View allAll Photos Tagged astropixelprocessor
Dati: 26 x 4 min. 800 Iso + 15 Dark + 25 flat e darkflat software: AstroPixelProcessor e Photoshop CS2 Strumenti: ottica Takahashi FSQ106 f/5 su Skywatcher EQ6 pro - Canon 40D CentralDS. 10/08/2020 - Castelletta (AN), Temp. esterna: 18° C temperatura al sensore 0,00°C - Umidità 75%
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.
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
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
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.
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
An image in Ha RGB
Located between Hadar and Rigel Kentaurus, this nebula has recently become quite a favourite for astroimagers
Location : Bortle 6
Equipment
Sharpstar z4/Antlia 3 nm Ha filter/ Antlia Triband RGB filter/ZWO 533 Mm pro -for H-alpha /6/533 MC pro for RGB colour/ASIAIR/HEQ5/ASIAIR
Data
4 hours in RGB (5 minute subs)
8 hours in Ha (10 minute subs)
20 minutes in RGB ( 60 second subs) -for stars
Processing
stacked in AstroPixelProcessor, processed in PixInsight
Processing Notes
Ha and RGB separately
Stack
register Ha, RGB long and RGB short stacks
Dynamic Crop
GraXpert
Blur X -correction
Image Solver
SPCC
Starnet++
Nebula
BlurX
NoiseX
GHS
NoiseX
Dark Structure Enhance ( for Ha only)
Curves Transformation
Stars
SetiAstro star stretch script
HaRGB image constructed using Foraxx utility in PI :
Synthetic OIII constructed as follows:
RGB image split into r,g and b
OIII=( 0,55*G +0.55*B)- 0.1*R
on the assumption that some red leaks into Blue and Green, 10 % is just a guess
Starless image in Foraxx constructed using Paulyman's script in PI
Curves Transformation after applying a luminance mask
Stars and starless combined with Pixelmath
Minor tweaking including a final crop - in Photoshop CS6
See also Starless version in Ha
This Rosette Nebula image is a stack of 19x15 minute H-Alpha images taken with Esprit 100 Refractor and QHY16200 CCD camera. The stack is part of a work in progress for a HaRGB image.
Image dates 10,11,12 and 13 November 2017.
Knight Observatory, Tomar
Galaxy IC342 can be found in a dusty region, 10 degrees from the Galactic Equator but that dust is not very bright. Almost all IC342 images show just the Galaxy, not the dust in the surrounding region. It was not my intention to image that dust, but when i made a luminance stack with all the 271 (300 second) subs i had, there it was....
The inverted image is annotated and i added surface brightness data for a couple of faint Galaxies. KK35 or PGC166077 with a surface brightness of 26.85 mag/arcsec² was thought to be a Dwarf Galaxy but it most likely is an outher region of IC342.
Esprit 100 Refractor/ QHY16200 CCD @-20C.
271x300 sec Luminance (22.6 hrs)
Calibrated/ stacked with AstroPixelProcessor, post-processed with Pixinsight.
Image dates:
15,16,17,18 November 2017, 2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,11,12 January 2019.
IC443, the Jellyfish Nebula on the right is the remnant of a Supernova that occured around 10.000 years ago. A (the?) resulting rapidly spinning Neutron star or pulsar CXOU J061705.3+222127 is found today at the indicated location. The nebula to the left is IC444. This image in H Alpha light was made with an Esprit100 f5.5 refractor/ QHY16200 CCD camera (cooled to -20C). 35 x 15 minutes (8.8 hrs), integrated with Astro Pixel processor and processed further with Pixinsight. Image dates: 6,7,9 and 10 November 2017.
Info about the Pulsar: www.space.com/31442-jellyfish-nebula-mysterious-pulsar-im...
Knight Observatory, Tomar
A pair of dark nebula in the Aquila constellation on a background of Milky Way consisting of countless stars of all magnitudes. This image shows 50438 stars.....
The annotated image (right) shows the deep red Mira variable RT Aql : www.aavso.org/vsx/index.php?view=detail.top&oid=1151
One distant Galaxy (PGC166630) is visible in this star rich field at 250 Million lightyear distance.
Esprit 100 refractor plus QHY16200 CCD camera on 10 Micron GM2000 mount in a Scopedome 2M. Software: Sequence Generator Pro, AstroPixelProcessor, Pixinsight.
Knight Observatory, Tomar.
The Lagoon Nebula is one of the brightest nebulae in the night sky - bright enough for some people to see with the naked eye as a hazy patch in the sky. Around 5,000 light years from earth, this giant interstellar cloud is a nursery for young stars. These baby stars heat up the nebula gas so much that it emits light - light we can see. We may not see much with our naked eye but with a little help and a little patience, we can see a whole lot more.
Calibrated images of the Lagoon Nebula were provided by iTelescope.net. In addition to providing access to their telescopes, iTelescope.net provides subscribing members with a combination of premium image sets (with the rights to use & post them) and webinars that show how to process them. Itelescope.net captured the images using their T71 telescope based in the dark skies of Chile. I handled the post-processing side with Astro Pixel Processor, Photoshop, Star Xterminator, and Topaz Sharpen and DeNoise AI.
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
Sigma set at 70mm
Imaging from my north facing balcony with an Antlia HA filter.
60 * 120 second subs.
The ASI 1600 was at -5 degress and gain 300.
Captured using Nebulosity.
No PA for the Star Adventurer mount.
Real quick processing with AstroPixel Processor, lights only.
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
On April 15th, 2023 minor planet (270) Anahita passed by galaxy NGC 4939. I captured this encounter with a remote telescope in Auberry, California. Unfortunately this was about 16 hours after the close encounter, but the minor planet is still in the field of view. To my suprise I found an other minor planet, which is the still unnamed (35954) 1999 KY15.
The image is a stack of 20 frames of 180 seconds each. The minor planets are only shown in 7 frames each, to better show the movement.
Equipment: Planewave 24" (0,61m) CDK, F=3962mm, f/6.5, FLI-PL09000 CCD camera, Mount: Planewave Ascension 200HR.
Processing with AstroPixelProcessor and Photoshop.
An animation of the movement can be found here: www.jmwill.de/deep-sky-aufnahmen.html#a2584
I played a bit with the Bodes and Cigar Galaxy again and cropped it a bit more too.
_____________________________________________________________________
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
One of the objects I was able to photograph last night with some unusually clear sky after many cloudy nights, despite it being quite near the horizon. This is one of the more colorful regions of the Milky Way, called the Rho Ophiuchi nebula after the bright star within the blue cloud near the top. The brighter red star near the bottom is the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius called Antares, the Heart of the Scorpion. Much of the region is filled with dust, reflecting the light of nearby stars as well as some gas, mostly hydrogen, glowing because it's energized by the nearby hot stars.
Tech: 12 300 sec. exposures, Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 lens @200mm, ZWO ASI294MC camera, iOptron CEM25P mount, processed in Astro Pixel Processor and Adobe Lightroom.
Some astronomy images leave me wondering if I can actually find the object (named in the title) in the picture. Like finding objects in clouds in our daytime skies, objects in astronomy pictures are sometimes easy to find and sometimes not. Admittedly, my first view of images from this scene gave me a similar feeling - I guessed because of the thick field of stars. So in processing, I removed the stars and BAM! There were the dragons and the egg they were fighting over.
Calibrated images of the Fighting Dragons of Ara and the Dragon's Egg Nebula were provided by iTelescope.net. In addition to providing access to their telescopes, iTelescope.net provides subscribing members with a combination of premium image sets (with the rights to use & post them) and webinars that show how to process them. Itelescope.net captured the images using their T71 telescope based in the Rio Hurtado Valley, Chile. This was especially helpful because the Dragons of Ara are visible in the Southern Hemisphere where I live in Colorado. After capturing, I handled the post-processing side with Astro Pixel Processor, Photoshop, Star Xterminator, Topaz Sharpen and DeNoise AI.
First ever HARGB image taken with the ASI183MM and Antlia RGB HA 3.5nm filters.
The RGB sequences were taken in Nebulosity at 15 degrees as I could not get the software to cool the camera. NINA was used to capture the HA and it worked a treat. This is fabulous software and its free.
ASI183MM gain = 111
20 * 60 sec RED
20 * 60 sec GREEN
20 * 60 sec BLUE
12 * 600 sec HA.
Calibrated in Astro Pixel Processor.
Mount was the m-zero with just a rough PA so some walking noise in the shadows but hey, I am thrilled :)
This shows the output of the APP program after the automatic mosaic process. APP finds all overlaps (i used 15% for the SGP Frame and Mosaic wizard settings) and positions and the right orientation and distortion correction! I loaded a masterdark, bad pixel map and masterflat together with all the single light frames. Each panel is a single 15 minute H-alpha (7nm) exposure with QHY16200 CCD/ Esprit 100 f5.5 refractor) Again, this Flickr upload is a downscaled version at 12.5%, the full version is 600 megapixels.
Still need to do registration and background optimization.
Knigh Observatory, Tomar.
Dati: 31 x 480 sec ( 4.13 ore) gain 5 @ -10° c + 12 dark + 30 flat e darkflat
Filtro: Optolong l-enhanche
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: 21 ° C - Umidità 85%
Date: 2023-5-13,21,25, 6-14
Location: El sauce Observatory, Chile
Optics: R200ss,
Camera: ASI294MM-pro
Exposure: 6 panel mosaic
・P1 (L, R, G, B) = (164, 72, 68, 68)
・P2 (L, R, G, B) = (173, 70, 69, 69)
(gain 120, offset 5)
Processing: Pixinsight, AstropixelProcessor, Photoshop
We are looking at an individual star at 21 Million lightyears......
Discovered on 22 jan 2019 by ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) on Hawai.
48x300 seconds Luminance stack,6 February 2019 00:00-04:30
Telescope: Esprit 100
Camera: QHY16200 CCD @-20C
Processed: Astropixelprocessor/ Pixinsight.
Next to the enlarged inset is a 3D brightness plot showing AT2019abn in relation to forground stars.
This H-alpha image mosaic shows only the Emission Hydrogen nebulae in a part of the Cygnus Constellation. The stars have been removed using a neural network.
Technical information:
telescope: Esprit 100 refractor
camera: QHY16200 CCD
filter:Baader 6nm H-alpha filter
Integration time: 25 hrs.
21 panel mosaic made with Astropixelprocessor, processed with Pixinsight and Starnet++
(This version is reduced in size, a test with the neural network software to process the nebulosity separated from the star image. After star removal the image is showing the nebulosity really well....
Dati: 109 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
ZWO ASI2600MM, Chroma 3nm Ha/O3/S2 filters, Stellarvue 70mm scope with .8 FR on Orion Atlas Pro mount. Guiding. SGPro, PHD2, 24 x 5 min = 2 hours Ha and 12 x 5 min = 1 Hour O3 and S2 each. Pixinsight, Astropixelprocessor and Photoshop CC.
Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 42 x 60 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing with Astro Pixel Processor and GIMP, taken just before astronomic dawn on Oct. 2, 2019 under Bortle 3/4 skies.
This extent contains eleven Messier objects (M 58, 84, 86-91, 98-100) and many other galaxies. Markarian's Chain is the string of galaxies in the center. My favorite is the Coma Pinwheel Galaxy (M 99) in the center of the upper right quadrant, with its interesting coma shape.
Acquisition details: Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 102 x 30 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing with Astro Pixel Processor and GIMP, taken on Feb. 27, 2020 under Bortle 3/4 skies.
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
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.
The Heart (IC 1805, right) and Soul (IC 1848, left) star-forming nebulae. A composite of 18 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.
24-07-2020, 9 x 30 seconds Luminance, Esprit 100 telescope/QHY16200 CCD @-20C. Calibrated subs in AstroPixelProcessor, further processing in Pixinsight: Staralignment, Cometalignment, ImageIntegration, DynamicBackgroundExtraction, MaskedStretch, Curves, HDRMultiscaletransform
Dati: 36 x 4 min. 800 Iso + 15 Dark + 25 flat e darkflat software: AstroPixelProcessor e Photoshop CS2 Strumenti: ottica Takahashi FSQ106 f/5 su Skywatcher EQ6 pro - Canon 40D CentralDS. 12/08/2020 - Castelletta (AN), Temp. esterna: 20° C temperatura al sensore 0,00°C - Umidità 79%
Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P f/3.5
QHYCCD Minicam8
HOO
60 x 60sec. Ha
48 x 60sec. OIII
Processed with Astro Pixel Processor, NoiseXTerminator and Affinity Photo.
The North America Nebula (NGC7000)
The Pelican Nebula (IC5070 & IC5067)
Shooting Location :
* 51° N 3° E
* bortle class 6 backyard
Object Information - North America Nebula
* Designation : NGC 7000
* Type : Emission nebula - HII region
* Magnitude : 4
* Location (J2000.0): RA 20h 59m 17s / DEC +44° 31' 44"
* Approximate distance : 490 parsecs / 1600 lightyears
Object Information - Pelican Nebula
* Designation : IC 5070
* Type : Emission nebula - HII region
* Magnitude : 8
* Location (J2000.0): RA 20h 50m 48s / DEC +44° 21' 00"
* Approximate distance : 550 parsecs / 1800 lightyears
Hardware
* Mount : Celestron CGX
* Imaging Scope : Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM II @ 135mm
* Imaging Camera : ZWO ASI 183MM
* Filter Wheel : ZWO EFW 7*36mm + Baader Ha 7nm, Baader OIII 8.5nm & Baader SII 8.5nm
*Guide Scope : Sky-Watcher StarTravel 80
* Guide Camera : ZWO ASI 120MM
Exposures
* Single Exposure Length : 120sec
* Sensor Temperature : -20°C
* Gain : 111
* Offset : 10
* Light Frames :
> Baader Ha : 35x
> Baader OIII : 22x
> Baader S2 : 18x
* Flat Frames :
> Baader Ha : 25x
> Baader OIII : 25x
> Baader S2 : 25x
* Dark Frames : 30x
* Bias Frames : 100x
* Total Integration Time : 2h30m
* Capture Date : 2018-07-01
Capture Software
* Sequence Generator Pro
* PHD2 Guiding
Processing Software
* Astro Pixel Processor 1.061
* Adobe Photoshop
Color Mapping
* L : Ha (base) + 33% SII + 33% OIII
* R : SII
* G : Ha
* B : OIII
The Ursa Minor Dwarf Spheriodal Galaxy is the faintest known member of the local group of Galaxies with a surface brightness of 25.5 V-mag/arcsec^2. (ref 3). Distance is 225000 lightyears (ref 1)
RA: 15h09m08.5 / Dec: +67d13m21
Imaged on 4,5,6,10 & 11 May, 2018
Esprit 100 APO Refractor+QHY16200CCD @-20C/ IDAS LP2 filter.
Knight Observatory, Tomar
ref 1) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursa_Minor_Dwarf
ref2 ) www.space.com/15619-faintest-globular-star-cluster.html
Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P f/3.5
Player One Uranus-C OSC (Offset:10 / Gain:100)
SkyTech LPRO MAX filter
54 x 60sec. subs (54 mins.)
Processed in Astro Pixel Processor (x2 drizzle), GraXpert and Affinity Photo
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.
Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P f/3.5
Altair Astro 533C PROTEC OSC (Offset: 64 / Gain: 125 / HCG On / Ultra mode On)
60 x 120sec. subs (2hr.)
Processed in Astro Pixel Processor, GraXpert and Affinity Photo
Date: 24:40-28:00JST Sep.30, 2017
Location: Otaki Town, Chiba Pref., Japan
Cloud Coverage: 0-10%
Lens: SIGMA 135mm F1.8 DG HSM Art
Mount: SWAT-200 (single axis autoguiding)
Autoguider: QHY5L-II, LM75JC, PHD2
Camera: Canon EOS 6D (SEO-SP4)
ISO speed: 1600
Exposure: 3x30x110sec.(f/1.8) + 8x15sec.(f/2.8)
Processing: PixInsight, 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.
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
I never get tired of imaging this particular object, there's just so much detail in there, The Cone Nebula, The Christmas Tree Cluster and the Fox Fur Nebula
Image Details
Red 51x150S in SII 6nm Filter
Green: 51x150S in Ha 6nm Filter
Blue: 61x150S in OIII 6nm Filter
Darks, Flats and Flat Darks were applied in the image stacking process
Total Capture time: 13.6 Hours
Acquisition Dates: Jan. 18, 2020 , Feb. 3, 2020 , Feb. 17, 2020 , Feb. 20, 2020 , March 2, 2020 , March 3, 2020 , March 12, 2020 , March 16, 2020 , March 22, 2020 , March 23, 2020 , March 24, 2020 , March 25, 2020 , March 26, 2020
Equipment Details:
Imaging Camera: Qhyccd 183M Mono ColdMOS Camera at -20C
Imaging Scope: SharpStar 15028HNT Hyperboloid Astrograph
Guide Camera: StarlightXpress Lodestar X2
Guide Scope: Sky-Watcher Finder Scope
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro
Focuser: Primalucelab ROBO Focuser
Filterwheel: Starlight Xpress Ltd 7x36mm EFW
Filters: Astronomik 6nm Ha, OIII and SII 36mm
Power and USB Control: Pegasus Astro USB Ultimate Hub Pro
Acquisition Software: Main Sequence Software. Sequence Generator Pro
Calibration and Stacking: Astro Pixel Processor
Mosaic Panel Merging: Image Composite Editor
Processing Software: PixInsight 1.8.6