View allAll Photos Tagged eq6rpro
About 5,000 light-years away. taken with Esprit 80mm scope, QHY268C camera on a EQ6rPro mount. 5 min exp, about 13 hrs integration.
The Lagoon and Trifid nebula so inviting, with it's 3D feel.
May 2025.
Esprit 80 telescope, Player One Uranus M Camera, Sky-Watcher EQ6rPro mount. Primaluce Eagle 3, NINA aquistion. Guide scope Orion 60. Antlia 3nm SHO filters. Total time: 34h 20m
Total of just over 63 hours of integration to complete this image of OU4 the Squid Nebula. 47 hours of OIII data alone was required to bring out this extremely faint target.
Taken from my backyard in Vernon BC.
Finer details available here,
Located about 6,400 light-years away, glowing gas and dark dust do not survive well in the Monkey Head Nebula. It consists of ionized gas and emitting light in different colors. The source of this light is photon radiation of one or more nearby young stars near the center of the nebula generate stellar winds and high energy radiation. This causes the nebula's material to shift into complex shapes.
Esprit 120, QHY268M, Optolong 3nm SHO filters, Sky-Watcher EQ6Rpro mount.
NINA acquisition, Pixinsight, Lightroom.
H 82 x 10 min= 13.6
S 45 x 10 min= 7.5
O 68 x 10 min= 11.3
Total integration 32.4 hrs.
the Lion Nebula, taken from dark skies, Starship #744 in northern Arizona. 10min subs. SHO. 8hr 50min, Foraxx. Esprit 120, QHY268M, EQ6Rpro mount.
10,000 light-years away, in the constellation Perseus.
Traitement pour faire ressortir la composition géologique de notre lune.
Mosaique de 14 panneaux au télescope newton 200/1000 et caméra asi290mc. Insta : Foubz Cawouette
Last night’s first quarter moon, three panel mosaic taken under partly cloudy skies.
Tech Specs: Orion 8" f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Astrograph Telescope, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, ASI071MC-Pro, ZWO AAPlus, ZWO EAF, best 20% of 3000 frames, processed using Autostakkert!, Registax, and Adobe Lightroom. Image Date: March 28, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W95), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
The Iris Nebula (also known as NGC 7023 and Caldwell 4) is a bright reflection nebula in the constellation Cepheus. It is located about 1,300 light-years from Earth and is about six light-years across. The nebula is illuminated by a young star called SAO 19158. The Iris Nebula is named for its resemblance to an iris flower. The nebula's blue color is caused by the scattering of starlight by dust grains. The dust grains are very small, about 10 times smaller than dust particles on Earth. The nebula's red filaments are caused by the presence of carbon monoxide molecules.
Observation data: J2000.0 epoch
Right ascension: 21h 01m 35.60s
Declination: +68° 10′ 10.0"
Distance: 1,300 ly
Apparent magnitude (V): 6.8
Apparent dimensions (V): 18' x 18'
Constellation: Cepheus
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at -10F, 216 x 60 seconds guided exposures, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DSS and PixInsight. Image Date: November 23, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
This is my first attempt at imaging our milky way galaxy with my Cooled astronomy camera. Not bad but will improve on my next outing! Hope you all enjoy and thanks for any constructive comments.
Equipment:
Telescope - Sigma Art 35mm
Imaging Camera- Qhy268m
Mount - Sky-watcher EQ6-R Pro
Software:
Sequence Generator Pro
Pixinsight
Lightroom
Photoshop
Lights:
Ha-35x180sec
L-60x30sec
R-50x30sec
G-50x30sec
B-50x30sec
35 Darks
100 Bias
Total integration 2.5 hours
This is the Iris Nebula in Cepheus (7-hour exposure)
My latest photo was captured far away from the city lights to reveal the faint, beautiful dust in space.
I hope you enjoy it!
Equipment
Camera: bit.ly/asi2400
Camera Control: bit.ly/3Bqg1Wv
Telescope: bit.ly/redcat71
Mount: bit.ly/eq6rpro
If you are old enough to remember the cult UK TV series ‘The Prisoner”, you certainly didn’t want to see one of these coming towards you. Especially one this big!
The Bubble Nebula is 7 light-years across – about one-and-a-half times the distance from our sun to its nearest stellar neighbour, Alpha Centauri – and resides 7,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia.
The seething star forming this nebula is 45 times more massive than our sun. Gas on the star gets so hot that it escapes away into space as a "stellar wind" moving at over 4 million miles per hour. This outflow sweeps up the cold, interstellar gas in front of it, forming the outer edge of the bubble much like a snowplow piles up snow in front of it as it moves forward.
As the surface of the bubble's shell expands outward, it slams into dense regions of cold gas on one side of the bubble. This asymmetry makes the star appear dramatically off-centre from the bubble, with its location in the 7 o'clock position in the this view. Dense pillars of cool hydrogen gas laced with dust appear at the upper left of the picture, and more "fingers" can be seen nearly face-on, behind the translucent bubble.
The gases heated to varying temperatures emit different colours: oxygen is hot enough to emit blue light in the bubble near the star, while the cooler pillars are yellow from the combined light of hydrogen and nitrogen. The pillars are similar to the iconic columns in the "Pillars of Creation" in the Eagle Nebula. As seen with the structures in the Eagle Nebula, the Bubble Nebula pillars are being illuminated by the strong ultraviolet radiation from the brilliant star inside the bubble.
The Bubble Nebula was discovered in 1787 by William Herschel. It is being formed by an O star, BD +60°2522, an extremely bright, massive, and short-lived star that has lost most of its outer hydrogen and is now fusing helium into heavier elements. The star is about 4 million years old, and in 10 million to 20 million years, it will likely detonate as a supernova.
Taken on contiguous nights 6 to 10 August 2020. Moon was 50% to 96% but nice and low and setting during the sessions. Challenging to process, and I think more revisions will come out to this data, but finished for now.
HOO + LRGB
RGB Stars 60s x 30 for each filter
L 60s x 180 + 120s x 51
Ha 300s x 118
Oiii 300s x 68
Just under 22hrs
Astromiks 36mm SHO 6nm Filters
30 x Darks, Flats (for each filter) and Dark Flats
ZWO ASI294MM Pro 120 gain, -10C
ZWO 7x36mm EFW
ZWO EAF
Stellalyra 8” Ritchey-Chrétien Carbon
HEQ6
ASIAIR Plus
Astro Pixel Processor
Pixinsight
Photoshop 2022
M31, The Andromeda Galaxy, needs no introduction. Probably the most commonly imaged galaxy out there, but more beautiful than any. Home of an estimated trillion stars, large blue star forming regions which give off so much energy causing the Hydrogen gas clouds they were formed from to glow red.
I waited for two years to image this galaxy, waiting for the perfect combination of clear skies, no moon, and decent seeing. That came Nov.7/8. I dedicated one night to Ha and the following night to LRGB before the weather turned again.
I then spent several days off and on processing over and over again to do this beautiful galaxy the justice it deserved. I wanted to emphasize 4 items from my processing and I am hoping I hit them. I wanted to emphasize overall galactic structure, new star formations (blue), Red brilliant Ha regions, and dark dust structure.
Imaging telescope: SkyWatcher Esprit 80ED Super APO Triplet
Imaging camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro
Dates:Nov. 7, 2020 , Nov. 8, 2020
Frames:
Optolong B 36mm: 30x120" (gain: 139.00) -20C bin 1x1
Optolong G 36mm: 34x120" (gain: 139.00) -20C bin 1x1
Antlia Ha 3.5nm 36mm: 43x600" (gain: 139.00) -20C bin 1x1
Optolong L 36mm: 90x120" (gain: 139.00) -20C bin 1x1
Optolong R 36mm: 32x120" (gain: 139.00) -20C bin 1x1
Integration: 13.4 hours
IC417 & NGC 1931, is commonly known as the Spider and Fly Nebula. They are located approximately 10,000 and 7,000 light-years respectively from the Earth in the constellation Auriga. These two nebulae are composed of massive clouds of gas and dust and is the site of new stellar birth. The gas in the nebula is excited by a clusters of massive, relatively newly formed, stars located near their centers.
Esprit 120, QHY268M, Optolong 3nm SHO filters, Sky-Watcher EQ6Rpro mount.
NINA acquisition, Pixinsight, Lightroom.
H 74 x 10 min= 12 20
S 66 x 10 min= 11
O 65 x 10 min= 10 50
Total integration 34 hrs Phoenix, AZ
Finally back into astrophotography ! My imaging laptop died on me a while back so this is my first image with the new computer. Some of this integration was done last year. This is the Flying bat nebula also known as Sh2-129. This also includes the seahorse nebula and the squid nebula which was fist discovered in 2011. Hope you all enjoy and thanks for any constructive comments.
Equipment:
Telescope - William Optics Redcat 51
Imaging Camera- Qhy268m
Mount - Sky-watcher EQ6-R Pro
Software:
Sequence Generator Pro
Pixinsight
Lightroom
Photoshop
Lights:
L-50x60sec
R-50x60sec
G-50x60sec
B-50x60sec
Ha-40x300sec
Oiii-40x300sec
Oiii-30x900sec
35 Darks
100 Bias
Total integration 17.5 hours
The Flaming Star nebula is an emission nebula that lies about 1,500 light years distant and spans about 17 light-years. It’s visible in a small telescope toward the constellation of the Charioteer (Auriga). The brightest star in the nebula AE causes the nebula to glow. AE is a so-called runaway star, a star that is moving through space with high velocity. It is likely that it has been ejected from the Trapezium area of the Orion Nebula, the place it was born 2.7 million years ago.
Esprit 120, QHY268M, Optolong 3nm SHO filters, Sky-Watcher EQ6Rpro mount.
NINA acquisition, Pixinsight, Lightroom.
H 55 x 10 min= 12.8
S 77 x 10 min= 9.16
Total integration 22 hrs.
Clavius is a large crater found on the southern side of the moon, it measures approximately 136 miles across. The crater was named after Christoph Klau (or Christophorus Clavius) a 16th century German mathematician and astronomer.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ASI462MC camera, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in Autostakkert and PixInsight. Image Date: May 29, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
This is a Composition of the Eclipsed Blood Moon on 5-15-22.
For this Composition, I combined two exposure sets, 1 set for the Lunar Surface and a second set for the surrounding starfield.
Lunar surface set: 7, .5-seconds, 3200-ISO, F8, 500mm exposures stacked.
Starfield set: 7, 30-seconds, 3200-ISO, F8, 500mm, exposures stacked. Blended in Photoshop.
Equipment used:
Lens: Vintage Nikon Reflex lens, 500mm, F8 (I'll share photos of this lens here on my Flickr page).
Camera: Nikon D7100, full-spectrum modified from 2013, with UV/IR cut filter.
The crop sensor of the Nikon D7100, allowed me to get "closer in" with a practical focal length of about 750mm thanks to the 1.5 crop factor, and the high resolution sensor of 6000x4000 again allowed for me to crop in during post possessing to the final image.
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Packsaddle WMA, Oklahoma
Bortle-2 Sky
Target:M51, Whirlpool Galaxy, Canes Venatici, 31 million light years away.
Location:March 2022 over 4 nights, St Helens & Aberdaron, UK.
Acquisition:59x Red 120s, 61x Green 120s, 60x Blue 120s, 58x 240s Ha, Bin 2x2, 30x Darks, DarkFlats, Flats per filter per session. Total integration 9.9 hours.
Equipment:Skywatcher 200P Newtonian, EQ6RPro, HEQ5Pro, Altair H183MMPro, ZWO EFWmini & RGB, Baader MPCC MkIII x1 Coma corrector & 6nm Ha.
Guiding:Skywatcher 9x50 Finder with 2x barlow (FL 360mm) and Altair GPCAMAR0130M.
Software:Nina, PHD2, EQMOD.
Processing:Affinity Photo, Siril, StarXTerminator, Topaz DeNoise AI.
Target:Reprocess of M81, Bodes Galaxy, grand design spiral, Ursa Major, 11.6 million light years away.
Location:March-April 2022, multiple sessions, St.Helens, UK, B7.
Acquisition:64x 120s Red, 60x 120s Green, 60x 120s Blue, 120x 60s Lum, 30x 240s Ha. Total integration 10.1 hours.
Equipment:Skywatcher 200P, EQ6RPro, Altair H183MPro, ZWO EFWmini + LRGB, Baader MPCCMkIII coma corrector and 6.5nm Ha.
Guiding:Skywatcher 9x50 finder with 2x barlow and Altair GPCAMAR0130M.
Software:NINA, PHD2, EQMOD.
Processing:Affinity Photo, Siril, StarXTerminator, Topaz DeNoise AI.
NGC869 and NGC884, the Double Cluster in Perseus.
About 7500 light-years distant, about 12.8 million years old, including the surrounding star haloes, the combined two clusters are estimated to have a mass of 20,000 solar masses.
Skywatcher Quattro 8"
Altair Astro 26C camera at gain 100, -10ºC
60 lights @ 180s
Darks, biases and flat calibrations
Stacked in siril, tweaked in siril and Affinity.
Messier 71 (M71 or NGC 6838) is a globular cluster in the small northern constellation Sagitta and is about 12,000 light years away from Earth. Up until the 1970’s this cluster was designated as a densely packed open cluster because of the loose central region, today it is designated as a loosely concentrated globular cluster with a young age of 9-10 billion years.
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Class: X-XI
Constellation: Sagitta
Right ascension: 19h 53m 46.49s
Declination: +18° 46′ 45.1″
Apparent magnitude (V): 8.2
Apparent dimensions (V): 7.2'
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at 0F, 85x60 seconds guided exposures, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DSS and PixInsight. Image Date: May 18, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Located 31 million light years away, this is one of the furthest targets I’ve attempted for quite some time.
I shot this during an 87% moon, which is very far from ideal conditions for broadband imaging on a galaxy.
However, I managed to get 177 x 60s images to stack.
Equipment used below
- ZWO 533
- EQ6R Pro
- ZWO 290MM
- Skywatcher 8” newtonian
- NINA for capturing
- APP for stacking and pre-processing
- Photoshop for processing
NGC 1499, The California Nebula, lies 1000 light years away and spans 2.5 degrees in our apparent view. This nebula is very bright in Ha, but the pleasant surprise was the OIII signal between the Ha and the star ξPer. I decided to go with HOO only and not include SII signal as the beautiful red and blue contrast each other very well.
The OIII signal extends quite far from the Ha signal and almost looks as if it reflecting the blue light from the star ξPer.
I'm happy with the wide field view of this nebula. It gives a nice broad presentation and the extend of the OIII signal can be appreciated.
Its a different take on this object, as for me the main highlight is the OIII instead of the Ha
full details here,
M57 Ring Nebula.
Little smoke ring in the constellation Lyra.
The Ring nebula is the glowing remains of a star much like our own Sun as it sheds off it's outer layers to leave behind a white dwarf.
Captured using a Skywatcher Quattro 8" and a ZWO 533mc pro camera. 45 exposures of 60 seconds each.
IC4685 can be found in the constellation of Sagittarius. For reference, the Lagoon Nebula is only 1.25 degrees away. The estimated distance is about 4000 light years away. The image includes a dense star cloud with many colorful stars, and both emission and reflection nebula.
Esprit 120mm, FL840mm
QHY 268M, Optolong 3nm filters
Sky-Watcher EQ6Rpro mount
Arizona, bortle 1-2 sky.
IC1396 featuring the Elephant Trunk nebula. Shot using Ha and Oiii filters on completely stock Canon DSLRs.
This was first light on my new setup. Totally new everything aside from camera. I upgraded from a Star Adventurer to an EQ6R-Pro which was a definite learning curve. The first few nights were super frustrating, I just couldn't get anything to work and it felt so inconsistent and like I was never going to get an image.
I also am currently using a Canon 400mm 2.8 IS III, which is just awesome.
Overall I'm really loving this setup, it's incredible to use and so nice to be able to remote operate it.
Image info below
Ha - 26 x 600s
Oiii - 38 x 200s
Equipment:
📷 - Canon 6D & 7D MK II (stock)
🔭 - Canon 400mm 2.8 IS III
⚙️- Sky Watcher EQ6R Pro (unguided)
🌈 - Astronomik 12nm XL Ha and Oiii clip in
⚡️ - Pegasus Pocket Powerbox & adaptors
Stacked using DSS, processed in Siril and Photoshop
North America Nebula, 1,700 light-years away.
Sky-Watcher Esprit 80mm, Player One Poseidon M pro camera, Sky-Watcher EQ6Rpro mount. Primaluce Lab Esatto, Arco. Antlia 3nm SHO filters. Shot at the Texas Star Party, April 2025.
Total integration 11hr 20m
The Seagull Nebula ( IC 2177, SH2-292, NGC 2327)
HOO color palette
84, 10-minute, 100-Gain, Ha subs
88, 10-minute, 100-Gain, OIII subs
ASI2600mm pro, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED, 550mm focal length, F5.5, EQ6-R Pro mount, ASI174mm guide cam, Astronomik 6nm filters. Guided and dithered.
Calibrated with dark frames, Pixinsight and Photoshop.
Locations: My backyard (Bortle-7), Cheddar Ranch Observatory (Bortle-4), 3RF Comanche Springs Astronomy Campus (Bortle-2).
Data collected on clear nights during March and April 2023.
In the sky area of the constellation Perseus and about 10,700 light years distant from us, there is a bright emission nebula, the Fossil Footprint Nebula, cataloged as NGC 1491, although it is also included in the Sharpless catalog as Sh2 -206 and in the Lynds as LBN 704. NGC 1491 is an HII region, that is, a cloud of dust and gas, practically hydrogen, whose gas is ionized by the strong ultraviolet radiation of one or more hot and nearby stars, emitting light and in which there is usually star formation activity.
Esprit 120, QHY268M, Optolong 3nm SHO filters, Sky-Watcher EQ6Rpro mount.
10 min exposures, 77 hours.
157 x S
161 x O
146 x H
I captured this from my balcony in Pasadena CA. Fun night with my girlfriend and the neighbors. Canon 5d, Explore Scientific ED102, Eq6r pro.
The Heart Nebula (IC 1805) lies about 7,500 light years away from Earth in the Perseus Arm of the Galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia. The brightest part of the nebula (a knot at its western edge) is separately classified as NGC 896, because it was the first part of the nebula to be discovered. The nebula's intense red output and its morphology are driven by the radiation emanating from a small group of stars near the nebula's center. This open cluster of stars, known as Melotte 15, contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun, and many more dim stars that are only a fraction of our Sun's mass. The Heart Nebula is located adjacent to the Soul Nebula forming a view referred to as the Heart and Soul Nebula.
Tech Specs: William Optics REDCAT 51 Telescope, ZWO ASI071MC camera running at 0F, 180-minutes using 5-minute exposures, Optolong l-eXtreme 2” filter, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, ZWO EAF (ProAstroGear Black-CAT) and ASIAir Pro, guided using a ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope and ZWO 120 mini, processed in PixInsight. Image Date: July 28 and August 25, 2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Only an hour's data. Experimenting with exposure settings. Awaiting equipment for guiding so no dithering yet. Will repeat with longer subs and different filter.
40*90s lights -7ºC, tracked unguided, plus lots calibrations frames.
The Cocoon Nebula (IC 5146) in the constellation Cygnus. This is a reflection/emission nebula, note the dark trail behind it, this is a dark nebula called Barnard 168 and it forms the appearance of a trail behind the Cocoon.
Tech Specs: William Optics REDCAT 51 Telescope, ZWO ASI071MC camera running at 0F and Optolong L-eXtreme 2” Filter, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, ZWO EAF (ProAstroGear Black-CAT) and ASIAir Pro, guided using a ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope and ZWO 120 mini, processed in PixInsight. Image Date: August 1, 2025. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Just recently captured some RGB star data to finally complete this image of IC410. I am really pleased with the overall color, contrast, and depth to the image. My goal was to get a deep, 3D feel to the image as if the "tadpoles" where swimming into the picture.
IC410 resides in the nebula rich constellation of Auriga. So many winter gems in this area, I've spent 2 winter season imaging almost exclusively in this area.
Full acquisition details here,
Westerhout 5 (Sharpless 2-199, LBN 667, Soul Nebula) is an emission nebula located in Cassiopeia. Several small open clusters are embedded in the nebula: CR 34, 632, and 634 (in the head) and IC 1848 (in the body). The object is more commonly called by the cluster designation IC 1848.
Small emission nebula IC 1871 is present just left of the top of the head, and small emission nebulae 670 and 669 are just below the lower back area.
The galaxies Maffei 1 and Maffei 2 are both nearby the nebula, although light extinction from the Milky Way makes them very hard to see. Once thought to be part of the Local Group, they are now known to belong to their own group- the IC 342/Maffei Group.
This complex is the eastern neighbor of IC1805 (Heart Nebula) and the two are often mentioned together as the "Heart and Soul".
EQ6R Pro Mount
William Optics GT 81V + .8 reducer
ASI 2600MC camera cooled to -10c
Optolong L Extreme Filter
ASIAIR Pro
Mini Guide Scope and camera
110 x 600 second exposures
30 x dark, flat & dark flat calibration frames
Stacked and processed in Pixinsight
C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
1-28-23, 2:05 am - 4:02 am
ASI2600MM PRO Camera
Askar 200mm F4
Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount
Evoguide 50DX Apo Guide Scope
ASI174MM Guide Camera
10, 4-minute, 100-gain RED
10, 4-minute, 100-gain GREEN
10, 4-minute, 100-gain BLUE
Comet Core tracked subs
3, 1-minute, 100-gain RED
3, 1-minute, 100-gain GREEN
3, 1-minute, 100-gain BLUE
Star Tracked subs
Pixinsight, Photoshop
Blended for accuracy.
CRO (Cheddar Ranch Observatory) owned and operated by the Oklahoma City Astronomy Club, site is open to the public, check calendar for events at: www.okcastroclub.com/index.php
Bortle-4 sky
Here is a view of C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) taken last evening, October 27, 2025. This is a stacked 30-minute exposure and was stacked on the moving comet.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI071MC camera running at -10F, 30 x 60 second exposures, EQ6R-Pro Mount, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DSS and PixInsight. Image Date: October 27, 2025. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
from old APOD: Scanning the skies for galaxies, Canadian astronomer Paul Hickson and colleagues identified some 100 compact groups of galaxies, now appropriately called Hickson Compact Groups. The four prominent galaxies seen in this intriguing telescopic skyscape are one such group, Hickson 44, about 100 million light-years distant toward the constellation Leo. The two spiral galaxies in the center of the image are edge-on NGC 3190 with its distinctive, warped dust lanes, and S-shaped NGC 3187. Along with the bright elliptical, NGC 3193 at the lower right, they are also known as Arp 316. The spiral in the upper left corner is NGC 3185, the 4th member of the Hickson group. Like other galaxies in Hickson groups, these show signs of distortion and enhanced star formation, evidence of a gravitational tug of war that will eventually result in galaxy mergers on a cosmic timescale. The merger process is now understood to be a normal part of the evolution of galaxies, including our own Milky Way. For scale, NGC 3190 is about 75,000 light-years across at the estimated distance of Hickson 44.
L:11h20m, R:2h, G:2h15m, B:2h10m Total time: 17hr 45min
Esprit 120, FL 870mm, QHY268M, Optolong LRGB filters, Ioptron CEM70 mount. Taken from Starfront Observatory, Texas.
This setup is pictured here on a Sky-Watcher EQ6Rpro mount.
The winter targets are starting to show in the early mornings these days so here is a new take the Orion Nebula. Messier 42 (Orion Nebula) is one of the brightest nebulae in the night sky, and is visible to the naked eye. This magnitude 4 interstellar cloud of ionized hydrogen gas contains a young open cluster of four primary stars known as the Trapezium. The M42 nebula is part of a much larger nebula system known as the Orion Molecular Complex, which extends throughout the Orion constellation including objects such as the Horsehead Nebula, M78, and Barnard’s Loop. Hope you all enjoy and thanks for any constructive comments.
Equipment:
Telescope - Sky-watcher Esprit 120 with .77 reducer
Imaging Camera- Qhy268m
Mount - Sky-watcher EQ6-R Pro
Software:
Sequence Generator Pro
Pixinsight
Lightroom
Photoshop
Lights:
L-90x60sec
R-90x60sec
G-90x60sec
B-90x60sec
35 Darks
100 Bias
Total integration 6 hours
While taking photos of the lunar eclipse, never did I think I would actually capture a meteor striking the surface of the moon!
You can see the quick flash of light in the lower left quadrant of the moon, which happened at 10:41 PM CST.
This was definitely luck and that night I just decided to set Sharpcap to capture exposures every few seconds during the hour leading up to peak totality (hoping to get an airplane in transit).
Equipment
- Explore Scientific ED80 CF
- ZWO ASI294MC Pro
- Skywatcher EQ-6 R Pro
- Polemaster
Sharpcap Settings
- Single, 3 second exposure
- Gain: 125
Processed in Photoshop to combine two different exposures I took of the moon and the stars behind the moon.
LDN1235 The Shark Nebula in Cepheus, captured with an 8 year old DSLR camera.
87, 6-minute, ISO-800, 550mm focal length, F5.5.
Nikon D750a, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED, EQ6-R Pro, guided, calibrated with darks.
9/24/22 and 9/25/22, Okie-Tex Star Party 2022
Pixinsight and Photoshop
SW 200/800 + Eq6rpro + canon1000d + filtre CLS.
42×180s, ISO 800. Dof : 49/100/20. Empilement Siril, traitement Pixinsight.
The whirlpool galaxy is actually two galaxies interacting with each other. The quite obvious spiral galaxy that is M51 and the much smaller galaxy catalogued as NGC 5195.
First discovered by Charles Messier in 1773, M51 is located 31 million light years away in the constellation Canes Venatici.
Data gathered at www.astronomycentre.org.uk/ on the 18/03/2025.
Boring Techie bit:
Telescope: Skywatcher Quattro 8"
Mount: EQ6r pro
Camera: ZWO 533mc pro
Filter: Optolong UV/IR.
Guided and controlled by the ZWO asiair+ using Altair Starwave 50mm & ZWO 120mm mini.
248 light frames 60 seconds each.
Stacked with darks using WBPP in PixInsight.
Processed using Graxpert, StarNet2, PixInsight & Affinity Photo.
Imaged over a total of 6 nights, Sharpless 132, The Lion Nebula, is a very faint emission nebula. It's on the border of the constellations of Cepheus and Lacerta. It's estimated to be about 10,000 light years away. The star field is very rich, so the nebula is almost lost amidst all the stars.
I decided on this object over some of the more common targets in the Cepheus reason simply because I had never really seen the object and wanted to capture something less commonly imaged. The Ha and OIII data was much more substantial than the SII data. I think a bi-colour image with just Ha and OIII would also produce a great image.
The "Head" of the lion has a lot if fine detail and structures and I may image this area again with a longer focal length scope and focus on just this area, see what mother nature says to that!
I wasn't originally planning on going 33 hours on this project, but since I had some nights with a near full moon I figured some more integration time would help increase the signal over the moon washed background.
Love the feedback!
CS, be well, and thank you!
Dan.
Copernicus – diameter is 96 km, named after the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. It typifies craters that formed during the Copernican period in that it has a prominent ray system. From Wikipedia: The Copernican Period in the lunar geologic timescale runs from approximately 1.1 billion years ago to the present day. The base of the Copernican period is defined by impact craters that possess bright optically immature ray systems.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ASI462MC camera, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in Autostakkert and PixInsight. Image Date: May 29, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
The Tulip Nebula located in the constellation Cygnus approximately 6000LY away from my backyard. This was a challenge to complete with the dangerous heat wave we are having up here right now. 45 Celsius today! I had to start imaging much later to get cooler air. Starting at midnight until the sun comes up at 3am. It took 11 nights to complete the image. My main goal was to bring out the Cygnus X-1 bow shock( top centre of image) which is most pronounced in the OIII band. I took several hour more of OIII and it was worth it as I was able to bring out the bow shock to the level I was looking for.
Complete details can be found here,
The Dumbbell Nebula - Messier 27
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at 0F, 135x60 seconds guided exposures, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DSS and PixInsight. Image Date: May 15, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).