I was fortunate enough to spend an entire night camping with my daughter Ayen, sitting atop Blackrock Summit in Shenandoah National Park last night. To make the experience even more amazing... it was the rare perfectly clear Virginia night. I honestly lost count of the number of shooting stars and satellites we saw. There's just something cool and special about laying on your back on the literal top of a mountain watching the universe in a dark sky location.

Targets captured were wide angle milky way @24mm, Rho Ophuichi / Sagittarius @50mm, Sagittarius at 135mm, Andromeda @135mm, and Comet NEOWISE at 135mm to cap things off before sunrise, not to mention some sunrise and sunset shots.

The downside is unlike Ayen, I didn't a single minute of sleep... so I'm off to nap. Here's the first teaser shot with a lot more to come if I can find the time to process all of this great data. I hope everyone is having a great weekend and staying safe! 😊😊✨ 🔭

Specs: Canon 6D, Rokinon 24mm @F2.8, 12x90" second tracked sky shots on iOptron Skyguider, merged with non-tracked 160 second foreground shot (both ISO 800). stacked in Sequator, processed in Photoshop and Lightroom CC.

#shenandoahnationalpark #nationalpark #mountain #blueridgemountains #milkyway #milkywaychasers #nightimages #longexposure #toplongexposure #night_shooterz #nightsky #space #galaxy #hiking #ayennicole #universetoday #canon #ioptron #rokinon #fun #canoneos6d #darksky #virginia #outdoors #camping #practicalastrophotography #skyatnightmagazine #highpointscientific

The Veil Nebula in Cygnus, with its intricate structures, is one of my preferred nebulas in the night sky and is the result of a supernova which happened some 10,000 or 20,000 years ago.

This image is the re-processing of data taken in 2021, whose first version was published here astrob.in/93bsj3/C/ and I may say that this time I was able to achieve what I envisioned to this photo.

I hope you enjoy.

Shot at Barcarena on August 2021.

Technical details:

NB: 111 x 600’’

BB: 20 x 120’’

TS Optics Triplet APO 800/115 | TS Optics TSFLAT2 0.79x | QHYCCD 268C | Omegon IV/IR Cut 2'' | Optolong L-Extreme

Acquisition: N.I.N.A. | Processing: Pixinsight

Lonely galaxies watch a passing comet slip away through the integrated flux.

This is a shot from May of this year. The comet is C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS), not the current superstar comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE). T2 PANSTARRS spent three nights drifting past galaxies M81 and M82 before moving on. I caught this on the middle of those three nights. Unlike NEOWISE, T2 PANSTARRS was never bright enough to see unaided, and required a very long lens or small telescope to effectively photograph, so images of T2 PANSTARRS are comparatively rare. As you can see, the two comets feature very different tails. 2020 has already proven to be quite the year for Comets.

See on Fluidr

To see more of my work and to buy prints visit www.jklovelacephotography.com/pages/space

The Cave Nebula is a diffuse nebula in the constellation Cepheus. Sh2-155 is an ionized Hydrogen Alpha region with ongoing star formation activity, at an estimated distance of 2400 light-years from Earth.

Image captured from Grasslands National Park, SK under Bortle 1 skies. 2020-08-14, 2020-08-15 & 2020-08-16.

Image capture details: (5h 40m)

Ha-7x1,200sec (2h20m)

OIII-5x1,200sec((1h 40m)

SII-5x1,200sec(1h 40m)

Imaging Equipment:

SharpStar 140PH Triplet

Celestron CGEM II mount (hypertuned),

ZWOASI1600MM Pro camera

Antoine de Saint-Exupery famously wrote "What's essential is invisible to the eye." I'd contend that with a camera lens, some luck, and someone you love around you... can sometimes catch at least a glimpse.

This was captured on the evening of July 11th from Blackrock Summit in #shenandoahnationalpark with my Canon 6D, 50mm budget lens and iOptron skyguider. My daughter and I camped out on the top of the rocky talus slope overnight and tried to take in the 360 degree views, shooting stars, satellites and even bats.

I'm so excited to finally get this shot that I've been envisioning for a while and look forward to getting a similar full family shot soon once Rylen is "outdoors-ready" 😆. I hope you enjoy!

Specs: Blended, stacked and merged.

Sky shot: 15x60 tracked shots, 50mm @F2.8 ISO800. Calibrated with 30 dark frames. No flats or bias. Stacked in sequator, processed in Startools, refined in lightroom, blended in Photoshop.

Foreground shot: 1x30" untracked 50mm @F2.8 ISO1600.

#milkywaychasers #milkyway #milkywaygalaxy #shenandoahnationalpark #nationalparks #darksky #astronomy #ayennicole #practicalastrophotography #highpointscientific #nightimages #night_shooterz #nightphotography #astrophotography #lookup #family #dadlife #daddydaughter #dad #canon #instadaily #universetoday #nightimages #sleepcanwait

This is also referred to as the Monkey Head Nebula. It is kind of to the left of Orion's belt in the night sky. I used narrowband imaging and about 5 hours worth of exposures for this end result. Once again, I applied the Hubble palette to the monochromatic images from the separate wavelengths.

If you missed it last time around... my work-flow to create this one was very similar to what I did for last week's nebula. There's a (long) video of that full process here, but it starts to get to the good stuff around 8:40 in: youtu.be/NvcZ3g5-7Pc

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

Explanation:

Residing about 31 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, Messier 104, more famously known as the Sombrero Galaxy, is one of the most striking edge-on spiral galaxies in the sky. Its prominent dust lane slicing through a glowing halo of stars creates the unmistakable appearance of a wide-brimmed hat drifting through the cosmos.

Despite its relatively small apparent size, the Sombrero Galaxy is a heavyweight in more ways than one. It spans roughly 50,000 light-years across and boasts a central bulge that shines with the luminosity of nearly 800 billion suns. At its heart lies a supermassive black hole with a mass a billion times that of our Sun, making it one of the most massive black holes ever detected in a nearby galaxy.

Its unusual blend of features - both spiral and elliptical - has puzzled astronomers for decades. The Sombrero challenges traditional galaxy classifications and continues to be studied for clues into galactic evolution and structure. Floating in solitude, with few close companions, M104 offers a glimpse into the quiet elegance of the universe. A luminous relic from the early cosmos, wearing its dust lane like a cosmic sash.

Imaging Scope: Planewave CDK24

Camera: QHY600 Pro M

Total Integration: 11h 25′ in LRGB

Copyright: Rod Prazeres Astrophotography

Credits: Rod Prazeres Astrophotography / Telescope.Live

IG: www.instagram.com/deepskyjourney/

FB: www.facebook.com/rodprazeresastrophotography

All other socials: linktr.ee/deepskyjourney

This is my image of the Heart Nebula. I was waiting on the print I had ordered to surprise my sweetie with before I posted it anywhere. This is the most data on one image I've ever collected. I think it turned out pretty killer! She loved it ☺️

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

Acquisition: total 16hrs

SVbony Schott Glass 2" Filters

Hydrogen Alpha 30x600s

Oxygen Three 30x600s

Sulfur Two 30x600s

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

Equipment:

TS Optics 102mm F5.6

ZWOasi 071 MC pro Camera

SW Evo50mm apo Guidescope

ZWOasi 290 Guide Camera

ZWO 7 position filter wheel

ZWO ASI Air Pro mini computer

Skywatcher EQ6-R mount

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

Stacking and Pre Processing done in Pixinsight

Post Processing done in Photoshop

Finalized in Topaz Labs De-noise AI

#highpointscientific #zwoasi071mcpro #skywatchter #tsoptics #asiairpro #svbony #evoguide50ed #zwoasi224mc #zwoefw #zwoeaf #eq6rpro #admaccessories #nasa

NGC 5985, NGC 5982 and NGC 5981 are three galaxies in the constellation Draco, collectively known as Draco Triplet. This triplet is less known than Leo Triplet and unlike it, most probably these three galaxies are not interacting with each other. These are part of a larger group of galaxies known as the NGC 5982 Cluster.

This is my second attempt to photograph this region and I think with improved results (mileage and sark skies always help...)

I hope you enjoy and I'd love to hear your feedback on it.

Cheers,

André

Shot at Trevinca, ES on April 18th, 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd 2024

Technical details as follows:

R: 92 x 120''

G: 132 x 120''

B: 124 x 120''

Total: 11h36

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

Another target I decided to revisit with the Rasa, the Eagle nebula under Bortle 3 skies in HOO palette. Just shy of 2 hours worth of data.

Equipment:

-Celestron Rasa 8”

-ZWO ASI183MM Pro

-Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro

-ZWO ASI Air Pro

-ZWO 120mm mini

-ZWO mini guide scope

-ZWO EAF

-Baader 10nm Olll

-ZWO 7nm Ha

10x300” Hydrogen Alpha, 10x300” Olll, with darks and bias frames.

Processed in AstroPixel Processor and Photoshop

Here is an image of the stellar dust surrounding NGC7023, The Iris Nebula. This is an image I've been working on for almost a full year due to two reasons: the extreme contrast between the dust and stars and problems with the data set I gathered. Boy, I'm so pleased to have finally resolved a great image out of the data I captured. I used a new technique I'm experimenting with called relinearization by some. This allows me to remove the stars using Starnet before officially stretching the data and effectively transform the image back into its linear state for processing steps that work best with linear data. This allowed me to reveal the faint dust while nicely controlling the stars. I'm very pleased with this image, and I'm gonna apply this technique to another troublesome data set I have and see what I can make of it! Until then, I hope you enjoy :)

–

Rokinon 135mm f/2 @ f/2.0

Celestron AVX

Astrokraken Lens Bracket

Stock Nikon D5500

Subs from 6/20/2020

90 x 120s Lights @ ISO 200

No Darks

15 Flats

100 Bias

Total Integration Time: 3hrs

Okay, here we go. I got just in a little bit of Sulfur-ii and Oxygen-iii time which means I can give you the color version of the Rosette Nebula (also referred to as Caldwell 50). This star-forming region is about 5200 lightyears from Earth and a little to the left of Orion's shoulder. In truth, you are only looking at a part of the Rosette Nebula, as it is a bit too large for my scope/camera combo.

I had the setup running on this target for about 8 hours across 3 nights, but only used data from 2 of those nights and the final image came from about 2 hours worth of imaging. This was due to clouds, atmospheric disturbance, and getting the kinks out of the setup. I processed this in the Hubble palette (SHO).

Telescope: SkyWatcher 150PDS

Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5-Pro

Camera: ZWO 1600MM Pro

Shot from my front yard in Parkesburg, PA

H-alpha exposures: 180s each, Oiii and Sii exposures: 300s a piece

A tapestry of starlight and shadow — SNR G013.3–01.3 drifts through the rich fields of Sagittarius. Framed by the glow of M24, the cluster NGC 6603, and sweeping dark nebulae, this remnant of a stellar explosion lies among a crossroads of star birth and death, where cosmic dust, glowing gas, and ancient shockwaves intertwine.

Captured from my Bortle 6 backyard, this was challenging to capture and process but quite rewarding to see it come together in the end.

Thanks for checking.

Equipment & Details

- Telescope: Askar 130PHQ

- Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro

- Mount: Sky-Watcher NEQ6-Pro

- Filters: Antlia 3nm Narrowband Hα & OIII (HOO)

- Integration Time: 30h 10′

IG: www.instagram.com/deepskyjourney/

FB: www.facebook.com/rodprazeresastrophotography

All other socials: linktr.ee/deepskyjourney

HQ version: www.astrobin.com/xokunu/

Spot the Keyhole!

Although it’s named the Keyhole Nebula, i think it looks like a snake rising from the depths of space. Oh well, gotta stick to IAU naming conventions

This little ionised cloud of interstellar gas is 8,500 light years away from Earth, meaning what you see here are photons emitted trillions and trillions of kilometres away

Equipment:

Lens: William Optics Zenithstar 61 F/5.9

Camera: Qhyccd 163M

Mount: Explore Scientific iExos-100

Filters: Antlia 3.5nm SII, H-Alpha, OIII

Total exposure time: 15 hours

Waxing Gibbous, Colorized, Archimedes, Aristillus, Plato

Dates:FEb 23, 2021

Imaging telescopes: C9.25

Imaging cameras: ASI AS224MC

Mounts: Celestron CG5 Advanced GT

Integration: 1 min 7323 f/s 126fps

Avg. Waxing Gibbous, 9.52 days old

Avg. Moon phase: Illumination 72%

Altitude:51.74

Apparent magnitude: -12.36

Distance 390832.5 km

Angular size: 31 arcminutes

Locations: Ozzmozizz, coteau du lac, quebec, Canada

#astrobackyard

#astrophotography

#astropics

#highpointscientific

#astro_photography_

#astroimaging

#spacephotography

#astrophoto

#astro_photography_

#lunar

#lunarbeauty

#lunarpics

#moon

#moonphotography

#moonpics

#mooncraters

Here is a reprocessed version of my old Triangulum data I captured a little over a year ago! I've learned a ton about processing Astro data over the last year and my processing style has changed quite a bit, and I'm loving every second of it. I haven't been able to image since mid January because Alabama likes to be humid and produce clouds, so I'm ready to get out and enjoy galaxy season before it's over. Im planning on doing a deep exposure on my next target if the skies allow, so hopefully I'll be able to accomplish that goal. I hope you guys enjoy good ole M33 :)

–

Orion 8" Astrograph

Celestron AVX

Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector

Stock Nikon D5500

53 x 180s lights @ ISO 200

No Darks

15 Flats

100 Bias

Total Integration Time: 2.65hrs

Here is another reprocessed image of mine from 2020! This is the whirlpool galaxy, also known as M51. It's one of the main galaxies photographed during Galaxy season and is located near the Big Dipper. In the highlighted image, you'll see a quasar of magnitude 20 highlighted in the top of the image. This is the furthest deep sky object I've ever captured at 11 billion light years away (shout out to Erik Pirtala for showing me this quasar back in March with his image of M51). I'm still patiently awaiting my camera's return, but I think it should be done this week! Hopefully I'll get back out for some imaging ASAP. I hope y'all enjoy this image and the cool quasar too :)

–

Orion 8" Astrograph

Celestron AVX

Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector

Stock Nikon D5500

Subs from 4/15/20

70 x 180s lights @ ISO 200

No Darks

20 Flats

100 Bias

Total Integration Time: 3.5 hrs

William Optics FLT 132 Apo triplet

ZwoASI2600MC Pro

Optolong L-Pro broadband filter

Guiding:

Radian Raptor 61 Apo triplet

ZwoASI290MM mini

Celestron CGX

PHD2 guide software

20-300 second subs

Deepsky Stacker

Adobe Photoshop CC 2021

About a year ago I published a photo of the Double Cluster in Perseus (NGC 869 and NGC 884), two stars clusters in constellation Perseus (see here: flic.kr/p/2mJWPjw). This year I photographed the same area but with an hydrogen filter, in order to reveal the faint hydrogen clouds in this field of view, here seen as the red clouds.

Photographing the invisible is an intrinsic trait of astrophotography - deeply amazing but also a responsibility to the photographer - which usually reminds me of Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince famous quote the “anything essential is invisible to the eyes”.

I hope you enjoy.

Photo taken at Barcarena, Portugal on Oct.22nd, 2021 (RGB) and Nov.08th, 2022 (Ha)

Technical details

RGB: 220 x 120’’ (7h20)

Ha: 118 x 200’’ (9h50)

Total: 17h10

TS Optics Triplet APO 800/115 | TS Optics TSFLAT2 0.79x | QHYCCD 268C | QHYCCD 268M | Omegon IV/IR Cut 2'' | Astronomik Ha 6nm | RBFocus Myrrdin 2.3 | RBFocus Gaius-S

It's finally done! This is my longest integration project yet and I wanted to make sure that I processed it very carefully. My goal when I first set out to capture M101 this year was to reveal the faint spiral arms visible in the bottom of this image... and I think I succeeded in that goal! As usual, I had some difficulties processing this image (this time, overexposed flats messed up the colors of the image), but despite that, I'm pleased with the signal that I was able to record with a stock DSLR. I'm certainly looking forward to imaging this galaxy again with a cooled mono camera in the future. This galaxy is about 23 million light years away in the constellation of Ursa Major (the Big Dipper). I hope y'all enjoy :)

–

Orion 8" Astrograph

iOptron CEM70

Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector

Stock Nikon D5500

ZWO ASI 120MM mini Guide Camera

ASIAIR Pro for acquisition

Processing in Pixinsight & Photoshop

Subs from 4/2,4,5/2021

130 x 300s lights @ ISO 200

No Darks

60 Flats

100 Bias

Total Integration Time: 10.83 hrs

The Pleiades star cluster is hands down my favorite object in the nighttime sky. Known by many names and by every civilization to ever inhabit our planet, Messier 45 ("The Seven Sisters", "Subaru", "The Hen with her Chicks"), is easily visible to the unaided eye, even from moderately light-polluted skies. Each of the bright stars is named for mythological characters Atlas, Pleione, and their 7 daughters, Alcyone, Merope, Sterope, Maia, Taygeta, Celaeno, and Electra. Not only do these characters feature prominently in Greek mythology, the star cluster itself does as well: In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus uses the cluster as a navigational beacon. The cluster is mentioned 3 times in the Bible and is illustrated in a prehistoric cave painting at Lascaux. It's also the corporate logo for carmaker Subaru.

It contains at least 1,000 stars, but only 5 to 10 are bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye, and these are the ones that people are referring to when they say "The Pleiades". Each of these giant stars is far brighter than our Sun. If you were to observe the Sun from the same distance, you would need binoculars or a telescope to see it at all!

It is estimated to be 444 light-years away and it's diameter is 15 light-years. The stars are surrounded by interstellar dust and gas. This material would ordinarily be invisible to us, but it’s illuminated by the stars in what’s known as a reflection nebula. The nebula is blue, caused by a light scattering effect not unlike the one that colors Earth’s sky blue. Its wavy appearance comes from interactions between the nebula and the stars’ magnetic fields.

The myth of the Pleiades cluster and the constellation Orion is that the Hunter is enamored with the beauty of the young maidens and he is greedily pursuing them across the sky each night. Indeed that is the easiest way to spot the Pleiades. Find Orion and scan over in the direction he's facing and you'll find them within Taurus the Bull.

EQ6R Pro mount, 2600MC, W/O Z61, ASIAIR Pro, ZWO EAF, 62 x 300 second exposures at -10c processed with Pixinsight

Here is another reprocessed image of mine from 2020! This is the whirlpool galaxy, also known as M51. It's one of the main galaxies photographed during Galaxy season and is located near the Big Dipper. In the highlighted image, you'll see a quasar of magnitude 20 highlighted in the top of the image. This is the furthest deep sky object I've ever captured at 11 billion light years away (shout out to Erik Pirtala for showing me this quasar back in March with his image of M51). I'm still patiently awaiting my camera's return, but I think it should be done this week! Hopefully I'll get back out for some imaging ASAP. I hope y'all enjoy this image and the cool quasar too :)

–

Orion 8" Astrograph

Celestron AVX

Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector

Stock Nikon D5500

Subs from 4/15/20

70 x 180s lights @ ISO 200

No Darks

20 Flats

100 Bias

Total Integration Time: 3.5 hrs

Equipment

Imaging cameras:Canon t3i

ISO Speed: 800

Resolution: 4272x2848

Seeing: 4

Transparency: 3

Dates:Feb 19, 2021

#auroraborealisphotography

#auroraborealisnotifications

#auroraborealis

#astrobackyard

#astrophotography

#deepskyastrophotography

#spacephotography

#astrophoto

#spacephotography

#highpointscientific

#astro_photography_

#celestron

#zwo

#coteaudulac

#landscape

#landscapephotography

#landscapephoto

#explorecanada

#northernlights

#aurora

#shareyourweather

#raw_canada

#raw_longexposure

#raw_allnature

#canadaparadise

#walkingaroundcanada

#thecanadianmag

#canonphotography

Captured from my front yard in Michigan.

Radian Raptor 61 Apo triplet

ZwoASI2600MC Pro

Optolong L-Pro broadband filter

Guiding:

William Optics Zenithstar 73

ZwoASI290MM mini

Celestron CGX

PHD2 guide software

27-240 second subs

DeepSky Stacker

Adobe Photoshop CC 2021

Here is a region of the Milky Way in the constellation of Cygnus centered between the two stars Deneb (top blue star) and Sadr (bottom yellow/white star). This image was the backup plan when attempting to shoot a galaxy with my telescope, so when my mount had some problems, I went for it with the gear I had on hand. Despite only being able to shoot 60s subs which required the use of ISO 800, this region of the Milky Way is so bright and packed with stars that getting a sufficient signal to noise ratio was not a problem. I'm extremely pleased with how much red hydrogen gas I was able to resolve despite having a stock DSLR camera! I hope you guys are having a great start to 2021 and have lots of clear skies! As always, if you want a print, feel free to DM me on Instagram @jdh_astro :)

–

Rokinon 135mm f/2 @ f/4

iOptron Skyguider Pro

Astrokraken Lens Bracket

Stock Nikon D5500

Subs from 10/18/2020

149 x 60s Lights @ ISO 800

No Darks

20 Flats

100 Bias

Total Integration Time: 2.48 hrs

William Optics Zenithstar 73 Apo doublet

ZwoASI2600MC Pro

Optolong L-Pro broadband filter

19-420 second subs

Deepsky stacker

Adobe Photoshop CC 2021

Here is a wide field image I took in November of a cool region of the Milky Way known as Cygnus! In the second slide, you can see the stars that make up a portion of the constellation itself. I have always loved this region of the Milky Way and all its beautiful colors. Even with a stock camera there is so much to capture and observe. You can also see the Veil supernova complex in the top left of the image near the star Gienah! Hoping for some clear, moonless skies soon, because it's been way too long since I've been able to image and since then, galaxy season has arrived (my favorite time of year ). I hope y'all enjoy and that you have had a great week! :)

–

Nikon 18-55mm @ 55mm f/5.6

iOptron Skyguider Pro

Stock Nikon D5500

Subs from 11/18/2020

85 x 180s Lights @ ISO 800

No Darks

20 Flats

100 Bias

Total Integration Time: 4.25 hrs

Here is a beautiful edge on galaxy about 33 million light years away that I shot in November! I was still fine tuning my mount, so I used 60s exposures at ISO 1600 to minimize star trailing. Despite these setbacks, I think I got data that was good enough to reveal some nice details in the dust lanes! I'll definitely revisit this object in the future to do it justice, but for now I love this image. Galaxy season is incoming!! If you check my story, you'll see an annotated image where every blue circle is highlighting a galaxy in this field of view When I see how many galaxies are just in this small patch of sky and think about the scale of the universe, it just blows my mind. God's power to breath all this into existence with His word is incredible and clearly reveals His indescribable glory. I'm so thankful He allows me to share His creation with you all through my telescope. I hope y'all enjoy :)

–

Orion 8" Astrograph

iOptron CEM70

Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector

Stock Nikon D5500

ZWO ASI 120MM mini Guide Camera

ASIAIR Pro for acquisition

Processing in Pixinsight & Photoshop

Subs from 11/16/2020

138 x 60s lights @ ISO 1600

No Darks

20 Flats

100 Bias

Total Integration Time: 2.3 hrs

Captured from my front yard in Michigan.

William Optics FLT 132 Apo triplet

Tele Vue 4x PowerMate

ZwoASI178MC Planetary camera

Best 35% of 4650 frames

Dates:FEb 14, 2021

Imaging telescopes: Williams Optics zs73

Imaging cameras: ASI AS224MC

Mounts: Celestron CG5 Advanced GT

Software PixInsight 1.8.8 Ripley · GIMP

Integration: 1 min 7323 f/s 126fps

Avg. Moon age: 24.65 days

Avg. Moon phase: Illumination 10%

Alt 17.7°

Mag -10.22

Distance 395855.6 km

Size 30'

Locations: Ozzmozizz, coteau du lac, quebec, Canada

#astrobackyard

#astrophotography

#deepsky

#astropics

#opteam

#highpointscientific

#astro_photography_

#astroimaging

#deepskyastrophotography

#spacephotography

#astrophoto

#astro_photography_

#youresa

Here is a wide field image I took in November of a cool region of the Milky Way known as Cygnus! In the second slide, you can see the stars that make up a portion of the constellation itself. I have always loved this region of the Milky Way and all its beautiful colors. Even with a stock camera there is so much to capture and observe. You can also see the Veil supernova complex in the top left of the image near the star Gienah! Hoping for some clear, moonless skies soon, because it's been way too long since I've been able to image and since then, galaxy season has arrived (my favorite time of year ). I hope y'all enjoy and that you have had a great week! :)

–

Nikon 18-55mm @ 55mm f/5.6

iOptron Skyguider Pro

Stock Nikon D5500

Subs from 11/18/2020

85 x 180s Lights @ ISO 800

No Darks

20 Flats

100 Bias

Total Integration Time: 4.25 hrs

This image was taken over a course of 10 nights in a row, with 15 hours of USEABLE data ( because my mount is really gonna breakdown at this rate)

Funfact: this image you’re seeing is actually 460 light years across!

Let that sink in.

———————————————————— ..

Imaging Camera: QHY 163M

Scope: William Optics Zenithstar 61

Mount: Explore Scientific IExos 100

Filters:

Antlia 3.5nm H-Alpha

Antlia 3.5nm O-III

Antlia 3.5nm S-II

Here is a beautiful edge on galaxy about 33 million light years away that I shot in November! I was still fine tuning my mount, so I used 60s exposures at ISO 1600 to minimize star trailing. Despite these setbacks, I think I got data that was good enough to reveal some nice details in the dust lanes! I'll definitely revisit this object in the future to do it justice, but for now I love this image. Galaxy season is incoming!! If you check my story, you'll see an annotated image where every blue circle is highlighting a galaxy in this field of view When I see how many galaxies are just in this small patch of sky and think about the scale of the universe, it just blows my mind. God's power to breath all this into existence with His word is incredible and clearly reveals His indescribable glory. I'm so thankful He allows me to share His creation with you all through my telescope. I hope y'all enjoy :)

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Orion 8" Astrograph

iOptron CEM70

Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector

Stock Nikon D5500

ZWO ASI 120MM mini Guide Camera

ASIAIR Pro for acquisition

Processing in Pixinsight & Photoshop

Subs from 11/16/2020

138 x 60s lights @ ISO 1600

No Darks

20 Flats

100 Bias

Total Integration Time: 2.3 hrs

Radian Raptor 61 F/4.5 Apo triplet

Optolong L-eXtreme dual band filter

Zwo ASI2600MC Pro

25-360 second subs

Sharpcap

DeepskyStacker

Adobe Photoshop CC 2021

Here is my first image taken in 2021! 🎉 These two clusters are in the constellation of Gemini in the eastern skies. M35 (left) is located about 3,870 light years away and NGC2158 (right) is located 9,000 light years further away than M35. This was a beauty to photograph even from the light polluted skies in Birmingham, AL while I was home on Christmas break. I'm finally starting to get my mount, guiding, and image acquisition figured out where most everything runs smoothly (exciting!!!). I'm still working through some mirror flop messing up my flat frames, but I have some ideas for how to fix it. Until next time, I hope you all enjoy this image :) Happy new year and clear skies!

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Orion 8" Astrograph

iOptron CEM70

Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector

Stock Nikon D5500

ZWO ASI 120MM mini Guide Camera

ASIAIR Pro for acquisition

Processing in Pixinsight & Photoshop

Subs from 1/5/2021

60 x 180s lights @ ISO 100

No Darks

20 Flats

100 Bias

Total Integration Time: 3 hrs

William Optics Zenithstar 73

ZwoASI2600MC Pro

Optolong L-Pro broadband filter

PHD2 guided

SharpCap

DeepSkyStacker

Adobe Photoshop CC 2021

29-150 second subs

This is a dark nebula in the constellation of Cepheus called the Dark Shark Nebula! This was probably the most difficult object I've ever imaged due to its extremely low brightness and *yet again* more issues with my flats. However, I'm so pleased with how it turned out. Fun fact, I've wanted to shoot this object for a long time, because it looks exactly like a shark, but also because I was actually bitten by a bull shark in 2012! It was on my left calf and could have been a lot worse had it been an inch higher or lower, but the Lord blessed me and my family. I recovered quickly and was right back to football and track in about 6 months. Anyway, it's been a fun story to tell throughout the years and I learned a lot through the experience. Thankfully I won't have to worry about this shark attacking me anytime soon :P I hope you guys enjoy!

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Orion 8" Astrograph

iOptron CEM70

Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector

Stock Nikon D5500

ZWO ASI 120MM mini Guide Camera

ASIAIR Pro for acquisition

Processing in Pixinsight & Photoshop

Subs from 1/16,18/2021

86 x 300s lights @ ISO 200

No Darks

40 Flats

100 Bias

Total Integration Time: 7.17hrs

Residing about 31 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, Messier 104, more famously known as the Sombrero Galaxy, is one of the most striking edge-on spiral galaxies in the sky. Its prominent dust lane slicing through a glowing halo of stars creates the unmistakable appearance of a wide-brimmed hat drifting through the cosmos.

Despite its relatively small apparent size, the Sombrero Galaxy is a heavyweight in more ways than one. It spans roughly 50,000 light-years across and boasts a central bulge that shines with the luminosity of nearly 800 billion suns. At its heart lies a supermassive black hole with a mass a billion times that of our Sun, making it one of the most massive black holes ever detected in a nearby galaxy.

Its unusual blend of features - both spiral and elliptical - has puzzled astronomers for decades. The Sombrero challenges traditional galaxy classifications and continues to be studied for clues into galactic evolution and structure.

Floating in solitude, with few close companions, M104 offers a glimpse into the quiet elegance of the universe. A luminous relic from the early cosmos, wearing its dust lane like a cosmic sash.

Astrobin link: www.astrobin.com/zlp8lm

IG: @deepskyjourney | FB: /RodPrazeresAstrophotography

All other socials: linktr.ee/deepskyjourney

Copyright: Rod Prazeres Astrophotography

Total Integration: 11h 25′ in LRGB.

Data from Telescope.Live (credit) while I wait for my camera to return from repair.

Shot with QHY183c on Nikon 50mm d lens. 40 subs at 30s and -5C. 25 each of darks and flats. Processed in Pixinsight using highpointscientific process posted online www.highpointscientific.com/astronomy-hub/post/astro-phot...

Captured with:

William Optics Zenithstar 73 Apo doublet

Optolong L-Pro broadband filter

Zwo ASI2600MC Pro

Guided with:

Radian Raptor 61 Apo triplet

Zwo ASI290MM mini guide camera

Celestron CGX equatorial mount

Software:

SharpCap Capture

PHD2 Guiding

DeepSky Stacker

Adobe Photoshop CC 2021 Editing

This is:

30-360 second subs (3 hours)

Here is a beautiful edge on galaxy about 33 million light years away that I shot in November! I was still fine tuning my mount, so I used 60s exposures at ISO 1600 to minimize star trailing. Despite these setbacks, I think I got data that was good enough to reveal some nice details in the dust lanes! I'll definitely revisit this object in the future to do it justice, but for now I love this image. Galaxy season is incoming!! If you check my story, you'll see an annotated image where every blue circle is highlighting a galaxy in this field of view When I see how many galaxies are just in this small patch of sky and think about the scale of the universe, it just blows my mind. God's power to breath all this into existence with His word is incredible and clearly reveals His indescribable glory. I'm so thankful He allows me to share His creation with you all through my telescope. I hope y'all enjoy :)

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Orion 8" Astrograph

iOptron CEM70

Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector

Stock Nikon D5500

ZWO ASI 120MM mini Guide Camera

ASIAIR Pro for acquisition

Processing in Pixinsight & Photoshop

Subs from 11/16/2020

138 x 60s lights @ ISO 1600

No Darks

20 Flats

100 Bias

Total Integration Time: 2.3 hrs

Capturing the Orion Nebula well is difficult. The high dynamic range means that it is easy to either lose the dim details or blow out the bright regions. This was my first attempt at combining two different exposures to preserve more details. The first image is a combination of 300s exposures for the faint details and 5s exposures for the details in the bright core.

The Orion Nebula is about 1350 ly away from us and one of the few nebulae that are easily visible with the naked eye during good sky conditions.

Acquisition details

Lights: 14 x 300s = 1 hr 10 mins

Lights: 30 x 5s = 2.5 mins

Darks: 12 x 300s

Darks 20 x 5s

Flats: telescope is too big to point at white monitor image :( + laziness preventing me from doing the t-shirt thing in the morning

Camera: ASI294MC pro at - 10°C

Filter: Optolong L-Enhance

Scope: William Optics z103 710mm x 0.8 reducer/flattener (Flat6AIII) = 568mm effective focal range

Mount: iOptron ieq30 pro

Guidescope: 50mm guidescope

Guide camera: ASI120MM mini

Light pollution: Bortle 7

Software: NINA for global acquisition control, PHD2 for guiding. ASTAP for stacking, Photoshop for stretching, denoising, combining the two exposures. Lightroom for final touches and framing.

William Optics Zenithstar 73

Optolong L-Pro broadband filter

ZwoASI2600MC Pro

PHD2 guiding

SharpCap

DeepSkyStacker

Adobe Photoshop CC 2021

36-180 second subs

Captured from my Michigan front yard with:

William Optics Zenithstar 73

ZwoASI2600MC Pro

Optolong L-Pro broadband filter

Celestron CGX (guided)

20-420 second subs

Deepsky Stacker

Adobe Photoshop CC 2021

Radian Raptor 61 F/4.5 Apo triplet

Optolong L-eXtreme dual band filter

Zwo ASI2600MC Pro

11-360 second subs

Sharpcap

DeepskyStacker

Adobe Photoshop CC 2021

Tulip nebula (upper left) Cresent nebula (middle) Sadr region (lower right)

Really love this wide field stuff. This is with the rokinon 135 f/2 lens and it is awesome! This was shot at f/4.

Main camera-Zwoasi294mc-pro

Guide camera-Zwoasi224mc

Mount- Sky-Watcher EQ6R Pro

Lens-Rokinon 135 F/2

Filter-Optolong L-Extreme

Lights-145x180”

Darks-30

Flats-30

Flat Darks-30

Total integration-7.25 hours

Stacked and edited in Pixinsight

Here is an image of the moon I captured the other night in between clouds. I love the way the dark clouds frame the ones illuminated by the full moon. I just sent my camera off to be Astro modified, so I'm incredibly excited to get it back and start shooting again. This is going to be a great upgrade. I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and for those in the US, I hope you're having a great Memorial Day. I'm so thankful to live in a country where so many men and women are willing to sacrifice so much and fight for our freedom. My upmost and sincerest thank you to those of you who have served or are currently serving.

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Rokinon 135mm f/2.0

Stock Nikon D5500

Handheld

HDR Composite in Photoshop

This was a really cool phenomenon I got to witness last night! Whenever you see a rainbow, you see something called Rayleigh Scattering. This occurs when light is refracted differently for each wavelength of visible light passing through a medium (in our case the atmosphere). This is what causes rainbows, colorful sunrises/sunsets, moon bows, and iridescent clouds like you see here. I've enhanced the colors in the first image to emphasize the different colors in the clouds. The second image is more true to what it looks like visually. I hope y'all enjoy and get out to see the moon this week :)

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Nikon 35mm f/1.8

Stock Nikon D5500

Handheld

Captured on 1/29/2021 @ 11:15pm

HDR composite of:

1 x 1s @ f/2

1 x 0.6s @ f/4

1 x 1/60s @ f/4

ISO 200

William Optics FLT 132 Apo triplet

ZwoASI2600MC Pro

Optolong L-Pro broadband filter

20-300 second subs

Deepsky Stacker

Adobe Photoshop CC 2021