View allAll Photos Tagged deepspaceobject
The study of astrophotography is a field large and wide. The more I learn about it, the more I know I need to learn more, if that makes any sense. Here I am returning to a familiar object, target this time of year in northern hemisphere--. the large Orion Nebula (located along scabbard, if you will, while viewing Orion constellation).
shot with Svbony 605 mono camera with "SHO" filters... just a handful of 90 sec exposures, each filter, as I am practicing. files stacked and initially processed in Affinity Photo; then edited in PS
Orion-NEB-Ha+OIII_2-3APedit
This is my latest attempt at imaging the Western Veil Nebula (NGC6960) from my home observatory. The nebula is part of a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus and is approximately 1,470 light-years from Earth. It forms part of the visible portions of the Cygnus Loop, a supernova remnant from a star 20 times more massive than the Sun, that exploded around 8,000 years ago. The remnants have since expanded to cover an area of the sky roughly 6 times the diameter of the full Moon.
This image is the result of 54 x 300s exposures (4.5hrs in total), captured using a ZWO ASI2600 Colour CMOS camera, with an Altair Astro Quad-Band Filter, attached to a Altair Wave 115ED with 0.79x reducer and field flattener.
The images were captured using Sequence Generator Pro, preprocessing was done using Astro Pixel Processor with final processing done in Photoshop CC.
The Andromeda Galaxy is our closest galactic neighbor at only ~2.5 million light-years away from Earth. It is the most distant thing the human eye can see. On a moonless night in a dark sky area you can easily discern a smudge of light larger than the moon, a telescope or binoculars will help you see more detail. It is so bright even an ordinary mirrorless or DSLR can capture in it in a ~30-second widefield shot. The Andromeda Galaxy and our Milky Way Galaxy are scheduled to collide in ~4.5 billion years.
I have photographed our galactic neighbor before, but I wanted to give it a go with fresh data using PixInsight for the bulk of my image processing, and I was not disappointed.
Shot from my backyard near Taos, New Mexico.
Equipment:
SkyWatcher EQ6-R Mount
Canon FD 300mm f/4 L - shot at f/5.6
Sony a7RIII (unmodified)
ZWO 30mm Guide Scope
GPCAM2 Mono Camera
Acquisition:
Taos, NM: my backyard - Bortle 3
57 x 151" for 2 hours, 23 min and 27 sec of exposure time.
5 dark frames
15 flats frames
15 bias frames
Software:
SharpCap
PHD2
PixInsight
Lightroom
Photoshop
My a7rIII and adapted Canon FD 300mm f/4 L lens were mounted to my SkyWatcher EQ6-R mount using a vixen rail. The guidescope/camera were fixed to the front of the rail. I used SharpCap to achieve "excellent" polar alignment. I shot ISO 800 at f/5.6. I took 151" exposures using PHD2 with my guidescope to keep tracking accurately. I brought the lights/darks/flats/bias frames into PixInsight for stacking and aligning and then used: STF, Cropping, Dynamic Background Extraction, BlurXTerminator, plate solving, color correction, NoiseXTerminator, and then the galaxy was separated from the stars using StarXterminator, and both files processed and stretched separately and then recombined using PixelMath. That file was brought into Lightroom for Metadata and EXIF tags, light post-processing, and cropping. I used Photoshop to sharpen the final image.
- MASPhotography Getty Images Gallery
When I took the OIII channel I forgot to check the Ha settings so I think I introduced some noise with the lower signal OIII frames. Oh well, I'm still pretty happy with the image. This is my first Bi-color with my new Astrodon OIII 3 nm filter. Now if I can just remember to check my settings next time...
R: iif(Ha > .15, Ha, (Ha*.8)+(OIII*.2))
G: iif(Ha > 0.5, 1-(1-OIII)*(1-(Ha-0.5)), OIII *(Ha+0.5))
B: iif(OIII > .1, OIII, (Ha*.3)+(OIII*.2))
Gear:
- ASI 1600MM-C
- ZWO EFW Filter Wheel
- Astrodon Ha and OIII 3nm 36 mm round filter
- Canon 400 mm f/2.8 IS
- Orion HDX 110 (EQ8) Mount
- QHY 5L-II guidecamera
- Orion ST-80 guidescope
- QHY Polemaster
Software:
-PHD2
-Sequence Generator Pro
-Platesolve 2
-Stellarium
-pixinsight
- Lightroom
Ha: 84 - 180 s lights @ gain 300, -20, -25 c
OIII: 95 - 120 s lights @ gain 139, -15 c
20 flats per filter
master darks from 30 frames
Superbias from 300 frames in Pixinsight
The California Nebula, also known as NGC 1499, is an emission nebula located in the constellation Perseus and is approximately 1,000 light years from Earth.
This image is the result of 25 x 300s exposures, captured using a ZWO ASI2600 Colour CMOS camera, with an Altair Astro Quad-Band Filter, attached to a Altair Wave 115ED with 0.79x reducer and field flattener.
My first, humble take of what arguably is NASA's most iconic picture Deep Space object, the so-called Pillars of the Creation. This feature of the Eagle Nebula (M16) was first made famous by the Hubble space telescope, before NASA used the James Webb Space telescope to capture the Pillars in even greater detail.
M16（わし星雲）の一部であるいわゆる創造の柱です。ハッブル宇宙望遠鏡に撮影された以降、星雲の撮影と言えば、これだというほど、象徴的な一枚となりました。やがてアメリカ航空宇宙局はジェームズ・ウェッブ宇宙望遠鏡を利用して、昨年再び創造の柱を撮影したのです。
HFG1 (Heckathorn-Fesen-Gull 1) is a ~10,000 year old planetary nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia, discovered in 1982. It was produced by a binary star system (V664 Cas), which is moving at 29-59 km/s through the interstellar medium. There are two telltale signs of this movement. The first is the massive red trail of emission left behind in its wake. And the second one is the narrow bluish bow shock produced in front of the planetary nebula.
Near the bottom of the image is another planetary nebula called Abell 6, which was discovered in 1955.
Frankly, I am not very satisfied with this image. This faint target really deserves much longer than 20 hours of exposure (at F/5). The SNR was very low, and I had to do some very heavy noise reduction.
Equipment:
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ106EDXII
Mount: ASA DDM60 Pro
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro
Guiding: Unguided
Filters: Astrodon 5nm Ha, 3nm OIII
Acquisition:
• 125 X 300s Ha at Gain 200 Offset 50
• 125 X 300s OIII at Gain 200 Offset 50
target for (brief) night sky photo-- April 8, 2023 from near caddo gap, ARK. USA... several other galaxies are in the background. Scientific measurements place the distance from earth to M106 between 22-25 million light years (go figure).
photo notes: Nikon D500 with Svbony 102mm f/7 OTA on SW EQ-6 mount. 40 x1 minute exposures @ ISO 2,000.
stacked in Sequetor; processed via Photoshop
M106_D500-102mmOTA_4-8-23c
It's been a while since I took this data, but I finally have a processed version that I like. The cool thing is that I took this data off my balcony, and now that I have an autofocus set up with my lens I can take data like this and not have to go out and refocus the lens every 90 mins or so. :)
- MASPhotography Getty Images Gallery
R/G/B : Ha/0.4*Ha+0.6*OIII/OIII
Gear:
- ASI 1600MM-C @ 300 gain 50 offset
- ZWO EFW filter wheel
- ZWO Ha and OIII di - 7 nm filters
- Canon 400 mm f/2.8 IS @ f/2.8
- Celestron AVX mount
- ASI-120MM-s guidecamera
- Orion mini guidescope
- QHY Polemaster
Software:
- PHD2
- Sequence Generator Pro
- PlateSolve2
- Stellarium
- pixinsight
Ha @ -20 C
46 - 180 s Lights
30 - 180 s Darks
20 - flats
OIII @ -25 C
78 - 300 s Lights
30 - 300 s Darks
20 - flats
Superbias from 300 frames in pixinsight
Shot from my backyard (Bortle 5) with a modified Canon 5DmkII with CLS filter and Canon 70-200mm L @ 200mm lens on Star Adventurer tracker.
175min integration time.
Processed in PixInsight with final cosmetic in Lightroom and Photoshop.
My take on the Triangulum Galaxy (Messier 33 or NGC 598). This has been a real labor of love. After a couple editing attempts in 2020 I never achieved a result I was happy with. Revisiting the project in 2021, with more data and post-processing knowledge, I’m finally happy to share my results.
The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy located 2.73 million light-years from Earth in the Triangulum constellation, and is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies behind Andromeda and our own Milky Way. The Triangulum Galaxy is some 60,000 light years in diameter. With very little sky pollution and good vision, the Triangulum Galaxy is visible to the naked eye. With binoculars and decently dark skies much more detail, including some dust lanes, begins to resolve.
Editing Details
Color data was captured with the 2600MC and Esprit 120ED (2020) and Esprit 80ED (2021). Luminance data was captured with the 2600MM, Astronomik UV/IR L2, and my new Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4. Hydrogen-alpha comes from combining monochrome data captured with the 2600MM, Esprit 120ED, and Astronomik Hα 12nm filter (2021), with red channel data captured with the 2600MC, Esprit 120ED, and Radian Triad Ultra filter (2020). Post-processing was handled in PixInsight and Adobe Photoshop. Color data was combined, cleaned up, and calibrated, and Hydrogen-alpha data was applied to accent nebulous regions. Monochrome data was processed separately (cleaned up, deconvolution, some mild star deemphasis, adjustments to bring out structure, etcetera). After combining luminance and color data stars were separated, some additional adjustments were made, and the results were sent to Photoshop for final post-processing. In Photoshop I employed J-P Metsavainio’s tone-mapping routine; processed small fuzzies background IFN (and maybe a galactic stellar stream?) separately; employed additional measures to accent detail in the galaxy and fainter signal; then recombining stars.
Total Integration Time
- 23 hours 12 minutes
Luminance Data
- 2021-10-29, 2021-11-04 (Bortle 3)
| 120x160s Astronomik UV/IR L2
| ASI2600MM, FSQ-106EDX4, CEM-40EC
Color Data
- 2020-10-20, 2020-10-21 (Bortle 8)
| 313x60s No Filter
| ASI2600MC, Esprit 120ED, CEM-70g
- 2021-09-26 (Bortle 4)
| 63x180s No Filter
| ASI2600MC, Esprit 80ED, CEM-40EC
Hydrogen-alpha and Oxygen III
- 2020-12-03, 2020-12-04 (Bortle 8)
| 63x300s Radian Triad Ultra
| ASI2600MC, Esprit 120ED, CEM-70g
- 2021-09-21 (Bortle 8)
| 43x300s Astronomik 12nm Hα
| ASI2600MM, Esprit 120ED, CEM-70g
Subject imaged at Salt Lake City, Utah (Bortle 8), Antelope Island State Park, Utah (Bortle 4), and in Skull Valley, Utah (Bortle 3), in the United States, in 2020 and 2021.
M81 (Bodes Galaxy) Spiral Galaxy found in the constellation of Ursa Major.
M: iOptron iEQ45-Pro
T: Celestron C8 SCT
C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled
G: OAG and PHD2
GC: ZWO ASI220MM
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -10 DegC
Filter: No Filter
Gain 139; Exp: 32 x 120s
Frames: 32 Lights
Cal Frames: DarkFlats/Flats
Total Exposure: ~64 mins
95% Crop
Capture: NINA
Processed: APP; PS.
Sky: No moon, no breeze, no cloud.
Shot with a modified Canon 5DmkII with CLS filter and Tecnosky APO 360/60 on Star Adventurer tracker.
230min integration time.
Processed in PixInsight and Photoshop with final cosmetic in Lightroom.
The Pleiades, known as the Seven Sisters, Subaru or Messier 45 (M45), is an open star cluster in the Taurus constellation. It lies relatively close to us at ~439 light-years away from Earth. This cluster consists of many stars; its brightest shine vibrantly in our sky and is easily recognizable.
Astronomically, the Pleiades spans ~12 light-years and is about 100 million years old—young in stellar terms as dinosaurs went extinct ~45 million years before this cluster began to shine. One of the coolest things about the Pleiades is that it is a reflection nebula. Glowing clouds surround the stars due to dust reflecting the blue light of the bright, young stars.
Easily visible in the winter sky, the Pleiades are worth looking at with your naked eye, binoculars, or telescope.
Equipment:
SkyWatcher EQ6-R
Nikkor 500mm f/4 P AI-S at f/5.6
Sony a7rIII (unmodified)
ZWO 30mm Guide Scope
GPCAM2 Mono Camera
Acquisition:
Taos, NM: my front yard - Bortle 3
51 x 120-second exposures for 1 hour, 42 exposure time.
4 dark frames
15 flats frames
15 bias frames
Guided
Software:
SharpCap
PHD2
PixInsight
Photoshop
Lightroom
My a7rIII and adapted Nikon 500mm f/4 lens were mounted to my SkyWatcher EQ6-R mount using a vixen rail. The guidescope/camera was fixed to the front of the rail. I used SharpCap to achieve "excellent" polar alignment. I shot ISO 1600 at f/5.6. I took 120-second exposures using PHD2 with my guidescope to keep tracking accurately. I brought the lights/darks/flats/bias frames into PixInsight for stacking and aligning and then used: STF, Cropping, Dynamic Background Extraction, BlurXTerminator, plate solving, color correction, NoiseXTerminator, and then the galaxy was separated from the stars using StarXterminator, and both files processed and stretched separately and then recombined using PixelMath. That file was brought into Lightroom for Metadata and EXIF tags, light post-processing, and cropping. I used Photoshop to sharpen the final image.
NGC 3628 is a great example of an edge on view of a spiral galaxy. The dust band running through the center of the galaxy is the dust and gas located in its spiral arms which are enveloped in a halo of stars, gas, and more dust. There is some debate as to whether NGC3628 is a barred spiral galaxy or just a spiral galaxy, this may have something to do with the orientation of the bars relative to our view here on Earth. I wonder if there will ever be a way to definitively know, in the meantime it’s something interesting to ponder. Also, dimly visible in this image is a portion of its 300,000-light-year tidal tail drifting off to the left, this is the product of its interaction with other nearby galaxies. NGC 3628 is also part of the galaxy group known as the Leo Triplet. At about 35 million light years distant, light we see from this galaxy left NGC 3628 when here on Earth Daphoenus roamed North America during the Middle Eocene. Daphoenus or ‘bear dogs’ were an interesting predatory mammal that were about the size of a coyote based on the fossil record and had characteristics of both bears and dogs hence the name. I’ll bet they would eat a hamburger if they ever came across one 😊
View in Hi Resolution
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/terryhancock/53115075677/in/datepos...
Astrobin: www.astrobin.com/ttmbcn/
Technical Info:
Captured and processed by: Terry Hancock
Captured over 4 nights in March 2023 for Total acquisition time of 9.6 hours.
RGB 86 min 144 x 244 sec
Camera: QHY294C one shot color CMOS
Filter Wheel: QHYCFW3 Medium
Gain 2850, Offset 76
Calibrated with dark, and dark Flat Frames
Optics: William Optics FLT 156mm F7.8 1228mm
Image Scale: 0.76 arcsec/pix
Field of View: 0.90 0.61
EQ Mount: Paramount ME
Image Acquisition software NINA Pre-Processing in PixInsight Post Processed in Photoshop CC
The Rosette Nebula (also known as NGC2237) is a large emission nebula in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy and is located approximately 5,200 light-years from Earth.
This is my first image with the QHY163M mono CMOS camera and is the result of 10 x 180s exposures with Gain 50 and Offset 35 applied. The camera was attached to an Altair Wave 115 triplet refractor telescope with a 0.79x focal reducer. The images were captured using Sequence Generator Pro and processed using PixInsight and Photoshop CS6.
Aquí comparto una foto de campo amplio (más o menos)...
Se trata de NGC 6960 y NGC 6992 o lo que es lo mismo las Nebulosas del Velo Estre y del Oeste.
La parte de arriba según se mira la foto es NGC 6960, la Nebulosa del Velo, también llamada la Nebulosa Escoba de la Bruja (mola ese nombre, jajaja...).
En medio, bajo la escoba, se encuentra el Triángulo de Prickering Wisp.
Y la nebulosa de abajo del todo es la Nebulosa del Velo Oeste.
Estos objetos de cielo profundo son el remanente de una supernova que ocurrió hace entre 12000 y 20000 años y que se encuentra en la constelación del Cisne. Su tamaño aparente en el cielo (si se pudiese ver a simple vista cosa imposible), sería como 6 veces el diámetro de la Luna llena.
Se encuentra a una distancia de unos 1470 años luz de nuestro planeta, pero hay estudios que indican que está más lejos, como 2397 años luz, vamos que si te quieres dar una vuelta por esta supernova va a hacerte falta recargar el depósito de tu cohete espacial un gritón de veces... 😂
EXIF: Usé una Sony A7R full spectrum, con un filtro L-Enhace que bloque la contaminación lumínica, y un telescopio Skywatcher ed80 de 600mm f7,5 con un reductor 0,85, que deja la focal en 510mm efectivos. Vamos la lente era un 510mm a f6,375.
Se trata de dos paneles de unas 60 fotos a 120 segundos cada una a ISO 6400, con sus darks, sus flats, y sus bias.
Use mi montura Explore Scientific EXOS 2, y el guiado lo hice con un tubo Xvbony 120mm f4, y una cámara qhy5 monocromo.
El programa de adquisición fue N.I.N.A. y los paneles los procesé con PI y PS.
Espero que os guste.
Saludos.
Spring time means hunting galaxies in the night sky (in the northern hemisphere). The M101 galaxy is one of the easiest to find and photo, despite it is very far away (20 million light years away! go figure). Because it is so large, spanning nearly 200,000 light years, it can be viewed with even small telescopes, like this Svbony 503 102mm OTA (about 571mm focal length with the 0.8x field flattner). Photo taken with mono Svbony 605mc camera. a total of about 45 minutes (30x90 exposures).
Two views of Comet C/2017 T2 PANSTARRS from Grand Mesa Observatory 6/19/2020.
Comet C/2017 T2 PANSTARRS Captured using data from Grand Mesa Observatory's System 1 the Takahashi FSQ 130 (available on our subscriptions) using the QHY367 Pro C full frame One Shot Color CMOS camera. Captured on the 19th June 2020 for a total acquisition time of 1.5 hours.
This field also contains 6 galaxies from the NGC catalogue; NGC 4088 intermediate spiral galaxy estimated 51 million light years distant, NGC 4187 elliptical galaxy estimated 340 million light years distant, NGC 4157 near edge on barred spiral galaxy estimated 55 million light years distant, NGC 4100 spiral galaxy estimated 67 million light years distant, NGC 4085 barred spiral galaxy estimated 60 million light years distant, NGC 4026 lenticular galaxy estimated 50 million light years distant, and 303 distant galaxies from the PGC catalogue.
View in High Resolution:
Technical Details Captured and processed by: Tom Masterson and Terry Hancock
Location: GrandMesaObservatory.com Purdy Mesa, Colorado
Date of Capture June 19th 2020 RGB 90 min 30 x 180 sec
Camera: QHY367 Pro C Gain 2850, Offset 76 with Dark, Bias and Flat Frames
Optics: Walter Holloway's Takahashi FSQ 130 APO Refractor @ F5
EQ Mount: Paramount ME Image
Acquisition software Maxim DL6
Pre Processing in Pixinsight and Deep Sky Stacker Post Processing in Photoshop CC
Comet C/2017 T2 PANSTARRS Captured using data from Grand Mesa Observatory's system 2 the new William Optics FLT 156mm F7.8 APO Refractor (available on our subscriptions) using the QHY367 Pro C full frame One Shot Color CMOS camera. Captured on the 19th June 2020 for a total acquisition time of 1.5 hours. grandmesaobservatory.com/equipment
This field also contains 2 galaxies from the NGC catalogue; NGC 4088 intermediate spiral galaxy estimated 51 million light years distant, NGC 4085 barred spiral galaxy estimated 60 million light years distant, and 92 distant galaxies from the PGC catalogue.
View in High Resolution
Technical Details Captured and processed by: Tom Masterson and Terry Hancock
Location: GrandMesaObservatory.com Purdy Mesa, Colorado
Date of Capture June 19th 2020 RGB 90 min 30 x 180 sec
Camera: QHY367 Pro C Gain 2850, Offset 76 with Dark, Bias and Flat Frames
Optics: William Optics FLT 156mm F7.8 APO Refractor
EQ Mount: Paramount ME
Image Acquisition software Maxim DL6 Pre Processing in Pixinsight and Deep Sky Stacker Post Processing in Photoshop CC
I have imaged the Dark Shark Nebula before as a 2-Panel mosaic due to the field of view from a smaller sensor size, so with a Full Frame such as the ASI2400MC Pro I manage to capture the whole shark in one frame as well as the surrounding dark nebulosity
Image Details: 175x150S at Gain 26
Darks: 101 Frames
Flats: 101 Frames
Bias: 201 Frames
Acquisition Dates: Sept. 14, 2020 , Sept. 15, 2020 , Sept. 18, 2020 , Sept. 21, 2020 , Sept. 22, 2020
Total Capture time: 7.3 hours
Equipment Details:
Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI2400MC Pro 24mpx Full Frame OSC
Imaging Scope: SharpStar 15028HNT Hyperboloid Astrograph
Guide Camera: StarlightXpress Lodestar X2
Guide Scope: 365Astronomy 280mm Guide Scope
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro
Focuser: Primalucelab Sesto Senso V2
Filter: Optolong L-Pro
Power and USB Control: Pegasus Astro USB Ultimate Hub Pro
Acquisition Software: Main Sequence Software. Sequence Generator Pro 3.2
Calibration and Stacking: Astro Pixel Processor
Processing Software: PixInsight 1.8.6 and EZ Processing Suite for Star Reduction
Shot with a simple tripod and Canon 135mm f/2 lens. No tracking device: 20 Light + 5 Dark frames stacked in Affinity Photo and PP in Photoshop and Lightroom.
Quite happy and surprised to be able to get such picture without any astrophotography gear.
Still room for improvement (more frames) until I feel the need to purchase a star tracker :)
The Elephant's Trunk nebula (IC 1396) in the constellation Cepheus. This is a large are of gas and star forming regions approximately 2400 light years away. This version is presented in a modified HOO colour palette in which Hydrogen Alpha emissions are mapped to Red and Oxygen III emissions to Blue & Green. Taken during the night of October 10 with around 7 hours of data.
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks imaged in the evening after sunset on March 8, 2024, in Skull Valley, Utah, United States. A chilly, crystal-clear winter night out with friends for the first time after four months of our cloudy winter. As I understand it, I may have imaged this after or during an outburst. Whatever the case, this is the most interesting and dynamic comet I’ve ever photographed in terms of *waves hands at the thing* everything that’s going on here.
An earlier outburst event was responsible for the tail splitting thus creating “horns” which led to this comet being called “Devil’s Comet” in various articles and news coverage. Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is visible in the northern hemisphere under decently dark skies through binoculars, and will grow closer heading into April.
This photograph of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is comprised of 32x120s stacked exposures captured with my Sky Watcher 120ED using a 0.77x reducer, a ZWO AM5 strain wave mount, and imaged with the ZWO ASI2600MC Duo cooled astronomy camera. Editing done in PixInsight and Adobe Photoshop. See the AstroBin link below for more technical details if interested. I have also included, there, detailed notes on the post-processing workflow I used.
Creative Commons License
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED
Attribute to James Peirce (MyPetStars)
Technical & Processing Details on My Website
My final M42 photo for 2022: time to shoot other DSO now :)
Shot with a modified Canon 5DmkII with CLS filter and Tecnosky APO 360/60 on Star Adventurer tracker.
164min integration time.
Processed in PixInsight and Photoshop with final cosmetic in Lightroom.
M: Pegasus NYX-101
T: WO GTF81 Refractor
C: ZWO ASI533MM-Cooled
G: OAG and PHD2
GC: ZWO ASI120MC
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -10 DegC
Ha: Gain 100; Exp: 8 x 300s
R: Gain 100; Exp: 20 x 200s
G: Gain 100; Exp: 20 x 200s
B: Gain 100; Exp: 20 x 200s
Frames: 68 Lights; Darks/DarkFlats/Flats
Total Exposure: ~4 hours
95% Crop
Capture: NINA
Processed: APP [HaRGB-1]; PS.
Sky: 95% moon, no breeze, no cloud.
M: iOptron EQ45-Pro
T: WO GTF81
C: ZWO ASI1600MC
G: 200mm Finder and PHD2
Gain: 200; RAW16; FITs
Temp: -2 DegC
Frames: 100 Lights; 6 Darks; 6 flats
Exp: 60s
No Crop
Capture: Sharpcap
Processed: DSS; PS
Sunday December 17, 2023 ...clear night sky (waxing moon- approaching 1st quarter) ; view of Orion's belt-- specifically Alnitak (lower most of the three stars in belt; the one nearest "scabbard")... in view is also the horsehead and flame nebulas. (I'm still learning; thus I have a"banding" issue with the astro-camera I'm using).
Sh2-174 or the Valentine Rose is a very faint but large Planetary nebula located in Cepheus. A planetary nebula is created when a low-mass star blows off its outer layers at the end of its life. It is almost 1000 light years away from Earth.
I initially started off just shooting this in narrowband but then came across several images showing all the surrounding dust. So I shot several hours of broadband data as well. I processed the NB as HOO, adding in the SII (there isn’t very much) using ImageBlend script. I then processed the LRGB data combining the two again in ImageBlend. As much time as I have in NB, I could probably use another 20 hours in Ha-OIII. Definitely will revisit this area in the future, with a different FOV.
Total Integration: 47 hours 52 mins
High Res Version:
app.astrobin.com/u/jratino?i=k9jbzd#gallery
Equipment:
Stellarvue SVX102T and Flattener
#zwo ASI533MM, ZWO AM5, EAF, EFW, ASI220 guide cam
#wandererastro Rotator Lite
#williamoptics Uniguide 50mm
#chroma 3nm Ha, OII, SII, R, G, B
FB JL Ratino
IG jlratino
#ASIWEEK
#astrophotography #astronomy #astrophoto #galacticimages #deepspacephotography #dso #deepspaceobject #deepspaceobjects #deepspace #longexposure
#longexposurephotography #milkyway #picoftheday @skywatcherusa @highpointscientific #agenaastro #apod #space #spacephoto #spacephotography #photography #rose #nightphotography @nasa_apod @aapod #Cepheus
- MASPhotography Getty Images Gallery
I did most of this processing in the hospital with Mom last week. It was a fun distraction as she slept.
I'm still learning this whole LRGBHa thing. I mixed in much less of the Ha channel in this image. I think I like the results better. As I have time I think I'm going to reprocess this one and others to reveal more of the natural colors in addition to the Ha.
Gear:
- ASI 1600MM-C
- ZWO EFW Filter Wheel
- Astrodon LRGB Gen2 E-Series Tru-Balance Filters
- Astrodon Ha 3nm 36 mm round filter
- Canon 400 mm f/2.8 IS
- Orion HDX 110 (EQ8) Mount
- QHY 5L-II guidecamera
- Orion ST-80 guidescope
- QHY Polemaster
Software:
-PHD2
-Sequence Generator Pro
-Platesolve 2
-Stellarium
-pixinsight
L: 58 - 90 s lights @ gain 0, -15, -20 c
R: 39 - 120 s lights @ gain 139, -15 c
G: 26 - 120 s lights @ gain 139, -15 c
B: 29 - 120 s lights @ gain 139, -15 c
Ha: 63 - 180 s lights @ gain 300, -20, -25, -30 c
20 flats per filter
master darks from 30 frames
Superbias from 300 frames in Pixinsight
M101 Galaxy found in the constellation of Ursa Major.
M: Pegasus NYX-101
T: WO GTF81 Refractor
C: ZWO ASI533MM-Cooled
G: OAG and PHD2
GC: ZWO ASI120MC
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -10 DegC
Ha: Gain 100; Exp: 10 x 600s
R: Gain 100; Exp: 9 x 600s
G: Gain 100; Exp: 9 x 600s
B: Gain 100; Exp: 9 x 600s
L: Gain 100; Exp: 9 x 300s
Frames: 52 Lights; Darks/DarkFlats/Flats
Total Exposure: ~7.25 hours
90% Crop
Capture: NINA
Processed: APP [LRGBHa-1]; PS.
Sky: 77% moon, no breeze, no cloud.
Barnard 33 in the constellation of Orion. Equipment used:
M: iOptron EQ45-Pro
T: WO GTF81
C: ZWO ASI1600MC Cool
G: 200mm Finder and PHD2
Gain: 300; RAW16; FITs
Temp: -2.6 DegC
Frames: 80 Lights; 6 Darks; 6 flats
Exp: 120s
No Crop
Capture: Sharpcap
Processed: DSS; PS & Gradient Exterminator.
Shot with a modified Canon 5DmkII with CLS filter and Tecnosky APO 360/60 on Star Adventurer tracker.
225min integration time.
Processed in PixInsight and Photoshop with final cosmetic in Lightroom.
A better one of the Orion Nebulae.
Shot with a modified Canon 5DmkII with CLS filter and Canon 135mmmm L + 2x TC @ 270mm lens on Star Adventurer tracker.
126min integration time.
Processed in PixInsight with final cosmetic in Lightroom and Photoshop.
M106 In the constellation of Canes Venatici.
A second run at this target on a moonless night, with more light exposures. Definitely more detail!
M: iOptron EQ45-Pro
T: William Optics GTF81
C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled
F: No Filters
G: PHD2
GC: ZWO ASI120mini
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -15 DegC
Gain 139;
42 x Exp 360s
Frames: 42 Lights; 2 Darks; 200 flats
100% Crop
Capture: SharpCap
Processed: DSS; PS; Grad Exterminator.
Sky: No Moon, calm, no cloud, cold, excellent seeing.
22-25 million light years distant.
M: iOptron EQ45
T: WO GTF81
C: ZWOASI1600MC
G: OAG ASI120MM
Lights: 60% best of 250 x 60s
Gain: 139
Temp: -15 DegC
Darks and Flats to suit.
In all about 2.5 hrs of Data.
Capture: SharpCap
Processed in Astro Pixel Processor & PS to tweek.
My last image of this area I presented to you in hubble palette using narrow band filters www.flickr.com/photos/terryhancock/48821188477/in/datepos... this latest rendering is captured in the more traditional color, using the QHY367C one shot color CMOS together with a H-Alpha filter and data from Grand Mesa Observatory’s system 1 the Takahashi FSQ 130 (available on our subscriptions)
Captured over 4 nights in July and August 2019 for a total acquisition time of 8.5 hours.
Technical Details
Captured and processed by: Terry Hancock
Location: GrandMesaObservatory.com Purdy Mesa, Colorado
July 22, 29, 30, Aug 2nd 2019
RGB 320 min 32 x 600 sec
HA 195 min 13 x 900 sec
Narrowband Filters by Chroma "5nm"
Camera: QHY367C
Gain 2850, Offset 76 with Dark Frames no Flat.
Optics: Walter Holloway's Takahashi FSQ 130 APO Refractor @ F5
EQ Mount: Paramount ME
Image Acquisition software Maxim DL6
Pre Processing in Pixinsight
Post Processed in Photoshop CC
Starnet (star removal)
The incandescence of the Eagle Nebula is laced with intricate dark lanes, globules, and huge clouds of dust which shroud ongoing star formation from direct view. The most prominent dark structures are the so-called “Pillars of Creation”, three long fingers of gas and dark dust nearly ten light years long. The Pillars are a field laboratory for the study of star formation and have been examined intensely by astronomers at visible, infrared, and ultraviolet wavelengths. Within the Pillars are much smaller, warmer, and denser regions called evaporating gaseous globules (EGGs), some of which contain just a few solar masses. The EGGs are ground zero for star formation, though it’s difficult to catch these new stars in the act of igniting because they remain obscured by cloaks of dark dust. EGGs located near bright stars are elongated by winds of light and charged particles into what look like schools of celestial tadpoles.
The stars within the Eagle Nebula appear to be in an intermediate state. Stars within the Pillars and other dusty regions remain obscured, while a cluster of some 400 new stars clearly appears in a more transparent section of the nebula. The largest of these stars has a mass some 80 times that of our Sun and the luminosity of perhaps a million Suns. The cluster formed just 2 to 5 million years ago. The nebula itself is only slightly older.
The light we see from the Eagle Nebula and its associated stars left some 7,000 years ago, but some astronomers suspect the Pillars of Creation may have already been obliterated when a massive young star within the nebula detonated as a supernova. The Spitzer Space Telescope detected evidence of a patch of hot gas near the Pillars which may have been caused by such an event about 8,000 years ago. Information from our e-book The Armchair cosmicpursuits.com/astronomy-courses-and-e-books/armchair...
Messier 81 (also known as NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy) is a spiral galaxy and the largest galaxy in the M81 Group; a group of 34 galaxies in the constellation Ursa Major. Another member of this group is Messier 82 (also known as NGC 3034 or the Cigar Galaxy) which is a starburst galaxy about five times more luminous than the whole Milky Way. Both galaxies are about 12 million light-years away.
This image was captured from my observatory using a QHY8L CCD camera attached to an Altair Wave 115ED telescope with a 0.79x focal reducer. The image comprises 18 x 600s exposures (3hrs exposure time in total), stacked and processed using PixInsight and Photoshop CC.
The Dumbbell Nebula (aka Messier 27) is perhaps the most well-known planetary nebulae in the night sky and a popular target for astrophotographers. Producing a lovely photograph of this sky jewel has been on my bucket list for quite some time, especially after seeing how beautiful the Dumbell Nebula looks when photographed deeply enough to resolve its “wings” and the intricate nebulosity which runs throughout.
From our perspective on Earth, the Dumbell Nebula, when including the outer “wings” as represented in this image, would be more than 1/2 of the diameter of our Moon in the sky if it were readily visible. The “wings” are exceedingly faint, but the brighter, more spherical “core” of the Dumbell is bright, and is easy to see through binoculars or a telescope. The “Dumbell” of Dumbell Nebula owes its origin to the way in which its core presents visually: “Two hazy masses in contact with a narrower zone between,” As T.W. Webb described in an earlier observation, or as D’Arrest wrote, “Very large and shining; two objects blending into one another.”
Photographed in Skull Valley, Utah, across multiple nights in 2022 and 2024. 29 hours 16 minutes of images were used and edited with PixInsight and Adobe Photoshop. Photography of this object primarily relied on my Celestron EdgeHD 8 telescope with 0.7x focal reducer, a ZWO ASI2600MM Pro monochrome astronomy camera, Astronomik Deep-Sky color filters and MaxFR Hydrogen-alpha and OIII narrowband filters, and a Rainbow Astro RST-135E strain wave mount. Natural color stars were captured using a Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED and natural color and structure were blended with photographs taken using a Celestron RASA 8.
More Information at My Website
mypetstars.com/astrophotography/M27
(including a starless view and post-processing)
And at AstroBin
Creative Commons License
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED
Attribute to James Peirce (with link)
M97: The Owl Nebula in the constellation of Ursa Major [Blue 'Owl eyes]
M108: The Surfboard Galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major [Bottom Right]. Also known as NGC 3556.
First run at this target on a moonless night.
M: iOptron EQ45-Pro
T: William Optics GTF81
C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled
F: No Filters
G: PHD2
GC: ZWO ASI120mini
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -15 DegC
Gain 139
11 x Exp 600s
Frames: 11 Lights; 2 Darks; 200 flats
60% Crop
Capture: SharpCap
Processed: DSS; PS; Grad Exterminator.
Sky: No Moon, calm, no cloud, cold, excellent seeing.
M97: 2.03 thousand light years distant.
M108: 45.9 million light years distant.
north america nebula: July 1, 2022
photo notes:
Nikon D850 w/ Svbony 80mm OTA w/ "field flatner"
20 x 1 min exposure; processed via "Sequator" and photoshop
taken early September 2023.
photo notes: Svbony: 405cc OSC camera;
Sv503 102mm OTA w/ 0.8x FF/FR; SV220 DBF;
Skywatcher EQ6-R mount using NINA software.
only 36minutes lights; 10minutes darks.
NCG 281-405cc-w-102mmOTA+DBF_18lights-edit9-10-23
Still working on my astrophotography skills :)
Shot with a modified Canon 5DmkII with CLS filter and Canon 100mm L Macro lens on Star Adventurer tracker.
264min integration time.
Processed in PixInsight and Photoshop with final cosmetic in Lightroom.
A better one of the Orion, Horsehead and Casper the Friendly Ghost (cute name) nebulae.
The dust clouds starts to show quite well even if a longer exposure and better sky would bring more structure details... maybe next time :)
Shot with a modified Canon 5DmkII with CLS filter and Canon 70-200mm L @ 200mm lens on Star Adventurer tracker.
154min integration time.
Processed in PixInsight with final cosmetic in Lightroom and Photoshop.
NGC1027
Heart (IC1805) and (Soul IC1848)
Ha 8x120sec
O 8x120sec
This was my first try of BiColor technique. Taken in Abastumani, July 19th, 2015
Telescope: TS80APO (480mm f/6)
Camera: QSI 583
Mount: iOptron iEQ30 Pro
NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula in the constellation of Cepheus.
First run at this target on a 99% full moon night.
M: iOptron EQ45-Pro
T: William Optics GTF81
C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled
F: No Filters
G: PHD2
GC: ZWO ASI120mini
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -20 DegC
Gain 139
104 x Exp 100s
Frames: 104 Lights; 2 Darks; 200 flats
95% Crop
Capture: SharpCap
Processed: APP; PS; Grad Exterminator.
Sky: Full Moon, calm, no cloud, mild, good seeing.
NGC7023: 1.3 thousand light years distant.
Captured from Grand Mesa Observatory, both the WO 12" RC and QHY600 Mono CMOS are coutesy of and recently supplied by William Optics. I was so encouraged by these great results and with permission from William Optics this setup is now available as an option "System 5" on GMO's subscription plans.
The Eagle Nebula was captured over 2 nights using the QHY600M with just 4 x 300 second exposures (bin 1x1) each channel LRGB and 8 x 600 second H-Alpha (bin 2x2). The William Optics WO12 RC is currently setup using the William Optics .8 reducer providing a 1971mm focal length @ F6.4. Bin 1x1 the image scale is 0.39 arcsec/pix and Bin 2x2 the image scale is 0.79 arcsec/pixel.
Total acquisition time 2.66 hours.
View High Resolution HaLRGB
View High Resolution H-Alpha
Filters used were supplied courtesy of Optolong
Plate Solve Information
Referentiation matrix (world[ra,dec] = matrix * image[x,y]):
+1.09243694e-04 -9.03580643e-07 -5.20203876e-01
+8.72695046e-07 +1.09320113e-04 -3.53349451e-01
WCS transformation ....... Linear
Projection ............... Gnomonic
Projection origin ........ [4788.284896 3194.021007] px -> [RA: 18 18 54.820 Dec: -13 50 32.63]
Resolution ............... 0.393 arcsec/px
Rotation ................. 179.514 deg
Observation start time ... 2020-04-25 09:58:01 UTC
Observation end time ..... 2020-04-25 10:03:01 UTC
Focal distance ........... 1971.28 mm
Pixel size ............... 3.76 um
Field of view ............ 1d 2' 47.5" x 41' 53.2"
Technical Details
Captured and processed by: Terry Hancock
Location: GrandMesaObservatory.com Purdy Mesa, Colorado
Dates of Capture April 26 and 27th 2020
HA 80 min 8 x 600 sec
LRGB 80 min 4 x 300 sec
Filters by Optolong
Camera: QHY600 Monochrome CMOS
Gain 60, Offset 76 with Dark, Bias and Flat Frames
Optics: William Optics 12" RC @ F6.4
EQ Mount: Paramount ME
Image Acquisition software Maxim DL6 Pre Processing in Pixinsight Post Processed in Photoshop CC
The incandescence of the Eagle Nebula is laced with intricate dark lanes, globules, and huge clouds of dust which shroud ongoing star formation from direct view. The most prominent dark structures are the so-called “Pillars of Creation”, three long fingers of gas and dark dust nearly ten light years long. The Pillars are a field laboratory for the study of star formation and have been examined intensely by astronomers at visible, infrared, and ultraviolet wavelengths. Within the Pillars are much smaller, warmer, and denser regions called evaporating gaseous globules (EGGs), some of which contain just a few solar masses. The EGGs are ground zero for star formation, though it’s difficult to catch these new stars in the act of igniting because they remain obscured by cloaks of dark dust. EGGs located near bright stars are elongated by winds of light and charged particles into what look like schools of celestial tadpoles.
The stars within the Eagle Nebula appear to be in an intermediate state. Stars within the Pillars and other dusty regions remain obscured, while a cluster of some 400 new stars clearly appears in a more transparent section of the nebula. The largest of these stars has a mass some 80 times that of our Sun and the luminosity of perhaps a million Suns. The cluster formed just 2 to 5 million years ago. The nebula itself is only slightly older.
The light we see from the Eagle Nebula and its associated stars left some 7,000 years ago, but some astronomers suspect the Pillars of Creation may have already been obliterated when a massive young star within the nebula detonated as a supernova. The Spitzer Space Telescope detected evidence of a patch of hot gas near the Pillars which may have been caused by such an event about 8,000 years ago. Information from our e-book cosmicpursuits.com/astronomy-courses-and-e-books/armchair...