Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year
View allAll Photos Tagged deepspace
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Fun with the California nebula in HaRGBL&OIII
moonrocksastro.com/index.php/astro-blog/
Ha was added to the Red channel then combined to produce an RGB image. Then Ha + OIII was used a luminance layer and OIII colour blue was layered though a masking process in Ps to create separation.
Imaging telescopes or lenses: Vixen VSD
Imaging cameras: Starlight Express SXVR-H18
Mounts: MX
Guiding telescopes or lenses: Vixen VSD
Guiding cameras: sx loadstar
Software: PixInsight 1.8, Sequence Generator Pro, Photoshop CS5, PHD, Main Sequence Software
Filters: Baader H-alpha 3.5 Nm, Baader O III 8.5nm
Accessories: Starlight Xpress USB filter wheel
Frames:
Baader Ha 3.5nm: 10x1800"
Baader O III 8.5nm: 20x1800"
Integration: 15 hours
Plus RGBL 400x 10 in each
Locations: Home observatory, Valencia, Spain
What is there to see in that deep space........ or is there nothing.....?
For the Macro Mondays theme "Negative Space"
Bubbles Prelude
#sliderssunday
Tomorrow's Macro Mondays theme is "Bubbles". Back in May 2021, I had experimented with photographing soap bubble planets for the theme "Soap". Back then, I had four nice-looking, usable images of rainbow planets in the end, and I've always wanted to upload the other three photos, one at a time, "peu à peu", but somehow, I never got around to doing so. But what better opportunity to present one of these "outtakes" is there than the eve of another "bubbly" theme. So here it is: rainbow planet No. 2 :) Duly overprocessed for Sliders Sunday with several mask layers in Lightroom and some extra vibrancy added in Color Efex with the "Reflector Efex" filter.
You can find a link to my original "Soap" theme photo in the first comment. If you are interested in how to photograph soap bubble planets, you'll also find links to a few tutorials in the description of that first bubble planet photo.
I will try and take some new bubbles for tomorrow's "Bubbles" MM theme, let's see if I can come up with anything nice, if not, I'll skip ;) Wishing you a lovely first Sunday of Advent and Happy Sliders Sunday, dear Flickr friends!
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IC 443 (also known as the faint and elusive Jellyfish Nebula Jellyfish Nebula and Sharpless 248 (Sh2-248)) is a Galactic supernova remnant (SNR) in the constellation Gemini. Flanked by two bright stars, Mu and Eta Geminorum. Its distance is roughly 5,000 light years from Earth. At that distance, this image would be about 300 light-years across.
Integration: 55 hours
Imaging telescopes or lenses: Vixen VSD
Imaging cameras: Starlight Express SXVR-H18
Mounts: Sky-Watcher MX
Guiding telescopes or lenses:Vixen VSD
Guiding cameras: sx loadstar
Software: Sequence Generator Pro, PHD, Photoshop CS5
Filters: Baader Ha, OIII & SII
Accessories: Starlight Xpress USB filter wheel, Baader Planetarium 36mm narrowband filters
This is a three minute exposure of the Milky Way, taken from the low mountain range in Styria, Austria.
This region is a Bortle 2 or 3 - you could see the entire structure of the Milky Way above your head with your bare eyes. It was a clear night in late august, perfect for stargazing.
Although this night was planned ahead, it was a beautiful sight that I will never forget and still much more beautiful than I imagined it to be.
5 hours of exposure from the light polluted skies of Stockholm. Pretty view I think with the green head of the comet.
Telescope WO Magrez90, camera ASI294MM Date january 27 at 01:00 560 x 30s exposure with RGB filters.
Processed in PixInsight
The California Nebula is an emission nebula located in the constellation Perseus. It is so named because it appears to resemble the outline of the US State of California on long exposure photographs
moonrocksastro.com/index.php/2015/12/02/california-nebula...
California Nebula in bicolour.
Imaging telescopes or lenses: Vixen VSD
Imaging cameras: Starlight Express SXVR-H18
Mounts: MX
Guiding telescopes or lenses: Vixen VSD
Guiding cameras: sx loadstar
Software: PixInsight 1.8, Sequence Generator Pro, Photoshop CS5, PHD, Main Sequence Software
Filters: Baader H-alpha 3.5 Nm, Baader O III 8.5nm
Accessories: Starlight Xpress USB filter wheel
Resolution: 3283x2482
Dates: Nov. 3, 2015, Nov. 5, 2015, Nov. 9, 2015
Frames:
Baader Ha 3.5nm: 10x1800"
Baader O III 8.5nm: 20x1800"
Integration: 15 hours
Locations: Home observatory, Valencia, Spain
M 82 Cigar Galaxy HaLRGB
Messier 82 was discovered in 1774 by Johann Elert Bode, rediscovered by Pierre Mechain August 1779 who reported them to Charles Messier, who added them to his catalog in 1781.
M 82 is the prototype irregular starburst disk galaxy. In the core of M 82, the active starburst region spans a diameter of 500 parsecs.
Tendrils of material extend away from the nucleus, suggesting a colossal explosion. Studies have revealed filaments expanding outward from M 82 at 600 miles per second.
Imaged over 5 nights from my home in Gérgal, Spain.
A higher resolution image with imaging details can be found on my Astrobin page at: astrob.in/full/amhw1l/0/
Thank you for looking.
Technical summary:
Captured: 26,27,28-02-2023 & 02,03-03-2023
Imaging Sessions: 5
Location: Gérgal, Andalucía, Spain
Bortle Class: 4
Total Integration: 32h 28m
Filters:
Red 349x 60s 5h 49m BIN 3 Gain 100 -5C SQM 20.7
Green 300x 60s 5h 00m BIN 3 Gain 100 -5C SQM 20.7
Blue 300x 60s 5h 00m BIN 3 Gain 100 -5C SQM 20.7
UV/IR 484x 60s 8h 04m BIN 3 Gain 100 -5C SQM 20.7
Ha 103x 300s 8h 35m BIN 3 Gain 100 -5C SQM 20.7
Pixel Scale: 0.33 arcsec/pixel
Telescope: Celestron C11 Edge HD 2800mm fl
Image Camera: ZWO ASI 6200MM Pro
Guiding: ZWO OAG L with ZWO ASI 192MM Mini
Filters: Astronomik R, G, B, UV/IR, Ha
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6R Pro
Computer: Minix NUC
Capture software: NINA, PHD2
Processing Software: PixInsight, Adobe Lightroom
A re-process of the Heart and Soul nebula mosaic that I've not looked at for over 2 years.
For interest the original can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/swag72/9855898385
I'd welcome your thoughts on the comparison.
An interesting title you may think and you may wonder why I have written artistic impression........
Firstly let me say that the raw data for this 'experiment' is all mine and has been recently acquired. There is nothing new there. What I have then done is considered the processing and have coined a term 'Monochrome channel mapping'. What this means is that this image has been 'created' using ONLY Ha data, there is nothing more in there.
This is an experimentation processing technique that will horrify some and perhaps please others that this can be obtained by only having to acquire Ha data - In fact lets not be so prescriptive, the same could be done with any single filter data if the signal was sufficient.
So I hope that you enjoy this experiment and the debate that it may bring within yourself. I hope that I won't get burnt at the stake for heresy........
Details
M: Avalon Linear Fast reverse
T: Takahashi FSQ85 0.73x
C: QSI683 ws-g with Astrodon 3nm Ha filter
39x900s in Ha totalling 9h45m of exposure.
Went camping this weekend in Ontario and found a great water front view of the milky way.
This image is a composition of 5 pictures taken with high ISO (3200) blended to remove the noise.
NGC4565 (also known as the Needle galaxy or Caldwell 38) is an edge-on spiral galaxy about 30 to 50 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices.
It is known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile. First spotted in 1785 by Sir William Herschel (1738–1822), it is one of the most famous examples of an edge-on spiral galaxy.
NGC4565 is a giant spiral galaxy more luminous than the Andromeda Galaxy and it has been proposed that if it were viewed face-on, it would be the most spectacular of the galaxies of its type in the nearby Universe.
Details
M: Mesu 200
T: ODK10
C: QSI683 with Baader LRGB filters
50x1800s Luminance
24x600s for Red, green and blue filters
Total exposure 37 hours 30 minutes.
IC1871, part of the Soul Nebula also known as Sh2-199 and LBN667 is about 7500 light years distant in the constellation Cassiopeia.
This is a crop of the central area for the Soul Nebula.
Mount: Avalon Linear Fast Reverse
Telescope: Orion Optics ODK10
Camera: QSI683 with Astrodon 3nm Ha, OIII and SII filters
22x1800s Ha
17x1800s OIII
14x1800s SII Totalling 25.5 hours.
NGC 1333 is the currently most active region of star formation in the Perseus molecular cloud. It was first discovered by Eduard Schonfeld in 1855 and is a bright reflection nebula in the western portion of the Perseus molecular cloud. The star BD +30◦549 illuminates NGC 1333 and was found to be a B8 spectral type. It is approximately 1000 light years away and is about 15 light years in diameter.
I rarely capture data on LRGB targets, so this has been a baptism of fire for me!!
Details
M: Avalon Linear Fast Reverse
T: Orion Optics ODK10
C: QSI683 with Baader LRGB filters
Luminance 60x600s
Red, Green and Blue 30x600s for each filter
Totalling 25 hours of exposure.
Situated 7500 light years away in the ‘W’-shaped constellation of Cassiopeia, the Heart Nebula is a vast region of glowing gas, energized by a cluster of young stars at its centre. The image depicts the central region, where dust clouds are being eroded and moulded into rugged shapes by the searing cosmic radiation.
Details
M: Avalon Linear fast reverse
T: AT 8" RC CF
C: QSI690-wsg with 3nm Ha and OIII filters
17x1800s Ha
9x1800s OIII
This is a reprocess of data that I have never been happy with - I hope to tackle this target again sometime soon :)
Contains: NGC 3077, M 82, NGC 3034, M 81, Bode's nebulae, NGC 3031
it's galaxy season again!
M81 and M82 are a pair of galaxies in the constellation Ursa Major.M81 (Bode’s Galaxy), M82 (Cigar Galaxy) and part of IFN, Messier 81 (Bode’s Galaxy or NGC 3031) and Messier 82 (Cigar Galaxy or NGC 3034) are respectively spiral and starburst galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. This couple is seen through the faint glow of an Integrated Flux Nebulae
Integration: 46.0 hours
Imaging telescopes or lenses: Ian King Ikharos 8" RC
Imaging cameras: Starlight Express SXVR-H18
Mounts: Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro
Guiding telescopes or lenses: Ian King Ikharos 8" RC
Guiding cameras: sx loadstar
Software: PixInsight 1.8, PHD, Main Sequence Software, Photoshop CS5
Filters: Baader Luminance 2"
Accessories: Starlight Xpress USB filter wheel
Light pollution in my location is a problem when dealing with faint luminace data such as finer galaxy detail and flux nebula. My home location is simply not dark enough
This image is made up of Wide field data from 2016 and close up data from 2015
Vixen 2016
Baader B 2'': 10x900
Baader G 2": 10x900
Baader R 2":10x900
Lume 900 x 45
RC 2015
Baader B 2'': 40x600"
Baader Ha 8.5nm: 8x1800"
Baader G 2": 40x600"
Baader R 2": 40x600"
Lume 15 x 40
Locations: Home observatory, Valencia, Spain
The Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101, M101 or NGC 5457) is a face-on spiral galaxy distanced 21 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major, first discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 27, 1781.
M101 is a large galaxy comparable in size to the Milky Way. With a diameter of 170,000 light-years it is roughly equal the size of the Milky Way. It has a disk mass on the order of 100 billion solar masses, along with a small central bulge of about 3 billion solar masses.
Details:
Mount: Mesu 200
Telescope: ODK10
Camera: QSI683 withBaader RGB filters and 3nm Ha Astrodon filter
Luminance 54x1800s
RGB 25x600s in each filter
Ha 17x1800s
This is 48 hours worth of data.
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Gamma Cygni lies at the center of the Northern Cross
Imaging telescope: Vixen VSD 100 f/3
Imaging camera: 9.2mp Sony SX814
Mount: Software Bisque Paramount MX
Guiding telescope or lens: Vixen VSD 100 f/3
Filters: Chroma SII 3nm, Chroma OIII 3nm, Chroma Ha 3nm
Accessories: Chroma OIII 3nm, Chroma Ha 3 nm
Frames:12x1800"x3
Integration: 18 hours
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Galaxy season continues with a look at the Needle Galaxy or Caldwell 38 an edge-on spiral galaxy about 30 to 50 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices.
moonrocksastro.com/index.php/astro-blog/
The 10th magnitude galaxy sits perpendicular to our own Milky Way galaxy and is almost directly above the North Galactic Pole Needle Galaxy L x 65 bin 2x2 + rgb
Contains: NGC 4565, IC 3543, NGC 4562
Camera SXH18
Imaging telescope or lens: Ian King Ikharos 8" RC
The Crescent Nebula (also known as NGC 6888, Caldwell 27, Sharpless 105) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, about 5000 light-years away. It was discovered by Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in 1792. It is formed by the fast stellar wind from the Wolf-Rayet star WR 136 (HD 192163) colliding with and energizing the slower moving wind ejected by the star when it became a red giant around 250,000 to 400,000 years ago. The result of the collision is a shell and two shock waves, one moving outward and one moving inward. The inward moving shock wave heats the stellar wind to X-ray-emitting temperatures.
Details
M: Mesu 200
T: Orion Optics ODK10
C: QSI683 with 3nm Ha and OIII filter, Baader RGB filters
50x1800s in Ha
51x1800ss in OIII
15x300s in each RGB
Totalling 54hrs 15 mins
First astro party after a long time. Layers of dust and some clouds end our gathering a little early but it was nice to meet everyone again!
Messier 81 (also known as NGC 3031 ) is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major.
Messier 81 was first discovered by Johann Elert Bode on December 31, 1774. Consequently, the galaxy is sometimes referred to as "Bodes Galaxy".
Messier 82 (also knows as NGC 3034) is a starburst galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major.
Messier 82 is commonly referred to as the Cigar Galaxy.
Ursa Major is approximately 11.7 million light years from Earth. The distance from M81 to M82 is 150,000 light years.
M81 and M82 are best seen during the spring.
Equipment:
Astro-Tech AT80EDT f/6 ED Triple Refractor Telescope
Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount
Orion 50mm Helical Guide Scope & StarShoot AutoGuider
Orion 38mm clear-aperture Field Flattener
PHD2 Guiding Software
Astronomy Tool Actions
Thank you for your comments,
Gemma
Located within the Cygnus constellation, the Gamma Cygnus nebula is not often imaged on it's own as it's part of a much larger complex,
The dark nebula in here looks like ink and shows the turmoil in the area.
Details:
M: Mesu 200
T: Orion Optics ODK10
C: QSI683 with 3nm Astrodon Ha, OIII and SII filters
47x1800s Ha
30x1800s OIII
30x1800s SII
Total of 53 hours and 30 mins exposure.
This is data that is about 18 months old .... It was shouting out for a reprocess!!
The North America Nebula (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The remarkable shape of the emission nebula resembles that of the continent of North America, complete with a prominent Gulf of Mexico. The North America Nebula is large, covering an area of more than four times the size of the full moon; but its surface brightness is low, so normally it cannot be seen with the unaided eye. The North America Nebula and the nearby Pelican Nebula, (IC 5070) are in fact parts of the same interstellar cloud of ionized hydrogen. The distance of the nebula complex is though to be approx 1800 light years away.
Details
M: Avalon Linear Fast reverse
T: Takahashi FSQ85 0.73x
C: QSI690-wsg with 3nm Ha filter
This is a 2x2 pane mosaic
29x1800s in Ha
30x1800s in OIII
Total exposure time 29 hours and 30 minutes
Sharpless 101 (Sh2-101) is a H II region emission nebula located in the constellation Cygnus. It is sometimes also called the Tulip Nebula because it appears to resemble the outline of a tulip when imaged photographically. It was catalogued by astronomer Stewart Sharpless in his 1959 catalog of nebulae. It lies at a distance of about 6,000 light-years (5.7×1016 km; 3.5×1016 mi) from Earth.
Details
M: Mesu 200
T: ODK10
C: QSI683 with 3nm Ha, OIII and SII Astrodon filters
25x1800s Ha
25x1800s OIII
24x1800s SII
Total exposure time 37 hours
Suspended so beautifully in the dark night sky...
Captured handheld this evening with my Nikon D500 and the 200-500mm f/5.6...
-- f/8
-- 1/40th a sec.
-- 8-21-2021
-- Sheboygan, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
Enjoy!
The Andromeda Galaxy, M31, is the nearest spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way...and it's growing nearer every second.
See on Fluidr
To see more of my work and to buy prints visit www.jklovelacephotography.com/pages/space
Canon 1200D with EF50mm 1.8 STM.
Sky: ISO 6400,f1.8, 8s total 256 frames. (3 Rows)
Foreground: ISO 3200, f2.0, 6s total 96 frames. (2 Rows)
Vast clouds of Hydrogen, Sulphur, Oxygen, and dust swirl around bright young stars. The "lower back" region of IC 1848, the Soul Nebula.
To see more of my work and to buy prints visit www.jklovelacephotography.com/pages/space
The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy 2.73 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. Technical Info:
56 x 180 sec. . OPTOLONG L-eNhance filter
52 x 180 sec. ZWO Red filter
47 x 180 sec. ZWO Green filter
46 x 180 sec. Zwo Blue filter
Gain 200, Offset 50, Binning 1x1
Total Integration 10 hours
Explore Scientific 102mm f/7 APO Refractor
Sensor cooled to -15°C on ZWO ASI1600MM Pro (mono)
Calibration frames: Bias, Darks, and Flats.
Plate Solve-PlateSolver 2 via N.I.N.A. 1.11
Image processing Pixinsight 1.8.8-9, and Photoshop CC 202