Horsehead nebula and flame nebula taken with a Canon 600d and a sharpstar 61 edph II. New processing with the new SIRIL version, the 1.2. We can see some little IC nebulae in this one.

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遠眺獵戶

獵戶座是秋冬百看不厭的星座，也蘊藏著不少的深空天體，幾乎每年均會多次拍攝，以測試每次轉變了的器材。今次拍攝遇上了是次冬天最寒冷的天氣，山上溫度曾達到負四度，再加上四五級的大風吹襲，感覺就在零下二十多度的環境中，實在有點吃不消，也只能拍攝廣角深空以對抗寒風。

在嚴寒低溫的環境下，電池的穩定性十分重要，幸好相機及追星儀也用上大容量的外置電池，以應付一整晚的自動拍攝。唯一擔心的是寒風將相機吹倒，所以將腳架的三腳盡量拉開一點，讓她長時間可以陪伴著獵戶。

Photo by siuba

日期：2015/12/18 @ 梅州陰那山

相機：Canon EOS-M mod.

鏡頭：Canon 22mm f/2 STM

追星儀：Vixen Polarie

設定：ISO 1600, 60s x180 (30s x1 地景)

處理：PI, PS CC

香港拍攝難度：★★ (五星最難)

適合鏡頭焦距：35 ~ 100mm

適合拍攝月份：2015/12 ~ 2016/02 (香港)

Blue Horsehead Nebula - IC 4592

This is a rarely imaged nebula, located about 400 light years from us, visible in the constellation Scorpio. IC 4592 is a true reflection nebula, being formed of cosmic dust, the central part appearing blue due to the energy released by Jabbah, the star whose light makes this nebula visible. The popular name of this nebula, Blue Horsehead, is given by the more or less obvious resemblance to a horse's head and, as most astronomy enthusiasts know, this is not the only "horsehead" visible in the night sky. Practically every night of the year a "horsehead" nebula can be seen, regardless of whether it is "blue" or "dark". As an additional note, the above statement is valid for the latitude where I am (44 degrees North).

Equipment and settings:

Tracking - Skywatcher Star Adventure GTI

Camera - Nikon D610A

Photo lens - Rokinon 135 F2

98 x 60 sec - F2.8 iso 1600.

Stacking in Deep Sky Stacker.

Edit in Pixinsight.

A six-night project in December 2025.

This is the head of the Lion Nebula (Sharpless 132) in Cepheus, also known as LDN 1161.

I've imaged the Lion Nebula before, in 2023, but not a close up of just the head, which has a lot of really interesting detail, particularly in Hydrogen Alpha.

🔭 EdgeHD 8 & 9.25

⚙️ ZWO AM5N & AM5

ZWO ASI2600MC Pro

🌈 Antlia ALP-T Filter 3nm and 5nm

⏰ Integration time 52 hours 58 minutes

🎨 Processing: Pixinsight, Lightroom, and Affinity Photo 2.

️ Backyard

NGC 1499 a.k.a. California Nebula

...........................................................

Discovered in 1884, NGC1499 is a hydrogen emission nebula which can be found at about 1500 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Perseus, on the Orion arm of the Milky Way. Stretching over a length of 80-100 light years, the California nebula received this name under which it is best known for its shape that more or less resembles the American state of California. The California Nebula is an extremely popular target in terms of astrophotography, images with this target being easy to take with relatively simple equipment. Being an emission nebula, the use of a narrowband filter is highly recommended for better results.

Equipment and settings:

Mount: Skywatcher EQ6R

Telescope: Skywatcher 72ED Evostar

Camera: ASI 533MM Pro

Filters: SHO Astrodon 5nm

Integration: 13h15’

Edit in Pixinsight.

Location: my Bortle 6+ backyard

The Monkey Head Nebula, NGC 2174, in the constellation Orion, is 6,400 light years away and has a diameter of 16 to 40 light years, depending where you measure it. Stars are being formed there, some much bigger and brighter than our sun. The brighter stars emit sufficient UV radiation to ionize gases, causing them to glow, and in combination with dark dust, make complex structures.

Bob Maynard encouraged me to take up astrophotography, and today, while showing me how to put the finishing touches on this shot, helped me take a big step in processing.

Equipment

ZWO ASI 2600MC Duo air astrocamera,

ZWO Harmonic Mount AM5N

Photron 6 inch Ritchey Chretien telescope

ASIAIR Plus computer

Optolong -L- Quad Enhance Filter

Ipad Mini

Software: Pixinsight, Photoshop, Topaz Denoise AI, Nik

YouTube → Waheed Akhtar

You can connect with me on other social networks →

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NGC1499, la nebulosa California nel Perseo, ripresa con filtri dualband per ottenere SHO. Molto utile è stato lo script Perfect Palette Picker di Seti Astro,

Scatti ripresi fra il 8 e il 28 dicembre 2025.

Pose guidate con più filtri da 600 secondi: 16 ore e 50 minuti con dualband Antlia ALP-T 5nm, 15 ore e 20 minuti con Optolong L-Synergy. Telescopio newton 150/600 con correttore Tecnosky 0.95x, camera Tecnosky Vision 571C, montatura Eq6-R Pro, elaborazione in Pixinsight.

***

NGC 1499, the California Nebula in Perseus, imaged with dual-band filters to obtain SHO. The Perfect Palette Picker script from Seti Astro was very helpful.

Shots taken between December 8 and 28, 2025.

Guided exposures with multiple 600-second filters: 16 hours and 50 minutes with the Antlia ALP-T 5nm dual-band filter, 15 hours and 20 minutes with the Optolong L-Synergy. 150/600 Newtonian telescope with a Tecnosky 0.95x corrector, Tecnosky Vision 571C camera, EQ6-R Pro mount, and Pixinsight processing.

Die Whirlpool-Galaxie (Messier 51 oder NGC 5194) ist eine Spiralgalaxie im Sternbild Jagdhunde.Die Entfernung von unserer Milchstraße beträgt etwa 25 Millionen Lichtjahre.

Aufgenommen am 25.03.2019

Skywatcher Ed Apo 66/400

Sony a6000

Lights 150/30sek

Darks 20

Flats 20

Bias 20

Not my best picture so far. Bad light pollution condition allied with only 2 hours of 60 second frames. But man, I'm satisfied, at least for this year. I tried this same target with my old Nikon D5000 and got frustrated.

I'll definitely try it again next year, since my camera is now properly modified for astrophotography.

Comet Leonard a.k.a. C/2021 A1

...........................................................

This comet was discovered abt 4 years ago, on January 3, 2021, by astronomer Greg Leonard. As general information, Comet Leonard has a core of 1km in diameter and travels at a speed of about 250,000 km / h (70 km / sec). On December 12, 2022, it reached the closest point to Earth, at just over 30 million km, and on December 17, 2022 it passed about 4 million km from Venus.

I took this image using a small telescope, when Comet Leonard was crossing the constellation Canis Venatici and it was near star cluster Messier 3.

……………………………………………

Equipment and settings:

Mount: SW EQ6R

Telescope: SW 72ED

Camera: ASI 533 MC Pro

Total exposure: 90 min

Location: my Bortle 6+ backyard

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心臟星雲 (Heart Nebula, IC1805) 在仙后座尾部近英仙座位置，緊接其旁的是靈魂星雲，因為它們相對較亮和大，鄰旁還有容易辨認的雙雙星團，對於新手來說也是十分容易尋找的，是這天區很受歡迎的拍攝目標。

這次做了個星點移除版本，大家可以欣賞一下這個發射星雲和黑暗塵帶的結構，也算是練練手，順道熟習一下遮色片和多通道混合的技巧。

Photo by Michael Leung

Date: Nov 2016

Location: 廣東從化

Camera: ASI 1600MM-C @ -10c

Telescope: Borg 90FL w/ 0.72x Reducer (360mm f/4)

Mount: Sky-Watcher AZEQ6 Guided ASI120MM-S

Setting: Ha 10mins x15, RGB 3mins x15 per channel

Process: PI, PS CC

The Veil supernova in Cygnus. Bi colour narrowband. h-alpha/OIII. Reprocessed with added data.

A little happier with the colour and overall processing than the other one.

Same kit. ED80/QHY163M/Optolong ha baader oiii.

Messier 27 Overview:

M27, commonly referred to as the Dumbbell Nebula, is classified as a planetary nebula. This type of nebula is formed when a star reaches the latter stages of its life cycle and expels its outer layers. It is essential to clarify that the term "planetary nebula" is somewhat misleading, as these nebulae do not have any direct association with planets. The nomenclature derives from their resemblance to planets when observed through early telescopes. M27, also known as NGC 6853, was officially included in the New General Catalogue (NGC) in the late 19th century.

Key characteristics:

Discovery: Messier 27 was the first planetary nebula ever discovered, spotted by French astronomer Charles Messier on July 12th, 1764. Also of note - Messier 27 was the first ever planetary nebula to be discovered. Charles Messier found it on July 12, 1764, and described it as a "nebula".

Location: It's located in the constellation Vulpecula (The Fox) in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy.

Distance: Estimates vary, but it's roughly 1,360 light-years from Earth.

Shape: It gets its popular name, the Dumbbell Nebula, from its distinctive twin-lobed shape, resembling a dumbbell or hourglass. It's also sometimes called the "Apple Core Nebula".

Size: It spans about 2.8 light-years across, and its apparent size is roughly 8.0 x 5.7 arcminutes. For reference, the full moon is about 30 arcminutes in diameter.

Brightness: With an apparent magnitude of +7.5, M27 is one of the brightest planetary nebulae in the sky, making it a popular target for amateur astronomers.

Visibility: It is easily visible with binoculars and small telescopes, especially during summer and early autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.

Imaging Telescopes:

Celestron EdgeHD 8″

Imaging Cameras:

ZWO ASI183MC Pro

Dates: August 15th, 21st, 23rd, 24th, and 25th 2025 - September 25th, 26th, and 27th 2025

Inspired by Erik's recent image, and being bored after being clouded out for what seems like decades, I thought I'd faff about :)

A starless version of my recent collaboration with Dave Williams. I've left IC 431 and 434 in there because they are nebulae after all. I've also left in Alnitak and his buddy as I'm not good enough to take them out :)

I won't submit this to astrometry, as it may struggle :)

English below:

M16 o nebulosa Aquila nella costellazione della Coda del Serpente presenta, al suo centro, la formazione nota come i Pilastri della Creazione resa nota al Telescopio Spaziale Hubble.

Somma di pose guidate da 10 minuti per un totale di 2 ore e 20 minuti con filtro dualband Antlia ALP-T 5nm. Telescopio newton 150/600 con correttore Tecnosky 0.95x, camera Tecnosky Vision 571C, montatura Eq6-R Pro, elaborazione Pixinsight.

M16, or the Eagle Nebula, in the constellation Serpens (Coda del Serpens), features, at its center, the formation known as the Pillars of Creation, discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Sum of 10-minute guided exposures for a total of 2 hours and 20 minutes with an Antlia ALP-T 5nm dual-band filter. 150/600 Newtonian telescope with a Tecnosky 0.95x corrector, Tecnosky Vision 571C camera, EQ6-R Pro mount, and Pixinsight processing.

English below

M16 come la precedente ma elaborata in HOO.

M16 like the previous one but processed in HOO.

Yes, finally. My longest project so far. 6 hours on IC 2944 with a stock DSLR.

Setup:

Long Perng 66/400mm

iOptron CEM25P

Canon SL1

121x180s ISO 800

DARKS, FLATS and BIAS.

My first project update for January 2026 is now complete! As I reflect on the astro-challenges I faced throughout 2025, it's clear that a confluence of adverse weather conditions significantly impacted my work until June. The relentless mix of unpredictable weather patterns, persistent cloud cover, poor seeing conditions, low atmospheric transparency, and the dense smoke from nearby wildfires created a formidable barrier to my efforts in imaging and data collection during the early months of that year.

These obstacles made it especially difficult to achieve the clarity and quality that I strive for in my images.

40 hours of HaOIII + 25 hours of HbSII + 3.25 hours of Luminance + 3.8 hours of RGB

🔭 EdgeHD 8 & 9.25

⚙️ ZWO AM5N & AM5

ZWO ASI2600MC Pro

🌈 Antlia ALP-T Filter 3nm and 5nm

⏰ Integration time 72 hours

🎨 Processing: Pixinsight, Lightroom, and Affinity Photo 2.

️ Backyard

Reprocessed version of Heart Nebula

YouTube → Waheed Akhtar

You can connect with me on other social networks →

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Scattata da casa con un telescopio SkyWatcher 200/1000, questa immagine rivela quanto lontano possiamo spingere lo sguardo:

se notate bene, ci sono diverse macchioline di luce, almeno quindici, che sembrano dei batuffolini di cotone.

Queste piccole macchie di luce sono in realtà non stelle ma galassie, ciascuna contenente miliardi di stelle, frammenti dell’immensa profondità del cosmo.

Al centro in alto in questa foto domina NGC 7331, una grande galassia a spirale simile alla Via Lattea, distante circa 40 milioni di anni luce, circondata da piccole galassie satelliti. Poche settimane fa in questa galassia è esplosa una nuova stella, una supernova, che però non sono riuscito a fotografare a causa del meteo.

In basso a destra si distingue il celebre Quintetto di Stephan, un gruppo apparentemente compatto ma in realtà sorprendente: quattro galassie sono a circa 200–300 milioni di anni luce, mentre una quinta, proiettata sulla stessa zona di cielo, è quasi dieci volte più vicina.

Negli anni ’60 questa discrepanza di distanze fece pensare a un misterioso “redshift non cosmologico”: sembrava assurdo che una galassia potesse trovarsi accanto ad altre con un redshift così diverso, come se le leggi che collegano l’espansione dell’Universo alla distanza fossero violate. Oggi sappiamo che è un semplice allineamento prospettico, ma rimane un curioso capitolo della storia dell’astronomia.

#NGC7331 #QuintettodiStephan #DeepSkyAstro #GalassieLontane #AstrofotografiaUrbana #CosmoProfondo #UniverseWonder #NightSkyPhotography #Astrophotography #SkyWatcher2001000 #GalacticIslands #SpacePerspective #RedshiftMystery #ExploringTheCosmos #CieloProfondo #AstroImaging #InfiniteUniverse #DeepSkyObjects #AstroPassion #CacciatoriDiGalassie

English below:

Ho rielaborato questa immagine di Ced51, nella parte settentrionale di Orione, aggiungendo delle riprese in narrowband. Gli scatti sono di questo inverno.

Sono 21 ore di integrazione, scatti guidati singoli da 5 minuti a cui si somma L'H-alfa ricavato da circa 6 ore con pose da 10 minuti con filtro Antlia ALP-T 5nm, Newton GSO 150/600 con correttore 0.95x, camera TecnoSky Vision 571C, montatura Ioptron GEM45, Pixinsight.

I reworked this image of Ced51, in the northern part of Orion, adding narrowband images. The shots were taken this winter.

It takes 21 hours of integration, single 5-minute guided shots, plus the H-alpha obtained from about 6 hours of 10-minute exposures with an Antlia ALP-T 5nm filter, a GSO 150/600 Newtonian with 0.95x corrector, a TecnoSky Vision 571C camera, an Ioptron GEM45 mount, and Pixinsight.

Messier 45 a.k.a Pleiades

….. a.k.a…..

Matariki ( Maori/New Zeeland )

Kozaru/Hoki Hoshi ( Japan )

Thurayya ( Arabic )

Krittika ( Hindu )

Tz’ab ( Maya Indians )

Tayamni Pa ( North America Indians )

…………….

Pleiades (catalog name: Messier 45), is an open cluster located in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of about 450 light-years from Earth. Due to this "small" distance that separates us and the fact that the Pleiades are visible to the naked eye, this Messier object is known by several names, such as The 7 Sisters, Subaru or Pleione's daughters, and probably another 50 names. If anyone knows other names, please mention it in the "Comments" section.

M45 consists of over 1000 stars, mostly young stars, hence the blue color that is reflected from the dust cloud that surrounds this star cluster. Due to this "gas" the Pleiades are sometimes seen as a reflection nebula, but from an astronomical point of view M45 is classified as a star cluster

In terms of astrophotography, M45 is without any doubt one of the well known/favorite targets, the details of this star cluster starting to appear from a 100-150mm focal length, especially if the imaging session takes place in a location with low light pollution, Bortle 4 or less.

As additional information, experts believe that due to gravitational interactions with its galactic neighborhood , this star cluster will disappear in about 250 million years, so for those who have not yet photographed this Messier object, it should be noted that the time is limited :)

Equipment and settings:

Mount: SW EQ6R

Telescope: SW 72ED + 0.85 field flattener

Camera: ASI 533 MC Pro.

Filter: Baader UV/IR cut

Total exposure: 232 min ( 116 frames x 2 min )

Edit in Pixinsight.

Location: Bortle 3.

Taken with a TMB92L, Hutech-modified Canon T3i DSLR, Orion SSAG autoguider and 50mm guidescope, and Celestron AVX mount. Consists of 25 360-second light frames and 21 360-second dark frames, all at ISO 800, as well as 35 flat and 50 bias frames. Captured with BackyardEOS, stacked in DeepSkyStacker, and processed in Photoshop.

English below

Uno dei miei soggetti preferiti del cielo profondo, ripreso dopo aver atteso il nuovo RC8 Carbon per sfruttarne appieno la focale nativa.

Al centro della nebulosa è visibile la pulsar V-CM Tau, residuo della stella che diede origine alla supernova osservata nel 1054 d.C.

L’immagine finale è un crop di un’integrazione con drizzle 2×.

Pose guidate da 600 secondi, 10 ore e 20 minuti con dualband Antlia ALP-T 5nm, mentre per le stelle 40 minuti in pose guidate da 60 secondi con filtro broadband SV260. Telescopio RC8 Carbon, camera Tecnosky Vision 571C, montatura Eq6-R Pro, elaborazione in Pixinsight.

***

One of my favorite deep-sky subjects, captured after waiting for the new RC8 Carbon to fully utilize its native focal length.

At the center of the nebula, the pulsar V-CM Tau is visible, the remnant of the star that gave rise to the supernova observed in 1054 AD.

The final image is a crop of a 2× drizzle integration.

600-second guided exposures, 10 hours and 20 minutes with a dual-band Antlia ALP-T 5nm, and 40 minutes for the stars in 60-second guided exposures with an SV260 broadband filter. RC8 Carbon telescope, Tecnosky Vision 571C camera, Eq6-R Pro mount, processing in Pixinsight.

More details here: fotosgrafiabymiguel.wpcomstaging.com/.../2025.../

Classic Spiral Structure: M51 showcases a beautiful face-on spiral structure, featuring graceful, curving arms composed of stars, gas, and dust.

Interaction with Companion Galaxy: A striking aspect of M51 is its interaction with its smaller companion galaxy, NGC 5195. The companion galaxy seems to "tug" on one of M51's arms. This action creates a bridge-like connection of stars and interstellar material between the two galaxies.

Star Formation: The gravitational interaction between the two galaxies significantly impacts star formation. It actively drives the formation observed throughout M51, particularly within its spiral arms. The spiral arms are stellar nurseries, compressing hydrogen gas and giving birth to clusters of new stars. Bright pink star-forming regions (H-II regions) and brilliant blue strands of young star clusters are prominently visible.

Dust Lanes: Dark dust lanes weave through the galaxy's disk, adding to its visual complexity. Infrared observations even reveal unusual spoke-like patterns within these dust lanes, caused by the companion galaxy's gravitational influence.

Central Region: The central core of M51 is circular. It lacks the elongated bar shape seen in some other spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way. The central region appears to be undergoing a period of enhanced star formation. It is thought to host a black hole, surrounded by a ring of dust.

Size: Approximately 76,900 light-years in diameter, about 88% the size of the Milky Way.

Mass: Estimated at 160 billion solar masses.

Age: Estimated to be around 400 million years old.

Auch wenn es irgend wann nerft...Safety first, bitte nie ohne Filter die Sonne beobachten.

#astrofotografie #astrofotografia #astrophotography #astronomie #astrophysics #milkyway #Sterne #skywatcher #sky #telescope #teleskop #milchstraße #astronomy #astrography #langzeitbelichtung #deepsky #deepskyphotography #deepskyobject #sonnenbeobachtung #solarscoop #sonnenfilter

English below:

Nella porzione di Via Lattea che attraversa la Costellazione della Volpetta si trova questo gruppo di nebulose dove spicca Sh2-88 (anche LBN139): si tratta, per lo più, di regioni h-alfa di forte formazione stellare.

Molto elusive, è stata necessaria un'integrazione di 21 ore con pose guidate da 10 minuti con filtro dualband Antlia ALP-T 5nm per la nebulosa mentre per le stelle sono una ventina di minuti di pose da 60 secondi senza filtri. Telescopio newton 150/600 con correttore Tecnosky 0.95x, camera Tecnosky Vision 571C, montatura Eq6-R Pro, elaborazione Pixinsight.

This group of nebulae, Sh2-88 (also LBN139), is located in the portion of the Milky Way that passes through the constellation Vulpecula. These are mostly Hii regions of intense star formation.

Optically very elusive, a 21-hour integration was required with 10-minute guided exposures using an Antlia ALP-T 5nm dual-band filter for the nebula, while the stars required about twenty minutes of 60-second exposures without filters. A 150/600 Newtonian telescope with a Tecnosky 0.95x corrector, a Tecnosky Vision 571C camera, an Eq6-R Pro mount, and Pixinsight processing.

English below

Nuova versione della Nebulosa Grotta (Sh2-155 o C9).

Composizione in Hubble Palette con i filtri dualband.

Le pose guidate da 600 secondi sono state:

67 scatti con filtro Antlia ALP-T 5 nm, per H α e O III;

87 scatti con filtro Optolong L-Synergy 7nm, per S II e O III.

Per le stelle, 1 ora di integrazione in pose da 60 secondi con filtro broadband SV260.

Strumentazione utilizzata:

Telescopio Newton 150/600 con correttore Tecnosky 0.95×

Camera Tecnosky Vision 571C

Montatura Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro

Elaborazione in PixInsight.

***

New version of the Cave Nebula (Sh2-155 or C9).

Composition in Hubble Palette with dual-band filters.

The 600-second guided exposures were:

67 shots with the Antlia ALP-T 5 nm filter for H α and O III;

87 shots with the Optolong L-Synergy 7 nm filter for S II and O III.

For the stars, 1 hour of integration in 60-second exposures with the SV260 broadband filter.

Equipment used:

150/600 Newtonian telescope with Tecnosky 0.95× corrector

Tecnosky Vision 571C camera

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount

Processed in PixInsight.

Mount: NEQ6 Pro

Guider: Lacerta MGEN Autoguider

Camera: Sony a7s (centralDS)

Filter: LPS D1

Lens: Canon 70-200mm f4L

ISO 800 @ f4

Lights: 12 x 600 secs. & 5 x 300

secs.

Bias: 100

No darks & flats

DSS, PixInsight & Photoshop.

Taken with a TMB92L, Hutech-modified Canon T3i DSLR, Orion SSAG autoguider and 50mm guidescope, and Celestron AVX mount. Consists of 24 240-second light frames and 18 240-second dark frames, all at ISO 800, as well as 30 flat and 50 bias frames. Captured with BackyardEOS, stacked in DeepSkyStacker, and processed in Photoshop.

Fernando de Magallanes and his crew had more than enough time to study the southern skies during their famous trips around the world. As a result, two diffuse objects in the shape of a cloud, not visible to the inhabitants of the northern hemisphere, are now known as Las Nubes de Magallanes.

These clouds of stars are small irregular galaxies, satellites of our great

Milky Way galaxy.

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC, by its most common acronym in English), photographed

above, it is only about 180,000 light-years away - the only known galaxy closer is the Sagittarius Dwarf.

Both the LMC and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) are linked to the Milky Way by a stream of cold hydrogen.

Author: Mario Poblete

Comet 46P/Wirtanen close to the Pleiades (M45) on 16 December 2018 (imaged from Southern Africa, after a thunder shower and in between clear gaps in partly cloudy conditions).

I kept the exposures a bit shorter than I would have liked, and rather pushed the ISO a bit higher due to the cloud cover that was increasing. Luckily it was clear towards the North for just long enough to take the series of photos required for stacking, and despite the weather, the Astronomical Seeing was actually really excellent after the rain.

The Comet's faint tail was only visible in darker skies with longer exposures. This Comet has a beautiful bright green Coma (or head). The green color is caused by Cyanogen (CN) and diatomic Carbon (C2), which glows in the green part of the Electromagnetic Spectrum of Light when illuminated by the Sun in space.

Geocentric Distance:

0.0775 AU (Astronomical Unit).

30 Lunar distances.

11.5 Million km.

7.1 Million miles.

Gear:

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Lens.

Celestron AdvancedVX Telescope Mount.

Optolong L-Pro Clip-In Filter for Nikon.

Nikon D750 DSLR.

Lights/Subs:

46 x 60 sec. ISO 3200 exposures.

Calibration Frames:

30 x Bias

20 x Darks

Astrometry Info:

Center RA, Dec: 58.071, 22.397

Center RA, hms: 03h 52m 17.067s

Center Dec, dms: +22° 23' 47.549"

Size: 8.45 x 5.68 deg

Radius: 5.089 deg

Pixel scale: 19 arcsec/pixel

Orientation: Up is 130 degrees E of N

View an Annotated Sky Chart for this image.

View this image in the WorldWideTelescope.

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop.

Carl Sagan on Comets:

youtu.be/1hlONoWw39M

People's reaction to Comets, excerpt from Cosmos S01E04:

Time code: 13:18

"By 1910, Halley's comet returned once more. But this time, astronomers using a new tool, the spectroscope had discovered cyanogen gas in the tail of a comet. Now, cyanogen is a poison. The Earth was to pass through this poisonous tail. The fact that the gas was astonishingly, fabulously thin reassured almost nobody. For example, look at the headlines in the Los Angeles Examiner for May 9, 1910: "Say, Has That Comet 'Cyanogened' You Yet?" "Entire Human Race Due For Free Gaseous Bath. Expect High Jinks." Or take this from the San Francisco Chronicle, May 15, 1910: "Comet Comes And Husband Reforms." "Comet Parties Now Fad In New York." Amazing stuff! In 1910, people were holding comet parties, not so much to celebrate the end of the world as to make merry before it happened. There were entrepreneurs who were hawking comet pills. I think I'm gonna take one for later. And there were those who were selling gas masks to protect against the cyanogen. And comet nuttiness didn't stop in 1910." - Carl Sagan, Cosmos.

This image is part of the Legacy Series.

Flickr Explore:

2018-12-19

Photo usage and Copyright:

Medium-resolution photograph licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Terms (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). For High-resolution Royalty Free (RF) licensing, contact me via my site: Contact.

Martin

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Orion a.k.a. Messier 42, the most famous nebula in the night sky in both the northern and southern hemispheres, can be found in the constellation Orion and can be seen (literally) from August to April. Orion can be seen with the naked eye from low light pollution locations, but a simple pair of binoculars is more than enough to be observed in the middle of Orion's Sword.

M42 is about 1300 light-years away from Earth, has an apparent diameter of 12 light-years, and is considered by far one of the most popular targets in astrophotography, along with Andromeda Galaxy.

I took this picture from a Bortle 2-3 location, using "advanced amateur" equipment and is without any doubts my best Orion image so far.

Equipment and settings:

Mount: SW EQ6R

Telescope: SW 72ED

Camera: ASI 533 MC Pro.

Total exposure: 102 min

Stacked with Deep Sky Stacker. Edit in Pixinsight.

Location: Bortle 2/3

English below

M45, Le Pleiadi, il più noto e visibile ammasso aperto con molte stelle visibili ad occhio nudo. Distante circa 443 anni luce è rappresentato in molte mitologie antiche a testimonianza della curiosità sempre provocata fin da tempi antichi. Le fotografie a lunga esposizione mostrano intrichi di polveri e gas incredibili e meravigliosi.

Mosaico di due pannelli, circa 7 ore in pose da 90 e 300 secondi combinate in HDR con filtro broadband SV260. Telescopio Newton 150/600 con correttore Tecnosky 0.95x, camera Tecnosky Vision 571C, montatura Eq6-R Pro, elaborazione in Pixinsight.

M45, the Pleiades, is the best-known and most visible open cluster with many stars visible to the naked eye. Approximately 443 light-years away, it is depicted in many ancient mythologies, a testament to the curiosity it has always aroused since ancient times. Long-exposure photographs reveal incredible and wondrous tangles of dust and gas.

A mosaic of two panels, approximately 7 hours in 90- and 300-second exposures, combined in HDR with an SV260 broadband filter. 150/600 Newtonian telescope with a Tecnosky 0.95x corrector, Tecnosky Vision 571C camera, EQ6-R Pro mount, and Pixinsight processing.

M45 The Pléiades. This open cluster is in the Taurus constellation. This picture totals 94 subs of 120 seconds with no filter. 50 darks, 50 flats and 100 biases (sensor temp : -10°C).

Capture with NINA

Processing with SIRIL, Graxpert and Gimp

Caméra : ZWO ASI 585 MC PRO

Telescop : Sharpstar 61 EDPH V2

Mount : Meade LXD 75

Guidecam and guidescope : QHY 5L II C + SVBONY miniguidescope

Prints available: shiny.photo/photo/Sh2-142--The-Wizard-679b4efdf1db2d8c36d...

A well-known emission nebula in the constellation of Cepheus, discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787, Sh2-142 is an open star cluster about 20ly across located about 8.5kly away from the Sun in the Perseus arm of the Milky Way. At the centre of the cluster a binary pair of massive O-type stars (DH Cephei) are the ionizing source for the surrounding H.II region, driving out gas & dust and triggering star formation nearby.

This photo marks a couple of "records" for me: the longest gap I've had in the middle of a project; the least number of frames on a filter (Neodymium for the stars only, 30 minutes' data - that's all that was required); and the first time of using my new Askar C2 (OIII+SII) filter.

Suzi the 8" Skywatcher Quattro telescope; IDAS NBZ (Ha+OIII) nebula filter; Neodymium (light-pollution) filter; Askar C2 (OIII+SII) nebula filter. Stacked and processed in PixInsight and finished in Affinity.

SH2-308: The Dolphin-head Nebula, also designated as Sharpless 308, RCW 11, or LBN 1052, is an H II region located near the center of the constellation Canis Major, composed of ionised hydrogen. It is about 8 degrees south of Sirius, the brightest star in the night

Location: Chile

Telescope: CHI-4, 50 cm F3.6 Reflector

Filters: O-III

3 light frames stacked in Deep Sky Stacker for 30 min exposure.

Processed in Photoshop.

Data Acquired: Telescope live

English below

La Nebulosa Pacman (NGC 281) si trova nella costellazione di Cassiopea, a circa 10.000 anni luce da noi.

Questa nebulosa ad emissione è una regione di formazione stellare, dove nubi di gas e polveri vengono illuminate dalla radiazione delle giovani stelle al loro interno.

Sono state realizzate 37 esposizioni da 10 minuti per ciascun filtro, utilizzando sia il dualband Antlia ALP-T 5 nm sia il nuovo Optolong L-Synergy che mi hanno permesso di elaborare in Hubble Palette SHO.

Per catturare le stelle è stata aggiunta circa un’ora di integrazione in pose da 60 secondi con filtro broadband SV260.

Il tutto è stato ripreso con un telescopio Newton 150/600 dotato di correttore Tecnosky 0.95x, camera Tecnosky Vision 571C e montatura EQ6-R Pro, elaborazione in PixInsight.

The Pacman Nebula (NGC 281) is located in the constellation Cassiopeia, about 10,000 light-years away.

This emission nebula is a star-forming region, where clouds of gas and dust are illuminated by the radiation of young stars within them.

I took 37 10-minute exposures for each filter, using both the Antlia ALP-T 5 nm dual-band filter and the new Optolong L-Synergy, which allowed me to process the image in Hubble Palette SHO.

To capture the stars, about an hour of integration was added in 60-second exposures with the SV260 broadband filter.

The entire image was captured with a 150/600 Newtonian telescope equipped with a Tecnosky 0.95x corrector, a Tecnosky Vision 571C camera, and an EQ6-R Pro mount, and processed in PixInsight.

Thanks Explore (#168). Position (#62)

With a nice streak of clear nights, I decided to see if my new Fujifilm X-T5 can improve my deep sky images with its 45 mpix sensor. This cropped image was post processed with PixInsight and Photoshop and it turned out quite acceptable despite taken in a city with a population of 65,000.

Tech Specs: Fujifilm X-T5, Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 @ f/5, iso 1000, exp 578 subs @ 30 sec (4.8 hour integrated time), guide Astrotrac, RAW.

Bortle skies 5.5, transparency 8 to 10, no moon. Elevation 6118 feet.

Click 2x to enlarge.

Picture of the day x 5

First narrowband mosaic for me.

M: Pegasus NYX-101

T: WO GTF81 Refractor

C: ZWO ASI533MM-Cooled

G: OAG and PHD2

GC: ZWO ASI120MC

RAW16; FITs

Temp: -10 DegC

Mosaic: 4 x Panels of:

Ha: Gain 100; Exp: 6 x 300s

Oiii: Gain 100; Exp: 6 x 300s

Sii: Gain 100; Exp: 6 x 300s

Frames: 72 Lights; Darks/DarkFlats/Flats

95% Crop

Capture: NINA

Processed: APP [HOS-1]; PS.

Sky: 50% moon, slight breeze, no cloud.

A Hydrogen-Alpha + Oxygen III + Sulphur II Narrowband widefield image of the Cygnus Wall. The North America Nebula (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, close to the star Deneb. The remarkable shape of the nebula resembles that of the continent of North America, complete with a prominent Gulf of Mexico.

The Cygnus Wall:

The Cygnus Wall is a term for the "Mexico and Central America part" of the North America Nebula. The Cygnus Wall has the most concentrated star formation in the nebula. The North America Nebula and the nearby Pelican Nebula, (IC 5070) are in fact parts of the same interstellar cloud of ionized hydrogen (H II region). The nebula complex is estimated to be about 1,800 light-years from Earth.

Gear:

William Optics Star 71mm f/4.9 Imaging APO Refractor Telescope.

William Optics 50mm Finder Scope.

Celestron SkySync GPS Accessory.

Orion Mini 50mm Guide Scope.

Orion StarShoot Autoguider.

Celestron AVX Mount.

QHYCCD PoleMaster.

Celestron StarSense.

QHYCFW2-M-US Filterwheel (7 position x 36mm).

QHY163M Cooled CMOS Monochrome Astronomy Camera.

Tech:

Guiding in Open PHD 2.6.3.

Image acquisition in Sequence Generator Pro.

Lights/Subs:

2 Stage Cooled CMOS

Imaged at -25°C

Gain: 20

Offset: 80

Narrowband:

S = 12 x 600 sec. 16bit FITS.

H = 12 x 600 sec. 16bit FITS.

O = 12 x 600 sec. 16bit FITS.

Calibration Frames:

50 x Bias/Offset.

25 x Darks.

20 x Flats & Dark Flats.

PixelMath RGB Channel Combination:

PixInsight Expression:

R = SII

G = (Ha*OIII)*1.5

B = OIII

Image Acquisition:

Sequence Generator Pro with the Mosaic and Framing Wizard.

Plate Solving:

Astrometry.net ANSVR Solver via SGP.

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight,

and finished in Photoshop.

Photographed in the following wavelengths of light:

Optolong SHO Narrowband filters:

OIII line 500.7nm (6.5nm bandwidth)

H-Alpha line 656nm (7nm bandwidth)

SII line 672nm (6.5nm bandwidth)

Astrometry Info:

View the Annotated Sky Chart for this image.

Center RA, Dec: 314.764, 44.279

Center RA, hms: 20h 59m 03.425s

Center Dec, dms: +44° 16' 43.955"

Size: 2.27 x 1.55 deg

Radius: 1.375 deg

Pixel scale: 5.11 arcsec/pixel

Orientation: Up is 97.9 degrees E of N

View this image in the World Wide Telescope.

Martin

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A cropped Bi-Color processing test of Pickering's Triangle (or Pickering's Triangular Wisp) in the Veil Nebula (a Supernova Remnant).

NGC 6974 and NGC 6979 are luminous knots in a fainter patch of nebulosity on the northern rim between NGC 6992 and Pickering's Triangle.

Ha & OIII Bi-Color:

Photographed in the Hydrogen-Alpha and Oxygen III spectral wavelengths of light (Ha mapped to Red, OIII mapped to Blue, SynthGreen).

Narrowband filters:

H-Alpha

OIII

Processing:

Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight, and finished in Photoshop (experimenting with Wavelets, Photoshop Actions and new bi-color processing techniques).

Astrometry Info:

nova.astrometry.net/user_images/1381741#annotated

RA, Dec center: 312.019287471, 31.6310735368 degrees

Orientation: 0.443881002562 deg E of N

Pixel scale: 2.4980010893 arcsec/pixel

Martin

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[Home Page] [Photography Showcase] [eBook] [Twitter]

[Facebook] [3D VFX & Mocap] [Science & Physics Page]

English below

Nuova elaborazione di Sh2-132, la Lion Nebula bel Cefeo in Hubble Palette SHO dove il rosso rappresenta lo zolfo due volte ionizzato, il verde l'idrogeno alfa e il blu l'ossigeno 3 volte ionizzato.

Pose guidate con più filtri da 600 secondi: 10 ore e 20 minuti con dualband Antlia ALP-T 5nm, 12 ore e 50 minuti con Optolong L-Synergy, mentre per le stelle un'ora in pose guidate da 60 secondi con filtro broadband SV260. Telescopio newton 150/600 con correttore Tecnosky 0.95x, camera Tecnosky Vision 571C, montatura Eq6-R Pro, elaborazione in Pixinsight.

***

New processing of Sh2-132, the Lion Nebula in Cepheus in the Hubble Palette SHO, where red represents doubly ionized sulfur, green represents alpha hydrogen, and blue represents triple-ionized oxygen.

Guided exposures with multiple 600-second filters: 10 hours and 20 minutes with the Antlia ALP-T 5nm dual-band filter, 12 hours and 50 minutes with the Optolong L-Synergy, and for the stars, one hour in 60-second guided exposures with the SV260 broadband filter. 150/600 Newtonian telescope with Tecnosky 0.95x corrector, Tecnosky Vision 571C camera, Eq6-R Pro mount, processing in Pixinsight.

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春季必拍星系

春天是一個適合拍攝星系的季節，而 M81 和 M82 是熱門拍攝目標之一。除了星系本身其獨特的吸引力外，視場中其實彌漫著塵埃，這些塵埃需要累積更多光子才能顯現出來。此相片只用上年代久遠的 350D (800 萬像素) 拍攝，細緻度確實還是差了一點，雜訊亦十分可怕，唯有在後制上花一點功夫...

Photo by Timmy Wong

Location：Xingming Observatory

Camera：Canon 350D mod.

Telescope：Tamron 300/2.8 mod.

Mount：Vixen GPD (+SS2K)

Exposure：240s x 132

香港拍攝難度：★★ (五星最高)

建議鏡頭焦距：400mm+

適合拍攝月份：1 月 ~ 5 月 (香港)

大概方向：北斗七星附近

Seestar S50. 945 10s exposures. Stacked in Siril, processed using GraXpert, Siril, Gimp, and Cosmic Clarity.

English below

Alla mia foto della Nebulosa Pellicano IC5070 ho aggiunto 7 ore di integrazione con il nuovo filtro Optlong L-Synergy per un totale di 16 ore e 50 minuti di esposizione per ottenere un'elaborazione in Hubble palette SHO.

Pose guidate da 10 minuti, quasi 9 ore con filtro dualband Antlia ALP-T 5nm, 7 ore con Optlong L-Synergy 7nm, mentre per le stelle 50 pose da 1 minuto con filtro broadband SV260, telescopio newton 150/600 con correttore 0.95x, camera Tecnosky Vision 571C, montatura Eq6-R Pro, elaborazione Pixinsight.

To my photo of the Pelican Nebula IC5070, I added 7 hours of integration with the new Optlong L-Synergy filter for a total of 16 hours and 50 minutes of exposure to obtain a Hubble SHO palette processing.

10-minute guided exposures, almost 9 hours with the Antlia ALP-T 5nm dual-band filter, 7 hours with the Optlong L-Synergy 7nm, while for the stars, 50 1-minute exposures with the SV260 broadband filter, a 150/600 Newtonian telescope with 0.95x corrector, a Tecnosky Vision 571C camera, an Eq6-R Pro mount, and Pixinsight processing.

The Gecko Nebula, officially cataloged as LBN 437, is a reflection nebula located within the constellation Lacerta (appropriately meaning "the Lizard") that resembles a gecko crawling across the sky. The nebula is illuminated by nearby young stars, reflecting light in delicate, bluish shades.

It is situated near the much larger Sh2-126 emission nebula, which is visually marked by striking red hydrogen-alpha filaments that overlap and create a striking contrast with LBN 437.

This nebula is a popular target for astrophotographers due to its complex structure, which includes both dark molecular clouds (beige-brown here) and reflection regions that are illuminated by interstellar light, offering unique textures and colors.

A total integration of 202 * 180s = 10.1 hours with the Neodymium filter and an OSC camera to capture both the reflection and extra Ha simultaneously; processing in PixInsight included extracting a synthetic Ha layer, boosting the contrast and re-blending together in a HaRGB palette.

Prints, cards and more are available via the website: shiny.photo/photo/LBN-437--The-Gecko--Lacerta-447f51b975e...

Time: 2019/01/31

Place: York, Western Australia, Australia

Equipment: Canon 6D (mod) +Sigma 135art

Parameter: ISO1600, F2.8, 60s*78

M16 aka The Eagle Nebula located in the central region of the Milky way. It is made of diffuse emission nebula, the region is about 7500 Light-years from our place and is very active in star formation. I took it during my April 2019 visit to Namibia. The region is also famous because of its central region names "Pillars of Creation" when was taken by the Hubble telescope.

In the editing part I used only the RGB photos and for the Luminance part I used the Red channel to point the details, All the RGB channels taken in BIN1.

So it is RRGB photo :)

Photo info:

Red as Luminance BIN1: 3x5min = 15min

RGB BIN1: 3x5Min for each channel for color.

Total RGB - 45Min

Equipment used:

Telescope: ASA 12'' F3.6

Mount: DDM 85 Unguided

Camera: FLI 16200 Mono

Filters: Astrodon

Thanks for watching

Haim Huli