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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...
Haven't been able to get outside of late, so looking at post-processing capabilities of Affinity Photo. There is a lot to learn and process.
Messier 33.
Located in the constellation of Triangulum.
A re-process of previous light frames, using the 'Astro Pixel Processor' application. A slight crop applied ~ 85%.
M: iOptron EQ45-Pro
T: William Optics GTF81
C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled
F: L-eNhance filter (Dual Ha,Hb & Oiii Narrowbands)
G: PHD2
GC: ZWO ASI120mini
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -20 DegC
Gain 139; Exp 400s
Frames: 25 Lights; 4 Darks; 20 flats
100% Crop
Capture: SharpCap
Processed: APP; PS, Astrotools
Sky: New moon, calm, no cloud, cold, fair seeing.
2.73 million light years distant.
This is not the first time I have imaged the largest visible galaxy in our skies, the last time was with a DSLR Camera, so whilst I was trying out the ASI2400 Full Frame Camera I thought it would be a perfect target and I was not disappointed
Image Details: 172x90S at Gain 0
Darks: 101 Frames
Flats: 101 Frames
Bias: 201 Frames
Total Capture time: 4.3 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
I am practicing with these old exposures of the Orion Nebula, taken over a year ago.
a few notes on Orion Nebula (M42)...
In my current night sky (mid March 2024), Orion is retreating overhead
to the south-west early in the night-sky and will soon disappear, only to return next winter.
I have responsibilities that interfere with getting outside and set up in time to capture it lately.
this nebula is found in the constellation of the same name. if you look at the constellation,
this nebula is found along the scabbard, if you will, hanging below the three belt stars,
about midway down. I share that because if you have a very dark, clear sky
you can see it with a decent pair of binoculars-- a faint reddish smudge or blur.
I think it is the closest "star-forming" area to us, some 8,000 light years away
(look it up; doing this from memory).
Also recently, hundreds of "Jumbo" planets (size of Jupiter) were discovered
when the James Webb space telescope focused in on the "trapezium" cluster
of the Orion Nebula (the brightest area in center of photo) and these "Jumbos"
weren't acting like planets. I forget exactly how, but it had something to do with
not being associated with stars or gravity from stars... something like that.
2-22-23_AfPh_3-18-24_edit-c
“The Snake Nebula” (Barnard 72) is our dark “S”-shaped friend just left of center and is located in the constellation Ophiuchus. Our snake’s neighboring inky splotches each has their own designation in the Barnard catalog (20th century astronomer E. E. Barnard’s catalog of 182 dark markings in the sky) and collectively they form a part of the much larger “Dark Horse Nebula,” which, to the naked eye under dark skies, takes on the appearance of a horse. These interstellar clouds of gas and dust obscure light from stars behind them, thus taking on this backlit appearance, as if resting atop a sea of stars. Relative to our vantage point on Earth, this view is looking toward the core of the Milky Way, hence the incredible density of stars.
What is particularly striking to me about these dark nebulae toward the heart of the Milky Way is their striking contrast with the density of stars at the heart of our galaxy—to me it almost looks like an undulating sea of stars—and I wanted to promote that in this image, so I went out of my way maintain and promote the light and glow of stars both resolved and too small to be resolved by my sensor, taking inspiration from the sort of light intensity you might see in a lovely, deep photography of the Milky Way.
Details: StellarVue SVX080T-35V with 0.8x reducer, ZWO ASI 2600MC Pro, Rainbow Astro RST-135E. 140x90s for about 3.5 hours of data. Calibrated with darks (optimized), flats, and bias. Edited in PixInsight and Adobe Photoshop. Photographed on July 21, 2023, high in the Uinta Mountains, Utah, United States.
Commentary: Accomplishing the above was a bit of a tricky task, and I did a lot of experimentation with this image. Editing is a little tricky in a distinct way as you want to capture the stars in one image and the background stars/glow in another, and it becomes a pretty intricate balancing act of preserving noise (as all those little stars are represented at the scale of noise) and color when re-blending. And the general light levels make it a bit more challenging to re-blend bright stars and promote star color. I’ve improved the process with another image I have captured, and was tempted to re-visit this edit to impart small-scale improvements, but rather than be obsessive, I have just decided to share. This photograph sure is a delight whenever it comes up on my photo frame.
Editing: Primarily in PixInsight. Some very mild high cloud interference on a subset of session; integrated best frames for a master and used Normalize Scale Gradients script to mitigate. No Light gradient removal. SPCC for color calibration. For stars image used StarX (correct stars only with no reduction and tiny boost to halos; some spherical aberration on reducer), mild noise reduction with NoiseX (luminance mask), stretched and nudged saturation with GHS, small adjustments to color calibration with GHS and levels, and further refinement to color balance and noise. For “background” image applied color calibration, mild noise reduction (NoiseX, luminance mask), and removed stars with StarX. Stretched with GHS, color adjustments, and cleaned up some odds & ends in Adobe Photoshop. Re-imported to PixInsight, and removed stars from stars image with StarX. Iterated on applying the stars to the background stars/glow image and undoing, adjusting stretch and colors using GHS, curves, levels, and masks, until I found a happy balance (including adjustments to the stars layer as color blending was tricky). Other than a small curves adjustment, stars weren’t reduced, as they are essentially the star (heh) of the image alongside the dark nebula. Exported to Photoshop for final adjustment, cropping.
The ancient ghost of a star!
This is a 2-panel mosaic of over 42 hours of exposure from my backyard observatory.
This oval shaped shell is the remnant of an exploded star. It is located in a busy region in Cygnus at a distance of 10,000 light-years. The shell spans 250 light-years in actual size! The explosion most likely occurred ~18,000 years ago with an ejecta of 1.4 solar masses.
I couldn't get a good enough OIII signal due to the high altitude haze from the wildfires. This is my best attempt at bringing out the detail in the shell.
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ106EDXII
Mount: ASA DDM60 Pro
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro
Guiding: Unguided
Filters: Astrodon 5nm Ha, 3nm OIII, 3nm SII
Acquisition:
• 150 X 300s Ha at Gain 200 Offset 50
• 205 X 300s OIII at Gain 200 Offset 50
• 150 X 300s SII at Gain 200 Offset 50
Shot with a modified Canon 5DmkII with CLS filter and Tecnosky APO 360/60 on Star Adventurer tracker.
290min integration time.
Processed in PixInsight and Photoshop with final cosmetic in Lightroom.
(source: Wikipedia)
Orion Nebula
(also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, being south of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion.[b] It is one of the brightest nebulae and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky with apparent magnitude 4.0. It is 1,344 ± 20 light-years (412.1 ± 6.1 pc) away[3][6] and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light-years across (so its apparent size from Earth is approximately 1 degree). It has a mass of about 2,000 times that of the Sun.
Running Man Nebula -- is an HII region and bright nebulae that includes a reflection nebula located in the constellation Orion. It is the northernmost part of the asterism known as Orion's Sword, lying 0.6° north of the Orion Nebula. The reflection nebula embedded in Sh2-279 is popularly known as the Running Man Nebula.
M: iOptron EQ45-Pro
T: WO GTF81 Refractor
C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled
Baader OAG with PHD2 Guiding
GC: ZWO ASI120MC
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -15 DegC
Gain 200
Exp: 300s
Frames: 37 Lights; 100 Darks
100 Flats
98% Crop
Capture: Sharpcap
Processed: APP; LR; PS, Gradient Exterminator.
Sky: 95% moon, no wind, no cloud.
This photo was taken last February. and I was trying to see what can do with Affinity photo-- the astrophotography tools. I still have a lot to learn.
M51 In the constellation of Canes Venatici.
M: iOptron EQ45-Pro
T: William Optics GTF81
C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled
F: Hutec IDAS D2
G: PHD2
GS: BaaderFlip Mirror with OAG
GC: ZWO ASI120mini
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -15 DegC
Gain 139;
7 x Exp 500s
Gain 200;
14 x Exp 200s
Frames: 20 Lights; 50 Darks; 100 flats
Approx 50% Crop
Capture: SharpCap
Processed: DSS; APP; PS
Sky: 80% moon, calm, minimal cloud, cold, fair seeing.
31 million light years distant.
As I continue to learn what I don't know about astrophotography, especially post processing... I stumble into "various, other approaches." This is an example of one of those approaches.
The Elephant Trunk nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region IC1396.
SHO-combined
R : SII
G : Ha
B : OIII
Shooting Location :
* 51° N 3° E
* bortle class 5 backyard
Object Information
* Type : Emission Nebula
* Magnitude : 3.5
* Location (J2000.0): RA 21h 34m 58s / DEC +57° 30' 09"
* Approximate distance : 735 parsecs / 2.400 lightyears
Hardware
* Mount : Celestron CGX
* Imaging Scope : Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PDS
* Imaging Camera : ZWO ASI 183MM
* Filter Wheel : ZWO EFW 7*36mm + Baader Ha 7nm, Baader OIII 8.5nm + Baader SII 8.5nm + Baader LRGB
* Coma Corrector : Baader MPCC III
* Guide Scope : Sky-Watcher StarTravel 80
* Guide Camera : ZWO ASI 120MM
Exposures
* Single Exposure Length : 180sec
* Sensor Temperature : -20°C
* Gain : 111
* Offset : 10
* Light Frames :
> Baader Ha : 83
> Baader OIII : 56
> Baaser SII : 48
* Bias Frames : 100
* Dark Frames : 50
* Flat Frames : 100/channel
* Flat Dark Frames : 50/channel
* Total Integration Time : 9h21m
* Capture Dates : 2018-08-31 & 2018-09-01
Capture Software
* Sequence Generator Pro
* PHD2 Guiding
Processing Software
* PixInsight
* Adobe Photoshop
The Elephant's Trunk Nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396, located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth.
This image is the result of 48 x 300s exposures, captured using a ZWO ASI071MC Pro 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 3 then processed using Astro Pixel Processor and Photoshop CC.
Herbig-Haro objects are jets of matter and partially ionized gas ejected by newborn stars, which appear as patches of nebulosity in star-forming regions. These jets are ejected at speeds of several hundred kilometers per second and collide with nearby dust and gas, producing dramatic shock fronts that glow as a result of the gas being heated as it collides with the interstellar medium. A number of these HH objects are present in the Pelican Nebula, among them the most prominent is HH555, where two jets are seen to be emanating from a protostar.
M101 In the constellation of Ursa Major.
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;
73 x Exp 300s
Frames: 73 Lights; 10 Darks; 200 flats
70% Crop
Capture: SharpCap
Processed: PIPP; DSS; PS
Sky: No moon, calm, minimal cloud, cold, fair seeing.
20.87 million light years distant.
- MASPhotography Getty Images Gallery
22.8 hours of data taken over 15 nights between 3/8/2018 and 7/3/2018.
This is by far the most difficult shot I've tried to this point. I've started to shoot Iris several times in the past and always given up with just a few hours of lousy data. I still feel like my processing needs a big shot in the arm, but I like the overall image. I reserve the right to reprocess. :)
Gear:
- ASI 1600MM-C
- ZWO EFW Filter Wheel
- Astrodon LRGB Gen2 E-Series Tru-Balance Filters
- 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
L: 1128 - 60 s lights @ gain 0, -10, -15 c
R: 50 - 90 s lights @ gain 139, -10 c
G: 56 - 90 s lights @ gain 139, -10 c
B: 54 - 90 s lights @ gain 139, -10 c
20 flats per filter
master darks from 30 frames
Superbias from 300 frames in Pixinsight
I've had this data for a while, but I kept thinking I'd replace the luminance channel with better stars (apparently I guided in some trailing for that set) but it's too late in the year, and I'm not disciplined enough to wait a year I'll just have to try again from scratch next year. :)
- MASPhotography Getty Images Gallery
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: 23 - 60 s lights @ gain 139, -25 c
R: 25 - 60 s lights @ gain 139, -25 c
G: 23 - 60 s lights @ gain 139, -25 c
B: 33 - 60 s lights @ gain 139, -20 c
Ha: 78 - 180 s lights @ gain 300, -25 c
20 flats per filter
master darks from 30 frames
Superbias from 300 frames in Pixinsight
IC 405: Also known as the Flaming Star Nebula. Taken on the 4th Jan 2022. Integration of the best 73 x 300s light frames (6hrs 5mins).
From Wiki: IC 405 (also known as the Flaming Star Nebula, SH 2-229, or Caldwell 31) is an emission and reflection nebula in the constellation Auriga north of the celestial equator, surrounding the bluish star AE Aurigae. It shines at magnitude +6.0. Its celestial coordinates are RA 05h 16.2m dec +34° 28′. It surrounds the irregular variable star AE Aurigae and is located near the emission nebula IC 410, the open clusters M38 and M36, and the K-class star Iota Aurigae.
The nebula measures approximately 37.0' x 19.0', and lies about 1,500 light-years away from Earth. It is believed that the proper motion of the central star can be traced back to the Orion's Belt area. The nebula is about 5 light-years across.
Hardware: Altair Astro Starwave 102ED-R, Planostar 0.8x reducer, SkyTech L-Pro MAX filter, Altair Astro Hypercam 26C TEC, Pegasus Focuscube V2, Pegasus Powerbox Micro, Altair Astro 60mm Guidescope, Altair Astro GPCAM3 290C, QHYCCD Polemaster, Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro (Rowen belt mode) & Intel i5 8265U Mini PC.
Software: Imaging: NINA, PHD2. Processing: Astro Pixel Processor, Photoshop, Topaz Labs.
This is one of those astronomy targets where I cannot quite make out the relationship between the name and the visual appearance of the object, but nevertheless this is SH2-132 or commonly known as The Lion Nebula.
I think the dark lines near the two dark areas may represent the lions mouth like an upside down Y, but who knows. This region is rich in HII, but also very rich in OIII as you can see by the blue in the image. I have produced both the HOO (Hydrogen Alpha+Oxygen III + Oxygen III as RGB) and the Hubble Palette SHO (Sulphur Dioxide II + Hydrogen Alpha + Oxygen III as RGB)
Image Details:
Acquisition Dates: Aug. 9, 2022 · Aug. 20, 2022 · Sept. 17, 2022 · Sept. 19, 2022 · Sept. 25, 2022 · Sept. 28, 2022 · Sept. 29, 2022 · Sept. 30, 2022 · Oct. 6, 2022 · Oct. 8, 2022 · Nov. 4, 2022 · Nov. 17, 2022 · Nov. 19, 2022
Frames:
Baader H-alpha Highspeed(f/2) 50 mm: 101×150″(4h 12′ 30″) (gain: 100.00) -10°C bin 1×1
Baader O-III Highspeed(f/2) 50 mm: 101×150″(4h 12′ 30″) (gain: 100.00) -10°C bin 1×1
Baader S-II Highspeed(f/2) 50 mm: 101×150″(4h 12′ 30″) (gain: 100.00) -10°C bin 1×1
Integration: 12h 37′ 30″
Darks: 51
Flats: 51
Bias: 201
Equipment:
Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI Cameras ZWO Astronomy CamerasASI6200MM Pro Gain 100 -10C
Imaging Scope: Sharpstar Optics 20032PNT F3.2 Paraboloid Astrograph
Filters: Baader Planetarium Ultra Fast, Ultra Narrow Ha, OIII and SII 50.4mm filters
Filterwheel: ZWO ASI Cameras ZWO Astronomy Cameras 7x EFW
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI Cameras ZWO Astronomy Cameras ASI290MM
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro German Equatorial Mount
Auto Focuser: Primalucelab Sesto Senso2
Environmental conditions: Primalucelab ECCO2
Observatory Control: PrimaLuceLab Eagle Eagle 4 Pro
Roof Control: Talon RoR
Image Acquisition: Main Sequence Software Sequence Generator Pro
Image Calibration and Stacking: Astro Pixel Processor
Image Processing: PixInsight, EZ Processing Suite and StarExterminator
An old friend... revisited.
This is actually one of my favorite targets. I captured a (short!) night worth of data a couple of summers ago and put it to rest.
Last week, during a full moon night, I had some clear skies, and decided to capture some Ha to boost those ruby regions in the spiral arms of the galaxy.
The difference from my first version is subtle - but visible.
LRGB data Acquired on August 31, 2013 from Lake Sonoma, Ca
L: 8 x 20m
R,G,B:8 x 10m each (2x2 bin)
Pixel scale: 0.65 arcsec/pixel
Ha data acquired from Corralitos, CA
Ha: 16 x 30m
Main Camera: QSI 583 WSG
Guide Camera: SXV Lodestar (on OAG)
Mount: Astro-Physics Mach 1
Scope: Celestron Edge HD 8" (FL: 2145 mm)
SXV Adaptive Optics
Image Aquisition software MaximDL
Post Processed in PixInsight 1.8
This is one of those astronomy targets where I cannot quite make out the relationship between the name and the visual appearance of the object, but nevertheless this is SH2-132 or commonly known as The Lion Nebula.
I think the dark lines near the two dark areas may represent the lions mouth like an upside down Y, but who knows. This region is rich in HII, but also very rich in OIII as you can see by the blue in the image. I have produced both the HOO (Hydrogen Alpha+Oxygen III + Oxygen III as RGB) and the Hubble Palette SHO (Sulphur Dioxide II + Hydrogen Alpha + Oxygen III as RGB)
Image Details:
Acquisition Dates: Aug. 9, 2022 · Aug. 20, 2022 · Sept. 17, 2022 · Sept. 19, 2022 · Sept. 25, 2022 · Sept. 28, 2022 · Nov. 4, 2022 · Nov. 17, 2022 · Nov. 19, 2022
Frames:
Baader H-alpha Highspeed(f/2) 50 mm: 101×150″(4h 12′ 30″) (gain: 100.00) -10°C bin 1×1
Baader O-III Highspeed(f/2) 50 mm: 101×150″(4h 12′ 30″) (gain: 100.00) -10°C bin 1×1
Integration: 8h 25′
Darks: 51
Flats: 51
Bias: 201
Equipment:
Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI Cameras ZWO Astronomy CamerasASI6200MM Pro Gain 100 -10C
Imaging Scope: Sharpstar Optics 20032PNT F3.2 Paraboloid Astrograph
Filters: Baader Planetarium Ultra Fast, Ultra Narrow Ha, OIII and SII 50.4mm filters
Filterwheel: ZWO ASI Cameras ZWO Astronomy Cameras 7x EFW
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI Cameras ZWO Astronomy Cameras ASI290MM
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro German Equatorial Mount
Auto Focuser: Primalucelab Sesto Senso2
Environmental conditions: Primalucelab ECCO2
Observatory Control: PrimaLuceLab Eagle Eagle 4 Pro
Roof Control: Talon RoR
Image Acquisition: Main Sequence Software Sequence Generator Pro
Image Calibration and Stacking: Astro Pixel Processor
Image Processing: PixInsight, EZ Processing Suite and StarExterminator
This is one of my final projects for the 2020-2021 season before I take a break over the summer months where the skies don't go completely dark. I love imaging dark nebulae and this is by far my favourite, a target that I have imaged before, but wanted to see how far I could push the exposures when imaging North
RA: 21h59m18.57s
Dec: 71°58'57.40"
Constellation: Cepheus
Designation: LDN 1235
Image Details:
409x150S at Gain 100 - CLS-CCD Filter
Darks: 101 Frames
Flats: 101 Frames
Bias: 101 Frames
Acquisition Dates: March 7, 2021 , March 8, 2021 , March 17, 2021 , March 19, 2021 , April 12, 2021 , April 13, 2021 , April 14, 2021 , April 15, 2021 , April 16, 2021
Total Capture time: 17 Hours
Equipment Details:
Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI6200MC Pro 62mpx 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
Pier: Altair Astro Skyshed 8" Pier
Focuser: Primalucelab Sesto Senso V2
Filter: Astronomik CLS-CCD 2"
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 1.8.8 and EZ Processing Suite for Star Reduction
This is the first Mosaic with the 62mpx camera, and I had to stack each panel first, and then use the Mosaic Tool in Astro PIxel Processor to merge the two panels into a mosaic that is just short of 100mpx
The Synthetic SHO Version was processed using my documented process here: www.stastrophotography.com/creating-a-hubble.../
Target Details:
Panel 1: Heart Nebula
RA: 02h32m42.00s
Dec: 61°27'00.00"
Panel 2: Soul Nebula
RA: 02h53m55.61s
Dec: 61°27'00.00"
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Image Details:
Panel 1: 101 Frames of 300S Each -10C Gain 100
Panel 2: 101 Frames of 300S Each -10C Gain 100
101 Darks, 101 Flats, 201 Bias Frames
Acquisition Dates: Nov. 4, 2020 , Nov. 5, 2020 , Nov. 6, 2020 , Nov. 7, 2020 , Dec. 24, 2020 , Dec. 27, 2020 , Jan. 21, 2021 , Jan. 22, 2021 , Jan. 23, 2021 , Jan. 24, 2021 , Feb. 3, 2021 , Feb. 4, 2021 , Feb. 5, 2021
Total Capture time: 16.8 Hours
Equipment Details:
Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI Cameras ASI6200MC Pro 62mpx Full Frame OSC
Imaging Scope: Sharpstar Optics 15028HNT Hyperboloid Astrograph
Guide Camera: Starlight Xpress Ltd Lodestar X2
Guide Scope: 365Astronomy.com 280mm Guide Scope
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro
Focuser: Primalucelab Sesto Senso V2
Filter: Optolong Astronomy Filter L-eXtreme 2"
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 1.8.8 and EZ Processing Suite for Star Reduction
While trying to get an image of a distant galaxy (Messier 106) ... couldn't help but notice the interference from numerous satellites. this is from a total of 40 minutes of exposure...
M106_D500-102mmOTA_4-8-23SAT-c
The Crab Nebula (also know as Messier M1 or NGC 1952) is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of Taurus. The result of a bright supernova recorded by Chinese astronomers in 1054, the nebula is approximately 6,500 light years from Earth. At the center of the nebula lies the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star 28–30 km across with a spin rate of 30.2 times per second.
This image was captured using a QHY8L camera attached to a Altair Wave 115 Triplet Refractor and comprises 14 x 300s exposures, stacked in Nebulosity 3 and processed in Photoshop CS6.
Barnard 33.
Located in the constellation of Orion
M: iOptron EQ45-Pro
T: William Optics GTF81
C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled
F: L-eNhance filter (Dual Ha,Hb & Oiii Narrowbands)
G: PHD2
GC: ZWO ASI120mini
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -20 DegC
Gain 200; Exp 200s
Frames: 41 Lights; 4 Darks; 20 flats
95% Crop
Capture: SharpCap
Processed: DSS; PS
Sky: New moon, calm, no cloud, cold, fair seeing.
1,500 light years distant.
M42 The Great Orion Nebula, catalogued as Messier 42 or NGC 1976, it is one of the brightest nebulae in the sky, and one of the nearest star-forming regions to Earth. M42 is located at an approximate distance of 1,350 light years away from Earth and is estimated to be 24 light years across.
First DSO light with my new astro camera, Altair Astro’s IMX269C, I captured over an hour or so yesterday evening 25.01.2023. Super results from this sensor, so much dusty detail on show here zoom in
Sadly a neighboring security light is more attuned to brightening the sky and everybody else’s property, rather than shining down on the ground where it needs to, so annoyingly some scattered light has encroached into the Running Man at the top of the image which was disappointing, but managed to crop away the worst of it.
Equipment
🔭 Altair Astro Astronomy 72 EDF f/6 refractor (Lightwave x1.0 flattener)
📷 Altair Astro IMX269C Hypercam ProTEC
⛰️ SkyWatcher AZ-EQ6 GT
💡 SkyTech LPRO-Max LP filter (but not inconsiderate security lights)😏
🌠 Altair Astro 50mm guidescope - GPCAM 130M. PHD2
Technical
Exposures: 60x 90sec lights
Calibration: 50x Dark, 50x Flats and 50x DarkFlats
Gain: 565
Black level: 24
TEC Temp: -3°C
Acquisition with SharpCap Pro 4.0
Integration with Astro Pixel Processor
Processed with PixInsight (Blur XTerminator / Noise XTerminator)
Final tweaks with Photoshop 2023
T: WO GTF81
C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cool
M: iOptron iEQ45-Pro
G: No guiding
Gain: 139
Lights: 100 x 2s
Darks: No
Flats: No
Bias: No
Capture: Sharpcap
Processing: DSS; PS.
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
Captured in color (LRGB) from Grand Mesa Observatory’s “System 1a” using the QHY16200A Monochrome CCD camera and William Optics Redcat 51 APO from GrandMesaObservatory in Purdy Mesa, Western Colorado.
Pictured here the constellation of Monoceros containing many fascinating deep sky objects including The Christmas Tree Cluster NGC2264, Hubble’s Variable Nebula NGC2262 , The Supernova remnant known as The Monoceros Loop (part of), Open Clusters NGC2254, , NGC2251, NGC2259, NGC2251, Reflection Nebulae IC2169 and IC446, VdB79 and VdB78. Emission Nebulae IC448, NGC2245 and NGC2247
(all of these objects can be easily identified in the annotated image version)
I was quite pleased with the result from what has been one of only a couple of clear nights so far this month of February, especially with such a short total acquisition time of only 3.3 hours.
Data is available from Grand Mesa Observatory’s legacy data archive: grandmesaobservatory.com/legacy
Technical Details
Captured and processed by: Terry Hancock
Location: GrandMesaObservatory.com Purdy Mesa, Colorado
February 2nd 2020
LRGB 200 min 10 x 300 sec each
Filters by Chroma
Camera: QHY16200A
Gain 0, Offset 130 Calibrated with Dark, Bias Frames and Flat frames.
Optics: William Optics Redcat 51 APO @ F4.9
EQ Mount: Paramount ME
Image Acquisition software Maxim DL6
Pre Processing in Pixinsight
Post Processed in Photoshop CC
Starnet (star removal)
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
Also known as "The Apple Core Nebula," this large, feint planetary nebula is in the constellation Vulpecula. This is a stack of 5 images totaling 35 minutes of exposure time. Taken with the IR-modified Canon Xsi at ISO 1600 through the Celestron 9.25" telescope at 2350mm and F/10. Taken at 12000 feet above sea level on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
Heart nebula (IC 1805) in the constellation Cassiopeia (early mornings here is Arkansas, this time of year) ... some 7500 light years away (Wikipedia) an emission nebula. (a fascinating read...)
photo notes:
Nikon D500; Svbony 503 80mm OTA w. 0.8FF/FR; SV 220 dual/narrow band filter--
using SW EQM-35 mount; Telrad spotter ... synscan "go to" hand controller...
20x 60 sec exposure. ISO-2500
Re-Processed in PS.
Seen in the constellation of Cassiopeia.
M: iOptron EQ45-Pro
T: William Optics GTF81
C: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cooled
F: L-eNhance filter (Dual Ha,Hb & Oiii Narrowbands)
G: PHD2
GC: ZWO ASI120mini
RAW16; FITs
Temp: -20 DegC
Gain 200;
10 x Exp 200s
3 x Exp 300s
7 x Exp 400s
Frames: 20 Lights; 0 Darks; 20 flats
100% Crop
Capture: SharpCap
Processed: DSS; PS
Sky: 80% Gibbous moon, calm, minimal cloud, cold, fair seeing.
The Pelican Nebula aka IC5070 is an HII region in the constellation Cygnus located at a distance of ~1800 ly. The nebula has a particularly active mix of star formation and evolving gas clouds.
Equipment:
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ106EDXII
Mount: ASA DDM60 Pro
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro
Guiding: Unguided
Filters: Astrodon 5nm Ha, 3nm OIII, 3nm SII
Acquisition:
• 75 X 300s Ha at Gain 200 Offset 50
• 116 X 300s OIII at Gain 200 Offset 50
• 94 X 300s SII at Gain 200 Offset 50
The Crab Nebula (also know as Messier M1 or NGC 1952) is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of Taurus. The result of a bright supernova recorded by Chinese astronomers in 1054, the nebula is approximately 6,500 light years from Earth. At the center of the nebula lies the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star 28–30 km across with a spin rate of 30.2 times per second.
This image was captured using a QHY8L camera attached to a Altair Wave 115 Triplet Refractor and comprises 14 x 300s exposures, stacked in Nebulosity 3 and processed in Photoshop CS6.
The Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33) is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion and is approximately 1500 light years from Earth. The darkness of the Horsehead is caused by thick dust blocking the light of stars behind it. To the left of this image is the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024). The bright star at the top is Alnitak , the easternmost star in the Belt of Orion, that shines energetic ultraviolet light into the Flame and this knocks electrons away from the great clouds of hydrogen gas that reside there. Much of the glow results when the electrons and ionized hydrogen recombine. Additional dark gas and dust lies in front of the bright part of the nebula and this is what causes the dark network that appears in the centre of the glowing gas.
This image was captured using a QHY8L camera attached to a Sky-Watcher Explorer 190MN Pro. It is the result of 10 x 300s and 3 x 600s images, captured and stacked using Nebulosity 3 and processed in Photoshop CS6.
The Western Veil Nebula is part of a cloud of heated and ionised 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 26 x 300s exposures, captured using a QHY8L Colour CCD 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 3, preprocessing was done using Astro Pixel Processor with final processing done in Photoshop CC.
A Mosaic compiled from 4 panes of 10 x 300s exposures, captured over 2 nights using the QHY8L camera, attached to a Sky-Watcher Explorer 190MN Pro. The images were captured and stacked in Nebulosity 3, aligned using Registar and processed with Photoshop CS6.
M106 In the constellation of Canes Venatici.
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;
3 x Exp 300s
12 x Exp 500s
Frames: 15 Lights; 2 Darks; 200 flats
90% Crop
Capture: SharpCap
Processed: DSS; PS; Grad Exterminator.
Sky: 100% Full Moon, calm, minimal cloud, cold, excellent seeing.
22-25 million light years distant.
I messed up and left high iso noise reduction enabled on my dslr, but I had too much time invested not to process it.
I'll have to try again, but not any time soon.
Bortle borderline 4/5
27 - 300 s lights
38 - 300 s darks
60 - flats
superbias in pixinsight
- Canon 7Dmkii @ ISO 1600
- 10" Orion f4 Newtonian Scope
- Baader Planetarium Coma Corrector MPCC
- Celestrion CGEM mount
- QHY5L-II guidecamera
- Orion ST80 400 mm Guidescope
- QHY Polemaster
- PHD2 - AstroTortilla
- BackyardEOS
- Stellarium
- pixinsight
- photoshop
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.
The image is the result of 15 x 900s exposures captured using a QHY8L camera attached to an Altair Wave 115 triplet refractor telescope. The images were captured, calibrated and stacked using Nebulosity 3 and processed using Photoshop CS6.