 0 ~ 30%
Wind: 5 ~ 26 kt
Temperature: 13.9C ~ 17.8C
Humidity: 71 ~ 93%
Air pressure: 914hPa
Lens: SIGMA 135mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art (f/2.2)
Mount: SWAT-310 (single axis autoguiding)
Autoguider: QHY5L-II, LM75JC, PHD2
Camera: Canon EOS 6D (SEO-SP4)
ISO speed: 1600
Exposure: 15x180sec.x5panels
Processing: PixInsight, Astro Pixel Processor
This emission nebula is found in the constellation of Vulpecula, the Little Fox.
34*180 sec subs at ambient temperature. 102 mins total, then high altitude clouds rolled in.
Captured using Nebulosity and could not get the program to cool the camera :(
The telescope was the William Optic GT71 with the ASI183MM camera and Antlia 3.5nm filters.
Calibrated using lights, darks, flats and dark flats In APP.
Again, this was using the Avalon m-zero mount with only a rough PA.
This is a four panel mosiac of the Region surrounding the bright star Dschubba.
One and a half hours per panel in rgb (club dark site) and one hour per panel in H alpha (Bortle 6)
10 hours of integration in total.
Stacked individual panels -RGB and Ha -separately in AstroPixel Processor; 4 panel RGB and Ha mosaics created -LNC first degree, MBB 20% in APP
Stacked mosaics processed in Pixinsight
Dynamic crop
ADBE
BlurX (correct only)
Image solve
SPCC (RGB only)
BlurX
Starnet++
NoiseX
Nebula
Generalised Hyperbolic Stretch
Curves
SetiAstro star stretch
PixelMath to add stars back to starless image
Mosaics registered in Pixinsight
Stars removed from registered Ha mosaic with Starnet++. This still left a few very bright stars.
Converted to tiff and remaining stars removed using content aware fill in Photoshop CS6
(this did a better job than clone stamp in PixInsight)
Saved in PI as XISF File.
Combined RGB and Ha using the excellent Combine Ha and RGB process in PixInsight
Equipment
Samyang 135mm/ZWOASI 533 Mc and MM/Optolong UV/IR Filter/Antlia 3nm H alpha filter/ASIAIR/AM3
Software
ASIAIR App
AstroPixelProcessor
PixInsight with RC plugins (NoiseX, Blur X) and Starnet++
Photoshop CS6
Very weak and identified in 1954 on photographic Plates as a Milkyway satellite.
Esprit 100 f5.5 APO/Qhy16200 CCD @-20C.
98x300 sec IDAS-LP2 filter.
Imaged on: 13,14,15&16 May, 2018.
Knight Observatory, Tomar
IC 5070, the Pelican Nebula in the constellation Cygnus in the light of hydrogen. 72 frames, 300 sec. each (6 hr. total). Explore Scientific ED102 0.1m f/7 refractor, Stellarvue 0.8x reducer/flattener, ZWO ASI294MC Pro cooled camera, 7nm H-alpha filter, iOptron CEM25P mount, auto-guided, ASIAir controller. Processed in Astro Pixel Processor, Lightroom, and Photoshop.
#astrophotography, #deepsky
D5300 - unmodded
300mm f/2.8 AF-S
SW HEQ5
Captured with APT, Processed in APP, Gimp
10 - Lights, 90sec, ISO400, f/4
10 - Darks
10 - Flats
10 - Bias
This is the wonderful globular cluster M 3 in Canes Venatici. It‘s one of the largest and brightest, and is made up of around 500,000 stars. It is estimated to be 11.4 billion years old and 32,600 light-years away from Earth. I had already photographed this cluster for about 3 hours last year and was able to add another 2.5 hours this time, which made the faint stars in the outer regions of the cluster more visible. Well, M 13 in Hercules is even more spectacular, but I think M 3 is worth to take a closer look at it. Hope you like it!
Equipment used:
Skywatcher 200/1000 @ 950mm f/5
EQ6-R Pro
ZWO ASI 2600 MC Pro (Gain 100, Offset 18, -10°)
RGB (no filter): 658 x 30" (5h 29‘)
N.I.N.A., Guiding: ZWO ASI 120 MM & PHD2
Bortle 5
Astropixelprocessor, Photoshop, Pixinsight
This is an extremely difficult target for me as I live around 16 miles south of the UK's second largest airport London Gatwick, so battling light pollution from Gatwick and trying to bring out the faint dust is a huge challenge, but I like a challenge and I am extremely happy with the final result
RA: 21h07m03.75s
Dec: 67°15'14.40"
Constellation: Cepheus
Designation: NGC7023
Image Details: 201x150S at Gain 100
Darks: 101 Frames
Flats: 101 Frames
Bias: 101 Frames
Acquisition Dates: Oct. 23, 2020 , Nov. 15, 2020 , Nov. 18, 2020 , Nov. 19, 2020 , Dec. 12, 2020
Total Capture time: 8.4 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-Pro 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 'W' of Cassiopeia has always been one of my favorite constellations - maybe because I could always spot it as a kid.
This extent contains the middle three stars of the 'W' - Ruchbah (blue, bottom), Navi (blue, upper left), and Shedar (yellow, upper right). The center star of the 'W', Navi, illuminates the Gamma Cassiopeiae Nebulae (IC 59 and IC 63) a combination of red emission and blue reflection nebulae. The red/pink emission nebula below Shedar is the Pacman Nebula (IC 11 or NGC 281). And to the right of Ruchbah is the Owl or E.T. Cluster (NGC 457); the owl or E.T. is upside down here.
Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 35 x 60 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing with Astro Pixel Processor and GIMP, taken on Oct. 23, 2019 under Bortle 3/4 skies and thin cloud cover.
Thin cloud cover was present most of the time that I imaged and acted as a diffusion filter for the larger stars. I kind of like this effect that emphasizes big stars, especially for this extent where the nebulae are fairly small for a focal length of 135mm, although I'd always prefer clear skies to a natural diffusion filter. Even though my tracking was spot-on (good balance, polar alignment, and a charged SkyTracker), I wasn't able to use about half of my subs because of clouds.
M90 Galaxy found in the constellation of Virgo.
M: Pegasus NYX-101
T: WO GTF81 Refractor
C: ZWO ASI533MM-Cooled
G: OAG and PHD2
GC: ZWO ASI120MC
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -10 DegC
R: Gain 100; Exp: 10 x 300s
G: Gain 100; Exp: 6 x 300s
L: Gain 100; Exp: 10 x 300s
Frames: 26 Lights; Darks/DarkFlats/Flats
Total Exposure: ~2.17 hours
50% Crop
Capture: NINA
Processed: APP LRG[No 'B']; PS.
Sky: 90% moon, no breeze, no cloud.
This color image was made with the Mono CCD camera and R, G and B filters. Because the Comet is moving fast all the 103 images made with the three different filters had been shifted and had to be re-aligned before stacking. A second stack was made to only show the stars. The 2 stacks have been combined and processed further.
AstroPixelProcessor: Calibration of the sub frames with Bias frames, Dark frames, flat frames and the Bad Pixel Map.
Pixinsight: StarAlignment, CometAlignment, Separate ImageIntegration for R, G, B for stars and comet. BackgroundCorrection, Histogramtransformation (Black point clipping for starcombined image), Pixelmath combination for starimage and Comet image, ,Platesolver script, Arcsinh Stretch, histogram stretch, curves adjustments, Image annotation script, annotations,
Knight Observatory, Tomar, Portugal