View allAll Photos Tagged deepspace
The large dark nebula (NGC 281A that makes up this "gaping mouth" is a molecular cloud made up predominantly of molecular hydrogen, but also dust and other gases. New generations of solar systems are being forged within its cold interior. Once these young stars' fusion engines switch on they will irradiate their surroundings - heating up, ionizing and eroding away the remaining dark material from which they formed.
Originally the whole Pac-Man nebula would have been one large dark molecular cloud - the stars that formed early on at its centre having progressively hollowed out the centre of the nebula. The gas in and around this central region is ionized by the copious UV radiation emitted by the central open star cluster (IC 1490), causing it to glow and providing the light by which this narrowband image was taken.
Location Image: London UK
Date: Various dates throughout Sept and October 2015
Telescope: Skywatcher Espirt 100ED
CCD: QHY9S MONO CCD
Filters: Chroma 3nm Ha, Chroma 3nm SII and Chroma 3nm OIII ( Taken during High moon transit )
Ha 1200s x 18
SII 1200s x 10
OIII 1200s x 10
Mount Ioprton CEM60
A "quick" project between the last couple of new moons. LBN 328 (IC 5068) seems to be an often ignored region, located right "under" the North America and Pelican nebulae. This project was a bit over 38 hours of SHO narrowband combined in a "dynamic" palette that blends the traditional SHO color scheme with a more complex version of combining narrowband data.
- Location: Remote Observatory (Bortle 1, SQM 21.99) near Fort Davis, TX
- Total Exposure Time: 38.92 Hours
Equipment:
- Scope: Esprit 100ED w/ 1x Flattener
- Imaging Camera: QHY 268M
- Filters: Chroma 5nm Ha/3nm Oiii/3nm Sii (36mm)
- Mount: Astro Physics Mach1GTO
- Guidescope: SVBony 50mm Guidescope
- Guide camera: ASI 120mm mini
- Focuser: Moonlite Nitecrawler WR35
- Accessories: Pegasus Ultimate Powerbox v2, QHY Polemaster, Optec Alnitak Flip Flat
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Software:
- N.I.N.A for image acquisition, platesolving, and framing
- PHD2 for guiding
- PixInsight for processing
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Acquisition:
- Ha: 87 x 5m
- Oiii: 185 x 5m
- Sii: 195 x 5m
- All images at Gain 56, Offset 25 (Readout mode 1) and -5C sensor temperature
- 20 flats per filter
- Master Dark & Bias from Library
- Nights: 5/13-5/15, 5/18, 5/19, 6/7, 6/11-6/13, 6/17/22
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Processing:
- BatchPreprocessing for calibration
- StarAlignment and ImageIntegration of all masters
Ha Processing:
- DynamicCrop
- DynamicBackgrounExtraction
- NoiseXterminator
- StarNetv2 to remove stars
- GeneralizedHyperbolicStretch for initial stretch
- HistogramTransformation x 2 for further stretch
- CurvesTransformation for contrast
Oiii/Sii Processing (apply to each master):
- DynamicCrop
- DynamicBackgroundExtraction
- NoiseXterminator
- StarAlignment to Ha master
- Duplicate and make one version starless via Starnet2
- GeneralizedHyperbolicStretch for initial stretch
- HistogramTransformation x2 for further stretch
Combine into color:
- PixelMath x2 on starless masters - One SHO copy, one Foraxx combination copy
- 60-40 blend of Foraxx and SHO
- CurvesTransformation for hue shift, 'c' curve adjustment, and saturation boost
- Further CurvesTransformation to balance color
- ColorSaturation for selective saturation
Create Luminance Layer:
- PixelMath 80-20 blend of Ha and Sii starless
- CurvesTransformation for contrast
- LocalHistogramEqualization for details
- UnsharpMask for sharpness
Combine Lum and Color and add stars:
- LRGBCombination with saturation at 0.4
- STF on all masters with stars
- Combine star masters via ChannelCombination (OSH)
- Starnet to create starmask
- CurvesTransformation and SCNR on starmask to reduce green
- MorphologicalTransformation to reduce star size on starmask
- PixelMath to combine stars with color image
- DynamicCrop to crop edges
- ImageSolver to platesolve and annotate
- Save and Export
The Orion Nebula may be the best-known emission nebula, but it loses to the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) as the most spectacular. Measuring 2° across, the Carina Nebula looks like an ethereal orchid blossoming, with many dark rifts dividing it into several distinct “petals.”
Residing about 7,500 light-years from Earth, the Carina Nebula lies within its namesake constellation, Carina the Keel.
The nebula's fantastic landscape is sculpted by the action of outflowing winds and scorching ultraviolet radiation from the monster stars that inhabit this inferno. In the process, these stars are shredding the surrounding material that is the last vestige of the giant cloud from which the stars were born. The immense nebula contains at least a dozen brilliant stars that are roughly estimated to be at least 50 to 100 times the mass of our Sun.
The blast of stellar winds and blistering ultraviolet radiation within the cavity is now compressing the surrounding walls of cold hydrogen. This is triggering a second stage of new star formation. Our Sun and our solar system may have been born inside such a cosmic crucible 4.6 billion years ago.
EXIF
Canon EOS-Ra
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM ll
Canon EF-EOS-R drop-in adapter
IDAS NB12 filter
Skywatcher AZ-GTI, equatorially mounted
ZWO ASIAair for rig control
Stack of 20x 60s @ ISO1600, unfiltered & 5x 180s @ ISO6400, filtered
#OuterSpace #Astronomy #Nebula #Space #astrophotography #ngc3372 #CarinaNebula #deepscape #deepsky
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• Sky-Watcher Quattro 250P
• Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro
• ZWO ASI294MM-Pro
• Astronomik L: 219x300s bin1 gain 0
• Astronomik RGB: 148x300s bin2 gain 125
(total integration 30.5h)
• ZWO OAG & ASI290Mini guide cam
• TS GPU coma corrector
• ZWO EFW, ZWO EAF & Pegasus Astro Ultimate Powerbox 2
Trevinca, Valding, Spain
Bortle 3, SQM 21.8
processed with Pixinsight
1.2hrs of stacked photo's.
Stock DSLR, Sigma Lens and star adventurer tracker.
Calibration shots:
175 Lights
75 Darks
80 Flats
100 Bias
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• Sky-Watcher Quattro 250P
• Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro
• ZWO ASI294MM-Pro
• Astronomik L: 128x300s bin1 gain 0
• Astronomik RGB: 91x300s bin2 gain 125
(total integration 18.2h)
• ZWO OAG & ASI290Mini guide cam
• TS GPU coma corrector
• ZWO EFW, ZWO EAF & Pegasus Astro Ultimate Powerbox 2
Trevinca, Valding, Spain
Bortle 3, SQM 21.8
processed with Pixinsight
Imaginary Planet
Interplanetary Travel
Youtube: "4K" Road Trip in Tunisia - Visiting Tunisia "2019"
Camera: Canon EOS Kiss X7i
Photograph by Yusuf Alioglu
Location: Outer space (space)
The Lagoon Nebula lies about 5,800 light years away in the constellation of Sagittarius. At its core lies the star cluster NGC 6530 and stars within this cluster illuminate the nebula. The brightest part of the nebula is known as the "hourglass nebula". Close inspection at full resolution will reveal dark spots called Bok Globules. These are believed to be collapsing clouds of gas in the process of forming into proto stars.
Full Resolution: www.pbase.com/gailmarc/image/144825967/original
This is a 8.83 hr LHaRGB image (60, 270, 60, 60, 80 mins). LRG subs were all 5mins, B subs were 10 mins and Ha subs were 30 mins. All unbinned.
FOV is 1.88 x 1.25 deg @ 1.69 arcsec/pixel.
Takahashi TOA-150 refractor @ F7.3 (FL=1095mm) on a Paramount ME with SBIG STL 11000M camera.
An LRGB image comprising of:
L- 1260m
R - 270m
G - 270m
B - 270m
Total of 34h 30m - 30 minutes subs.
Acquisition - Planewave 12.5" CDK, PME, QSI 583 8WSG CCD, Lodestar auto guider, TSX, Maxim DL.
Processing - Pixinsight 1.8
M16 Like you may have never see it before. I have to confess I know where the Eagle( its so small you would miss it) is but as a whole I see a sleeping face with closed Eyes and what looks like a beard. I even asked my wife to come look she did not even get past the door "there is a sleeping face, you can see the hair and the beard" and I did not say a word.
This is only possible With Carlos Taylor Smallrig getting to feel like its home. I do think we all get 100% dominated by longer focal lengths we do lose sight of the leaves on the tree . This is in part why I will not forget to use my nikon lens to bring to life the whole not just the macro with a 10".
Enjoy a whole new view and yes there has been some star reduction .
QHY183 C -10 100 shots over 3 night .
600 sec each shot.
Sharpstar 61EDPH II
Optolong LeNhance filter,
SESTO SENSO Focuser
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps Lr
Acquisition: 7-8-9 /02/2023
Composition SHO avec SII synthétique:
266 x 300", retenues 212 pour le Ha et 93 pour le OIII
DOF 50, 100, 100
Gain 120, -10.0C
Moyenne Lune : 92%
80ED sur HEQ5
Correcteur réducteur 0.85x
ZWO ASI294MC-PRO
Filtre L-Extrême 2"
Guidage: ZWO ASI290MM et ZWO guidescope F/4
Guidage: PHD2
Prise de vue: N.I.N.A
Empilement et Pré traitement: Siril, Pixinsight
Traitement: Photoshop, Starnet
Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCgUAgzyV4MOHErHTioW0ktQ
Facebook: www.facebook.com/elsasstronomy
Insta: www.instagram.com/elsasstronomy
Discord: discord.gg/E9NhKC3UBc
Twitch: www.twitch.tv/elsasstronomy
Here in the Orion Nebula, countless newborn stars are soaking up the surrounding clouds of gas and debris to become grown-up stars that may one day coalesce solar systems like ours.
Speaking of stars, today marks the beginning of my 36th trip around our own star. I don't know, 36 years ago, if my own nursery was stellar or not but I do know my parents were stellar people, just trying to do what they thought was best in their own Journey around the sun. It wasn't perfect but I wouldn't trade my childhood for anything.
During the good-times you learn trust and experience Joy. During the bad stuff you gain independence and build mental strength.
Kinda like the elementary particles colliding in the cosmic crucible pictured here. :)
Space is freaking awesome.
Emission nebula in the constellation Coach. The two formations in the core of the star cluster appear as two little tadpoles swimming.
FSQ-106
CEM70
ASI 2600MM
Shot in New Orleans, LA in Bortle 8 skies.
SHO: 50/43/30
Total Integration = 30.8h
PI: BXT, DBE, SXT, NXT, Rescreen, HOOS Comb
PS: ColorEfex, Curve, NXT, StarShrink, Screen stars onto starless version
The Pelican Nebula is an emission nebula located near the bright star Deneb in the constellation Cygnus. Approximately 1,800 light years away.
The nebula’s appearance is defined by dark dust clouds, which outline the pelican’s long bill and eye, and bright clouds of ionized gas, which form the curved shape of the pelican’s head and neck.
Equipment & Image Details:
Orion ED80 scope, Celestron CGEM II mount, ZWOASI1600MM Pro camera. Narrowband subs: 3*1,200 sec Ha filter, 1*1,200 sec OIII filter, 1*1,200 sec SII filter.
Processed with PixInsight and Photoshop.
Eq:
Scope: GSO 8" with 2" moonlight focuser + TS GPU CC
Camera: Nikon D610 stock
Mount: EQ6-R + ZWO 280/60 + ZWO ASI 120MC-S
Acquisition:
Lights: 75x300"
Darks: x60
Flats: x50
Bias: x50
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 🚀
Interplanetary Travel
Interplanetary travel has begun.
As of this morning, I have left this planet from which I came in August 2019. I have discovered many settlements from civilizations that have lived on this planet before. Many of the settlements I discovered were still standing. The architectural structures unique to the planet were quite impressive. Plutonia, which is generally a desert planet, has a suitable structure for living. I came across several plant species, trees with edible fruits. I came across water beds on the planet, which is mostly covered with desert. I took samples from these potable water sources. I would say hot for the climate of the planet. However, I cannot say that it has a scorching heat. This is quite unusual for a planet with 5 suns. The planet has 16 natural satellites. And all of these satellites are visible day and night. I think some moons are larger planets nearby. I have observed some of these planets on other planets I have visited. I have shared 148 special photos that I have chosen for you from this planet. I hope you are satisfied. I will soon pass through the atmosphere of the planet Plutonia and reach the outer space. Then I'll have to dock with my spaceship. And after entering the new route into the computer, I will have started my journey in outer space. I hope I can keep sending photos from outer space. I will try to stay in touch.
Goodbye.
Yusuf Alioglu
Youtube: "4K" Road Trip in Tunisia - Visiting Tunisia "2019"
Camera: Canon EOS Kiss X7i
Photograph by Yusuf Alioglu
Location: Outer space (space)
Da qualche anno pensavo di cambiare il rifrattore Scopos TL805, compagno di tante avventure sotto cieli stellati; quindi dopo tanti dubbi, rinvii e prediligendo un telescopio con un rapporto focale il più basso possibile, visto che l'Inquinamento luminoso spesso mi costringe ad utilizare filtri a banda stretta, la mia scelta è caduta sul tripletto apocromatico Askar 103APO con il suo riduttore 0.6X.
E la sua prima luce nel mese di dicembre non poteva che essere la "Grande nebulosa di Orione" nota anche come "M42" . Con il rapporto focale f/4 è stato bello riuscire e scorgere anche le nubi interstellari più deboli. Mi ritengo molto soddisfatto di questo primo risultato e mi auguro il primo di una lunga serie.
Buon Natale a tutti.
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For some years I had been thinking about changing the Scopos TL805 refractor, companion of many adventures under starry skies; so after many doubts, postponements and preferring a telescope with a focal ratio as low as possible, given that light pollution often forces me to use narrow-band filters, my choice fell on the Askar 103APO apochromatic triplet with its 0.6X reducer.
And its first light in December could only be the "Great Orion Nebula" also known as "M42" . With the focal ratio f/4 it was nice to be able to see even the faintest interstellar clouds. I am very satisfied with this first result and I hope for the first of a long series.
Merry Christmas to everyone.
Google translator
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Optic: APO Refractor Askar 103APO + 0.6X
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro
Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan
Seeing: 3-4 (scala Antoniadi)
Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2"
-104x180s 121gain / 35 dark /21 flat / 18 darkflat /100 bias
-18x30s 121gain / 20 dark /100 bias
t° sensor: -10°C
Date: 10+16/12/2024
Integration: 5h 12min
Temperature: 7°C (media)
location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6)
Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding
Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert.
Hi all,
This is my longest astrophotography project to date.
The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus.
It constitutes the visible portions of the Cygnus Loop, a many portions of which have acquired their own individual names and catalogue identifiers. The source supernova was a star 20 times more massive than the Sun, which exploded around 8,000 years ago. The remnants have since expanded to cover an area of the sky roughly 3 degrees in diameter (about 6 times the diameter, or 36 times the area, of the full Moon). The distance to the nebula is not precisely known, but Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) data supports a distance of about 1,470 light years.
Integration:
15 hours, 50 minutes of total exposure time
ISO 200
No Darks (Dithered)
200 Bias Frames
25 Flats Per Session
Equipment:
Telescope: William Optics Zenithstar 73
Mount: Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro Rowan Belt Mod
Autoguiding Scope: Starwave 50mm Guidescope
Autoguiding Camera: ZWO ASI 120MM Mini
Camera: Canon 80D (unmodified)
Software:
PHD2 Guiding
Astrophotography Tool
Deepskystacker
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Lightroom
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• Sky-Watcher Quattro 250P
• Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro
• ZWO ASI294MM-Pro
• ZWO Hα 7nm: 24x600s bin1 gain 200
• ZWO OIII 7nm: 24x600s bin2 gain 200
• ZWO SII 7nm: 19x600s bin2 gain 200
(total integration 11.1h)
• ZWO OAG & ASI290Mini guide cam
• TS GPU coma corrector
• ZWO EFW, ZWO EAF & Pegasus Astro Ultimate Powerbox 2
Trevinca, Valding, Spain
Bortle 3, SQM 21.8
processed with Pixinsight
Taken with an NP101is, STL11000M, Baader HaLRGB filters and AstroPhysics GoTo Mount. 4-frame mosaic with total exposure time of 55.67 hours.
more here: www.starpointing.com/ccd/heartsoul.html
Taken under dark skies at the Golden State Star Party near Adin, CA.
Telescope: Tele Vue 76mm Refractor with 0.8x reducer (f/5)
Camera: QSI 683wsg
Mount: iOptron iEQ45 Pro
Integration: 30 min (6 x 5 min) each of RGB
NGC 1566, sometimes known as the Spanish Dancer, is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the southern constellation of Dorado. Its delicate arms swirl gracefully around its core like a cosmic ballet. In this celestial dance, untold numbers of stars, gas, and dust perform a cosmic waltz, orchestrated by the invisible hand of gravity.
At the heart of NGC 1566 lies a supermassive black hole, weighing in at roughly 10 million solar masses. Much like the fabled sea monsters of Earth's oceans, this cosmic leviathan devours any celestial material that strays too close to its gravitational maw. Yet, paradoxically, this very same dark heart fuels the luminous brilliance of NGC 1566's core, a region known as an active galactic nucleus.
The light from NGC 1566 has travelled across the vast expanses of space for 40 million years before gracing our eyes. As we gaze upon its celestial beauty, we are also peering back through time, witnessing an era when our planet was still in its prehistoric infancy. In this sense, we are both explorers of the universe and time travellers, embarking on a cosmic odyssey with each new celestial discovery.
(The original data was acquired from Telescope Live, which I processed using Pixinsight and Photoshop).
Sh2-119(the Clamshell Nebula) is a fascinating emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus and lies some 2200 light years away. This nebula is a glowing cloud of gas and dust, illuminated by the light of nearby stars. The bright, blue-white stars within Sh2-119 are responsible for ionizing the gas within the nebula, causing it to emit light at specific wavelengths. Like many other nebulae, Sh2-119 is a reminder of the incredible power of the universe. The stars within the nebula are born out of clouds of gas and dust, and as they age and exhaust their nuclear fuel, they release this material back into space, seeding the formation of new stars and planets.
(The original data was acquired from Telescope Live, which I processed using Pixinsight and Photoshop).
www.onebackpacker.com/behind-the-lens/sh2-119-the-clamshe...
Saturn from June 14, 2016. Best 5% of 4000 images stacked using Registax. Canon 6D, Meade 12" LX90, Teleview 5x Powermate.
Apo TEC140 (140/f7.2) - FLI Proline 16803 (4 panels mosaic) - Ha (850m) OIII (1110m) R (290m) G (290m) B (350m) - Warrumbungle Observatory, Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia (see my website for details)
If you would like to see larger sizes of this image or get high quality professional prints please visit my homepage at www.glitteringlights.com
This image shows a molecular cloud field in constellation Pegasus. This molecular cloud takes the shape of ghostly wisps, is located just outside our own galaxy and is called IFN - integrated flux nebula. This means that they reflect the combined luminosity of the stars in our galaxy and are, therefore, made visible.
But lurking in “between” these clouds, several galaxies are visible, being the largest one NGC 7497, located at about 60 million light years - a closer look will allow us to identify some of them. Despite appearances, these are located much farther than MBM54, which is at about 1,000 light years away.
This landscape has been on my target list for almost 8 months and only now it shows on the right position to photograph. But I also had the luck of being on a dark site during New Moon which helped tremendously. Astrophotography is indeed a hobby of patience and also some luck.
Shot at Santa Susana, Portugal (Bortle 4) on the 30th and 31st of August 2022.
Technical details:
LUM: 126 x 180 s (6h18)
RGB: 138 x 180 s (6h54), 1:1:1
TS Optics Triplet APO 800/115 | QHYCCD 268M | Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro | Optolong LRGB | TSOptics TSFLAT 3’ 0.79x | RB Focus Gaius-S
Acquisition: N.I.N.A. | Processing: Pixinsight
La Via Lattea brilla nel cielo, un'immensa spirale di stelle, gas e polveri. Anche il nostro Sole, con la Terra e tutto il Sistema Solare, partecipa a questa danza cosmica, orbitando attorno al centro galattico. Siamo a circa 27.000 anni luce dal nucleo della galassia, e ogni orbita completa richiede circa 225-250 milioni di anni, un periodo noto come "anno galattico". Un viaggio lento e maestoso, che ci ricorda la nostra posizione nell'universo infinito.
In questa foto, il centro della nostra galassia, in direzione della costellazione del Sagittario.
Posa unica con cavalletto, dalle spiagge buie equatoriali di Zanzibar
#MilkyWay #Astronomy #ViaLattea #Cosmos #Galaxy #GalacticCore #StarrySky #SpacePhotography #Astrofotografia #Universe #Stargazing #NightSky #Astrophotography #DeepSpace #CosmicJourney #ExploringTheUniverse #LongExposure #AstronomiaItaliana #GalacticYear #PlanetEarth
#zanzibar
One of the "Triplets" as the science team on our expedition called the three gargantuan space monsters we found on the other side of the galactic center. The Howler was so named due to it's mouth shaped like a blaring horn. Quickest to signs of anger and aggression of the Triplets, the Howler is the most active and draws a lot of attention to itself.
Explanation: A faint, dusty rose of the northern sky, emission nebula IC 410 lies about 12,000 light-years away in the constellation Auriga. The cloud of glowing hydrogen gas is over 100 light-years across, sculpted by stellar winds and radiation from embedded open star cluster NGC 1893. Formed in the interstellar cloud a mere 4 million years ago, bright cluster stars are seen just below the prominent dark dust cloud near picture center. Notable near the 7 o'clock position in this wide, detailed view are two relatively dense streamers of material trailing away from the nebula's central regions. Potentially sites of ongoing star formation, these cosmic tadpole shapes are about 10 light-years long. (Text from apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060815.html)
This picture was photographed on 2011 october-december in Khlepcha observatory, Ukraine.
Equipment: reflector S&D 254 mm. f/4.7
Mount WhiteSwan-180, camera QSI-583wsg, Tevevue Paracorr-2. Off-axis guidecamera Orion SSAG.
filter set Baader Planetarium.
Ha=19*1500 sec., bin.1
OIII=13*1500 sec. bin2
SIII=14*1500 sec. bin2
Added stars from RGB picture
Processed Pixinsight 1.7 and Photoshop CS5.
Ieri sera, sfidando come sempre l’inquinamento luminoso cittadino, ho catturato le splendide galassie M65 e M66 nella costellazione del Leone. Con il mio SkyWatcher 200/1000 e due ore di posa, emergono i dettagli affascinanti di queste due isole di stelle a circa 35 milioni di anni luce da noi.
M65, in basso, appare elegante e poco disturbata, mentre M66, in alto, mostra le sue strutture deformate, segno di interazioni cosmiche passate.
Un viaggio nello spazio profondo, direttamente dal cuore della città! 🚀✨
#M65 #M66 #LeoTriplet #galassie #deepSky #astrofotografia #astrophotography #universo #cosmos #longexposure #SkyWatcher #telescope #space #stelle #galaxyhunter #deepspace #astronomia #nightphotography #astrophoto #stargazing
For thousands of years, comets were omens for diasters. To ancient Hindi, it signified disruption in the order of the world; to ancient Chinese, it meant famine and war; to medieval Europeans, it foretold upcoming diseases...
Our ancestors lived in a time before Internet, before television, before radio, before books. Back then the nighttime was simple. It was just them and the unchanging starry sky, signifying the divine creators' perfection. This is why the sudden appearance of comets disrupted the heavenly orders, and it brought them fear and guilt.
Today, we celebrate their arrival with overwhelming joy and curiosity. We look at them through telescopes with a sense of wonder and none of the fears. To me, it marked the happy ending of our millennia-long story with comets, a story of how we learned to use knowledge to conquer fear.
(This image is of the recently discovered ‘Comet Leonard’. The data was acquired from iTelescope, which I processed using pixinsight and photoshop)
A picture I took of myself staring at the night sky with binoculars in Joshua Tree National Park located in southern California in March 2015.
Canon EOS 7D Mark II | Tokina 16.5-135mm f/3.5-5.6 AT-X DX @ 17mm | 13 seconds | ISO 12800 | f/3.5
The orange light on the horizon is light pollution coming from a distant cities in the Palm Springs area.
Also know as The Seven Sisters, Pleiades is an an asterism and an open star cluster approximately 444 light years from Earth. The cluster, located the constellation Taurus, is dominated by hot blue and luminous stars that formed within the last 100 million years.
An asterism is a pattern or group of stars that can be seen in the night sky. Asterisms range from simple shapes of just a few stars to more complex collections of many stars. The larger brighter asterisms are useful for people who are familiarizing themselves with the night sky. For example, the asterism known as the Big Dipper comprises the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major.
Image captured from Bortle 1 skies in Grasslands National Park, SK
2020-08-22
This is an RGB composition consisting of:
Red subs 24 * 120 sec = 48 minutes
Green subs 24 * 120 sec = 48 minutes
Blue subs 45 * 120 sec = 90 minutes
Total integration: 3hr 6min
Equipment details:
ZWOASI 1600MM Pro camera, Celestron AVX mount, Orion ED80T CF Triplet Apochromatic Refractor Telescope.
At a mere 2.5 million light years away from Earth, the Andromeda Galaxy is the closest neighbor galaxy to our home Milky Way galaxy. The Andromeda Galaxy is also known as M31 for its place in the Messier catalog of deep space objects, and NGC 224 in the New General Catalogue of deep space objects. We are actually on a collision course with Andromeda, the two galaxies are expected to collide in about 4.5 billion years and form one giant galaxy.
Nikon D810A and NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4 lens using an equatorial mount (star tracker). The equatorial mount rotates the camera with the speed of the earth so that it can take long exposures without the stars appearing to move. I was using a small mount on loan from Slik that is designed for smaller cameras and lenses so I was really pushing it with the weight of my full-frame D810A and 70-200mm f/4 lens. That combined with the wind on the night I shot this meant I could only do about 12 seconds per exposure before the stars would start to trail (blur).
This final image is the result of star stacking 62 exposures that were shot at 200mm, f/5.6, ISO 6400, 12 seconds. I stopped down the lens to sharpen up the stars a bit. I stacked the exposures using Starry Sky Stacker, a brand new deep space star stacking program for the Mac from Ralph Hill, the same developer as Starry Landscape Stacker, available on the App Store, but you can do this with a ton of other star stacking programs such as DeepSkyStacker for Windows, or Photoshop itself. With the limited shutter speed I had pretty dark images, but even so I was able to pull out a lot of detail from the stacked image using a lot of curves adjustments in Photoshop, one of many ways that you can stretch the contrast of a deep space image to bring out the faint details. I also used the GradientXTerminator plug-in get rid of the brightness and color gradients in the background of the image, and I used the amazing Astronomy Tools action set for Photoshop for noise reduction and creative effects to bring out color and detail.
Visit my website to learn more about my photos and video tutorials: www.adamwoodworth.com
In the fascinating southern night sky, there's a constellation that has captivated the curiosity of humans for thousands of years, known as Corona Australis, or the Southern Crown. Nestled within the arms of this celestial crown is the Corona Australis Molecular Cloud, an interstellar dust cloud full of secrets that we're only just beginning to understand. This is not your everyday dust, the kind you find under your bed or on your bookshelf. No, this is cosmic dust, complex molecules and tiny grains born from the ashes of stars. It's the stuff of life - organic molecules - scattered across the cosmos, whispering the tale of stars long gone.
Interstellar dust clouds like the one in Corona Australis, suspended in the cold and dark space, might seem desolate and barren. Yet they are cosmic cradles, nurturing new stars and possible worlds. As we gaze upon such distant wonders and strive to comprehend their mysteries, we come one step closer to reading the cosmic origin of our own story written among the stars. As we explore, we discover that the universe is not merely above us but also within us; for we are all made of star stuff.
Also known as Cadwell 4, it is a bright reflection nebula of magnitude 6.8 located in the constellation of Cepheus (the King), the dust in this region that creates the nebula is illuminated by a magnitude 7 star. It is 1,300 light years distance from Earth.
Image Profile:
Location: Lee, IL
Type: LRGB
Frames: LRGB 10x300; 10x300; 10x300; 10x300
Imaging time: 20140704
Hardware:
-Main scope: AT8RC
-Guiding Scope: Orion 80mm Short Tube
-CCD: QHY9M with filter wheel with LRGB Ha
-Orion Atlas Mount
Imaging Applications:
-Acquiring: Nebulosity Ver. 3.0.2
-Guiding: PHD Ver. 1.11.3
Processing Applications:
-CCD Stack
-Photoshop cs3
Comments: Not as good as yesterday with decreasing transparency and increasing haziness and scattered clouds. Temp 52 degrees F.
Centaurus A (also known as NGC 5128 or Caldwell 77) is a galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus.
In visible light, the galaxy seems elegant and beautiful - an elliptical central bulge surrounded by a gracefully warped swath. But in radio waves and X-rays, its true nature of violence and chaos is revealed - a monstrous, actively feeding black hole gobbling up everything nearby, shooting its victim’s corpses into space, and twisting the whole galaxy in the process.
The black hole and its feeding events are not visible in this image, but studies in radio and x-ray reveal a truly spectacular scene: youtu.be/bOjCrVQusYI
The jets are so powerful that their trails extend far beyond the galaxy itself, stretching millions of lightyears into space. Interestingly, some models suggest that the jet materials can eventually cool down and fall back to the black hole, creating a feeding cycle.
(The data was acquired from Telescopelive, which I processed using pixinsight and photoshop)
The image shows the core of the Heart Nebula (Melotte 15), a breathtakingly beautiful cluster of young, hot stars and dark dust clouds. The stars within this cluster are incredibly young, with some estimated to be only a few hundred thousand years old. Yet already they shine with a brilliance that puts our own sun to shame.
Another rendition of the eagle nebula. This one taken in my backyard over several nights. This is one of the few benefits of little rain over the past two months.
S 15mx34, 10mx35
H 15mx25, 10mx58
O 15mx16, 10mx44
Total Integration = 41.5h
Takahashi FSQ-106ED
Takahashi EM-200
ASI 2600MM
Antilia 3nm filters
New Orleans / Bortle 8 skies
Pixinsight -
SH - WBPP / DBE / HT / Blue-Green SHO
O - WBPP / DBE / HT / StarXTerminator / CT / Export to PS for Dodging / Rescreen / Blue-Green SHO
Lum (used H) - HT / BlurXTerminator / LRGBComb
Photoshop - ColorEfex (Detail Extractor)
Without mount for three months now and with constant bad weather, I've been reprocessing old photos, trying to find new framings for "new photos". This Monkey Head Nebula is an example of such - never happy with the first photo, I think this new approach is definitely an improvement... 😊
Shot at Barcarena, Portugal in January 2022.
Technical Details:
RGB: 3 x 20 x 60s
Ha: 102 x 300s
Oiii: 90 x 300s
Total integration: 17h00
TS Optics Triplet APO 800/115 | TS Optics TSFLAT2 0.79x | QHYCCD 268M | Optolong RGB | Baader Ha 7nm ! Baader Oiii 8.5 nm
Acquisition: N.I.N.A. | Processing: Pixinsight
I finally got around to processing some shots taken remotely in New Mexico earlier in the year.
This is a single 300 second image in colour of Messier 31, The Andromeda galaxy.
considering this is a single 5 minute frame there is a good amount of data to be able to resolve some detail in the dust lanes.
10 million light years away and one of the brightest spiral galaxies in the night sky, NGC 253 (The Sculptor Galaxy) is going through an extremely active period of star formation and is likely home to one or more massive black holes at its center.
Images captured using T32 telescope at iTelescope's Siding Spring Observatory in NSW, Australia.
LRGB 16 frames x 300 seconds = 80 mins integration time
Pre-processing in Astro Pixel Processor
Final processing in Lightroom