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Photographed at Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, between 03.00 and 03.24 EDT

(285 km by road north of Toronto)

* Temperature 12° C.

* Total exposure time: 11 minutes

* 540 mm focal length telescope

___________________________________________

Description:

This faint and visually very elusive nebula can be photographed to advantage only in a good dark sky.

Known as the "California Nebula" because of its shape, this glowing cloud of red hydrogen gas is quite large; about five times as long as, and a little wider than, the Moon appears in our sky. The nebula is located 1,000 - 2,000 light years from our solar system, and is about 100 light years from end to end. Radiation from the nearby blue-white star Xi Persei (the brightest star in the frame, below the nebula) causes the nebula to fluoresce.

The California Nebula was discovered by famed American astronomer E.E. Barnard in 1884-5, just in time to be added to Dreyer's New General Catalog (NGC).

For a version of this photo WITH STAR LABELS, click on your screen to the RIGHT of the photo, or click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/28723113074

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Technical information:

Nikon D810a camera body on Teleview 101is apochromatic refracting telescope, mounted on Astrophysics 1100GTO equatorial mount with a Kirk Enterprises ball head

Eleven stacked frames; each frame:

540 mm focal length

ISO 4000; 1 minute exposure at f/5.4; unguided

(with LENR - long exposure noise reduction)

Subframes registered in RegiStar;

Stacked and processed in Photoshop CS6 (brightness, contrast, colour balance, levels)

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Photographed at Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

(285 km by road north of Toronto)

* Temperature 11 degrees C.

Total exposure time: 15 minutes.

* 540 mm focal length telescope

___________________________________________

Description:

This is a large and quite faint emission nebula and star forming region over 100 light-years across, located about 2,400 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus. It is energized by the bright, bluish central multiple star. The very small Elephant’s Trunk nebula (IC 1396A) is inside the dark elongated globule just to the right of centre.

From one web site: "The brightest star (38,000 times brighter than the Sun) ... [at the lower left edge of the nebula] is mu Cephei. It is a red supergiant star with a diameter larger than the orbit of Saturn, some 2536 times the diameter of the Sun. It is one of the largest stars we know of. Also called Herschel’s Garnet Star, mu Cephei is a variable star that varies in magnitude from 3.4 to 5.1 over a period of approximately 730 days."

For a view of this same nebula made with a 200 mm lens on July 1 of this year, click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/28078652915

For a version of this photo WITH LABELS, click on your screen to the RIGHT of the photo, or click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/31041148481

__________________________________________

Technical information:

Nikon D810a camera body on Teleview 101is apochromatic refracting telescope, mounted on Astrophysics 1100GTO equatorial mount with a Kirk Enterprises ball head

Fifteen stacked frames; each frame:

540 mm focal length

ISO 6400; 1 minute exposure at f/5.4; unguided

(with LENR - long exposure noise reduction)

Subframes registered in RegiStar;

Stacked and processed in Photoshop CS6 (brightness, contrast, colour balance, levels)

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Happy 4th July fireworks!

Captured in wisconsin

Gear:

ES80 apo + 0.8x focal reducer ( f/4.8 with an effective focal length of 384 mm)

iEQ45 pro, guided with PhD

30min integration (1min subframes)

Olympus E-M5, ISO 1000, auto dark subtraction filter on

Stacked in Nebulosity, tweaks in Lightroom

Fireball captured in one frame was overlain on the stacked image in Photoshop.

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Photographed at Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

(285 km by road north of Toronto)

between 23.10 and 23.13 EDT

* Altitude of comet's head at time of exposures: ~12°

* Temperature 17° C.

* Total exposure time: 1.25 minutes

* 105 mm focal length lens

___________________________________________

Description:

This comet has been touted as the brightest in a generation. The last comet that I can remember being this bright was Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997, which was undoubtedly the best comet that i will have seen in my lifetime.

This visitor to the inner solar system was discovered on March 20 this year by astronomers during the NEOWISE mission of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope (hence the name of the comet). It reached naked eye visibility this month, and I finally got into a dark sky - with no Moon in the sky to wash out the fainter outer reaches of the tail - on July 17.

In this view we see the bright head of the comet at the bottom near the horizon, with the broad yellowish dust tail fanning out to the right, and the fainter, narrow bluish plasma or ion tail bordering the dust tail to the left.

At the time of this photo, Comet Neowise was 78 million km (0.52 astronomical units ("AU") - the distance from Earth to the Sun) from the Sun, and 109 million km (0.73 AU) from Earth, and shone at a brightness of third magnitude, with a 10 degree tail.

___________________________________________

Technical information:

Nikkor AF-S 70-200 mm f/2.8 G ED VRII lens on Nikon D810a camera body, mounted on Astrophysics 1100GTO mount with a Kirk Enterprises ball head

Six stacked frames; each frame:

105mm focal length

ISO 3200; 30 sec. exposure at f/5.6; unguided

With long exposure noise reduction

Subframes stacked in RegiStar;

Processed in Photoshop CS6 (levels, brightness / contrast, colour balance, deblurring of tree horizon)

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Manufacturer: Alvis Car and Engineering Company Ltd, Coventry - UK

Type: TB 21 Roadster / 3 Liter Sports

Production time: mid-year 1950 - mid-year 1952

Production outlet: 31

Engine: 2993cc straight-6 OHV seven-bearing short-stroke engine (by ALVIS)

Power: 96 bhp / 4.000 rpm

Torque: 186 Nm / 1.800 rpm

Drivetrain: rear wheels

Speed: 143 km/h

Curb weight: 1280 kg

Wheelbase: 111.5 inch

Chassis: ladder frame with a bolted subframe and separate steel body (by AP Metalcraft, Coventry - UK)

Steering: Marles spindle & nut

Gearbox: four-speed manual / II, III and IV synchronized / floor shift

Clutch: Borg & Beck type 9 A6-G single dry plate disc

Carburettor: single horizontal 38 mm SU H4 (+ electric pump from petrol tank)

Fuel tank: 65 liter

Electric system: Lucas 12 Volts 63 Ah

Ignition system: distributor and coil

Brakes front: hydraulic 11 inch Lockheed drums (two-leading-shoe type)

Brakes rear: hydraulic 11 inch Lockheed drums (two-leading-shoe type)

Suspension front: independent trapezoidal triangle crossbars, silentbloc bushes, sway bar, coil springs + double acting Armstrong hydraulic piston dampers

Suspension rear: rigid axle, silentbloc bushes, longitudinal semi-elliptic leaf springs + double acting Armstrong hydraulic piston dampers

Rear axle: live semi-floating type

Differential: hypoid bevel final drive 3.77:1

Wheels: 15 inch steel discs

Tires: 6.00-15

Options: cloth cap, steel spoke wheels

Special:

- This 3 Liter Roadster (or Sports), based on the TA 14, was up against the Jaguar XK 120, released a year earlier the Sports Car market.

- It was not a success for Alvis (only 31 sold!!!), while Jaguar sold thousands XK 120’s (XK 120 Roadster: 7,612 units built, XK 120 Cabriolet: 1,765 units built and XK 120 Coupé: 2,678 units built).

- The Alvis TB 21 Roadster, assembled in Coventry, was too expensive at £1598 on the home market.

Sunset through the rock hole

FR : Musée du cheval

Chantilly (60)

Détail de l'essieu avant directionnel en bois laqué d'un "Brougham", voiture hippomobile produite en Angleterre par Barker & Co vers 1880.

EN; Horse museum

Chantilly

Detail of the lacquered wooden directional front axle of a "Brougham", horse-drawn carriage produced in England by Barker & Co around 1880.

Widefield shot of M31 - taken with waxing crescent in the night sky

Taken using a 55-250mm telephoto lens at 170mm f/7.1

Canon EOS 700D on a HEQ5 Pro mount

1 hr 30 mins of subframes, 3 mins each at ISO 800

Stacked and processed in DSS and GIMP.

NGC 4039, the antennae galaxy, LRGB 8.5 hours total, 16min subframes, telescope GSO 30cms f8 native (mild descollimation), camera STT8300 at -35°C, AO-8 unit; from La Colonia, Illapel, Chile. This is a tribute to my Master (RIP) Daniel Verschatse who won a prize with this same object years ago.

Venice, Italy

This a monochrome image that was captured in Ha narrowband only, with subframes of 10 minutes each. I had intended to capture OIII and SII as well, but the target was above my limited southern horizon for only about an hour. More to come if I can get some more limited "peeks" before its gone for this season, and certainly more to come if I go to WInter Star Party next year.

Equipment:

ZWO ASI6200MM-P/EFW 2" x 7 (Ha)

TeleVue NP101is (4" f/4.3)

Losmandy G11

Software:

Captured in NINA

Processed in PixInsight

Integration:

Ha 4 x 600s = 0:40

Manufacturer: Renault S.A., Boulogne-Billancourt (Paris) - France

Type: NN Torpédo 6CV

Production time: 1924 - 1928

Production outlet: ± 150,000

Engine: 951cc straight-4

Power: 15 bhp / 1.980 rpm

Drivetrain: rear wheels

Speed: 60 km/h

Curb weight: 810 kg

Wheelbase: 104.7 inch

Chassis: ladder frame with wodden subframe and separate body

Steering: screw and nut

Gearbox: three-speed manual + reverse / floor shift

Electric system: Bosch 12 Volts with starter/generator by Rhone, Paris

Ignition system: Bosch magneto

Brakes front: mechanical drum brakes

Brakes rear: mechanical drum brakes

Suspension front: semi-elliptic leaf springs

Suspension rear: transverse leaf springs

Rear axle: live

Differential: spiral bevel

Wheels: closed discs

Special:

- The model NN, aka Renault 6CV, was designed by Louis Renault and at first shown at the 1924 Mondial de l'Automobile in Paris.

- In the early '20s Renault released a series of new models, recognizable by their "cheese plate radiator” or "shovel-nosed" hood, with prominent "gills" on the sides of the bonnet/hood for cooling.

- The radiator was placed behind the engine, with the gas tank behind that (note the two caps on the hood).

- In 1927 it became the first car to make a solo trip across the Sahara Desert.

- The NN Series was assembled in Billancourt, France and available as this 2-door Roadster, as 2-door Coupé Limousine, as 4-door Torpédo, as 4-door Landaulet-Taxi, as 4-door Limousine and as rolling chassis for coachbuilders.

- In 1928 the larger and heavier NN2 was introduced (1928-1929), recognizable by the bumpers.

1 stack of 58 60s images, Canon 800D at ISO 800, Canon 400mm f5.6 lens at f6.3, iOptron Skyguider Pro tracker. 120 darks, 120 biases. Processed in PixInsight as below

* CC defect list + master dark (sigma = 8)

* Subframe selection

30*(1-(FWHM-FWHMMin)/(FWHMMax-FWHMMin))

+ 30*(1-(Eccentricity-EccentricityMin)/(EccentricityMax-EccentricityMin))

+ 20*(SNRWeight-SNRWeightMin)/(SNRWeightMax-SNRWeightMin)

+ 20

Eccentricity < 0.7 && SNRWeight > 1 && FWHM < 5. Keep frames 7173 and 7177 even though they failed the rejection conditions, for meteors

* star alignment:

img 8411 ref, frame adaptation (let's see if this works)

* ESD integration, range exclude

* drizzle integration, gaussian kernel\

*****Linear processing

*** Initial

* Crop

* DBE tolerance 3

*** CC

* PCC on Pleiades, default settings pixel size 2, background neutralization upper limit 0.0012

*** Decon

* star mask creation: extract luminance get starmask with starnet, then range mask 0.1-1 (1). from stretched luminance range mask 0.55-1 (2). Pixel math max the 2 as binary_star_mask. 4x dilate, 6x convolve

* PSF - ezdecon script

* background mask -ezdecon script and curves

* with background mask on, inverted, apply decon 100 iterations on luminance, deringing global dark 0.01 light 0.002 and local deringing with binary star mask, wavelet regularization

*** Denoise

Using jonrista.com/the-astrophotographers-guide/pixinsights/eff... as implemented by EZSuite.

* EZDenoise, TGV 1500 edge 1e-5, default MMT

***** Nonlinear

*** Initial stretch

* Masked stretch, default settings

* using a contrasty luminance as mask, curves stretch

*** Stretched color mods

* with binary_star_mask protecting stars, ACDNR on chrominance, lightness mask, stdev 4 iterations 6

* CC background ref upper limit 0.125

* invert, SNCR green 1, invert again (to fix magenta hues in whites)

* SNCR green 0.8

*** Star mods

* extract star mask with starnet, blur 3 layers of a trous, curve boost

* with it on, curve saturation upwards. Clone stamp out big stars - small_star_mask

* using that as a start, EZStarReduce using morphological transformation

* with small_star_mask on, unsharp mask 0.9, w/ deringing

***MLT stretch

www.stelleelettroniche.it/en/2014/09/astrophoto/m42-ngc19...

**Initial (fine details)

* created a new multiscale linear transform, kept 5 layers

* diffed from original image to create a "blurred" version of original image

* extracted luminance from original, s-shaped RGB curve used as mask on blurred version

* used curves to create s shape in RGB (asymmetrical, like a camera curve) and pump up saturation a lot

* pixelmath sum the 3, rescaled, back to original image

**Second (nebula)

* created a new multiscale linear transform, kept 7 layers, and diff from original

* extract luminance from diff, s-shaped RGB curve. Use as mask on blurred version

* slight boosts in sat and RGB

* pixelmath sum the 3, rescaled, back to original image

*** Finishers

* EzDenoise, TGV 1500 edge 8e-3, default MMT

* LHE kernel 512 contrast 1.5,slight boost in sat, 50-50 mix with original

* LHE kernel 256 contrast 1.5, 20-80 mix with original

* dark structure enhance

* MMT sharpen, 6 layers biases 0.05 0.05 0.025, 0.025, 0.012, 0.005 with luminosity mask s-curved for more contrast

This image of NGC1499 was generated from the monthly image data given to iTelescope subscribers. The data was captured on their T80 telescope at E-Eye Fregenal de la Sierra on 27/10/2023.Because so few files had already been calibrated, the master files were created in AstroPixelProcessor before being processed in Pixinsight. The image is made up from 6 x LRGB 180s subframes giving a total integration time of 1.2 hours.

Our closest neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy.

Another shot made with the new telescope OS Veloce RH200.

Also this image is a quite short expusure of the subject in a 4.5° field of view.

LLRGB made with all 10min subframes time are 30:30:30:30. A car passed during the exposure so a subtle reflection in form of an arch is visible on the image... What a pity.

Thanks for watching!

Mu Cephei, officially named the Garnet Star, is a red supergiant star in the constellation Cepheus. It appears garnet red and is located at the edge of the IC 1396 (Elephant's trunk) nebula. Mu Cephei is more than 100,000 times brighter than the Sun. It is also one of the largest known stars with a radius around or over 1,000 times that of the sun, and were it placed in the Sun's position it would engulf the orbit of Mars and Jupiter. (Wikipedia)

NB: Superman would have no powers there.

Seestar S50

832 ten second subframes

Full version: theastroenthusiast.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/rosette...

Starless version: theastroenthusiast.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/starles...

I highly recommend opening the full version to take a closer look at some of the finer details revealed by the large integration time. A starless copy is also provided to show off fainter detail.

This incredibly detailed image of the Rosette nebula was created from more than 110 hours of exposure across three continents — Europe, USA, and Oceania. We combined 1064 subframes and 6791 minutes of exposure to reveal faint details previously masked by lower amounts of data. The high exposure time also allowed us to sharpen fine features, giving the image more contrast and revealing more fine structures.

On the top of the image lies a wispy structure of bok globules and dust, framed by the glowing ionized gas behind it. The center of the image displays the faint particle streams created by sulfur and oxygen gas blown away from the bright cluster of stars. Just below the center of the rosette nebula lies a beautiful mountain-like structure created by sulfur and hydrogen gas. Through the center of the image, faint wisps of glowing sulfer gas are visible above the dominant oxygen gas.

Credits:

Image Acquisition: Jens Unger (www.instagram.com/jazz.astro/), Rob Olson (www.instagram.com/the.robservatory/), Dominic Annis (www.instagram.com/domnuch/), Justin P. (www.instagram.com/justadudewitha_camera_/), Amrit Prasad (www.instagram.com/amrit.insta/), Tommy Lease (www.instagram.com/colorado_astro/), Jay Aigner (www.instagram.com/aignerastro/)

Image Processing: William Ostling (theastroenthusiast.com/), Justin P. (www.instagram.com/justadudewitha_camera_/)

We would love to have you in our astrophotography group! The link to join is in our Instagram bio: www.instagram.com/friendly.cosmos/

The Tyne ferry "Pride of the Tyne" viewed within the mechanism which raises and lowers the landing with the tides.

It's not the best time here for astrophotography, the nights are short the summer solstice approaches.

But I managed to have 3 hours of data on the Western Veil

The Western Veil (also known as NGC 6960) is a part of the Cygnus Loop a large a supernova remnant whose explosion dates back 10.000 years.

The Western Veil is a nebula made of ionized gas and dust located about 1,400 light years from Earth

-Equipment-

Scope: TS-Optics 94/414 EPDH (414mm focal)

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -5°C

Guiding: ZWO OAG

Guiding camera: ZWO ASI 120MM

Mount: Skywatcher EQ5

Filter: Optrolong L-eXtreme

-Acquisition-

Light : 36x300s ( 3h ) at Gain:101 Offset:49

Dark,Flat,Offset

Date : Take on 3 night 06/13-15/2021

Location : France-Alsace Bortle 4/5

-Software-

Carte du Ciel, N.I.N.A, Phd2 , PoleMaster and PixInsight

All Processing in Pixinsight

Use EZ_Processing Suite(by darkarchon) in Pixinsight

-Pre Processing-

Image Calibration

Cosmetic Correction

Debayer

Subframe Selector

Star Alignement

Local Normalization

Drizzle x2

Crop the black bands from the stacking

-Processing-

Linear Fit

Channel Combination

DBE

EZ_Deconvolution

Background Neutralization

Photometric Color Calibration

SCNR (green 50%)

EZ_Denoise

EZ_Soft Strech

EZ_HDR

Curves Transformation with mask on nebula for Saturation, Hue and K channel

EZ_Star Reduction

Clear skies !

Seestar S50 670 thirty second subframes

Full write up here: theastroenthusiast.com/a-luminous-m101-with-outer-spiral-...

Big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101 is one of the last entries in Charles Messier’s famous catalog, but definitely not one of the least. About 170,000 light-years across, this galaxy is enormous, almost twice the size of our own Milky Way galaxy. M101 was also one of the original spiral nebulae observed by Lord Rosse’s large 19th century telescope, the Leviathan of Parsontown. M101 shares this modern telescopic field of view with more distant background galaxies, foreground stars within the Milky Way, and a companion dwarf galaxy NGC 5474 (upper left). The colors of the Milky Way stars can also be found in the starlight from the large island universe. Its core is dominated by light from cool yellowish stars. Along its grand design spiral arms are the blue colors of hotter, young stars mixed with obscuring dust lanes and pinkish star forming regions. Also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, M101 lies within the boundaries of the northern constellation Ursa Major, about 23 million light-years away. Its companion NGC 5474 has likely been distorted by its past gravitational interactions with the dominant M101.

I chose to dump a lot of integration time with longer subframes (28 hours worth of 3 minute frames) to try to reveal some of the fainter outer arms not shown in most astrographs. I think I succeeded quite well – you can see the three fainter arms take shape on the left side of the galaxy. Compared to my last image of M101, this is quite the improvement!

You can view all the background galaxies in this image: flic.kr/p/2n8WdGu

Website: theastroenthusiast.com/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_astronomy_enthusiast/

Margate, 2021.

Seestar S50

Polar alignment. 180 thirty-second subframes

lavender attached to subframing root on a house wall

Manufacturer: Auto Union AG, Auto Union AG, Chemnitz - Germany

Type: F4 Series Lastwagen

Engine: 692cc straight-2 two-stroke water-cooled

Power: 20 bhp / 4.000 rpm

Speed: 85 km/h

Production time: 1934 - 1936

Production outlet: unkown

Curb weight: 800 kg

Special:

- Auto Union was the result of a merger between four companies in 1932: Wanderer, DKW, AUDI and Horch.

- The emblem represents this amalgamation with its four rings, one representing each company.

- The shares were sold in 1964 to Volkswagen and from that time on they were called Auto Union (without DKW).

- In 1969, NSU became part of the union and became known as AUDI NSU. In 1985, it offically became known as AUDI.

- From 1931 until Juli 1963 they were build at Audi works in Zwickau, Germany.

- This DampfKraftWagen (DKW) "Lastwagen" / lorry was based on the F4 Series (1934-1935), having front wheel drive.

- It has a three-speed manual gearbox (with a lockable freewheel device), a "Krückstockschalthebel" / "umbrella stick" coming out of the dashboard, a 6-Volts electric system, a 32 liter fuel tank and front wheel drive.

- Its self-supporting body was supported by a U-profile plywood subframe, has rear hinged "suicide" doors for easier access and egress, independent suspension and drum brakes all around.

I believe this is the first time I've taken a photo of this nebula.

Seestar S50 180 thirty second subframes. Polar alignment.

1978 Austin Morris Mini 1000.

Last taxed in October 2010 and last MoT test expired in April 2011. H&H classic car auction, Buxton -

"Chassis Number: XL251N-562760A

Engine Number: 328991

Finished in red with grey / black cloth upholstery, this particular example is described by the vendor as being in "good" condition with regard to its 998cc engine, four-speed manual gearbox, electrical equipment, interior trim, bodywork and paintwork. Stated to have covered "a genuine 24,000 miles from new" in the hands of "just two owners" and to have been with its first keeper for twenty-four years, 'YWE 680T' is further understood to have benefited from "a small of restoration work including a new rear subframe". While recent fettling has reportedly seen the Mini treated to "a new battery, clutch slave cylinder, rear shock absorbers and front brake shoes / cylinders". Riding on correct-type steel wheels, this low mileage Mini is offered for sale with "owner's handbook, price list when new, spare keys (with original dealer fob), MOT certificate valid until April 2011 and road tax valid until September 2010"."

Sold for £1760.

Wednesday night race

M42 The Orion Nebula imaged in HaOiiiOiii. The Ha image is mapped to red and consists of 6 hours of 60 second subframes. The Oii image is mapped to green and blue and consists of 4 hours worth of 60 second subframes.

Ha data was captured during December 2019 and January 2020.

Ts65 Quad Astrograph & ASI1600MM Pro camera

It was mostly cloudy this weekend so I didn't get much of a chance to add to the Orion images, I went out and tried shooting at a place I thought would make a good winter shooting location based on light pollution maps (easy access, supposedly bortle 3), turned out not so great, guess I'll have to keep searching. I also changed up my setup a little bit, opened up the legs on my tripod and hung a 20 pound dumbbell under it for better stability, now it's rock solid. I tried shooting 5 minute exposures with my D7000 and Samyang 135mm lens, it seems like I can get to 5 minutes fairly consistently with not too many subs that have to be thrown out (keeper rate of about 75% I'd guess), but once I go above 5 minute exposures the keeper rate drops down to probably 30%. The periodic error (?) of the mount is 10 minutes from what I've read so I guess once you get up to that length of exposure you are running into mount limitations. I'm thinking of buying a guidescope and camera and trying out some guiding with the mount to see if I can improve the keeper rate, I'd really love to take some super long exposures (like 10 minutes) to really bring out the dust around this area as well.

So I ended up only getting another 6 subs out of all the ones I shot thanks to clouds and tracking error, I decided to go back and re-calibrate, register, and stack in PixInsight this time using the subframe selector script to weight the subs prior to registering/stacking. I also tried not going to wild on the post processing and just focusing on bringing out the dust without destroying the image with noise.

The spread wings of the Crested Caracara provide a subframe for the second Caracara at the top of a cell tower they have frequented over the past week or so. Before they move on, I will take as many pictures as possible. By the way, I’m not really sure if this counts as “subframing.”

Manufacturer: Pontiac Motors Division, Kansas City, Kansas - USA / General Motors Company, Detroit, Michigan - U.S.A.

Type: Firebird Trans Am Turbo 4.9

Engine: 4940cc V-8 302 Turbo 90°

Power: 203 bhp / 4.000 rpm

Speed: 190 km/h

Production time: 1980 - 1981

Production outlet: 178,229 (all Firebirds 1980-1981)

Curb weight: 1706 kg

Special:

- This car of the second generation (1970-1981) has a three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic automatic gearbox, a Rochester M4MC 4-barrel carburettor, a Garrett TB305 turbocharger, a 12-Volts electric system, a 79 liter fuel tank and rear wheel drive.

- The separate partial F-body frame chassis with self-supporting body with front subframe has a 108.2 inch wheelbase, a bulge in the hood (to create more space for the turbo), recirculating ball VPAS steering, a special bird decal on the hood, turbo graphics on the hood and deck lid spoiler, front trapezoidal wishbones, independent coil spring front suspension with sway bar, longitudinal semi-elliptic rear suspension with anti roll bar, telescopic shock absorbers all round, special disc wheels, tire size P225/70 R 15, ventilated hydraulic servo disc brakes at the front and powered hydraulic drum brakes at the rear.

- A “Yellow Bird” package, an electronic-tuned stereo radio with a four-speaker system, a new dark blue interior color, and new seating which came in five colors were optional.

- The second generation Firebirds were assembled at plants in Van Nuys (California) and Norwood (Ohio). Norwood used lacquer based paint while Van Nuys used water based paint , due to California's tightening pollution regulations. The water based paint often failed and delaminated during the warranty period and subsequently, cars had to be repainted.

This is part of my ongoing experiment to adapt one of my mono lunar/planetary cameras, a cooled ZWO ASI174MM, for deep sky work through my 300mm f/10 SCT. This is only a slightly trimmed LRGB image so M27 only just fits vertically in this close-up view. All luminance subframes were just 20 seconds each.

Practice experiments on two previous nights in the last week were ruined by a combination of poor skies with high cloud and some technical issues working out the right settings. I'm sure I can later improve on this image once I work out the optimum camera settings for the scope and add more data. The most important aspect was to gather appropriate dark and flat frames to ensure amp noise was removed.

The other parallel experiment was to abandon autoguiding and rely on the accuracy of my EQ8 mount.

Peter

L = 97x20 seconds

R = 13x30 seconds

G = 14 x30 seconds

B = 15x30 seconds

Peter

Manufacturer: Wilhelm Karmann GmbH, Osnabrück - Germany / Volkswagen AG (VAG), Wolfsburg - Germany

Type: Typ 34 1500S Karmann Ghia Coupé

Production time: 1962 - 1965

Production outlet: 29,502

Production outlet: 42,505 (September 1961 - July 1969: 1500, 1500S and 1600 models)

Engine: 1493cc (HO4 OHV) four-cylinder boxer forced air-cooled

Power: 54 bhp / 4.200 rpm

Torque: 106 Nm / 2.400 rpm

Drivetrain: rear wheels

Speed: 145 km/h

Curb weight: 866 kg

Wheelbase: 94.5 inch

Chassis: central tubular frame with continuous deck, rear forked subframe and monocoque all-steel body

Steering: worm & roller with hydraulic damper

Gearbox: four-speed manual / all synchronized / floor shifter

Clutch: single dry plate disc

Carburettor: twin Solex 32 PDSIT downdraft

Fuel tank: 40 liter

Electric system: Bosch 6 Volts 77 Ah

Ignition system: distributor and coil

Brakes front: ATE hydraulic Duplex drums

Brakes rear: ATE hydraulic drums

Suspension front: independent lengthwise crank trailing arms, anti-roll bar connected to upper trailing links, crossed transverse round torsion spring rods, progressively acting rubber springs + hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers

Suspension rear: pendulum axle, double jointed CV joint trailing arms, transversely rotating torsion bars, progressively acting rubber springs + hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers

Rear axle: live swing type

Differential: spiral bevel 4.125:1

Wheels: 4½J x 15 safety rim wheels

Tires: 6.00S x 15L Bias 6-Ply tubeless

Options: Fichtel & Sachs Saxomat semi-automatic four speed transmission (an electromagnetic clutch with a centrifugal clutch used for idle), three-speed automatic transmission, Air Conditioning (USA), radio, electrically operated sliding steel sunroof

Special:

- The body, based on Typ 3 platform (VW 1500/1600) and for that called „große Karmann-Ghia“ / „big Karmann-Ghia“ in Germany, was restyled by Sergio Sartorelli from Carrozzeria Ghia SpA, Turin - Italy, but built by Karmann in Osnabrück - Germany.

- The Typ 34 was the flagship model of the entire Volkswagen line. It was the most expensive Volkswagen available (handcrafted body), the fastest, and the most luxurious (built-in fog lights, cigar lighter, electric clock, locking steering column, front & rear vent windows, variable wiper controls and luxurious interior).

- Initially, this would replace the original Type 14 Karmann Ghia, but later it was decided to assemble both types at the same time.

- Sales went bad because Type 34, nicknamed “Razor-Edge Ghia” in the UK, was almost as expensive as a Porsche 356 and it was not offered officially in the USA. But nowadays the USA has the largest number of known Typ 34’s Karmann Ghia’s left in the world (400 of the total 1,500 (officially registered) to 2,000 or so remaining.

- Currently, less than 1500 are worldwide registered at the “VW Type 34 Karmann Ghia Registry”, San Diego, California - USA.

- Production figures from Convertibles differences, but it is very likely that 12 vehicles (prototypes and zero-series) were built at Karmann in Osnabrück. Some sources mention 17 prototype units.

- Lorenz Karosserie GmbH, Wetter an der Ruhr, Northrhein Westfalen - Germany converted Coupé’s into Convertibles on customer request. There should have been about 20 Lorenz Convertibles.

A tendril of passionfruit that escaped the frame

Subframed by the Waterlily leaves.

“Water Lilies' is an extension of my life. Without the water the lilies cannot live, as I am without art.”

― Claude Monet

IMG_4751.jpgt.jpgp.jpgy

The Pelican Nebula (also known as IC 5070) is an emitting nebula located about 2000 years from the earth.

It is very extensive in the sky, about 2.5 times the diameter of the Moon.

-Equipment-

Scope: TS-Optics 94/414 EPDH

(414mm focal)

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -15°C

Guiding: ZWO OAG

Guiding camera: ZWO ASI 120MM

Mount: Skywatcher EQ5

Filter: Optrolong L-eXtreme

-Acquisition-

Light : 95x300s ( 8h ) at Gain:101 Offset:49

Dark-100x300s Flat-30 Bias-100

Date : Take on 5 night 05/24+30+31/2021 06/01+02/2021

Location : France-Alsace Bortle 4/5

-Software-

Carte du Ciel, N.I.N.A, Phd2 , PoleMaster and PixInsight

-Pre Processing in PixInsight-

Image Calibration

Cosmetic Correction

Debayer

Subframe Selector

Star Alignement

Local Normalization

Drizzle x2

Crop the black bands from the stacking

-Processing-

_L Layer_

DBE

EZ_Deconvolution

EZ_Denoise

EZ_Soft Stretch

Unsharp Mask

_RGB Layer_

Linear Fit

Channel Combination

DBE

Background Neutralization

Photometric Color Calibration

SCNR (green 50%)

EZ_Soft Strech

_LRGB_

LRGB Combination

Curve Tranformation

Color Saturation

Clear skies !

Starless verison

Original image : flic.kr/p/2mDTTGu

-Equipment-

Scope: TS-Optics 94/414 EPDH (414mm focal)

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -5°C

Guiding: ZWO OAG

Guiding camera: ZWO ASI 120MM

Mount: Skywatcher NEQ5

Filter: Astronomik L

-Acquisition-

Light :Panel-1 60x300s

Panel-2 60x300s

Panel-3 52x300s

Panel-4 60x300s

Dark-100x300s Flat-50 Bias-100

Date : Take on 2 night 05 September2021

and 10 October 2021

Location : France-Alsace Bortle 4/5

-Software-

Carte du Ciel, N.I.N.A, Phd2 , PoleMaster and PixInsight

Ez Processing Suite from darkarcon

darkarcon website : darkarchon.internet-box.ch:8443/

-Pre Processing each panels in PixInsight-

Image Calibration

Cosmetic Correction

Debayer

Subframe Selector

Star Alignement

Local Normalization

Drizzle x2

Dynamic crop

-Build the 4 panel mozaic

It's my first 4 panel mosaic so I follow this tutorial from Amy Astro www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0f8Tl_kC0A

-Processing

DBE master Light

Split L,R,G,B layer from Master light

__L__

Ez_Deconvolution

Ez_Denoise

Ez_Soft Streatch

Ez_HDR

UnsharpedMask with mask

__RGB__

Linear Fit

BackgroundNeutralization

PhotometricColorCalibration

Ez_Soft Streatch

Starnet++

CuvesTransformation with mask

A lot of curves...

Bring back stars with PixelMath

__LRGB__

LRGBCombination

Final CurvesTransformation

Ez_Star Reduction

DarkStructureEnhance script

Starnet++ for remove stars

Save as jpg

Clear Skies !

Dwarf III

Equatorial mode | 285 30-second subframes | 30 gain