I was starting to do the Witches head but the camera would not focus not matter what I did. My thought was where the stars too Faint. so I turned to Orion with it big bright star.

I did get focus but it turned out the program kept asking me to increase the step size . It turned out it was the very opposite I had to make the steps smaller to the perfect curve.

I had planned to do this as a one shot for both which i still will be doing Plus a 50mm shot of the whole area and the Huge Bernard's Loop of the Whole Orion Area.

This is 148 shot 2 min long all night long then the next night I had to take shorter shots 60 sec , 30sec and 15 sec to over come the blown out core of Orion.

QHY 183C -10c 148 shots & 138 shot 2 min over two nights.

MeLE Mini PC

Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box

Prima Luce Essato Focus

Optolong LeNhance filter,

Skywatcher Black DiamondED80 OTA

Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro

SVbony 50MM Guide scope

QHY QHY5L-II-M Guide camera

Guided PHD2, Nina

Pixinsight, Ps PTGui.

Some kind of deep space microscopic sea creature or the inside of Riley's old coat and some blade rotation.

Wherever it takes you I suppose.

Single long exposure powered by Ted Baker and Lightpainting Brushes.

www.astrobin.com/waikf2/

------------------------------------------------------

• Sky-Watcher Quattro 250P

• Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro

• ZWO ASI294MM-Pro

• ZWO Hα 7nm: 44x600s bin1 gain 200

• ZWO OIII 7nm: 52x600s bin2 gain 200

(total integration 16h)

• 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

Distance: ca.30 Mio. Lj

Equipment:

TS 10" f/4 ONTC Newton

1000mm f4

ZWO ASI 1600mmc

Astrodon LRGB

Skywatcher EQ8

Guding:

Lodestar on TS Optics - ultra short 9mm Off Axis Guider

PHD2

total exposure time: 8 hours

121x180 luminanz

19x180 red

11x180 green

12x180 blue

14/22/23.03.2020

Processing: PixInsight/Capture One

Another project I've been working on, this one is part of the Orion complex, including the Orion, Running Man, Horse head, and Flame nebulae. These things have been extremely fun to put together and as I said with the last one, I love the context it gives when compared to a terrestrial objects. This is all shot at 300mm. Foreground is obviously shot separately from the sky.

Explanation: At the down right, large spiral galaxy NGC 1055 joins spiral Messier 77 in this sharp cosmic view toward the aquatic constellation Cetus. The narrowed, dusty appearance of edge-on spiral NGC 1055 contrasts nicely with the face-on view of M77's bright nucleus and spiral arms. Both over 100,000 light-years across, the pair are dominant members of a small galaxy group about 60 million light-years away. At that estimated distance, M77 is one of the most remote objects in Charles Messier's catalog and is separated from fellow island universe NGC 1055 by at least 500,000 light-years. The field of view is about the size of the full Moon on the sky and includes colorful foreground Milky Way stars (with diffraction spikes) along with more distant background galaxies. (text: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141226.html)

This picture was photographed October, 13-17, 2015 in Rozhen observatory, Bulgaria.

Equipment: home assembled reflector 10 in., f/3.8

Mount WhiteSwan-180 with a control system «Eqdrive Standart», camera QSI-583wsg, Televue Paracorr-2. Off-axis guidecamera QHY5L-II.

LRGB filter set Baader Planetarium.

L = 18 * 900 seconds + 18 * 300 seconds, bin.1, RGB = 11 * 300-450 seconds, bin.1 each filter. About 9 hours.

FWHM source in L filter 2.24 "-2.68", summ in L channel - 2.46"

The height above the horizon from 36° to 48°, the scale of 1"/ pixel.

Processed Pixinsight 1.8 and Photoshop CS6

Volcanic turmoil, radiating out from the propeller nebular . DWB-111 Propeller Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus

This is the next installment of my 2016 Cygnus exploration. This image is made up of two panels and has an integration of approximately 50 hours of photography.

3 tuiles de 2h.

Lunette 80x480 + réducteur 0.79.

Canon 1000Ddp + filtre IDAS LPS D1.

HEQ5 pro goto + kit Rowan.

www.astrobin.com/uzbg8t/

------------------------------------------------------

• Sky-Watcher Quattro 250P

• Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro

• ZWO ASI294MM-Pro

• Astronomik L: 76x300s bin1 gain 0

• Astronomik RGB: 52x300s bin2 gain 125

• ZWO Hα 7nm: 40x300s bin1 gain 200

• ZWO Hα 7nm: 8x600s bin1 gain 200

(total integration 15.3h)

• 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

www.astrobin.com/t42oz8/

------------------------------------------------------

• Sky-Watcher Quattro 250P

• Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro

• ZWO ASI294MM-Pro

• Astronomik L: 54x300s bin1 gain 0

• Astronomik RGB: 36x300s bin2 gain 125

• ZWO Hα 7nm: 12x300s bin1 gain 200

(total integration 8.5h)

• 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

Distance ca. 12 Mio. light years

diameter of 90,000 light years

Equipment:

TS 10" f/4 ONTC Newton

1000mm f4

ZWO ASI 1600mmc

Astrodon LRGB

Losmandy G11/LFE Photo

Guding:

Lodestar on TS Optics - ultra short 9mm Off Axis Guider

PHD2

70x180s Luminanz

25x180 red

26x180 green

38x180s blue

total exposure time: 7,9 hours

February 2020, February 2021

Processing: PixInsight/Capture One

An emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia, approximately 6,000 light-years from Earth. It’s a star-forming region and a smaller part of the larger Heart Nebula (IC 1805).

Image captured over 7 nights; 2024-09-26, 27, 28, 30, 2024-10-02, 05 & 06

35 hours and 40 minutes total integration

Ha subs 44 * 1,200 sec = 14 hours 40 min

OIII subs 32 * 1,200 sec = 10 hours 40 min

SII subs 31 * 1,200 sec = 10 hours 20 min

Imaging equipment:

SharpStar 140PH Triplet 910mm focal length

Mesu 200 MKII mount,

ZWO2600 camera

☄️ La comète ZTF au 135mm !

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🙏 J’ai eu la chance de pouvoir la photographier alors que la Lune n’était pas encore trop forte et lorsqu’elle était proche de sa luminosité maximale, le 29 Janvier 2023. Après avoir parcouru 200km pour trouver une météo plus favorable, j’ai pu poser 2 setups ici, dans l’Aisne, et imager environ 4 heures. Une nuit très rude à rester éveiller jusqu’à 5h du matin par -5 °C.

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🌠 On peut remarquer très aisément les 3 différentes queues de la comète : la queue de gaz ionisée est la plus longue et la plus détaillée ici. Elle parcourt plusieurs dizaines de millions de kilomètres de long et recouvre près des 2/3 de mon capteur full frame ! La deuxième, plus diffuse, se situe sur le même plan que la première. Elle contient énormément de poussières qui s'échappent du corps de la comète. On la nomme souvent la “chevelure”. Enfin, la troisième, souvent nommée l’”anti-queue”, est opposée aux 2 autres et permet de connaître le direction dans laquelle la comète file. C’est également un résidu de poussière que la comète a laissé derrière elle. La couleur verte qui émane du cœur de la comète est dûe aux interactions chimiques qui se passent entre le Soleil et elle. La couleur verte à proprement dit, n’existe nulle part ailleurs dans l’univers à part aux travers du noyau des comètes.

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Photographier une comète pendant plusieurs heures est un vrai défi car elle bouge très vite, vous n’avez donc pas droit à l’erreur. L’image que je vous présente ici contient donc quelques défauts car le “dithering” est presque impossible ce qui induit du bruit numérique. Je suis très content d’avoir pu obtenir de tels détails sur cette comète, c’est très rare de voir la queue aussi développée au 135mm ! Et quelle ne fût pas ma surprise en découvrant sur une image, une étoile filante passant juste à côté de la comète ! Une chance inouïe d’avoir pu capturer ça, mettant en perspective un petit gravillon passant à quelques dizaines de kilomètres au-dessus du sol et une comète à des dizaines de millions de kilomètres de nous..

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EXIF :

- Canon France EOS R(a)

- Samyang France 135mm f/2

- @skywatcherusa Star Adventurer GTi

- 105*60s ISO1600 f/2

- Pix & PS

- Lune à 53%

- Bortle 4

I wasn't quite happy with how the original version of this image turned out, so I decided to start all over with it using a new tool called BlurXTerminator, which works to deconvolve astro images using AI that has been fed data from the Hubble and James Webb telescopes for reference models (this is super interesting because these telescopes shoot from outside our atmosphere and therefore have a clearer view of the stars without the distortions of our atmosphere - among other things) - it's crazy such a thing exists. Anyway, I also processed the image using a Hubble palette, instead of the Ha / Oiii palette, which results in a more pleasing coloration (in my opinion). Anyway, here's the new version!

This is the Elephant Trunk Nebula setting behind Scott mountain here in East Tennessee. The scene is shot entirely at 300mm and is astronomically accurate.

A classic shot from my backyard in New Orleans.

Televue NP-101IS

Optolong L-Ultimate Dual Band Filter

ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Takahashi EM-200

35x5m Exposures

First of all, Merry Christmas to all astro folks and friends out there.

This post is about my maiden voyage with the AG14 astrograph (Recently acquired Orion Optics large Newt)

After quite some time spent on a learning to colimate the the beast using the Catseye system and other miscellaneous odds and ends required for basic setup, such as, the need for an additional counterweight. The clouds finally cleared last night and I was able to run some test shots with the new Astrograph. This image is made of a stack 30 un-calibrated 1800 sec bin x 2 subs.

Imaging telescope: AG14 astrograph 1330mm F3.8

Imaging camera: 9.2mp Sony SX814

Mount: Software Bisque Paramount MX

Focus was manually set up once with a mask and the system ran uninterrupted for the night. I am waiting for a Baader steel drive to arrive which will allow full focus automaton.

Located about 5000 light years from Earth, the center image shows the Rosette star formation region

Was blessed with an amazing rare phenomenon (Noctilucent Clouds) after a pleasant evening of astrophotography last weekend

Messier 20 a.k.a Trifid Nebula

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Discovered in the 18th century by Charles Messier, the Trifid Nebula has an apparent diameter of about 25 light years, is located a little over 4000 light years from Earth, and can be observed in the Centaurus Arm of the Milky Way, at the edge of the constellation Sagittarius.

What is special about this deep sky object is that M20 is a combination of an open cluster (in the middle of the red area), an emission nebula (red area), a reflection nebula (blue area) and a dark nebula (those gaps in the star field). Unfortunately, this dark nebula does not stand out very well in the attached image because I had less than 3 hours of “photon collection”.

Equipment and settings:

Mount: SW EQ6R

Telescope: Explore Scientific 102ED + 0.75 APM flattener/reducer

Camera: ASI 533MM Pro

Filters : LRGB Astrodon

Total integration: 2h47’ ( R – 12x3min, B – 15x3min, G – 12x3min, L – 25x2min )

Edit in Pixinsight.

Location: my Bortle 3-4.

LDN 1251 - small molecular cloud in the constellation Cepheus. In addition to the dark nebula in this picture is also seen several PGC galaxies that shine through the interstellar dust. Also in this picture I have identified five Herbig–Haro objects.

This picture was photographed during september in Petrivske village, Ukraine.

Equipment: home assembled reflector 10 in., f/3.8

Mount WhiteSwan-180 with a control system «Eqdrive Standart», camera QSI-583wsg with TS 2.5″ 0.95x Wynne corrector. Off-axis guidecamera QHY5L-II.

LRGB filter set Baader Planetarium.

L = 37 * 900 seconds, RGB = 28 * 400-600 seconds in each filter, bin.2. Total of 20 hours.

FWHM source (in the filter L) 2.15″-4.72″, Sum in L channel - 2.95"

The height above the horizon from 64 ° to 48 °, scale = 1.25"/ pixel.

Processed Pixinsight 1.8 and Photoshop CS6

------------------------------------------------------

• Sky-Watcher Quattro 250P

• Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro

• ZWO ASI294MM-Pro

• Astronomik L: 66x300s bin1 gain 0

• Astronomik RGB: 38x300s bin2 gain 125

(total integration 8.6h)

• 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

🌀 M81 & M82 // Galaxies de Bode et du Cigare

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✅ Tout premier test du télescope avec la caméra refroidie et les premiers résultats sont encourageants ! C’est d’ailleurs également ma toute première mosaïque du ciel profond (2 tuiles). Malgré un échantillonnage juste, le niveau de détail atteint est tout de même assez bluffant. J’ai pu profiter de la qualité du ciel nocturne de notre spot favori avec @otsugaphoto pour essayer d’avoir rapidement du signal. Néanmoins le faible temps de pose induit encore beaucoup de bruit et je ne peux pas tirer les détails au maximum comme j'aimerai. Il y a par exemple les IFN qui apparaissent au traitement si je tire fort sur les curseurs mais je préfère ne pas détériorer la qualité de l'image.

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🌌 M81 est une galaxie spirale-barrée située qui fut découverte par Johann Elert Bode en 1774. La répartition de la masse de la galaxie n’est pas homogène en raison de l’effet de marée dû à la proximité (~ 150 000 AL) d’une autre galaxie moins massive.

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M82, la galaxie du Cigare, est une galaxie irrégulière située dans la constellation de la Grande Ourse. Avec M81, ces deux galaxies forment avec d’autres un groupe de galaxies proche du nôtre. M82 représente le prototype d’une galaxie irrégulière. Son noyau, qui semble avoir énormément souffert d’un rapprochement avec M81 il y a quelques centaines de millions d’années, se trouve dans une phase de violente activité stellaire et présente de remarquables raies sombres. Il s’agit d’une galaxie à sursaut de formation d’étoiles. De grandes quantités de matières sont éjectées à environ 1 000 km/s de la galaxie. On suppose que ces éjections sont dues à l’explosion de supernovas.

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M81 :

-Type d'objet : Galaxie spirale

-Distance : 12 M d’AL

-Dimensions : 96 000 AL

-Magnitude apparente : 6.9

M82 :

-Type d'objet : Galaxie irrégulière

-Distance : 14,7 M d’AL

-Dimensions : 47 000 AL

-Magnitude apparente : 8.4

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EXIF :

-@zwoasi 533MM Pro

-Newton 250/1000 tube maison fibre/carbone

-@sky_watcher_official AZ-EQ6

-Asiair plus + EAF

-Omegon 50/180

-Zwo ASI 120MM mini

-2 nuits (23 et 24/06/23)

-L = 100*120s

-R/V/B = 3*10*180s

-Ha = 10*600s

-6h30 au total (3h15 par tuile)

-Lune moyenne à 31%

-Bortle 4

-Pix

Tout d'abord, bonne année 2023 à tous 😁 ! On commence enfin l'année avec cette première publication qui aura su se faire attendre (traitement galère entre airglow, brume, nuages et givre ).

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✨ La pluie d’étoiles filantes des “Géminides” est la plus prolifique de l’année avec environ 150 météores/heure lors de son pic d’activité ! Le problème, c’est que ce pic arrive au milieu du mois de Décembre et la météo est souvent mauvaise à cette période. Cet hiver ne fait pas exception. On compte les nuits dégagées de ces 2 derniers mois sur les doigts d'une main 😪. C'est très frustrant de faire de l'Astro en France et encore plus dans ch'Nord ️.

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🏰 Le Donjon de Bours est un vestige médiéval situé sur la commune de Bours. Classé monument historique depuis 1965, il est érigé au XIVᵉ siècle. Il s'agit de l'un des plus anciens logis nobles de la région.

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🚗 Il m'a fallu parcourir 600km en 4 nuits pour éviter les nuages et ainsi tenter de capturer des météores. Voici tous les détails de ces nuits d'acquisition (bien-sûr, il faisait nuageux partout en France le 14 décembre, nuit du maximum) :

Triple setup (All Sky Camera, 14mm et 15mm)

All Sky Camera en remote à domicile

Nuits du 11-12-13-15 Décembre sur différents spots

4500 clichés entre 15 et 20 secondes (environ 22h d'acquisition au total)

112 météores confirmés au total (31 dans le champ ici)

20h de tri et de traitement

Bortle 5 à 7

Ciel : pano 9 tuiles, stack de 3x90s ISO1250 f/2 au 35mm chacune

Sol : pano 6 tuiles, pose unique 30s ISO1600 f/2 au 35mm

Orientation ciel-sol conservée, sur le même spot. Météores en position d'origine

Canon France EOS Ra + EOS R6 + EOS 6Da + 35mm f/1.4L II USM

Sky-Watcher USA Star Adventurer GTi

[ 2022 ]

Premier post de cette nouvelle année. J'en profite pour vous souhaiter une excellente santé, du bonheur dans vos vies mais aussi une montagne de merveilleux clichés !

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Quoi de mieux qu'une photo de ma Champagne natale pour commencer 2022 🍇 ?! Voici une image que j'avais teaser il y'a plusieurs mois déjà, elle a été prise au printemps dernier au moulin de Verzenay. Ayant assez peu l'occasion de faire de l'Astro dans la Marne, je voulais marquer le coup en essayant de réaliser mon premier "deepscape", un astro-paysage au téléobjectif en ayant au moins une nébuleuse du ciel profond.

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La fin du printemps était une période idéale pour réaliser un deepscape ici. La Voie Lactée se lève très horizontalement et la région du Cygne se trouve à l'Est juste au dessus du coteau ou se trouve le moulin, parfait pour une prise de vue en contre-plongée. C'est aussi le moment de la floraison des vignes, les feuilles sont d'un vert pétant et on devine timidement les premiers raisins.

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Au 135mm, je n'avais pas l'ensemble du paysage ou alors pas assez de ciel. J'ai alors réalisé un panorama de 4 photos verticales. Quatre pour le sol sans suivi et quatre pour le ciel avec suivi. Pour contrer la pollution lumineuse de Reims qui se trouve 20km dans mon dos, j'ai utilisé le filtre Nisi Natural Night. Vous pouvez distinguer facilement la nébuleuse de l'Amérique du Nord à gauche et la nébuleuse du papillon (Sadr) à droite. Ce sont des cibles assez facile avec un APN défiltré car très lumineuses.

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Sol : 1x4x30s iso 1000 f/2.8 fin de l'heure bleue.

Ciel : 8x4x90s iso 1600 f/2.8 Star Adventurer.

Canon 6Da + Samyang 135mm f/2 + Nisi Natural Night, traitement PI & PS.

Même spot et même orientation, tout est fait au même endroit et sur la même nuit.

I tested my 500 mm lens with iOptron CEM60EC mount... I am not so satisfied with result, picture is litle bit blury because no auto guiding and noisy because short acquisition. I lookng forward to your comments, advises and tips 🙏

OBJECT: M101, Pinwheel Galaxy, Const. Uma, apparent mag. 7,86, apparent dim. 29 x 27 arcmin. FOV 3,24 x 2,03 arcdeg, sampling rate 1,79 arcsec / px, cropped 1,53 x.

GEAR: Nikon Z7 Kolari Full Spectrum + Nikkor 500/5,6 PF, No filter, Tracking mount iOptron CEM60EC - 3 star alignment, no auto guiding.

ACQUISITION: May 20, 2020, CZ. Lights 13x, Darks 5x, Bias 5x, Flats 5x. Exposure 300 s, ISO 400, f 5,6

POST PROCESSING: Stacking APP, Adobe PS.

Located in the constellation of Cygnus, this nebula is approximately 5000 light years from Earth.

This is a combination of mono Ha and OSC data.

Details

Mount: HEQ5 / Avalon Linear Fast reverse

Telescope: Takahashi FSQ85 with 0.73x reducer

Camera: Atik 460EXM, 3nm Astrodon filter and Starlight Express Trius M25C

This is a combination of mono Ha data and OSC data for the colour.

11x1800s Ha

33x600s OSC

Total integration time 11 hours

The Spaghetti Nebula is a supernova remnant (SNR) in the Milky Way, straddling the border between the constellations Auriga and Taurus. The nebulous area has an almost spherical shell and a filamentary structure. It is believed that the stellar explosion left behind a rapidly spinning neutron star known as a pulsar in the nebula core, emitting a strong radio signal. Sh2-240 is approximately 3,000 light-years from earth.

Image captured over 3 nights; 2023-02-12, 14, & 16

7 hours 20 minutes total integration

Ha subs 14 * 1,200 sec = 4 hours 40 min

OIII subs 8 * 1,200 sec = 2 hours 40 min

Imaging Equipment:

Canon EF 70-200mm at 135mm

Rainbow Astro RST-135,

ZWOASI294MM Pro camera

SH 3.0nm filters

reworked

The Whirlpool Galaxy is an interacting spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici

at distance of 23 Mio. Lj

LRGB

Equipment:

TS 10" f/4 ONTC Newton

1000mm f4

GPU Aplanatic Koma Korrector

Moravian CCD G2-8300FW

Astrodon LRGB Filter

Losmandy G11/LFE Photo

Guding:

Lodestar on TS Optics - ultra short 9mm Off Axis Guider

PHD2

16x900s Luminanz

5x900s RGB

total exposure time: 7h 45′

Processing: PixInsight/Affinity Photo

SHO processing

Equipment:

Epsilon 130ED dual rig

QHY268m + CFW3M

Touptek IMX571 + ZWO EFW

Astronomik MaxFR

Skywatcher EQ8

July 2022

Processing: PixInsight/affinity photo

276 x 180s Ha

80 x 180s OIII

80 x 180s SII

total: 21,8 hour

Equipment:

Scope: GSO 8" f/4 with 2" Moonlite autofocuser, flocked

Coma corrector: TS GPU

Mount: EQ6-R

Camera: Nikon D750 mod

Guide scope: ZWO 280/60

Guide camera: ZWO ASI 120MC-S

Filter: RGB - Baader UV/IR cut, Ha - Antlia ALP-T

Acquisition:

Location: central Poland, Bortle 5/6

Lights:

- RGB: 119x120s ISO 1600 per panel

- ALP-T: 32x480s ISO 1600 per panel

Darks: none

Flats: x80 per night

Darkflats: x80 per night

Bias: x100

Total exposure time: 24h 42min

The Whirlpool Galaxy is one of the most spectacular sights when observing the night sky. Located at about 31 million years from us, it is a grand design spiral galaxy interacting with another one, in a slow dance by which both will merge within several million years. As a result of this, tidal streams of stars are swirling around, here seen as the faint light patch around. The Whirlpool Galaxy has lots of star formation areas - the bluish areas reveal the presence of young and hot stars.

Shot at Santa Susana, Portugal on the 29th and 30th of April, 2022 and at Barcarena, Portugal on the 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th of January 2023.

Technical details:

LUM: 172 x 180’’ (8h36)

RGB: 120 x 180’’ (6h00)

Ha: 119 x 300’’ (9h55)

Total integration: 24h31

SW EQ6-R Pro | TS Optics Triplet APO 800/115 | TS Optics TSFLAT2 0.79x | QHYCCD 268M | Optolong LRGB |Astronomik Ha 6nm | RBFocus Gaius-S | RBFocus Myrrdin 2.3

Acquisition: N.I.N.A. |

Processing: Pixinsight

------------------------------------------------------

• Sky-Watcher Quattro 250P

• EQ6-R Pro

• ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro

• ZWO L: 144x90s

• ZWO R, G, B: 75x90s bin2

(total integration 5.5h)

• -20° sensor temp., Gain 0 (HDR)

• TS GPU coma corrector

• 60x240 guide scope, ZWO ASI290Mini guide cam

Captured with ZWO EFW, ZWO EAF, ZWO ASIAIR Pro

Saint Petersburg, Russia, home balcony.

Bortle 8-9 with SQM ~17.6

Captured in two nights in february 2022

processed with DSS & Pixinsight

Orion Nebula / Nebulosa de Orión (M42, Messier 42, NGC 1976)

Second and last attempt in 2021 to shoot the M42 nebula, in this time with the same unmodified Sony A7M3 camera and Sony FE 100-400 GM lens, but I use the tracker Skytwatcher AZ-GTI in EQ Mode and QHY guided camera with 60mm tube to increase exposure times.

The location and the weather conditions were ideal, but everything began to go wrong when I did not carry the AC50s Powerbank with me to power the laptop, badly enough that I always carry another portable Powerbank for the tracker, this except the day. During the session, the Sony A7M3 did not admit to connecting any of the 2 Mini-USB cables that it carried for the remote shutter camera control, so I finally decided to launch the shots with the wireless remote control and keeping track of the exposure time.

Despite all this, for a 54 min. total exposure time, quite a few details of this magnificent nebula have been captured with this equipment. It is definitely worth the effort to use guided mount and tracking, there is a brutal difference in the results obtained compared to using only a tripod and low exposure times.

I will continue in future sessions trying to capture more light by increasing the number of shots and exposure.

Segundo y último intento en 2021 de captar a M42, en esta ocasión con la misma cámara no modificada Sony A7M3 y el objetivo Sony FE 100-400 GM, pero utilizo la montura guiada Skytwatcher AZ-GTI EQ Mode y una cámara de seguimiento QHY con tubo de 60mm para aumentar los tiempos de exposición.

La nueva ubicación y las condiciones meteorológicas fueron las idóneas, pero todo se empezó a torcer cuando no lleve conmigo el Powerbank AC50s para alimentar el portátil, manos mal que siempre llevo para la montura otro Powerbank portable, esto salvo el día. Durante la sesión, la Sony A7M3 no admitió conectar ninguno de los 2 cables Mini-USB que llevaba para el auto disparador, por lo que finalmente decidí lanzar las tomas con el mando a distancia y llevando la cuenta del tiempo de exposición.

A pesar de todo ello, para ser una toma de 54 min. de tiempo total de exposición, se han captado bastantes detalles de esta magnífica nebulosa con este equipo.

Definitivamente merece el esfuerzo utilizar montura guiada y seguimiento, hay una diferencia brutal en los resultados obtenidos con respecto a utilizar trípode fijo y bajos tiempos de exposición.

Seguiré en futuras sesiones intentando captar más luz aumentando el número de tomas y exposición.

- Date/Fecha: 12/30/2021

- Higueruelas 1.010m asl (39° 48' 25" N / 0° 53' 19" O)

Bortle 4 location

GEAR

- Tracker Sky-Watcher AZ-GTi EQ Mode

- Guiding with QHY 5L-II Mono and guidescope EZG-60

- Camera Sony ILC3-A7M3 APS-C Mode

- Lens Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS

IMAGE

- 20 Lights at 600mm, ISO 800, 30seg, f5.6 (for the core)

- 30 Lights at 600mm, ISO 1600, 90seg, f5.6 (for the nebula)

- 17 Darks at 600mm, ISO 800, 30seg, f5.6

- 5 Darks at 600mm, ISO 800, 90seg, f5.6

- 8 Darks at 600mm, ISO 1600, 90seg, f5.6

- Total time of exposition 54m.

SOFTWARE

- Stellarium & PHD2 to guide the tracker

- Stacked with DeepSkyStacker

- Image viewer Adobe Bridge

- Image processing with Adobe Camera Raw and Adobe Photoshop

©2021 All rights reserved. MSB.photography

Thank all for your visit and awards.

On Explore 01/02/2022

If you've seen my feed, you know I've been working on deepspace landscapes like this basically all winter. This is my most recent effort. The foreground is an old fire tower and observation deck. In the sky, from left to right, is the M38 star cluster, the tad pole nebula (the blueish object), and then the flame nebula just above. I thought the idea of the flame nebula and a fire tower was poetic in a way.

My goal with this series has been to illustrate just how big these objects in the night sky are, by showing them near terrestrial objects. Ah if only our eyes could see this!

Entfernung ca. 25.000 Lj

Equipment:

TS 10" f/4 ONTC Newton

1000mm f4

GPU Aplanatic Koma Korrector

Moravian CCD G2-8300FW

Astrodon LRGB Filter

Losmandy G11/LFE Photo

Guiding:

Starlight Lodestar an Celestron OAG

PHD

Processing: PixInsight

Date:

April 2015

www.starkeeper.it/NGC7822B.htm

Hot, young stars and cosmic pillars of gas and dust seem to crowd into NGC 7822. At the edge of a giant molecular cloud toward the northern constellation Cepheus, the glowing star forming region lies about 3,000 light-years away. Within the nebula, bright edges and dark shapes stand out in this colorful skyscape. The image includes data from narrowband filters, mapping emission from atomic oxygen, hydrogen, and red,blue and green filters. The atomic emission is powered by energetic radiation from the central hot stars. Their powerful winds and radiation sculpt and erode the denser pillar shapes and clear out a characteristic cavity light-years across the center of the natal cloud. Stars could still be forming inside the pillars by gravitational collapse but as the pillars are eroded away, any forming stars will ultimately be cutoff from their reservoir of star stuff. This field of view spans over 40 light-years at the estimated distance of NGC 7822 [Text adapted from APOD]

Optics: Takahashi FSQ-106EDXIII F/5 530mm. - APO Refractor

Mount: AP Mach1 GTO

Camera: Moravian G4-16000 Mark II

Filters: Astrodon E Series Gen II LRGBH 50mm squared

Guiding Systems: SX Lodestar

Dates/Times: 2020-2021

Location: Pragelato - Turin / Italy

Exposure Details: H:R:G:B => 360:60:50:50 = > (24x15):(12x5):(10x5):(10x5) [num x minutes]

Cooling Details: -25 °C

Acquisition: Voyager Astrophotography Automation

Processing: CCDStack2+, PS CC, StarXTerminator

Mean FWHM: 1.21 / 2.05

SQM-L: 20.21

Explanation: Interstellar dust clouds and bright nebulae abound in the fertile constellation of Orion. One of the brightest, M78, on center in this colorful telescopic view, covering an area north of Orion's belt. At a distance of about 1,500 light-years, the bluish nebula itself is about 5 light-years across. Its blue tint is due to dust preferentially reflecting the blue light of hot, young stars in the region. Dark dust lanes and other nebulae can easily be traced through this gorgeous skyscape. The scene also includes the remarkable McNeil's Nebula -- a newly recognized nebula associated with the formation of a sun-like star, and the telltale reddish glow of many Herbig- Haro objects, energetic jets from stars in the process of formation. (text: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131010.html)

This picture was photographed during October 2017 - January 2018 in Rozhen observatory, Bulgaria.

Equipment: home assembled reflector 10 in., f/3.8

Mount WhiteSwan-180 with a control system «Eqdrive Standart», camera QSI-583wsg, Televue Paracorr-2 and Off-axis guidecamera Lodestar SX-2 by Vasily Oleynik

L, Ha, RGB filter set Astrodon gen.II

L=55*900 + 28*600 seconds, RGB=15*900 + 14*600 seconds, Ha= 13*900 seconds bin.1 each filter, unbinned . About 36 hours.

FWHM source in L filter 2.12 "-3.16", sum in L channel - 2.58"

The height above the horizon from 36° to 48°, the scale of 1"/ pixel.

Processed Pixinsight 1.8 and Photoshop CS6

Photo with labels: olegbr.astroclub.kiev.ua/files/astrofoto/M78/M78_LHaRGB_O...

The Rosette nebula is one of my favorite targets. The shape and detail make it one of the most interesting deep sky objects in the northern hemisphere. Located in the constellation Monoceros, it also contain the open cluster NGC 2244. This cluster provides the solar radiation that is exciting the surrounding gas and causing the striking glow.

PlaneWave 17

10 Micron GM3000

FLI ML16803

Ha 13x30min

Sii 15x30min

Oiii 15x30min

Total Integration Time = 21.5hrs

Data from Deepskywest El Sauce Observatory (Rio Hurtado, Chile

It's been a while again since I have done astrophotography - the summer months rule it out due to the short nights and the weather this year has been almost entirely dominated by cloud. However, at the tail of last week we had a couple of clear nights so I had a go at a target I have not imaged for 3 years (that flew!).

This is the North America Nebula (AKA NGC 7000, AKA Caldwell 20) on the left, which gets its name on account of its similar shape to North America with its prominent 'Gulf of Mexico'. To the right of the frame is the Pelican nebula (IC5070), getting its name due its pelican-like appearance. They sit approximately 1600 light years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus and span a combined distance of approximately 100 light years across the sky. The numbers are hard to fathom but, in short, the light that entered my camera left the target 1600 years ago - at this time the Romans ruled Great Britain! To traverse this area of space from one side of the image to the other you would have to travel at the speed of light for 100 years! For comparison, light from our sun, which is 93 million miles away, reaches us in 8 minutes... It is nonsensical to discuss these solar objects in terms of 'miles' from Earth as a mile is just too small a measure of distance for it to be meaningful, hence light years are used.

The whole area is a mass of dust and gas which becomes excited by the energy from the neighbouring stars, the light emitted from those gases as they move from an excited to stable state is what generates the image.

This 'image' was generated over 2 nights from my garden in Aberaeron and is a stacked output of 192 x 3 minute exposures, taken with a cooled camera attached to a telescope that was mounted on a star tracker that rotates at the same speed as the Earth - this locks the subject in the camera's field of view allowing many images to be taken without the subject 'moving'.

Equipment:

William Optics GT81 scope, Flat 6AIII field flattener, ZWO ASI2600MC Pro camera, Optolong L-eXtreme filter, Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro (guided), ASIAir pro.

Frames

192 light, 180 sec, gain 100, -10C

40 dark, 50 flat, 50 dark flat

Software and processing

Stacked and processed in PixInsight with final touches in Lightroom

✌️ "V" zodiacal et arche hivernale ✨.

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Au-revoir à Orion et son ciel d'hiver qui nous quittent en ce mois d'Avril. On se retrouve en Octobre pour de nouvelles astrophotos . Je n'ai malheureusement pas pu trop en profiter d'une part à cause de la météo et d'autre part à cause d'un autre projet photo qui me prend beaucoup de temps 👀.

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🆑 Ici, c'est un peu mon Chili à moi 😂. Probablement un des meilleurs ciels de notre région (disons plutôt le moins pire). Il me faut environ 1h15 de route de la maison pour profiter de ce ciel assez correct. Situé au fin fond du Pas-de-Calais, cet endroit est classé dans une zone Bortle 4 (proche Bortle 3). La meilleure valeur de la qualité de ciel que j'ai pu mesurer ici au SQM (Sky Quality Meter) est de 21.47. Le maximum étant 22.00, il correspond aux endroits sur Terre où le ciel est le plus pur, sans aucune pollution lumineuse. Cette différence entre les 2 valeurs paraît minime mais elle est en fait énorme et la différence sur la pureté du ciel l'est tout autant.

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🔭 Alors certes je n'ai pas la puissance des télescopes du désert chilien mais j'essaye de me débrouiller avec mon Newton 250/1000 . C'est un petit parallèle avec les moyens du bord comparé aux énormes observatoires qui sont là-bas. On voit beaucoup d'arches galactiques au-dessus des immenses coupoles, je voulais mettre à mon tour en valeur la bête . J'avais cette compo en tête du backstage : un "V" formé sous l'arche de la Voie Lactée. La cible ce soir-là était la galaxie M51, le post arrive bientôt. On peut observer de gauche à droite : le complexe d'Orion, la Voie Lactée, la lumière zodiacale, la galaxie d'Andromède et bien d'autres nébuleuses en H-alpha.

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EXIF :

-@canonfrance EOS R astro mod by a-m.de

-@sigmafrance ART 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM

-@skywatcherusa Star Adventurer GTi

-Ciel : pano de 12 tuiles 1*30s f/2.2 ISO 1250 suivi

-Sol : pano de 6 tuiles 1*75s f/3.2 ISO 3200 non suivi

NDN 935, NGC7000 HSO RGB

distance: 2000 - 3000 ly

Equipment:

Takahashi Epsilon 130ED

ASI294mmPro

ZWO EFW 8x

Astronomik Deep-Sky RGB und SHO MaxFR

Skywatcher EQ8

September 2021

Processing: PixInsight/affinity photo

Presenting an M31 Andromeda Galaxy “beginner equipment” side-project. I wanted to capture a deep space object with what is representative of relatively “beginner” equipment and modest exposure times as a sort of “you don’t need to spend heaps of money to make a good image” demonstration. And Andromeda seems like the perfect target for this sort of thing. Something I can share when people argue a basic camera can’t make a nice image, or get caught up feeling as though spending thousands of dollars is the right solution to solve frustrations they are encountering learning this challenging hobby.

As Ed Ting quipped (paraphrased), “You end up spending a lot of money to find out you didn’t need to spend a lot of money.”

Or maybe it’s mainly a “for better or for worse” reminder that experience, process, and (especially) post-processing knowledge and software are valuable parts of the formula. Expensive equipment does not offer an escape from this. Not to say the right sort of equipment (e.g. an interchangeable lens camera with a decent sensor and a tracking mount) doesn’t play a vital role in what is possible.

Hopefully this is helpful.

And in the spirit of this goal, I also spent some time documenting, in detail, the post-processing steps and thought process behind the edits involved. For this I used PixInsight and Adobe Photoshop.

Full Post-Processing Notes

tinyurl.com/JPAndromeda

www.astrobin.com/uld8ae/

Olympus E-M1 Mk.II M43 Camera

Olympus 40-150 f/2.8 Pro (150mm)

iOptron SkyGuider Pro

Vello Intervalometer

ASIAir Pro, ZWO 30mm Guide Scope, 2x ASI120MM (one as a dummy camera)

Lights RGB 100x90s ƒ/2.8 ISO1000

Calibrated with Darks, Flats, Flat Darks

Antelope Island, Utah, USA (Bortle 4)

Lights Hα 24x300s ISO3200

RedCat 51 & Astronomik 12nm Hα

I wanted to show that a color, stock sensor doesn’t mean Hydrogen-alpha can’t be accented. But had to use the RedCat 51 for this as, unlike a basic Canon DSLR, I don’t have a good means of using a Hydrogen-alpha filter with this Olympus.

First light with the new scope! IC 1848 - The Soul Nebula in LRGB. The next door neighbor to the well-imaged Heart Nebula, which I imaged in narrowband back in 2020. I've never shot this target before and while initially it was "just a first light target", I was pleasantly surprised with the small structures and Bok globules within the nebula itself as well as the broadband dust that surrounds it.

- Location: Remote Observatory (Bortle 1, SQM 21.99) near Fort Davis, TX

- Total Exposure Time: 30.35 Hours

Equipment:

- Scope: Takahashi FSQ106EDX4

- Imaging Camera: QHY 268M

- Filters: Chroma LRGB (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

------------------------------------------------------------

Software:

- N.I.N.A for image acquisition, platesolving, and framing

- PHD2 for guiding

- PixInsight for processing

-------------------------------------------------------------

Acquisition:

- L: 319 x 3m

- R: 99 x 3m

- G: 97 x 3m

- B: 92 x 3m

- All images at Gain 56, Offset 25 (Readout mode 1) and -5C sensor temperature

- 20 flats per filter

- Master Dark, Flat & Bias from Library

- Nights: 12/16, 12/18-12/20, 12/23-12/25, 12/27/22, 1/13/23

-------------------------------------------------------------

Processing:

- WBPP for Calibration

- Blink to remove bad subs

- ImageIntegration for stacking

RGB Processing (apply to each master):

- DynamicCrop

- MureDenoise

- DynamicBackgroundExtraction

- StarAlignment to align G and B to R

- ChannelCombination to combine to color image

- Duplicate image and ImageSolver to platesolve

- SpectroPhotometricColorCalibration on platesolved duplicate

- StarAlign both original and SPCC'd image to Luminance

- StarXterminator on original image to extract stars and save for later

- StarXterminator to create starless SPCC'd image

- HistogramTransformation x3 on SPCC'd image to stretch to non-linear

- NoiseXterminator on RGB image for noise reduction

Luminance processing:

- DynamicCrop

- MureDenoise

- DynamicBackgroundExtraction

- StarXterminator to create starless and extract stars

- GeneralizedHyperbolicStretch for initial stretch

- HistogramTransformation x2 for further stretch

- NoiseXterminator for slight noise reduction

- UnsharpMask using RangeMask for sharpening of structures in nebula

Combine Luminance and RGB:

- LRGBCombination with saturation at 0.35

- HistogramTransformation for slight stretch

- CurvesTransformation for slight saturation boost

- MultiscaleMedianTransform for chrominance noise reduction

Add RGB Stars to Nebula and further processing:

- HistogramTransformation x3 to stretch RGB stars and then Luminance stars to approximately the same amount

- LRGBCombination to combine RGB and Luminance stars

- ColorSaturation for saturating blue stars

- PixelMath and HistogramTransformation to add RGB stars to Nebula image

- CurvesTransformation for color balancing

- Slight SCNR green

- NoiseXterminator for noise reduction

- DynamicCrop to remove edges

- Save and Export

reworked

Pixinsight with SPCC and BTX

The Whirlpool Galaxy is an interacting spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici

at distance of 23 Mio. Lj

LRGB

Equipment:

TS 10" f/4 ONTC Newton

1000mm f4

GPU Aplanatic Koma Korrector

Moravian CCD G2-8300FW

Astrodon LRGB Filter

Losmandy G11/LFE Photo

Guding:

Lodestar on TS Optics - ultra short 9mm Off Axis Guider

PHD2

16x900s Luminanz

5x900s RGB

total exposure time: 7h 45′

Processing: PixInsight/Affinity Photo

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 from Earth. It was discovered by William 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. [WIKI]

Imaged using the Celestron C14 Edge HD telescope in dome 4 at Turismo Astronómico, Los Coloraos observatory in Gorafe, Spain.

A higher resolution image with imaging details can be found on my Astrobin page at: astrob.in/q54eoy/0/

Technical summary:

Captured: 10 Nights in July 2024

Location: Turismo Astronómico, Los Coloraos, Gorafe, Spain

Bortle Class: 3

Total Integration: 30 hours 50 mins

Filters: Red 40x 180s, Green 40x 180s, Blue 40 x 180s, Ha 131 x 300s, Oiii 191 x 300s

Pixel Scale: 0.4 arcsec/pixel

Telescope: Celestron C14 Edge HD

Image Camera: ZWO ASI6200MM Pro

Filters: Astronomik R, G, B, Ha, Oiii

Mount: Skywatcher EQ 8

Computer: Minix NUC

Capture software: NINA, PHD2

Editing software: PixInsight, Adobe Lightroom

This is a faint emission nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It has been debated whether this formation is from a supernova or solar winds. More recent observations of the spectrum indicate it is not a supernova remnant.

H: 9x5m / 8x10m

S: 8x5m / 8x10m

O: 8x5m / 8/10m

Total Integration = 6h

PI: BXT, SHO, PCC, HT

Lum (H): HT, NXT (Mask), CT

PS: ColorEfex, Curves, StarShrink, Smart Sharpen

distance: ca. 2000 ly

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abell_31

HaLRGB

Equipment:

TS 10" f/4 ONTC Newton

1000mm f4

GPU Aplanatic Koma Korrector

Moravian CCD G2-8300FW

Astrodon LRGB Filter

Astronomik H-Alpha Filter

Losmandy G11/LFE Photo

Guding:

Lodestar on TS Optics - ultra short 9mm Off Axis Guider

PHD2

9x1800 H-Alpha

3x1200 RGB

total exposure time: 7,5 hour

Processing: PixInsight

07.Ferbruar.2015

13.March 2015

15.March 2015

22.March 2015