2024 The Year In Pictures

January 1, 2025 by grahamrob in Broadband, Dark Nebula, Deep Sky Objects, Galaxy, General Astronomy, Globular Cluster, Imaging, Narrowband, Nebula, Planetary Nebula, Processing, Solar system and tagged astronomy, Astrophotography, DSO Imaging, Galaxies, nasa, Nebulae, Photography, space, stars | Leave a comment

Long periods of bad weather made 2024 one of the most difficult years for my astrophotography but, I am pleased to say that this, the 11^th calendar is another belter! Purchased in 2014, I continue to use a William Optics GT81 telescope for most images taken from home, but this means that I’m running out of suitable targets for this equipment. Part of the answer has been to upgrade related equipment and improve my processing, which I hope you will see reflected in this year’s images. Moreover, I have used new skills and techniques to process the better-quality data in new ways – I hope you like the results?

Below is a brief summary of the calendar images used this year but for other pictures and more detailed information, please refer elsewhere to this website, my Flickr page or Astrobin page. In addtion, a video of the calendar can be viewed HERE on YouTube, which is best accessed on a PC or smart TV screen. The background music this year is from Jean-Michel Jarre’s Oxygène album.

COVER	ASTRO IMAGING MONTAGE: This colourful splash is a random selection of images, mostly taken from Redhill over the past +10-years of my astrophotography.
JANUARY	SEAGULL NEBULA, IC 2177: Located 3,650 light-years from Earth is the emission and reflection nebula complex of the so-called Seagull Nebula, some 200 light-years in size. It’s been 8-years since imaging this object and for good reason. From my location, the bird flies very low on the southern horizon and thus spends much of its time behind houses, trees, and tall hedges!
FEBRUARY	TAURUS MOLECULAR CLOUD: Located northeast of the Pleiades, below (south) the California Nebula (see November), spanning more than 30^o of the night sky is the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC), a rich area of dark nebulae punctuated by bright areas of new star formation. The TMC is thought to be the nearest star forming region to Earth which, if you look carefully, includes numerous complex dark and reflection nebulae and the odd galaxy.
MARCH	*HIND’S VARIABLE NEBULA & HYADES, NGC 1555:** Discovered by the English astronomer John Russell Hind in 1852 this nebula is situated 400 light-years away in the constellation of Taurus, between the stars of Aldebaran and the Pleiades. The nebula is a Herbig-Haro object – a bright patch of nebulosity in which new stars are forming – which often change in apparent size and brightness.
APRIL	LEO GALAXY CLUSTER: With few exceptions, galaxies are located very far from Earth, making them very small from our perspective and a challenge for my equipment. However, here I imaged the spectacular Leo Galaxy Cluster, a mere 330 million light-years from Earth. Containing at least 70 major galaxies, the Leo Cluster unusually consists mostly of spiral galaxies. The bright elliptical galaxy near the centre of the image, has one of the largest known black holes in the universe, which is about 10 billion times more massive than our sun!
MAY	IRIS NEBULA, NGC 7023*: While the focus of the image is the alluring bright blue reflection nebula, careful processing reveals that this celestial flower is enveloped within a vast region of interstellar dust.
JUNE	SOMBRERO GALAXY, MESSIER 104: Seen from Redhill, the Sombrero galaxy is even lower in the summer sky than the aforesaid Seagull, transiting between the trees and along the top of our +15-foot hedge! An unbarred galaxy, its bright bulbous centre is encircled by dark dust lanes, which viewed side-on from Earth creates the appearance of a sombrero hat or perhaps a flying saucer?
JULY	PuWe-1*: Is a very faint planetary nebula in the Lynx constellation, discovered in 1980 by Purgathofer & Weinberger. It is one of the largest planetary nebulae visible, with a diameter like the full moon and at 1,200 light-years, is one of the closest to Earth. A planetary nebula is a region of cosmic gas and dust formed from the cast-off outer layers of a dying star; despite the name, planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets.
AUGUST	NORTH AMERICA & PELICAN NEBULAE: It’s at this time of the year (August) I usually turn my attention to the Cygnus constellation and the plethora of imaging opportunities it provides, which inevitably tend to be narrowband targets. Interstellar dust illuminated by large bright areas of star formation are responsible for the formation of both these popular objects.
SEPTEMBER	FORSAKEN NEBULA, IC 5068: This complex area is known for the graphically shaped streaks of cold, dark dust clouds that criss-cross the dense, brightly coloured gas regions of nebulosity. Situated within the adjacent Cygnus molecular cloud just below the Pelican Nebula and close to other more famous objects, this low emission nebula is unfortunately known as the Forsaken Nebula!
OCTOBER		*THE CHINESE CHARACTER, LDN 673:** It might seem paradoxical but often it is the absence of light that makes an image interesting. About 600 million light-years from Earth, within the Aquila constellation, is Lynd’s Dark Nebula (LDN) 673. Some 7-light years in size, this fragmented dark molecular cloud complex contrasts against the colourful molecular clouds and stars of the Milky Way, which is reminiscent of a Chinese character.
NOVEMBER		CALIFORNIA NEBULA, NGC 1499: Located in the Perseus constellation, in the Orion arm of the Milky Way 1,000 light-years from Earth, NGC 1499 is a large emission nebula about 100 light-years long. First imaged in 2016, new improved data and processing now discloses the full grandeur of this object.
DECEMBER		ROSETTE NEBULA, NGC 2244: Approximately 5,000 light-years away, the vast cloud of gas and dust had been sculpted into the distinctive rose-like shape, while meanwhile a central star cluster has blown-away a large hollow within the molecular cloud. Revisiting this old favourite for the fourth time since 2015, here I have experimented with an unusual colour palette combination that has produced an exciting alternative image of the night sky’s rose.
*Footnote:* All images taken from Redhill, Surrey or at a dark sky site in New Mexico, USA shown by an asterisk*
*HAPPY NEW YEAR + CLEAR SKIES FOR 202*5

Heavenly Art

October 20, 2024 by grahamrob in AstroBin, Dark Nebula, Deep Sky Objects, Imaging, Narrowband, Nebula, Processing and tagged astronomy, Astrophotography, Cygnus, DSO Imaging, nasa, Nebula, Nebulae, space | Leave a comment

It’s at this time of the year I turn my attention to Cygnus and the plethora of imaging opportunities it provides, which inevitably tend to be narrowband targets. This year it is IC 5068, a low emission nebula often overlooked because of its location near the more popular North American and Pelican nebulae, as well as many other fabulous targets within the adjacent Cygnus molecular cloud, and as a result is unfortunately known as the Forsaken Nebula!

Located just below the Pelican Nebula and close to the blue supergiant Deneb star (see above), this complex area is known for the graphically shaped streaks of cold, dark dust clouds that criss-cross the dense, brightly coloured gas regions of nebulosity.

As a narrowband target my initial choice of image processing was the traditional Hubble Palette SHO configuration, which as envisaged, resulted in an exciting and colourful rendition of the busy IC 5068 (see image below). Notwithstanding, having recently discovered some other, fairly new Pixinsight processing techniques (NB Color Mapper & NB Image Blend), I decided to give them a try to produce an alternative blended HOO–S image. Though still very much recognisable as IC 5068, the resulting (warm) colours and details reveal a very different and perhaps more dynamic image (see image at the top of the page).

Narrowband images leave much to the imagination when processing and often take on a stirring look when completed. In the case of IC 5068, each of the images produced seem to have the feel of abstract art, whilst at the same time posing many questions regarding the origin of many unusual features. I believe this exciting region deserves much greater attention and should belong in the pantheon of popular Cygnus objects such as the North American, Pelican & Veil nebulae. Moreover, the so-called Foresaken Nebula warrants a name more befitting of its exciting beauty.

IMAGING DETAILS
Object	IC5068
Constellation	Cygnus
Distance	1,600 light-years
Apparent Magnitude	Various

Scope	William Optics GT81 + Focal Reducer FL 382mm f4.72
Mount	ZWO AM5 + ASIair plus
Guiding	William Optics 50mm guide scope
	ZWO120MM mini
Camera	ZWO ASI294MM CMOS sensor
	FOV 2.87^o x 1.96^o Resolution 2.50”/pix Max. image size 4,144 x 2,822 pix
EFW	ZWOx8 EFW & 31mm Chroma Ha, OIII, SII filters
Capture & Processing	ASIair plus, Deep Sky Stacker & PixInsight v1.8.9-3
Image Location & Orientation	Centre = RA 20:51:16.50 DEC +42::30 : 05.30 Top = North
Exposures	Ha x56 + OIII x46 + SII x44 x 300 sec Total Integration Time: 12hr 10 min
	@ Gain 120 @ -20^oC
Calibration	5 x 300 sec Darks 10 x NB Flats & Dark Flats @ ADU 32,000
Location & Darkness	Fairvale Observatory – Redhill – Surrey – UK Typically Bortle 5-6
Date & Time	14^th 18^th 19^th September + 3^rd & 10^th October 2024 +20.15h
Weather	Approx. <10^oC RH >=60% 🌙 50% Waxing

Dark Eagle

July 8, 2024 by grahamrob in Broadband, Dark Nebula, Equipment, Imaging and tagged Aquila, astronomy, Astrophotography, DSO Imaging, Milky Way, Nebula, Nebulae | Leave a comment

It might seem paradoxical but sometimes it is the absence of light that makes an astrophotography image interesting. Such a feature is the so-called Aquila Rift, a vast, dark interstellar cloud that spans the constellations of Aquila (Eagle), Serpens Cauda and eastern Ophiuchus. Towards the central section of the rift, about 600 million light-years from Earth, within the Aquila constellation and not far from the Summer Triangle’s Altair star, is Lynd’s Dark Nebula (LDN) 673.

Some 7-light years in size, this fragmented dark molecular cloud complex contrasts well against the colourful molecular clouds and stars of the Milky Way; the very dense dust of the dark nebulae scatters the blue light of the surrounding stars, producing a yellow-red bias. In places the density within the nebula that energetic outflows can be seen in the form of the red nebulosity of RNO 109 and Herbig-Haro object HH-32.

IMAGING DETAILS
Object	LDN 673
Constellation	Aquila
Distance	600 light-years
Size	1^oor approx. 7 light-years
Apparent Magnitude	Varies

Scope	Takahashi FSQ 106 FL 530mm f/5 + Moonlight Nightcrawler focuser
Mount	Paramount MyT
Guiding	Yes
Camera	QSI 683-WSG8 KAF-8300 full frame CCD sensor 5.4nm pixels
	FOV 1.94^o x 1.46^o Resolution 2.1”/pix. Image array 3326 x 2,507 pix
Processing	Deep Sky Stacker, PixInsight v1.8.9-2
Image Location & Orientation	Centre – RA 19:20:50.72 DEC +11:15:16.20
Exposures	L x35, R x23, G x18, B x22 x 600 secs @ -20C Total Integration Time: 16hr 20min
Calibration	Darks, Bias & Flats
Location & Darkness	Deep Sky West – amateur hosting facility near Rowe, New Mexico – USA SQM Typically >= 21.7
Date & Time	Q4 2018

Celestial Fleur-De-Lys

June 16, 2024 by grahamrob in Broadband, Deep Sky Objects, General Astronomy, Processing and tagged astronomy, Astrophotography, Cepheus, DSO Imaging, Reflection Nebula, space | Leave a comment

Whilst the highlight is the alluring bright blue reflection nebula NGC 7023 AKA Iris Nebula, careful processing reveals that this celestial flower is enveloped within a vast region of interstellar dust, altogether making for a spectacular image. Strictly speaking NGC 7023 refers to an open cluster within the reflection nebula, which is itself illuminated by a magnitude +7.4 star designated HD 200775 – the cropped starless image shows the beautiful detail that makes up the Iris ‘flower’.

IMAGING DETAILS
Object	NGC 7023 AKA Iris Nebula
Constellation	Cepheus
Distance	1,400 light-years
Size	6 light-years (Iris Nebula only)
Apparent Magnitude	+6.8 (Iris Nebula only)

Scope	Takahashi FSQ 106 FL 530mm f/5 + Moonlight Nightcrawler focuser
Mount	Paramount MyT
Guiding	Yes
Camera	QSI 683-WSG8 KAF-8300 full frame CCD sensor 5.4nm pixels
	FOV 1.94^o x 1.46^o Resolution 2.1”/pix. Image array 3326 x 2,507 pix
Processing	Deep Sky Stacker, PixInsight v1.8.9-1
Image Location & Orientation	Centre – RA 21:02:16.34 DEC +67:45:54.8
Exposures	L x15, R x20, G x14, B x15 x 900 secs @ -20C Total Integration Time: 16hr
Calibration	Darks, Bias & LRGB Flats
Location & Darkness	Deep Sky West – amateur hosting facility near Rowe, New Mexico – USA SQM Typically >= 21.7
Date & Time	Q2 2018

Starry Messenger

April 18, 2024 by grahamrob in Broadband, Deep Sky Objects, Equipment, Galaxy and tagged astronomy, DSO Imaging, Galaxies, Galileo, Leo Constellation, Science, Universe | Leave a comment

The first galaxies were identified in the 17th Century by the French astronomer Charles Messier, although at the time he did not know what they were. It was only when in 1924 American astronomer Edwin Hubble measured the distance to the Andromeda galaxy using cepheid variables, that the existence of other galaxies was finally established. One hundred years on it’s now estimated that there are between 200 billion and 2 trillion galaxies in the Universe; as Douglas Adams said in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, “Space…….is really big”!

For astronomers this time of the year is generally referred to the ‘Galaxy Season’, as our view of the Milky Way from Earth changes from the winter sky of the Orion Spur and Perseus Arm to the summer view with Cygnus overhead down to Sagittarius in the south, in between we’re looking into deep space. With very few exceptions, galaxies are located very far from Earth, which from our perspective makes them small and therefore a challenge for my imaging equipment. However, this Spring I’ve been imaging the spectacular Leo Galaxy Cluster, a mere 330 million light-years from Earth (see cropped version of cluster at the top of the page).

Containing at least 70 major galaxies, the Leo Cluster unusually consists mostly of spiral galaxies, which are best seen here cropped from the original widefield image. The bright elliptical galaxy near the centre of the image, NGC 3842, has one of the largest known black holes in the universe, which is about 10 billion times more massive than our sun!

We have come a long way since Galileo Galilei published his astronomical treatise Sidereus Nuncius AKA Starry Messenger in 1610, the first scientific publication based on observations made through a telescope. Galileo’s work completely changed the way humanity understood the night sky and, by extension, our place in space, later leading to the acceptance of the heliocentric model of the planets. Profound as that was, our understanding of the Universe since 1924 has even greater implications. Moreover, the ability for an amateur to image something like the Leo Cluster from my back garden is exciting and very rewarding (see widefield version above + image location + orientation where the red dot = top left of image).

	IMAGING DETAILS
Object	Leo Galaxy Cluster
Constellation	Leo
Distance	330 million light-years
Size	Various
Apparent Magnitude	Various

Scope	William Optics GT81 + Focal Reducer FL 382mm f4.72
Mount	SW AZ-EQ6 GT + EQASCOM computer control & Cartes du Ciel
Guiding	William Optics 50mm guide scope
	+ Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2 camera & PHD2 guiding
Camera	ZWO ASI294MM CMOS sensor
	FOV 2.87^o x 1.96^o Resolution 2.50”/pix Max. image size 4,144 x 2,822 pix
EFW	ZWOx8 EFW & 31mm LRGB filters
Capture & Processing	Astro Photography Tool (APT), Deep Sky Stacker & PixInsight v1.8.9-2
Image Location & Orientation	Centre = RA 11:44:12.40 DEC +19:50:25.70 Right = North
Exposures	L x30 + R x31 + G x31 + B x 31 @ 180 sec Total Integration Time: 6hr 9min
	@ Gain 120 & 30 Offset 21 @ -15^oC
Calibration	10 x 180 sec Darks + 10 x BB Flats & Dark Flats @ ADU 32,000
Location & Darkness	Fairvale Observatory – Redhill – Surrey – UK Typically Bortle 5-6
Date & Time	7^th + 9^th + 14^th April 2024 @ +21.30h
Weather	Approx. <9^oC RH >=65% 🌙 >=0% New Moon Waxing

Avian Astronomy: Seagull Nebula

March 4, 2024 by grahamrob in AstroBin, Deep Sky Objects, Narrowband, Star Cluster and tagged astronomy, Astrophotography, deep-sky, DSO Imaging, Emission Nebula, Monoceros, Reflection Nebula | Leave a comment

Located 3,650 light-years from Earth, in the area between the Monoceros and Canis Major constellations, is the emission and reflection nebulae complex of the so-called Seagull Nebula. It’s been 8-years since I last briefly dabbled with imaging this exciting object and for good reason. From my position, this bird flies at a maximum 28^o above the southern horizon (-11 DEC) and, furthermore, spends much of its time behind houses, trees, and tall hedges, thus providing just two short windows for imaging; combined with this winter’s terrible weather it made for a tough but ultimately rewarding target.

*The Seagull’s approximate flight path seen from Fairvale Observatory makes imaging difficult*

Whilst popularly known as the Seagull Nebula, the bird consists of a number of fabulous objects spanning some 200 light-years in their entirety: the Seagull’s head (SH2-292) and wings (IC 2177), the large open star cluster along the leading edge of the left wing (NGC 2335) and a smaller cluster on the edge of the right wing (NGC 2327), the nebula at the tip of the right wing (Sh2-297), as well as many other named features (Sharpless and LBN) that are highlighted in the following plate solved image (below).

Despite the difficulties posed by the low transit of the bird in the night sky, each of the Ha, OIII and SII wavelengths are strong, making for good data acquisition and a very pleasing final SHO image.

	IMAGING DETAILS
Object	Seagull Nebula (SH2-292, IC2177 etc.)
Constellation	Monoceros
Distance	3,650 light-years
Size	Approx. 200 light-years
Apparent Magnitude	Various

Scope	William Optics GT81 + Focal Reducer FL 382mm f4.72
Mount	SW AZ-EQ6 GT + EQASCOM computer control & Cartes du Ciel
Guiding	William Optics 50mm guide scope
	+ Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2 camera & PHD2 guiding
Camera	ZWO ASI294MM CMOS sensor
	FOV 2.87^o x 1.96^o Resolution 2.50”/pix Max. image size 4,144 x 2,822 pix
EFW	ZWOx8 EFW & 31mm Chroma Ha, OIII, SII filters
Capture & Processing	Astro Photography Tool (APT), Deep Sky Stacker & PixInsight v1.8.9-2
Image Location & Orientation	Centre = RA 07:06:42.425 DEC -11:18:53.372 Left = North Top = West
Exposures	Ha x16 + OIII x13 + SII x14 @ 600 sec Total Integration Time: 7hr 10 min
	@ Gain 120 & 30 Offset 21 @ -15^oC
Calibration	5 x 300 sec Darks 10 x NB Flats & Dark Flats @ ADU 32,000
Location & Darkness	Fairvale Observatory – Redhill – Surrey – UK Typically Bortle 5-6
Date & Time	18^th 19th January 11^th 12^th February 2023 @ +20.30h
Weather	Approx. <2^oC RH >=70% 🌙 <+55% Waning

2023 The Year In Pictures

January 1, 2024 by grahamrob in Broadband, Dark Nebula, Deep Sky Objects, Equipment, Galaxy, General Astronomy, Globular Cluster, Imaging, Mosaic, Narrowband, Nebula, Other, Planetary Nebula, Processing, Samyang 135, Supernova, Widefield Imaging and tagged Aurora Borealis, DSO Imaging, Galaxies, Nebulae | Leave a comment

This Christmas marks the 10^th edition of my astrophotography calendar, consisting of my better images from the previous 12-months, which I produce for myself and members of the family. Wow doesn’t time fly? Based on these images, I also compile a video of the images set to music, which we all watch together before seeing the actual calendar. It’s become something of an occasion and is a great way to present the images, which look wonderful on today’s smart TV’s and is fun to watch and share with the family.

THE CALENDAR

Much longer imaging times (total of more than 145 hours), re-imaging old favourites in new ways and unusual, overlooked, or difficult objects, resulted in a very good 2023 astrophotography year and perhaps the best calendar yet? The calendar for 2024 on YouTube can be viewed by clicking HERE and below is a brief overview of each image. More detailed background information and imaging details for those interested can be found in relevant blogs I posted on this website. The background music is the track Appleshine from Underworld’s album Drift.

COVER	SH2-284: Close-up of April’s image – along the inside of the ring structure are many dark dust pillars and globules, which on the right seem to resemble a hand with a bony finger pointing inwards!
JANUARY	NGC 1333: Nestled within the western area of the Perseus Molecular Cloud, some 1,100 light-years from Earth is the colourful NGC 1333 reflection nebula, one of the closest and most active star-forming regions of the night-sky.
FEBRUARY	Spaghetti Nebula: Straddling the boundary of Taurus and Auriga constellations, is the giant supernova remnant (SNR) Simeis-147. The stellar explosion occurred 40,000 years ago, leaving a rapidly spinning neutron star or pulsar at the core of the now complex and the expanding SNR.
MARCH	Aurora Borealis: Situated just below the Arctic Circle, Iceland is well known both for its geology and views of the Aurora Borealis, which we saw in March on the south coast near Kirkjubaejarkklaustur.
APRIL	SH2-284: A star-forming region of dust and gases, sculpted by radiation and interstellar winds emanating from a young (3 to 4 million years) star cluster located near the centre.
MAY	M3 Globular Cluster*: Consisting of 500,000 stars and over 11 billion years old, M3 is one of150 globular clusters that orbit around the Milky Way Galaxy.
JUNE	*M27 Apple Core Nebula:** A planetary nebula, consisting of a glowing shell of ionized gas ejected from a red giant star in its late stage of life to become a white dwarf. Complex hydrogen (red) and oxygen (blue) fans form around the outer regions, with a pulsar-like beam transecting the nebula.
JULY	Monkey Head Nebula: Located 6,400 light years from Earth in the Orion constellation, the ‘Monkey’ is a so-called emission nebula, where new stars are being created within at a rapid rate.
AUGUST	SH2-115: This widefield image contains a richness of various emission nebulae, centred around the distinctive large blue SH2-115 region. Just to the left of SH2-115 is the small but enigmatic SH2-116 a faint, blue disc thought to be a planetary nebula.
SEPTEMBER	LDN-768 Black Cat Nebula: Close to M27 in the constellation of Vulpecula (“Little Fox”), is a dense region of stars broken-up by dark nebulae to create intriguing shapes. Here strung out from left-to-right, several of the dark nebulae seem to coalesce (visually) to create the form of a black cat.
OCTOBER		SH2-126 Great Lacerta Nebula: On the western edge of the Milky Way in the southern part of Lacerta, is the very large but faint emission nebula SH2-126. The red filament structures stretch over 3 degrees, to the right is the Gecko Nebula, a molecular cloud associated with bright young stars.
NOVEMBER		Flaming Star & Tadpoles Nebula: Two emission nebulae: dust & gas of the Flaming Star (below) combined with red ionized hydrogen gas produces a flame affect. Above, the stellar winds and radiation pressure from hot massive stars creates the Tadpoles ‘wriggling’ away from the centre.
DECEMBER		*M51 Whirlpool Galaxy:** As the smaller galaxy passes behind M51, joint gravitational forces are interacting, resulting in the misalignment of stars and unusually bright blue and pink areas across the Whirlpool galaxy. Their fates are inextricably linked and might eventually merge.
*Footnote:* All images taken from Redhill, Surrey or telescope at a dark sky site in New Mexico, USA shown by an asterisk*
*HAPPY NEW YEAR + CLEAR SKIES FOR 2024*

The Black Cat, Fox & Umbrella

October 2, 2023 by grahamrob in Broadband, Dark Nebula, Deep Sky Objects, Imaging and tagged DSO Imaging, Nebulae, Vulpecula | Leave a comment

Two months past the summer solstice in late August, shortly after the new moon, I was drawn to the constellation of Vulpecula (Latin for “little fox) and an interesting region of reflection and dark nebulae that provide good imaging possibilities. In particular, a vast area of stars in which the contrasting dark nebulae create some intriguing shapes.

At the centre of the resulting image, strung out from east to west (left to right), several of the dark nebulae seem to coalesce (visually) to create the form of a black cat: LDN 773, 774, 769 & 768; an alternative interpretation is that of the Loch Ness Montser. Further enhancing the image, the cat is adorned by two large, bright orange stars near its head and within the ‘body’ to the right, several various reflection nebulae created by hot blue stars (VdB 126 / LBN 133 & 134 etc.).

Moreover, above the cat’s head another group of dark nebula form what I’d describe as a furled umbrella (LDN 781, 782, 783 & 779). Finally, towards the lower right edge of the image (below the cat’s rear leg) is the open star cluster of NGC 6793.

Apart from its obvious beauty, the inspiration for this image was my four-year old granddaughter who just loves cats – especially her own one-eyed black cat!

	IMAGING DETAILS
Object	LDN 768, LDN 772, LDN 781, Vdb 126, LBN 133
Constellation	Vulpecula
Distance	Various
Size	Various
Apparent Magnitude	Various

Scope	William Optics GT81 + Focal Reducer FL 382mm f4.72
Mount	SW AZ-EQ6 GT + EQASCOM computer control & Cartes du Ciel
Guiding	William Optics 50mm guide scope
	+ Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2 camera & PHD2 guiding
Camera	ZWO ASI294MM CMOS sensor
	FOV 2.87^o x 1.96^o Resolution 2.50”/pix Max. image size 4,144 x 2,822 pix
EFW	ZWOx8 EFW & 31mm Chroma LRGB filters
Capture & Processing	Astro Photography Tool (APT), WBPP & PixInsight v1.8.9-2
Image Location & Orientation	Centre = RA 19:26:24.59 DEC +22:58:04.2 Top = North
Exposures	L 52 x 120 sec, R 29x + G 25x, B 26x 180 sec Total Integration Time: 5hr 44 min
	@ Gain 120 & Offset 30 @ -15^oC
Calibration	10 x 120 sec & 180 sec Darks 20 x LRGB Flats & Falt Darks @ ADU 32,000
Location & Darkness	Fairvale Observatory – Redhill – Surrey – UK Typically Bortle 5-6
Date & Time	21^st 22^nd 23^rd August 2023 @ +23.00h
Weather	Approx. <18^oC RH >=70% 🌙 >10% Waxing

Core Blimey

July 22, 2023 by grahamrob in AstroBin, Deep Sky Objects, Imaging, Planetary Nebula, Processing and tagged DSO Imaging, Planetary Nebula, Vulpecula | Leave a comment

A popular object at this time of the year, the planetary nebula M27 consists of a glowing shell of ionized gas, which has been ejected from a red giant star in its late stage of its life to become a white dwarf. Like many planetary nebulae, the main inner shell exhibits numerous dark and light knots, of which red ionized hydrogen areas form two bright lobes that together make the shape of an apple- core / dumbbell, which are M27’s two nicknames. There also seems to be different bi-polar influences occuring, that have resulted in complex Ha (red) and OIII (blue) fans around the outer regions and a pulsar-like beam transecting the nebula (see cropped version at the top of the page).

Despite the good data quality and long integration time, the complicated nature of the planetary nebula made processing very difficult, in particular, teasing out the aforesaid but very faint outer fans. In this case it was necessary to carry out individual soft stretches of the Ha and OIII stacks before combining them into an HOO image, from which a starless colour image was created and then processed further to bring out the fans. Thereafter, Pixelmath was used to amalgamate this image with two other starless HOO and RGB versions that emphasized the main part of the nebula, before finally adding back RGB stars and finishing off.

After considerable experimentation to obtain this result, I’m happy with the final image, which I hope shows off the said apple core / dumbbell and its outer fans to good effect (see above).

	IMAGING DETAILS
Object	M27 AKA Dumbbell or Apple Core Nebula or NGC 6853
Constellation	Vulpecula
Distance	1,360 light-years
Size	8.0 x 5.7 arc-minutes (core) 15 arc-minutes (total) or 5 light-years (actual)
Apparent Magnitude	+7.5

Scope	Takahashi FSQ 106 FL 530mm f/5 + Moonlight Nightcrawler focuser
Mount	Paramount MyT
Guiding	Yes
Camera	QSI 683-WSG8 KAF-8300 full frame CCD sensor 5.4nm pixels
	FOV 1.94^o x 1.46^o Resolution 2.1”/pix. Image array 3326 x 2,507 pix
Processing	Deep Sky Stacker, PixInsight v1.8.9-1
Image Location & Orientation	Centre – RA 19:59:35.363 DEC +22:42:54.383 Up = North Left = East
Exposures	Ha x28 & OIII x 35 x20min + R x12, G x22, B x14 x10min @ -20C Total Integration Time: 29hrs
Calibration	24 x 20min & 30 x 10 min Darks x60 Bias & x20 Ha, OIII & RGB Flats
Location & Darkness	Deep Sky West – amateur hosting facility near Rowe, New Mexico – USA SQM Typically >= 21.7
Date	Q2 2019

Feel The Space

December 15, 2022 by grahamrob in Broadband, Deep Sky Objects, Equipment, Galaxy, General Astronomy, Imaging, Widefield Imaging and tagged Andromeda galaxy, DSO Imaging | Leave a comment

As our closest galactic neighbour, I’ve imaged M31 the Andromeda Galaxy five times since beginning my personal astrophotography journey in 2014, each time using my William Optics GT81 apo refractor – first with a DSLR, then a ASI1600mm-Cool and most recently ASI294MM cameras. Andromeda is perhaps the perfect object for my equipment, as it just fits the field-of-view of the aforesaid set-up, which produces something of an up-close-and-personal image of this alluring galaxy. But despite the success of these images, perhaps there’s an alternative view?

This year, I therefore deployed my Samyang 135 + ASI1600MM-Cool rig to capture 6 ½ hours of Andromeda, the result of which shows a whole new perspective of M31. The widefield format of this lens produces greater context than previous images, whilst still obtaining excellent details and colours of the galaxy itself. As a result, this final image (see above) better reveals the galaxy in its true glory deep in space, which in some ways I believe can be more powerful than the more popular close-up renditions of this impressive object (M31 with star reduction applied to the image below).

	IMAGING DETAILS
Object	M31 Andromeda Galaxy
Constellation	Andromeda
Distance	2.5 million light-years
Size	3.2^o x 1^oor 220,000 light-years
Apparent Magnitude	+3.44

Scope / Lens	Samyang 135 @f2.8
Mount	SW AZ-EQ6 GT + EQASCOM computer control & Cartes du Ciel
Guiding	Sky-Watcher EvoGuide 50ED
	+ Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2 camera & PHD2 guiding
Camera	ZWO1600MM-Cool mono CMOS sensor
	FOV 7.5^o x 5.67^o Resolution 5.81”/pix Max. Image Size 4,656 x 3,520 pix
EFW	ZWOx8 EFW & 31mm ZWO LRGB & 7nm Narrowband filters
Capture & Processing	Astro Photography Tool + PHD2 + Deep Sky Stacker, PixInsight v1.8.8-12, Photoshop CC, Topaz Denoise
Image Location & Orientation	Centre: RA 00:42:34.682 DEC +41:14:06.324 Right = North Top = East
Exposures	L 75 x 60 sec, R 27x G27x B22 x 180 sec, Ha 17 x 300 sec Total Integration Time: 6hr 28 min
	@ 139 Gain 21 Offset @ -15^oC
Calibration	Darks, Flats & Flat Darks
Location & Darkness	Fairvale Observatory – Redhill – Surrey – UK Typically Bortle 5-6
Date & Time	17^th, 21^st & 22^nd November 2022 @ +20.00h
Weather	Approx. <=5^oC RH >= 85% 🌙 approx. New Moon