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Imaged during the night of 2-3 March in continuing clear skies here. This is my take on the aptly named Jellyfish nebula complete with bell-shaped body and trailing tentacles!
Also catalogued as Sharpless 248 this object is actually the galactic remnants of a supernova which may have occurred within the broad timespan of 3 - 30000 years ago.
The nebula is located in the constellation of Gemini and the bright star is Eta Geminorum also known as Propus or Tejat Prior - a Class M star which actually forms part of a triple system.
The Jellyfish lies at a distance of around 5000 lightyears and is around 70 lightyears in size.
This is a straight broadband image taken with my Esprit 120ED refractor and a ZWO 2600MC camera. I used Skywatcher's 0.77x focal reducer.
104x180s Exposures (5.2hrs)
Gain 100 and camera cooled to -10°C.
Temp. matched darks flats and Dark Flats for calibration.
Completed using AstroPixel Processor and Photoshop 2022.
Many thanks for looking!
Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex
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Located at about 500 light-years from Earth, Rho Ophiuchi is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular and colorful parts of the night sky.
Emission nebulae, reflection nebulae, dark nebulae or star clusters, all can be found in this small part of the sky. There is also a star nursery, practically the closest to Earth, and not to forget Antares (in the yellow area of the attached photo), a giant star, 700 times larger than the Sun, and 10,000 times brighter.
A book could be written about this area, so I will stop here with the description. I hope I will be lucky enough to repeat the experience at the next new moon.
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Equipment and settings:
Mount: Skywatcher Star Adventure GTI
Camera: Nikon D610 – astro modified
Lens : Rokinon 135mm F2
Settings: F 2.8, ISO 1600
Total exposure: 80 minutes (53 exposures x 90 sec)
Calibration frames: 15 darks.
Location: Bortle ¾.
Edit : Pixinsight.
It would have been amazing seeing this week’s total solar eclipse from Exmouth in Western Australia. From my location on the southeast coast of Australia, though, the event was a partial eclipse, meaning the Moon’s path between the Sun and my viewing position only obscured a small portion of the Sun’s disc. Unfortunately, the eclipse was partial for me in another sense. Clouds covered the sky for nearly ninety of the one hundred and twenty minutes of the eclipse.
When the clouds thinned out, I got a few images, including this one shot at the point of maximum eclipse. The clouds gave the Sun its mottled look and possibly made this a more interesting photo. In the enlarged inset, you can see the sunspot area known as AR3282, and the two large blobs at either end of this feature are about the same size as the Earth.
I’d hoped for better–and more–shots than I captured, but something’s better than nothing, right? I captured this photo with a Canon EOS 6D Mk II camera attached to my SkyWatcher 8” Dobsonian telescope—with a Thousand Oaks solar filter fitted—using an exposure time of 1/160 second @ ISO 800.
OTA: Newtonian Celestron 130 mm/f5 modified
Mount: Skywatcher Heq 5
Imaging Camera: Canon 700D astro modified
Telescope Guide: Gso 50mm
Camera Guide: QHY5L II Mono
Baader Mk III Coma Corrector
Polemaster Eletronic Polar Scope
Total Exposure: 3:30 hours (subs 300 sec)
Deep Sky Stacker: Calibration and stacking
Adobe Photoshop Cs2 : Data Processing,
Pulg-in: Hasta la vista, green, astroflat pro
PHD Guiding 2: Guide
Darks, Dark Flats, Flats and Bias apply
Serra Negra ( Bortle 4) /São Paulo/Brasil . 05/2018 - 05/2022
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
La Luna entre las nubes fotografía a foco primario con telescopio Sky-Watcher 150/750
Equipment:
Scope: Lacerta 72/432 F6 0.85x reduktorral (367mm F5.1)
Mount: Skywatcher EQ-5 Pro Synscan Goto
Guiding: OAG
Guide camera: ZWO ASI120mm Mini
Main camera: ZWO ASI183MM-Pro cooled monochrome camera
Accessories:
ZWO ASIAIR Pro
ZWO EFW 8x1.25"
ZWO EAF
ZWO OAG
ZWO 1.25 Helical focuser
Lacerta Dew-heater 30cm
Programs:
PixInsight
Adobe Photoshop CC 2020
Details:
Camera temp: -15°C
Gain: 53
Astronomik L-3 UV-IR Block: 111x180s
Astronomik Deep-Sky R: 20x180s
Astronomik Deep-Sky G: 10x180s
Astronomik Deep-Sky B: 10x180s
Bortle Scale: 4
Location: Isaszeg, Hungary
Acquisition date(s):
2021.04.06., 2021.04.07., 2021.04.08., 2021.04.16.
NGC 5128 or Caldwell 77.
Designation: galaxy.
Visual magnitude: +6.6
Diameter: 90,300 light years.
Distance: 12 million light years.
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With an apparent diameter of 26 arc-minutes, Centaurus A appears almost Moon size, although its outer fringes are not picked up in my image.
It is believed to be two galaxies in collision.
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Date: 2020-03-20
Exposure: 41 x 176s = 120 min.
Camera: ZWO ASI 071 MC Pro.
Telescope: Skywatcher Esprit 120mm refractor.
SkyWatcher 70mm SK707AZ2 + Filter Thousand Oaks + super 25mm + barlow 2X.
Edited with MS Picture Manager and Photofiltre.
It's possible the 2915, 2916 and 2918 spots this time.
Started something completely new for me here. Ha-OIII Bicolour Version of Elephants Trunk Nebula in IC 1396.
ASI 2600 MC Pro - Skywatcher 150/750 PDS - NEQ 5
Optolong L-Extreme
Asiair & Mgen
51 x 600s
De mon lit elle est aussi belle que par mon télescope finalement... 26.04.21 - Pleine Lune -> Lève les yeux au ciel, et tu verras la même chose que moi au même instant :p
#moon #space #future #generationspace #star #astronomy #cosmology #theory #observer #oneofmyhobby #sky-watcher #smile #sciences #life
#ƒrεεDÂmε®
√allys√aliƒε®
RεbεllEMotivantε ƒrom √εnus®
la rumeur de Paris®
MaturEllε®
Skywatcher Evostar Pro 80 ED (w/.85x reducer/corrector & QHYCCD Polemaster), Skywatcher EQM-35, Nikon D3300.
65 lights x 90 s @ ISO 800, ~45 dark, ~45 flat, ~100 bias, stacked in DSS and post-processed in Photoshop.
SkyWatcher 70mm SK707AZ2 + Filter Thousand Oaks + super 25mm + barlow 2X.
Edited with MS Picture Manager and Photofiltre.
It's possible to see the 3030, 3031, 3032, 3033, 3034, 3035, 3037 and 3038 spots this time.
M45 Pleiades
Canon 700d
Skywatcher 100ED
20x120s (40mins)
Processed in Pixinsight
Resolution ............... 0.797 arcsec/px
Rotation ................. -90.001 deg
Observation start time ... 2023-01-21 19:22:47 UTC
Observation end time ..... 2023-01-21 20:22:31 UTC
Focal distance ........... 556.13 mm
Pixel size ............... 2.15 um
Field of view ............ 2d 12' 3.1" x 1d 29' 23.4"
Image center ............. RA: 3 47 02.704 Dec: +24 08 27.31 ex: -0.109459 px ey: -0.000181 px
Equipment:
Scope: Lacerta 72/432 F6 0.85x reduktorral (367mm F5.1)
Mount: Skywatcher EQ-5 Pro Synscan Goto
Guiding: OAG
Guide camera: ZWO ASI120mm Mini
Main camera: ZWO ASI183MM-Pro cooled monochrome camera
Accessories:
ZWO ASIAIR Pro
ZWO EFW 8x1.25"
ZWO OAG
ZWO 1.25 Helical focuser
Lacerta Dew-heater 30cm
Programs:
PixInsight
Adobe Photoshop CC 2020
Details:
Camera temp: -15°C
Gain: 111
Astronomik 6nm Ha: 25x300s
Astronomik 6nm Oxygen: 16x300s
Dark: 60x
Flat: 20x
Dark_flats: 20x
Tycho Crater study, Waxing Gibbous Moon 93%
Best 30% of 1200 frames at 87fps
Processed in PIPP, AS2! And CS5
Skywatcher 120ED Esprit
4x Powermate
Grasshopper 3 (IMX174)
610nm Longpass filter
The Great Orion Nebula ..Messier 42, Messier 43, NGC 1976 in the Orion Constellation
Links:
Details:
The Great Orion Nebula ( Messier 42, NGC 1976 )
RA 5 36 15, DEC -5 26 31 ( 2016.9 )
Skywatcher Quattro 10" f4 Newtonian telescope
Skywatcher AZ Eq6 GT Mount
Orion Short Tube 80mm guide scope & auto guider - PHD2. Baader MPCC Mark 3 Coma Corrector & no filter
Nikon D5300 (unmodified)
Field of view (deg) < ~ 1.35 x 0.90
long exp noise reduction on
45 x 120 sec ISO 400
15 x 60 sec ISO 100
varioius short exposures 3 to 15 sec to extend dynamic range for bright stars
Pixinsight & Photoshop
28th November 2016
Equipment:
Scope: Lacerta 72/432 F6 0.85x reduktorral (367mm F5.1)
Mount: Skywatcher EQ-5 Pro Synscan Goto
Guiding: OAG
Guide camera: ZWO ASI120mm Mini
Main camera: ZWO ASI183MM-Pro cooled monochrome camera
Accessories:
ZWO ASIAIR Pro
ZWO EFW 8x1.25"
ZWO EAF
ZWO OAG
ZWO 1.25 Helical focuser
Lacerta Dew-heater 30cm
Programs:
PixInsight
Adobe Photoshop CC 2020
Details:
Camera temp: -15°C
Gain: 111
Astronomik 6nm Ha: 56x300s
Astronomik 6nm Oiii: 42x300s
Bortle Scale: 4
Location: Isaszeg, Hungary
Rosette Nebula and NGC2244 in narrowband.
20x300s S2,HA,O3
ZWO Asi2600mm
Skywatcher Esprit 100ed
Taken 03 Mar 22
Following on from my previous aircraft/moon image this follow-up shows the full sequence of the aircraft's transit across the face of the rising gibbous moon.
The Easyjet Airbus A320 had taken off from Belfast International Airport (BFS) 4 mins previously, enroute to London Gatwick (LGK)
I was in the fortunate position of actively doing lunar imaging when the aircraft passed through!
My camera was operating at 3 frames per second so I was able to capture the aircraft's ingress, transit and egress!
The first image has captured the aircraft's navigation lights and it is fascinating to see the eddies and disturbances created on the moon's image by the plane's hot exhaust gases.
Imaged with a Skywatcher Esprit 120ED Apo Refractor and a ZWO 2600MC camera and a lot of luck!!
As always many thanks for looking. Always appreciated!
NGC 1365 the great barred spiral galaxy 48 mins of data with QHY 183C Pro camera on a Skywatcher Quattro 250 P scope.
Following reports of this comet in outburst in the latter half of Dec 2015/early days of 2016, the first opportunity I had to get a look at home was 7 January 2016. A very clear but windy night with seeing approx 5/10.
Through my binoculars: Estimated mag. 8.5, coma diameter 4'.
Comet was passing very close to a mag 14.5 star at the time which threw me off quite a bit during processing.
Equipment used:
Skywatcher 120ED Esprit (polar aligned)
Celestron AVX
Field flattener
Unmodded Canon 700D
47 Light frames
27 Dark frames
27 Flat frames
160 Bias frames
18 mins integration time. (all at 25 secs, ISO 1600)
Stacked in DSS: Median Kappa Sigma once with comet, once with stars.
Final processing in CS5 using Hubl method.
It's taken me a while to get this done as I've had a recurring headache since I shot the frames!
SkyWatcher 70mm SK707AZ2 + Filter Thousand Oaks + super 25mm + barlow 2X.
Edited with MS Picture Manager and Photofiltre.
It's possible the 2991, 2993, 2994 and 2995 spots this time.
SkyWatcher 70mm SK707AZ2 + Filter Thousand Oaks + super 25mm + barlow 2X.
Edited with MS Picture Manager and Photofiltre.
It's possible the 2976, 2978, 2981, 2983 and 2985 spots this time.
Despite other DSOs for the narrow time frame i had this night (as usual: clouds, fog, wind) I decided to try NCC2024 again being experienced for one year now with my telescope setup.
Cam: Canon 50Da
Telescope: Skywatcher Esprit ED80
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5Pro
Guiding: 50/180 guiding scope with ToupTek cam and PHD2
30x180sec RGB @ISO1000
30x300sec Ha @ISO1600
fully calibrated, total exposure time 4 hours
stack in APP, edit in PS
shot under a bortle 5+ sky at 28% waxing moon
Skywatcher Evostar Pro 80 ED (w/.85x reducer/corrector & QHYCCD Polemaster), Skywatcher EQM-35, Nikon D3300.
120 lights x 90 s @ ISO 800, ~45 dark, ~45 flat, ~100 bias, stacked in DSS and post-processed in Photoshop.
NGC 6357 in Scorpius
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Exposure: 75 minutes
Field of View: 1.57 ° x 1.01°
Image date: 2021-06-12
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Magnitude: +10
Distance: 5,900 light years.
Apparent size: 50′ x 40′
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Telescope: SkyWatcher Esprit 120 mm
Imaging camera: ZWO ASI 071 MC Pro
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Composición de dos fotografías, una subexpuesta, y otra sobreexpuesta
Montura: skywatcher EQ6R
Tubo: SW ED80+Reductor 0.85x
Auto enfoque: RB Focus
Cámara principal:
Zwo ASI294MC Pro
Filtro: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2
Desde casa Alcobendas (Madrid)
Bortle 9
SkyWatcher 70mm SK707AZ2 + Filter Thousand Oaks + super 25mm + barlow 2X.
Edited with MS Picture Manager and Photofiltre.
It's possible the huge 2835 spots as it evolutioned from last week.
Skywatcher ED80 Pro (w/ QHYCCD Polemaster), Skywatcher EQM-35, Nikon D7500.
69 lights x 60s @ ISO 800, ~45 dark, ~45 flat, ~100 bias, stacked in DSS and post-processed in Photoshop.
SUN AR3321, AR3323
Skywatcher ED 80 f/7.5
QHY5 L-II mono
Baader solar Continuum filter
Baader astrosolar filter ND5
Barlow 5x
The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a (M51a) or NGC 5194, in the constellation Canes Venatici. 31 million light-years from Earth.
(50% crop)
Skywatcher Esprit 100ED
Canon 700d
Celestron CGEM
ISO800 35x120s (1hr 10mins)
Processed in PixInsight
NGC 7293 a.k.a. Helix Nebula
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Helix Nebula, also known as the Eye of God, is a planetary nebula that was discovered about 200 years ago by German astronomer Karl Harding and can be found at 650 light-years from Earth, in the constellation of Aquarius. Specialists believe that Helix appeared due to a star relatively similar to the Sun, a star that reached the last stage of its existence and began to release large amounts of energy and gas in the outer space. The calculated diameter of this nebula is almost 3 light years, and the expansion speed exceeds 20 miles / sec.
In the northern hemisphere ( 45 degrees ) Helix can be observed / imaged only during the summer, August being the best month for this, but because it does not rise much in the night sky, those passionate about astrophotography and / or visual observations must use locations with a good opening towards the south, and away from the light pollution of the big cities.
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Equipment and settings:
Mount: Skywatcher Eq6 R
Telescope: 150/750 Newtonian telescope
Camera: ASI 533MC Pro
Total integration: 60 min.
15 light frames x 4 min + calibration frames.
Stacking in Deep Sky Stacker.
Edit in Pixinsight and Lightroom.
April 24, 2022. Follow the spots across the disc for another day.
SkyWatcher Esprit 80mm, IR cut filter, Daystar Quark solar filter, QHY 174 camera. SharpCap acquisition program. Stacked the best 15% of 1000 frames of a .ser video file in AutoStakkert. then processed using IMPPG, NAFE, combined these in Photoshop. Topaz DeNoise, Lightroom for final sharpening and adjustments.
Red hydrogen emission and blue reflection nebulae, dark molecular clouds and a bright star sitting in the middle, flooding the scene its yellow light... Sounds like the Rho Ophichui region?
Sure. There is, however, another smaller, but similarly colorful area in the sky:
Meet the Cave Nebula!
Officially designated Sh2-155, the Cave Nebula in the constellation Cepheus, is a diffuse nebula of ionized hydrogen with ongoing star formation activity, at an estimated distance of 2400 light-years from Earth. It lies within a larger complex containing emission, reflection, and dark nebulosity.
The name "Cave Nebula" for Sh2-155 was coined by Patrick Moore, presumably derived from photographic images showing a curved arc of emission nebulosity corresponding to a cave mouth. Earlier, the name was already used to refer to another brighter but unrelated reflection nebula in Cepheus, known as Ced 201. The name's application to Sh2-155 has come into vogue through the nebula's inclusion in Moore's Caldwell catalogue as object Caldwell 9.
EXIF
ZWO ASI 1600MM Pro
Baader Ha, Oiii, RGB filters
William Optics Megrez 88, f/5.6
Skywatcher AZ-GTI controlled with ASIAir
ZWO ASI 385MC for autoguiding
PixInsight processing
Total integration time: 5h10min
After a long break from doing astrophotography, I decided to spend some time last night and use the new gear I recently got shooting a popular and relatively easy target, The Pleiades. It does appear the lens was slightly off on focus, but whatever. Most people will never pixel-peep it anyways. It all worked great, and it felt good to capture the heavens again.
Equipment:
SkyWatcher EQ6-R
Nikkor 500mm f/4 P AI-S at f/5.6
Sony a7RIII (unmodified)
ZWO 30mm Guide scope
GPCAM2 Mono Camera
Acquisition:
Taos, NM: my front yard - Bortle 3
68 x 121" for 2 hours, 17 min, and 8 sec exposure time.
10 dark frames
15 flats frames
15 bias frames
Guided
Software:
SharpCap
PHD2
DeepSkyStacker
Photoshop
Lightroom
I polar aligned my mount using SharpCap Pro. My Sony a7RIII and adapted Nikkor 500mm f/4 P AI-S were mounted on an ADM vixen rail and secured to the SkyWatcher EQ6-R mount. The guide scope/camera was attached to the camera's hot shoe. I used PHD2 to autogude during the imaging session. DeepSkyStacker was used to combine all frames, and then I processed the TIFF file in Photoshop. I stretched the 32-bit file and used Gradient XT on the image. I then made it a 16-bit file and stretched it in levels, then curves. I used the color sampler tool and levels to do my best to help keep colors accurate. I then used my skillset and relied on Astronomy Tools Action Set and Topaz Denoise and Sharpening to give the image a polished look. I brought it into Lightroom to do final color corrections and add EXIF data.
NGC 281 a.k.a. Pacman Nebula
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Discovered nearly 130 years ago by E.E. Barnard, an American astronomer, NGC 281 is an emission nebula that spans nearly 100 light-years and is located about 9,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia.
NGC 281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula for its resemblance to the video game character.
Although it is an emission nebula, the Pacman Nebula is bright enough to be seen with a medium-sized telescope, preferably from low-light locations.
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Equipment and settings:
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6R Pro
Telescope: Explore Scientific 102ED
Flattener/reducer: APM Riccardi 0.75x
Camera: ASI 533MM Pro
Filters: SHO Astrodon 5nm
Total integration: 18 hours ( Ha 57 x 5 min, Sii 70 x 5 min, Oiii 88 x 5 min)
Edit in Pixinsight.
Location: my Bortle 6+ backyard
Messier 104 a.k.a. Sombrero Galaxy
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Discovered 250 years ago, the Sombrero galaxy (The Hat) is an elliptical galaxy located just over 30 million light-years from us and can be seen between the constellation Virgo and the constellation Corvus. According to measurements made by specialists in the field, M104 has a diameter of about 40,000 light-years, being about 3 times smaller than our galaxy. The name of the Hat is given both by the angle from which we can see it, and due to that prominent ring of cosmic dust that surrounds this galaxy and which is also the main source of new star formation. Regarding the nucleus of this galaxy, with the help of special infrared measurements it was found that in the galactic center of M104 there is a massive black hole, larger than in any other galaxy located within a radius of 40 million light years around the Milky Way.
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Equipment and settings:
Mount: Skywatcher Eq6 R
Telescope: 150/750 Newtonian telescope
Camera: ASI 533MC Pro
Total integration: 4 hours.
120 light frames x 2 min + calibration frames.
Stacking in Deep Sky Stacker.
Edit in Pixinsight and Lightroom.
Flame and Horsehead Nebula , 9 x 180 sec and 14 x 90 sec exposures stacked in Sequator. Canon 60D on Skywatcher Quattro 250P F4 .
311 x 60 second ( 5.1 hours ) of shots of the Giant Tarantula Nebula , located in the southern constellation of Dorado.It is a star forming region located in the Large magellanic cloud roughly 180 thousand light years away from us.It is so large that if it was 1500 light years away like the great Orion Nebula it would take up half of the sky. Telescope used was Sky Watcher Quattro 250P and a QHY 183c Pro cooled camera.
M42 in Orion.
31 minutes exposure.
Skywatcher Esprit 120 telescope.
ZWO ASI 071 camera.
Taken in SW Sydney, 7th November 2019, prior to the arrival of mega-bushfires which precludes any astro-photography by me for the foreseeable future.
The virtually 50% illuminated moon in hazy skies due to high cloud, during the morning of the 21.10.19. A favourable libration is revealing a tantalising glimpse of the Mare Orientale on the western limb below left of dark crater Grimaldi.
Imaged with a Skywatcher Esprit 120mm refractor and a Nikon D5300
Equipment:
Scope: Lacerta 72/432 F6 0.85x reduktorral (367mm F5.1)
Mount: Skywatcher EQ-5 Pro Synscan Goto
Guiding: OAG
Guide camera: ZWO ASI120mm Mini
Main camera: ZWO ASI183MM-Pro cooled monochrome camera
Accessories:
ZWO ASIAIR Pro
ZWO EFW 8x1.25"
ZWO EAF
ZWO OAG
ZWO 1.25 Helical focuser
Lacerta Dew-heater 30cm
Programs:
PixInsight
Adobe Photoshop CC 2020
Details:
Camera temp: -15°C
Gain: 53
Astronomik L-3 UV-IR Block: 151x180s
Astronomik Deep-Sky R: 20x180s
Astronomik Deep-Sky G: 20x180s
Astronomik Deep-Sky B: 20x180s
Bortle Scale: 4
Location: Isaszeg, Hungary
Acquisition date(s):
2021.02.13., 2021.02.14., 2021.02.15., 2021.02.17.