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The Whirlpool Galaxy M51 (also known as Messier 51a, M51a, or NGC 5194) is a spiral galaxy located approximately 31 million light-years from us in the constellation Canes Venatici. The blob on the end is a companion galaxy designated NGC 5195. This was the first galaxy to be recognised as a spiral galaxy.
Had less of my recent mount troubles with this having done a bit of work on it, so managed to retain 58 subs for 58 minutes total exposure (58 minutes 28 seconds according to DSS for some obscure reason). May have another crack at processing this later.
There is a closer crop here.
Reprocessed here.
3 May 2011
200p, EQ5 unguided
Nikon D70 full spectrum prime focus
58 x 60sec
iso 1600
darks, bias and flats.
Stacked in DSS processed in CS5
Picture saved with settings applied.
Deep Sky Stacker with Digital Photo Professional and DPP++
cr2 converted with out editing to DNG 7,1 with Adobe converter . Stacked and first edit in DSS . 16 bit saved and ReEdit in DPP. output Jpg.
68 Light Frames
15 Dark Frames
17 Bias Frames
Hand Tracking
all together 1 minute and 8 second exposure ..no Flat :/ ( how get flat ? )
Single Frame Details :
File name_MG_5263.CR2
File Size22.3MB
Camera ModelCanon EOS 600D
FirmwareFirmware Version 1.0.2 Powered By Magic Lantern Nightly
Shooting Date/Time12/28/2013 2:27:43 AM
AuthorMzytengaM
Copyright NoticeMzytengaM
Owner's Name
Shooting ModeManual Exposure
Tv(Shutter Speed)1.6
Av(Aperture Value)4.5
Metering ModeEvaluative Metering
ISO Speed3200
Auto ISO SpeedOFF
LensEF75-300mm f/4-5.6
Focal Length105.0mm
Image Size5184x3456
Aspect ratio3:2
Image QualityRAW
FlashOff
FE lockOFF
White Balance ModeColor Temperature(6000K)
AF ModeManual focusing
Picture StyleUser Defined 1(Auto)
Sharpness2
Contrast0
Saturation0
Color tone0
Color SpaceAdobe RGB
Long exposure noise reduction2:On
High ISO speed noise reduction2:Strong
Highlight tone priority1:Enable
Auto Lighting OptimizerDisable
Peripheral illumination correctionDisable
Dust Delete DataNo
Drive ModeSelf-Timer Operation
Live View ShootingON
Camera Body No.xxx
Comment
Taken using Skywatcher 80ED Pro (.85X FR), Nikon D3300, 188x30" lights (ISO 3200), 100 flats, 110, bias. Stacked in DeepSkyStacker and processed in Photoshop
Stack of six 20-second frames taken shortly before this photo.
The bright "star" is the planet Jupiter. There's a satellite trail visible just above the planet.
Skywatcher 150PDS
Celestron CG5
Nikon D90
86 x 20 s @ ISO3200
Total exp.: 29 min
DeepSkyStacker
GIMP 2.10
This is just practice! I set up my Orion mount with my unmodified Canon 40D, 1.4 Extender, and 70-200mm f/4L at 200 mm in my backyard in San Jose. Limiting magnitude due to light pollution and the nearly full moon is about 3. Indeed if I didn't know where to look, the Andromeda Galaxy is not visible to the naked eye - and it wasn't easy to find in binoculars, either.
Despite the obstacles of light pollution, an 80% illuminated moon, some less than perfect seeing and operating near the dew point, this was the result. I kept dew at bay using my Dew Not system - but I think I may not have needed it provided I didn't breath in the direction of the lens.
The effective focal length of this system is 448 mm. This is a crop of about 2/3 of the full frame.
For this image I used the full compliment of calibration frames (Lights, darks, bias and flat frames). By comparison see below for what I got when not using the bias and flat frames). NOTE: If this terminology doesn't make sense to you, don't feel badly. It took a while to make sense to me and that's why I decided to create a starter class (a Webinar!) on Astrophotography.
If you're interested in trying your hand at Astrophotography and would like to get going without bankrupting yourself, you might find my "Astrophotography 101: Getting Started Without Getting Soaked" webinar a great help - it might even save you 100s (or thousands) of dollars on equipment purchases. Because I must pay hosting fees, (and have spent days writing materials) I must charge for the class.
You can check here for the latest classes workshops and webinars.
© Copyright 2011, Steven Christenson blog Events
All rights reserved. Curious what "all rights reserved means?" it means that without written permission you may not: copy, transmit, modify, use, print or display this image in any context other than as it appears in Flickr.
The central region of the Milky Way at the intersection of Sagittarius, Ophinicus and Scorpius. Now annotated!
Gear Used:
-Camera: Canon EOS 350D (APS-C)
-Lens: Canon EF-S 18-55mm
-Mount: Nyxtech NyxTracker
Aquistion Details:
15x42" sub exposures
10.5 min total integration
ISO-1600
f/4.5
35mm focal length
Software Used:
RawTherapee
DeepSkyStacker
Pixinsight 1.6
rnc-colorstretch
Adobe Photoshop CS5.1
-HLVG Plugin
EXIF - 60X300" (5h), Gain 120
Calibration: Darks - 20, Bias - 20
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC Pro (cooled to -10°C)
Filter: Astronomik L-2 - UV IR Blockfilter 1,25"
Main optics: William Optics RedCat 51
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Guiding: William Optics UniGuide + ZWO ASI120MM Mini
Controller: ZWO ASIair Pro
Software: DeepSkyStacker + Pixinsight + Photoshop
Location: Sibenik, Croatia
Messier 78 to Alnitak. Not much signal from my backyard (relative to LP), and a lot of post-processing in my attempt to get an Ok picture.
Lens: Canon 300mm f/4, stopped down to 61mm (f/4.9)
Filter: Astronomik CLS
Mount: Celestron CG5 ASGT
Camera: Canon 450d mod BCF, 46F
Exposure: 30x4min ISO 400
Guided with PHD, SSAG, 9x50
Captured with BackyardEOS
Registered and stacked with DeepSkyStacker
Photographed from Round Rock TX (Orange zone)
My first session with the 12" Newtonian since May, and unfortunately not very successful due to the aberrations (coma and tllt) that distort the stars (I've cropped the worst of it out). It seems to be worst when I image objects high in the sky, while those closer to the horizon have better-shaped stars.
28 x 2-minute manually-guided exposures, ISO 3200, f/4, taken on 17 and 20 September. Modified EOS 600D & Revelation 12" Newtonian reflector telescope.
Frames registered and stacked in DeepSkyStacker software; curves adjusted in Canon Photo Professional; noise reduction in CyberLink PhotoDirector.
Update: I've added 12 more sub-exposures, taken on 20 Sept, re-stacked and reprocessed for a less noisy result than the original.
In 1054, Chinese astronomers took notice of a “guest star” that was, for nearly a month, visible in the daytime sky. The “guest star” they observed was actually a supernova explosion, which gave rise to the Crab Nebula, a six-light-year-wide remnant of the violent event.
With an apparent magnitude of 8.4 and located 6,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Taurus, the Crab Nebula can be spotted with a small telescope and is best observed in January. The nebula was discovered by English astronomer John Bevis in 1731, and later observed by Charles Messier who mistook it for Halley’s Comet. Messier’s observation of the nebula inspired him to create a catalog of celestial objects that might be mistaken for comets.
Telescope : T120 (www.obs-hp.fr/guide/t120.shtml)
Camera : Andor iKon-L 936 (www.obs-hp.fr/guide/camera-120/camera-120.shtml)
Filters : UBVRI Filter Set (www.obs-hp.fr/guide/camera-120/ubvri.shtml)
Acquisition :
Lights : RGB, total ~15min
Darks : no darks
Flats : 25 flats for each color
Bias : 25
Software :
Pre-processing : DeepSkyStacker
Processing : Siril, Pixinsight
Post-processing : Lightroom, Photoshop
Celestron CGEM 1100HD with Canon 60Da. Manual guiding using Celestron's off-axis guider and Orion's 12.5mm illuminated reticle eye piece.
Stack of 25 images taken at ISO 800 with 10 minute exposures. Dark frames and flats were taken after the session. DeepSkyStacker was used along with GIMP for PP.
This galaxy is about 22 million light-years away and is about 11 arc-min across (1/3rd the diameter of the moon. It is fairly bright at mag 9.5 but bad seeing made photographing it hard.
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), image taken at Colma di Sormano, Lombardy, Italy in the morning of 29/1/2023.
Tracking with equatorial mount, 53 light, 27 dark, 27 flat and 27 bias for a total of 13 min of integration.
Camera Model Name: Sony ILCE-7RM4
Lens Model: Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS
Exposure Time: 15 s
F Number: 5.6
ISO: 4000
Date/Time Original: 2023:01:29 03:42:24
Offset Time Original: +01:00
Software: Imaging Edge Desktop 3.5.01.11090 + DeepSkyStacker 4.2.6 + Gimp .10.32
IC2944 - Running Chicken Nebula
Imaging telescopes : Skywatcher Esprit 100ED APO Triplet
Imaging cameras: ZWO 1600MM-COOL
Mounts: Sky Watcher NEQ6 pro
Guiding telescopes : Skywatcher Esprit 100ED APO Triplet
Guiding cameras: ASI290MM
Software: Photoshop CC Photoshop · Astrophotography Tool · DeepSkyStacker 4.1.1 64bit Deepskystacker
Filters: Chroma 5nm HA · Chroma Sii 3nm · Chroma OIII 3nm
Accessory: ZWO EFW 36 mm Filter Wheel
Frames:
Chroma 5nm HA: 28x600" (gain: 139.00) -15C bin 1x1
Chroma OIII 3nm: 28x600" (gain: 139.00) -15C bin 1x1
Chroma Sii 3nm: 24x600" (gain: 139.00) -15C bin 1x1
Integration: 13.3 hours
Darks: ~30
Flats: ~30
Flat darks: ~30
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 6.00
Astrometry.net job: 3957246
RA center: 11h 37' 15"
DEC center: -63° 8' 48"
Pixel scale: 1.414 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: 91.300 degrees
Field radius: 1.104 degrees
Well wonders will never cease - we got a clear moonless night last night :)
This is Andromeda (well, some if it), and its two satellite galaxies M32 and M110. 2.5 million light years away and on a collision course with our galaxy, so don't worry too much about your pension ;)
This is my first serious attempt at M31, apart from a rather weak effort with the scope when I first started indulging in this masochistic activity. Considering how close it is (relatively speaking), the outer details of this thing are infuriatingly faint. This is 2 hours, so, in my ignorance, I expected a little bit more - the outer lanes would have been nice. We live and learn :)
Nikon D70 modded, 55-200 Nikkor at 200mm (cropped, a lot), f5.6, 800iso, Baader Neodymium filter.
30 x 4 min, unguided EQ5
Darks, flats and bias
Stacked and processed in DSS and CS5, with a little help from Noel's tools.
Reprocessed here.
IC 1396 is a star cluster surrounded by an area of (very faint, I discovered) nebulosity in the constellation Cepheus, about 2,400 light years away. The area contains the Elephant's Trunk Nebula, which you can't see clearly in the above image, but it is in there somewhere! The bright orange star to the left is the red supergiant Mu Cephei (μ Cephei), also known as Herschel's Garnet Star (garnet from the colour), and is one of the biggest and most luminous stars in our galaxy. It is 1650 times larger than our sun, and if placed where our sun is, it's radius would extend between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. It's a big fella!
This is the first iteration, and I will no doubt have several goes at this. One of the most difficult I've had to process, for three hours total exposure the noise was horrendous, and the signal weak. I'm sure there's more there, but I was constantly struggling against the noise and the most appalling colour gradients I've ever seen! First time I've managed 5 minute subs unguided, which is a result.
Nikon D70 full spectrum, 55-200 Nikkor at 175mm (cropped), f6.3, 1600iso, Baader Neodymium filter.
20 x 4 min and 20 x 5 min subs for a total of 3 hours (longest I've done so far), unguided EQ5
Darks, flats and bias
Stacked and processed in DSS and CS5, with a little help from Noel's tools.
Second iteration to follow once I've got rid of my headache and got about five hours to kill :)
While Comet Holmes is quite large (about 1° in width) it is much fainter than it was two months ago. However, Comet Tuttle is returning to the inner solar system. It's about magnitude 6 and just visible in dark skies. In light polluted city skies it is just barely visible. With a four 30-second exposures stacked and 7 dark frames subtracted I was able to tease out the faint green of Comet Tuttle.
On December 30 it will make its way toward the constellation Triangulum and come very close to the Triangulum Galaxy.
As I can't leave this stuff alone, thought I'd have another go at processing this, and also put it the right way up, just for fun. I'm missing Orion you see :)
I could be doing more important stuff of course! :)
Old data from March this year - given the treatment :) Go away, moon and clouds!
SW 200p/EQ5, Nikon D70 modded iso 1600
48 x 60 second subs unguided
Stacked in DSS, processed in CS5.
Milky way caputred with fisheye lens attached to canon 450d with 10 images of 30 secs each stacked in deepskystacker with default settings.
Orion's Belt and Sword, M42 Orion Nebula (right) and IC434 Horsehead and NGC2024 Flame Nebulae (left) - widefield (approx 8.5deg across) - 15-Dec-2014 Zeiss Sonnar Apo 135/2 lens on Astrotrac TT320X-AG mount - Canon 60Da camera + Hutech IDAS LPR Filter, 33 frames (240sec) + 22 frames (30sec) 135mm @ f/2.0 ISO400 - Total Exp: 2h23m + 20+27 Darks + 29 EL panel flats, stacked with DeepSkyStacker, post-processed with Photoshop CC/Lightroom/Nebulosity 3
Another section of the Milky Way from my back yard. This one includes the constellation Delphinus to the far left, and Brocchi's Cluster (or the Coathanger) upper middle.
18 x 5min @ ISO 800
Stacked with DeepSkyStacker
Canon 350D (modified)
Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L
AstroTrac TT320
M82 (Cigar Galaxy) taken on 18 Sep 13. H-Alpha 1x900s & 6x600s, RGB 6x300s (2x2 binned) darks,bias,flats added. Stacked in DeepSkyStacker & processed in PS2.
Camera: Atik 314L+
Scope: Celestron C8 with 6.3 F/reducer.
Mount: AZ EQ6-GT goto, PhD guided with Orion SSAG through OAG.
OTA: Celestron C10N, 10" newtonian reflector
Starizona Nexus 0.75x coma corrector (for f/3.75)
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM
Filters: Baader CMOS-Optimized
Exposure: CLS-CCD Lum 98x2min, RGB each 10x2min, Ha 7x10min
Mount: CEM70G
Captured with SGP
Registered and stacked with DeepSkyStacker
Photographed from Round Rock TX (light pollution zone: red)
Date Oct.2014 Iwaki-City Fukushima Japan
ISO1600 360sec. * 10*4MOSAIC (total exposure 240 min.)
Camera : Astronomically customized Canon EOS 6D
Telescope : Takahashi FS60CB with RD0.72
Tracking Mount : Takahashi P-2 with HD-4
Guiding Camera : QHY5L-Ⅱ Mono
Guiding Telescope : COSMICAR 50ｍｍ F1.8
Auto Guide Software : PHD Guiding and others
Softwear：DeepSkyStacker ,Photoshop CS6(CC)
Caught this before sunrise. I wanted to get a wider field of view, but I had to crop because of coma.
Exposure: 7x120s, ISO1250
Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Lens: Auto Reveunon 55mm f/1.4 @f/4
Software: DeepSkyStacker, Krita, Darktable
Localisation : CastresmallObservatory (Castres, Tarn - France)
Acquisition Date : 2016-12-06
Auteur/Author : ROUGÉ Pierre
Mouture/mount : Orion Atlas EQ-G
Tube/Scope : Sigma 80-200 (f 3.5-4) @ 200mm-f4
Autoguiding : Skywatcher Synguider (v1.1) & Meade ETX 70/350 mm
Camera : Canon EOS 400D (Digital Rebel Xti) refiltré Astrodon in Side (modded Astrodon in Side)
+ EOS CLIP CLS Astronomik
Exposure : 90 minutes [30 subexposures of 180 sec each (selected from 30)] @ ISO 800
Calibration : Dark & Bias : 4/11 @ ISO 800 - Flat & Dark-Flat : 9 @ ISO 400
Temps/Weather : Bonne transparence. Vent nul. T=5°C. Humidité faible.
Constellation : Aurigae/Cocher
Software Used : Astro Photograph Tool (v3.20), DeepSkyStacker 3.3.6, Pixinsight LE, PhotoShop 7, xnview, Noiseware Community Edition
my very first astro picture! :) sony a6000, Minolta MD Tele Rokkor 2.8/135 @ f4, 1s@ISO3200 on static tripod, 12 Lightframes, 11 Darkframes, 11 Flatframes stacked in DeepSkyStacker
More deep sky stacking fun. I went out again tonight, and filled up the CF card in the camera with 2 second exposures. the moon wasn't quite up yet, so I think the background sky was a little darker. However, the resulting exposure didn't look significantly better than the one from yesterday.
So I decided to combine all the exposures from yesterday and today to see how that looked.
This works out at a combined exposure of about 12 minutes.
Bubble nebula "true color" narrowband: 21X1200"Ha, 12X1200"Oiii, 12X1200"Sii SVR90T OTA, Atik 428ex, AP900, DeepSkyStacker, Photoshop levels, curves, blending, guided with Orion SSAG and Orion ShortTube guidescope.
Riccardo Rossi / ISAA
23:15 CEST - 18 Lug 2020 - Lama Mocogno (MO)
NIKON D90 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF-S
Focale 24mm - Apertura f/2.8 - Posa 30” a 800 ISO
Treppiede motorizzato EQ3
Stacking di 14 scatti con DeepSkyStacker
Telescope: SkyWatcher Black Diamond ED80 + Reducer 0.85x
OTA: SkyWatcher Ηeq5 Pro
Guiding: SkyWatcher 9x50 Finder με ZWO ASI120 MM
CCD: ATIK 414ex
Filter: Baader L
Proccess: DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4, Adobe Photoshop CS6
L : 125x56
Darks : 10
bias : 45
Flats : 45
Dark Flats : 45
Not a bad view, eh? Sitting and looking at the ocean is always a restful, soothing experience for me. Sitting and lThis image of Orion and its surrounds was created using the iOptron SkyTracker and my unmodded Canon EOS 6D plus Canon 40mm STM lens. The photo shows lots of stars and some significant deep-sky features. I expected to be able to photograph M42 (Orion Nebula) and got it but it’s overexposed here. The one feature of this part of the sky that I was wanting to capture was Barnard’s Loop and I’m happy that I achieved that goal. As well as these two wonders I snagged the Witch Head Nebula (very faint), the Running Man Nebula, IC434 & the Horsehead Nebula, plus the Flame Nebula. The Rosette and Lambda Orionis Nebulae, the much smaller and fainter vDB 38 Nebula and the Christmas Tree Cluster are also visible.
I’ve had the tracking mount for about three years but haven’t used it more than a handful of times. Initially I struggled with achieving polar alignment and after my first few attempts the tracker ended up languishing in a cupboard for around eighteen months. Whether it’s the “proper” way or not I’ve found that using some electronic spirit levels and my iPhone’s Compass app I can achieve polar alignment much more reliably than any method I’ve tried previously.
The source images for this composite were as follows:
Lights:x49 framesCanon EOS 6D, Canon 40mm STM f/2.8 lens @ f/3.2, 60 second exp @ ISO 1600
Darks:x5 framesCanon EOS 6D, Canon 40mm STM f/2.8 lens @ f/3.2, 60 second exp @ ISO 1600
Bias:x15 framesCanon EOS 6D, Canon 40mm STM f/2.8 lens @ f/3.2, 1/4000 second exp @ ISO 1600
Stacking was done using Deep Sky Stacker running in the Wineskin wrapper on an iMac. I used the “MiniSTARS” Photoshop action for star reduction photographingspace.com/product/ministars/?utm_source=ps&a... at a starry sky fills me with awe and wonder. This seat on Tarandore Point at Tuross Head, Australia, provides the best of both of these experiences. Access is free and more often than not you’ll be the only person there to take it all in.
The photo was taken with a Canon EOS 6D, a Rokinon 24mm lens @ f/2.4, 13-second exposure @ ISO 6400.
Finally I managed to capture a decent image of M31 and its two satellite galaxies. I really need to try it with 2 minute exposures one day.
Exposure: 47x60s, ISO 800
Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Lens: Konica Hexar 200mm f/4 with external aperture mask
Mount: EQ3-2
Software: DeepSkyStacker, Darktable, Krita
Manually guided for 7 x 7-minute exposures at ISO 1600, f/6.25. Modified EOS 600D & Sky-Watcher ED80 refractor, piggybacked on a Celestron C8 telescope for guiding.
Registered and stacked using DeepSkyStacker; initial curves adjusted in Canon Photo Professional; final curves and colour balance adjusted using Paint Shop Pro; noise reduction via CyberLink PhotoDirector.
Image taken with a Nikon D750 and Zenithstar 61 scope, mounted to the iOptron SkyGuider Pro.
Stacked in DeepSkyStacker, then processed in Photoshop.
57x240sec ISO1600 Skywatcher Esprit 100mm F5.5 Apo triplet with full spectrum modified Canon 6D and Astronomik L (IR/UV cut off) filter. 20Dark frames,20Flat frames,65Bias frames. Stacked in DeepSkyStacker and processed in Pixinsight. Date: 09-aug-2015. Not an easy target.......
C9.25 @ f/10 and SX Trius 694 attached to filter wheel and OAG all riding on an EQ6 Pro. Five subs at 900 seconds each through an H alpha filter during the time of full Moon, stacked in Deepskystacker and processed in PS CS2,darks and flats subtracted.
Taken 26/02/2021
Last of the photos from my Christmas/New Year astronomy sessions.
Manually, off-axis guided for 9 x 4-minute exposures at ISO 1600, f/4.
Modified EOS 600D & Revelation 12" Newtonian reflector telescope.
Registered and stacked using DeepSkyStacker; initial curves adjusted in Canon Photo Professional; final curves & colour-balance adjusted using Paint Shop Pro; noise reduction via CyberLink PhotoDirector.
Taken using Skywatcher 80ED Pro (.85X FR), Nikon D3300, 102x30" lights (ISO 3200), 100 flats, 110 bias. Stacked in DeepSkyStacker and processed in Photoshop
The Eagle Nebula (catalogued as Messier 16 or M16, and as NGC 6611) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens. Its name derives from its shape that is thought to resemble an eagle. It contains several active star-forming gas and dust regions, including the famous "Pillars of Creation", photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Optical Rig
MOUNT: Meade LX850 w/ Starlok
SCOPE: Stellarvue SV105-3SV
REDUCER: SFF7-3SV Field Flattener
CAMERA: Canon 550D Full Spectrum Mod by Gary Honis
FILTER: Astronomik L-UV/IR Filter
SOFTWARE: Nebulosity 3
Exposures
19 1-min 1600 ISO @ f3.5 (19min)
11 2-min 1600 ISO @ f3.5 (22min)
5 5-min 800 ISO @ f3.5 (25min)
5 5-min 1600 ISO @ f3.5 (25min)
Total Exposure Time 91 minutes
Image Processing
STACKER: Deep Sky Stacker
RAW EDIT: Adobe Lightroom
Operating System - Windows 8.1 64bit
Shot on the Natchez Trace Parkway at the Meriwether Lewis Monument.
Camera: EM1 Mark II
Lens/Telescope: Prime Focus with Stellarvue 80mm f6 Achromatic Refractor (Nighthawk Classic)
Subs: 10 x 60s, ISO 6400
Darks: 10
Flats: 30
Dark Flats: 30
Bias: 30
Mount: Celestron ASGT EQ (unguided)
Location: Bortle Scale 5
Software: DeepSkySTacker, Lightroom, Photoshop
We had a cloudless night last night, but the transparency was appalling (could only see The Pleiades with averted vision!). But as it was the first clear night in a month, I decided to have a go. Seven frames in and the fog descended with a vengeance, so this is just 7 x 4 minutes. Very pleased with this considering the conditions and small number of subs, and gives me hope for a much better image when the conditions improve. Hopefully then I'll pick up some of the fainter stuff :)
Nikon D70 modded, 55-200 Nikkor at 200mm (full frame), f5.6, 1600iso, Baader Neodymium filter.
7 x 4 min subs for a total of 28 mins, unguided EQ5
Darks, flats and bias
Stacked and processed in DSS and CS5.
This photo was taken from Silchester, Hampshire, UK (51.35 long, 1.06667 lat).on 24 September 2013 between 9.30pm and 10.00pm.
The photo is composed of 20 exposures of 90 seconds at ISO 6400 with four dark frames subtracted and all stacked using deepskystacker.
The California Nebula is an emission nebula located in the constellation Perseus. It is almost 2.5° long in the sky and, because of its very low surface brightness, it is extremely difficult to capture. As a result, I'm quite pleased with this imagine.
My equipment is a modified Canon EOS 1100D, a Sky Watcher ED80 telescope and an EQ3-2 Mount with an RA motor. I also used a UHC filter to help remove some of the light pollution.
orion widefield. taken from the LP capital of the world: oakland, CA.
canon 50d (unmodified) and canon 50mm f/1.2L lens, mounted on an orion sky view pro. astronomik CLS clip-in fliter. polar alignment using orion spotting scope. unguided.
night 1: 1m45s x 62f at ISO640 and f/3.2. 1h48m total.
night 2: 1m45s x 58f at ISO800 and f/5. 1h38m total.
night 1 and night 2 individually stacked in deepskystacker using auto-adaptive weighted average. 20 bias frames and 20 darks each.
then, night 1 final image and night 2 final image stacked together using average mode, for a total of 3h26min.
postprocessing in pixinsight 1.5:
- automatic background extraction to take care of a wicked sky gradient.
- deconvolution
- noise reduction
- 6 separate histogram stretches
then, image fusion of the 6 stretches using enfuse. this step is needed because M42 is so bright that it is completely blown out when the image is stretched enough to bring out barnard's loop.
final tweaks in lightroom 2.0; a little bit of color balancing and contrast adjustments.
lastly another run at noise reduction in noise ninja. if i knew how to use pixinsight better this would probably not be necessary.
notes:
this is kind of weak sauce and likely what you could get in just a few minutes of imaging from a dark site. also i should probably get a camera with the IR cut filter removed...
on night 1 i was anxious to get going since orion only clears the roof of my house about 11:30pm these days. i meant to shoot more to the left to pick up all of barnard's loop, but it was still obscured by my house.
it turns out that either i have a bad copy of this lens, or its just not well suited for astrophotography. even stopped down from its native f/1.2 to f/3.2, there is still a LOT of red CA. i may have been slightly misfocused as well. luckily it's just a rental, as it is a very expensive lens.
so on night 2 i stopped down to f/5, but cranked the ISO. the CA was reduced, but it's still there. i probably should have gone for longer exposures too. the only problem is that there's so much skyglow that i could probably only do 3 minutes tops even at f/5 without overexposing the bottom of the image.
having said all of that i'm sort of amazed to see the slightest bit of witch head goin' on over there.
i'll probably continue to work on this widefield over the coming months.
Orion's Belt and Sword, M42 Orion Nebula (right) and IC434 Horsehead and NGC2024 Flame Nebulae (left) - widefield (approx 8.5deg across) - 15-Dec-2014 Zeiss Sonnar Apo 135/2 lens on Astrotrac TT320X-AG mount - Canon 60Da camera + Hutech IDAS LPR Filter, 33 frames (240sec) + 22 frames (30sec) 135mm @ f/2.0 ISO400 - Total Exp: 2h23m + 20+27 Darks + 29 EL panel flats, stacked with DeepSkyStacker, post-processed with Photoshop CC/Lightroom/Nebulosity 3
4x20s ISO800
1 Flat Dark - 1 Master Dark
Fuji FinePix S1 Pro
Nikkor 28-80mm F3.3-5.6G at 28mm F3.3
Deep Sky Stacker
(Scusate la compressione degradante del JPEG ma però non riuscivo a caricare il RAW)
Imaging telescopes or lenses: Skywatcher Explorer 130 PDS
Imaging cameras: Canon 600 astro-modificated
Mounts: Celestron Advanced VX Goto
Software: Photoshop, DeepSkyStacker, Fitswork
Filters: Astronomik Clip-Filter (EOS) / CLS
Resolution: 2268x1511
Dates: April 19, 2015
Frames: Astronomik Clip-Filter (EOS) / CLS: 110x50" ISO800
Integration: 1.5 hours
Flats: ~25
Avg. Moon age: 0.24 days
Avg. Moon phase: 0.07%
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 7.00