Galactic Ha Experiment with Bodes and Cigar Galaxies with a One Shot Color camera

 I thought it might be a worthy experiment to see how the L-Ultimate filter could add to the Ha detail of galaxies using a OSC Camera. So the obvious choice for my 61mm refractor was M81/M82, Bodes and Cigar Galaxies with the latter having a great Ha jet coming out of the middle of it's core.

For RGB I used the Optolong L-Pro filter with the ZWO 183MC Pro camera. I ended up taking:

(144) 180 second exposures for a total of 7.2 hours.

Notice how little red is showing in the Cigar Galaxy on the right. 

The Hydrogen Alpha addition

For the Ha, I used my newly acquired Optolong L-Ultimate filter which passes Oiii and Ha at 3 nanometers. I ended up taking:

(144) 180 second exposures for a total of 4.5 hours. The filter really cuts out everything else but getting enough Ha is so hard with a one shot color camera given the RGGB Bayer matrix. Having only 1 pixel out of 4 to collect the Ha (Red light) is a huge challenge.

The Ha is so much less on Bodes than I though it would be in the spiral arms. If look closely on the zoomed in version, you'll see the nebulae it picks up. For the Cigar, I was pleasantly pleased with the Ha but certainly would have to triple the time to get anywhere near shooting it in Narrowband.

The Final Image

Let me start out by saying my skills to add Ha to RGB are in need of an upgrade. But overall the experiment worked.

Personal Conclusion

While I enjoyed the experiment, I won't be doing this again with a One Shot Color camera. The amount of time needed to add Ha to a galaxy just isn't worth it for my personal taste. Some others might like it but it isn't for me :-)

Very dim supernova remnant, Abell 85 in Oiii

 Abell 85 or CTB1 is a nearby supernova remnant with an apparent diameter of about a half a degree (about the same size as a Full Moon). Upon early discovery, Abell 85 was thought to be a planetary nebula, so Abell included it in his catalog of planetary nebulae as number 85. Further research showed that Abell 85 is, in fact, a supernova remnant. The deep red color that shows in white in the picture below, comes from light emitted by energized Hydrogen (Ha), but Abell 85 also has an area shining in blue/green light from energized Oxygen (Oiii) atoms. 

The surrounding Ha light has been shown to be related to CTB1 as well. CTB1 makes for a very challenging object to photograph, as it is quite faint. Without using Ha and OIII filters, the SNR is virtually invisible.

PixInsight Processing:

1. Blinked files to remove bright airplanes
2. "Subframe Selector to remove frames based on:
   PSF Signal Weight, Elongation, FWHM, # of Stars"
3. Weighted Batch Preprocessing of Lights, Darks, Dark Flats
4. WBPP Cosmetic Correction,
5. Auto Dynamic Crop from WBPP
6. AutomaticBackgroundExtraction
7. EZ processing; EZ Soft Stretch; 30%
8. StarXTerminator_NL
9. NoiseExterminator (Non-Linear)
10. Curves - Multple Slight S-Curves
11. LocalHistogramEqualization - Kernel Radius = 25
12. LocalHistogramEqualization - Kernel Radius = 75
13. LocalHistogramEqualization - Kernel Radius = 125
14. MultiscaleLinearTransform to sharpen
15. Added stars back in with PixelMath
16. Bill Blanshan's Pixel Math Star Reduction V3

Very dim supernova remnant, Abell 85 in Ha

Abell 85 or CTB1 is a nearby supernova remnant with an apparent diameter of about a half a degree (about the same size as a Full Moon). Upon early discovery, Abell 85 was thought to be a planetary nebula, so Abell included it in his catalog of planetary nebulae as number 85. Further research showed that Abell 85 is, in fact, a supernova remnant. The deep red color that shows in white in the picture below, comes from light emitted by energized Hydrogen (Ha), but Abell 85 also has an area shining in blue/green light from energized Oxygen (OIII) atoms. 

The surrounding Ha light has been shown to be related to CTB1 as well. CTB1 makes for a very challenging object to photograph, as it is quite faint. Without using Ha and OIII filters, the SNR is virtually invisible.

PixInsight Processing:

1. Subframe Selector to remove frames based on:
         PSF Signal Weight, Elongation, FWHM, # of Stars
2. Weighted Batch Preprocessing of Lights, Darks, Dark Flats
3. WBPP Cosmetic Correction
4. Auto Dynamic Crop from WBPP
5. Automatic Background Extraction
6. EZ processing; EZ Soft Stretch; 30%
7. Curves - Multple Slight S-Curves
8. LocalHistogramEqualization - Kernel Radius = 25
9. LocalHistogramEqualization - Kernel Radius = 75
10. LocalHistogramEqualization - Kernel Radius = 125
11. Script | Dark Structure Enhance @ 30%
12. MultiscaleLinearTransform to sharpen
13. StarXTerminator_NL
14. NoiseExterminator (Non-Linear)
15. Bill Blanshan's Pixel Math Star Reduction V3
    

 SH2-171, NGC 7762, King 11 (Hydrogen Alpha)

Found a rather offbeat target that was fun to capture. Sharpless 171 is of course a nebula, and a rather large one. NGC 7762 is an open cluster near the bottom center, while King 11 is above it and to the right. The photos below represent about 1/6 of the total size of SH2-171!

The nebula is also known as the cosmic question mark.

The first phase was capturing Ha.

Scope	Explore Scientific FCD100 ED127 Triplet Refractor
Mount	Losmandy G811G
Reducer	Apex .65 Starizona
Flattener	-
Camera	ZWO ASI 294MM
Filters	Antlia Ha 3.5nm	Antlia 3.5nm SII	Antlia 3.5nm OIII
Software	NINA 2.0	PHD2	PixInsight
Bortle	~7.5
Capture Eq.	Beelink SEi8 Mini PC	Pegasus Pocket PB
Guide Scope	Agena 60mm
Guide Camera	Zwo ASI120MM-S

Date(s)

Bin

Gain

Cam Temp

Filter

# Exps

Length

Hrs

Throw Away

Moon Phase

Seeing

Transp

8/9/2022

2x2

120

-10

Ha

40

180

2.0

0

>95%

4

5

Stars Removed

PixInsight Processing

Linear Processing

------

Dyanmic Crop to remove bad edges

Automatic Background Extraction

NoiseExterminator AI to remove noise

EZSoftStretch script to bring to Non-Linear state (Target Median = .25)

Non Linear Processing 

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

StartXterminator to remove stars

HDRMultiscaleTransform to bring out contrast (7 layers)

Curves - a couple of slight S-curve to slightly darken background and lighten nebula

LocalHistogramEqualization - Kernel Radius = 25 to bring out some contrast

LocalHistogramEqualization - Kernel Radius = 75 to bring out more contrast

LocalHistogramEqualization - Kernel Radius = 125 to bring out more contrast

MultiscaleLinearTransform to sharpen

Added stars back in with PixelMath

NoiseExterminator AI to remove noise

Jelly Fish Nebula Capture and Processing

All Images

Equipment

Mount: iOptron GEM 28

Optical Train Equipment: 

• William Optics Zenithstar 61II APO Doublet Refractor
• William Optics Adjustable Flat61 for Z61
• ZWO Electronic Focuser
• ZWO 7-Position Electronic Filter Wheel for 36mm Unmounted Filters (Version II) 
• Antlia 3.0nm Narrowband Sulfur II (SII) Pro Imaging Filter - 36mm Unmounted
• Antlia 3.0nm Narrowband Oxygen III (OIII) Pro Imaging Filter - 36mm Unmounted
• ZWO 7.0nm Narrowband Hydrogen Alpha (Ha) - Filter - 36mm Unmounted
• R (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )
• G (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )
• B (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )
• Dew Straps for Guide Scope and Refractor.

Guiding: 

• William Optics 32mm f/3.75 UniGuide Guidescope
• ZWO 120mm mini (red filter)
• ASI Air Plus
• Used previous calibration
• Dither: Small, every 2 frames

  Acquisition: 

• ASI Air Plus using Plan Mode
• Flats & Flat-Darks using Spike-a-flat and NINA Flat Wizard (Dynamic brightness)
• Darks using ASI Air Plus
• (No Bias frames)

Capture Data Calibration Frames

My Google Spreadsheet

Processing

Preprocessing

1. Used Blink to eliminate obvious errors, clouds/elongated stars.
2. Used Subframe Selector to eliminate subs:
   - Full Width Half Maximum
   - PSF Signal Weight
   - Eccentricity
3. Weighted Batch Preprocessing Script
   - Cosmetic Correction
   - Subframe Weighting (defaults)
   - Image Registration
   - NO Image Integration
   - Output Pedestal (DN) = 100
   - Grouping Keyword of FILTER
4. Opened registered files in Blink to find the frame with the least amount of gradient.
5. Normalized Scale Gradient script using previous step to define the reference frame
   - All defaults except checking 'Auto Exit'
6. Used NSG's Image Integration to create stacked image with no changes.

Linear Processing

1. Dynamic Crop
2. Dynamic Background Extraction
3. Linear Fit was applied to G & B using R as base.
4. Channels were combined with ChannelCombination
5. Photometric Color Calibration 
6. Color Calibration
7. Background Neuralization
8. Linear Noise Reduction using MultiscaleLinearTransform
9. Another Linear Noise Reduction using MultiscaleLinearTransform

Non-Linear Processing

1. Used EZ Soft Stretch Script to bring to linear state using defaults.
2. Used EZ Star Reduction to make stars smaller.
3. Extracted the luminance from the combined RGB to create a synthetic luminance.
4. Removed the stars using Starnet++
5. Created a Range Mask to protect the nebulosity.
6. Used HDRMultiscaleTransform to brighten and sharpen image slightly.
7. Used LocalHistogramEqualization to step up the contrast. (25)
8. Used LocalHistogramEqualization again to step up the contrast. (75)
9. Used Curves to boost the overall nebula brightness and the blue channel.
10. Did NOT use SCNR to remove Green as I liked the way it looked.
11. Used MultiscaleLinearTransform to sharpen the nebula. It really improved the head of the Jellyfish.
12. Added the stars back into the RGB image using Pixel Math.
13. Blurred the RGB image with Convolution.
14. Used LRGBCombination with the synthetic luminance file to sharpen the image.
15. Used LRGBCombination/Chrominance Noise Reduction  with the synthetic luminance file to enhance the color and smooth the noisy background.
16. Used ICCProfileTransformation to ready image for the web.

Jelly Fish Nebula

 About

Here are all Capture Details for this extensive project!

The Jellyfish Nebula is a well known object among amateur astronomers. It is especially noted for it's obvious photographic nature containing a lot of blue and red. It is also rich in hydrogen alpha (Ha) and sulfur iii (Sii) and needs more capture time for Oxygen iii (Oiii.)

IC443 lies on the foot of one of the twins of the constellation Gemini, Castor between the bright stars Tejat and Propus.

Image courtesy of Stellarium

Both Ha and Sii have wavelengths in the Red spectrum while Oiii is aligned to the Blue spectrum.  

Some Light Science

The Jellyfish Nebula, or (Index Catalogue) IC 443, is the remnant of a supernova lying a relatively close distance in astronomical terms of 5,000 light years from Earth. IC 443 may be the remains of a supernova that occurred 3,000 - 30,000 years ago. IC 443 is one of the best-studied cases of supernova remnants interacting with surrounding molecular clouds. IC 444 is a nebulous region near Tejat or μ Gem

SHO

Commonly known as the Hubble Palette where Siii is mapped the the Red channel; Ha to the Green channel; Oiii to the Blue channel.

SHO w/ RGB Stars

HOO

Ha to Red; Oiii to both Green and Blue

Ha

68 exposures @ 180" (3h 24') 

Oiii

78 exposures @ 300" (6h 30') 

Sii

30 exposures @ 300" (2h 30') 

Crescent Nebula Region

I absolutely love the milky way region in Cygnus! It is rich in open clusters and spectacular nebulae.

Since my last post I've acquired a wide field refractor to be able to capture a wider field of view. It brings me the most joy to see the astronomic diversity in seeing so many different things going on in one picture.

About the Crescent Nebula

The Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) is a 25-light year wide emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus. This “cosmic bubble” in space owes it's striking appearance to a central Wolf-Rayet star that pushes the hydrogen and oxygen atoms outward. 

-  https://astrobackyard.com/ngc-6888-crescent-nebula/ 

The star is shedding its outer envelope in a strong stellar wind, ejecting the equivalent of the Sun's mass every 10,000 years. 

- https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160610.html

Constellation: Cygnus

Image Center RA = '20 14 14.527'

Image Center DEC = '+38 44 19.335' 

Distance: ~ 5,000  lys

Magnitude: 7.4

Hubble Palette

RGB with Ha added

RGB

Ha

CAPTURE INFO

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

Scope Centering:

Image Center RA = '20 14 14.527'

Image Center DEC = '+38 44 19.335' 

Bandwidths:

R, G, B, Ha

Bias: Yes

Darks: Yes

Flats: Yes

Flat Darks: Yes

Dates Captured:

August 4, 2021

August 13, 2021

August 14, 2021

August 15, 2021

August 16, 2021

GUIDING NOTES:

excellent, averaging ~0.7 RMS

EQUIPMENT

Optics: 

William Optics ZenithStar 61ii Doublet Refractor @ 360mm FL

William Optics Adjustable Field Flattener 61A for Z61

Camera: ZWO 294mm Pro (mono)

Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 position, .36" filters

Filters: 

 - L (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )

 - R (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )

 - G (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )

 - B (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )

 - Ha (ZWO 36 mm Round @ 7nm wavelength)

 - Sii (ZWO 36 mm Round @ 7nm wavelength)

 - Oiii (ZWO 36 mm Round @ 7nm wavelength)

Mount: 

- Losmandy GM811

- RAEXT EXTENSION DOVETAIL

- Losmandy 12" Tripod Extension

- Losmandy SADDLE PLATE FOR G-11 MOUNT

- Losmandy LW Tripod

- Alt-AZ/Elevation Tensioning bolts and washers (Michael Herman's)

Guiding: 

- ZWO 120mm mini (red filter)

- William Optics 32mm f/3.75 UniGuide Guidescope

- PHD2 Software (2.6.9 Dev 5)

  - Multistar option

  - RA algorithm:  Predictive PEC

  - Dec algorithm: Resist Switch

- Used previous calibration

- Dither: Small, every 2 frames

  

Acquisition: 

- ASI Air Polar Alignment

- Mini PC Beelink T4 @ scope

- MS Windows Remote Desktop to mini PC

- Sequence Generator Pro 3.2.660

- Flats & FlatDarks using NINA Flat Wizard

Starting up the Eastern Veil Nebula

 Since I've gotten my monochrome astronomy camera (294mm) I find myself going back to take images again that I've done in One Shot Color (OSC.) One of the targets is the amazing supernova remnant known as the Eastern Veil complex covering six full moons on the sky as seen from Earth, and resides about 2,100 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus

This complex is a leftover from a supernova that exploded nearly 8,000 years ago. It gets it name from the seemingly delicate, draped filaments that entwine through the entire Eastern and Western parts of it. There is also another part of it known as Pickering's Triangle.

So, my first reimage is with Hydrogen Alpha and Oxygen iii combined in the HOO palette. H to red; O to green; O to blue.

Eastern Veil in HOO palette

Eastern Veil in Oiii

Eastern Veil in Ha

I'm collecting Sulfur 2 currently to make it a true Hubble Palette.

Bubble Nebula and M52 in SHO palette... two ways

Bubble Nebula and M52 in SHO palette... two ways

First up is the Standard Bubble Palette with 2 hours each of Ha, Oiii, and S2 into G, R, B, respectively and adding in RGB stars.

Next is the Standard Bubble Palette with 2 hours each of Ha, Oiii, and S2 into R, B, G, respectively and adding in RGB stars.

 

Wild Duck Cluster (M11)

Wild Duck Cluster (M11)

Captured the Wild Duck cluster after our Public Star Party and Peck Farm Park,

CAPTURE INFO

Bandwidths:

R, G, B, L

Date Captured:
June 6 & June 10, 2021, Batavia, IL (Bortle 7/8)

GUIDING NOTES:

Good, averaging ~0.7 RMS

IMAGE CALIBRATION (PixInsight)

Weighted Batch Preprocessing
- Lights, Darks, Flat Darks, Bias
- Cosmetic Correction
- Stats
  - L (30) 15 second subs
  - R (20) 60 second subs
  - G (20) 60 second subs
  - B (20) 60 second subs

Normalize Scale Gradient > Star Alignment of each channel

NON LINEAR PROCESSING (PixInsight)

1. Dynamic Crop of each channel
2. Automatic Background Extraction
3. Linear Noise Reduction to each channel using MultiscaleLinearTransform
4. Another Linear Noise Reduction using MultiscaleLinearTransform
5. Linear fit RGB to L

LINEAR PROCESSING (PixInsight)

1. Easy Soft Stretch script on each channel
2. RGB Combine
2. SCNR
4. Blurred RGB stars using Convolution
3. Starnet++ to remove the stars and create a image of the stars
4. (Starless Image) Used Curves to reduce the background skyglow/light pollution.
10. (Stars Image) Decreased star brightness by 10%
11. (Stars Image) Increased saturation of the stars using ColorSaturation
12. Added stars to the background using PixelMath
13. Made image ready for the web using ICCProfileTransformation

EQUIPMENT

Optics: SGO 6" f/4 Imaging Newtonian @ 610mm FL
        Baader 2" Coma Corrector

Camera: ZWO 294mm Pro (mono)

Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 position, .36" filters

Filters: 
 - L (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )
 - R (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )
 - G (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )
 - B (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )

Mount: 
- Losmandy GM811
- RAEXT EXTENSION DOVETAIL
- Losmandy 12" Tripod Extension
- Losmandy SADDLE PLATE FOR G-11 MOUNT
- Losmandy 16" UNIVERSAL DOVETAIL PLATE
- Losmandy LW Tripod
- Alt-AZ/Elevation Tensioning bolts and washers (Michael Herman's)

Guiding: 

- ZWO 120mm mini (red filter)
- Agena 60mm f/4 (240mm FL) Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
- PHD2 Software (2.6.9 Dev 5)
  - Multistar option
  - RA algorithm:  Predictive PEC
  - Dec algorithm: Resist Switch
  - Used previous calibration
  - Dither: Small, every 3 frames

Acquisition: 

- ASI Air Pro

Starting up the Bubble Nebula with M52 (RGB)

Why this target?

I was going to head to some more obscure objects but I wanted to capture the Nova in Casseiopia, V1405 Cassiopeiae. It really is amazingly bright compared to last year. 

About the Targets

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110914.html

 Embedded in a complex of interstellar dust and gas and blown by the winds from a single, massive O-type star, the Bubble Nebula, also known as NGC 7635, is a mere 10 light-years wide. On the other hand, M52 is a rich open cluster of around a thousand stars. The cluster is about 25 light-years across. Seen toward the northern boundary of Cassiopeia, distance estimates for the Bubble Nebula and associated cloud complex are around 11,000 light-years, while star cluster M52 lies nearly 5,000 light-years away. The wide telescopic field of view spans about 1.5 degrees on the sky or three times the apparent size of the Full Moon.

CAPTURE INFO

Bandwidths:

R, G, B, L

Date Captured:
June 6 & June 10, 2021, Batavia, IL (Bortle 7/8)

GUIDING NOTES:

Good, averaging ~0.7 RMS

IMAGE CALIBRATION (PixInsight)

Weighted Batch Preprocessing
- Lights, Darks, Flat Darks, Bias
- Cosmetic Correction
- Drizzle Generation 
- Stats
  - R (20) 60 second subs
  - G (20) 60 second subs
  - B (20) 60 second subs
- Drizzle Integration @ 2x

NON LINEAR PROCESSING (PixInsight)

1. Dynamic Crop
2. Automatic Background Extraction
3. Dynamic Background Extraction
4. Linear Noise Reduction to each channel using MultiscaleLinearTransform
5. Another Linear Noise Reduction using MultiscaleLinearTransform
7. Channels were combined with ChannelCombination

LINEAR PROCESSING (PixInsight)

1. Easy Soft Stretch script
2. SCNR on the G channel
3. Starnet++ to remove the stars and create a image of the stars
4. (Starless Image) Used HistogramTransformation to reduce the background skyglow/light pollution.
5. (Starless Image) TGV Denoise to remove more noise
6. (Starless Image) Ran HDRMultiscaleLinearTransform to smooth background
7. (Starless Image) Ran a slight "S" curve using CurvesTransformation
8. (Starless Image) Ran MultiscaleLinearTransform to sharpen
9. (Starless Image) Ran LocalHistogramEqualization 2 times 25/75 Kernel Radius for Contrast
10. (Stars Image) Decreased star brightness by 10%
11. (Stars Image) Increased saturation of the stars using ColorSaturation
12. Added stars to the background using PixelMath
13. Made image ready for the web using ICCProfileTransformation

EQUIPMENT

Optics: SGO 6" f/4 Imaging Newtonian @ 610mm FL
        Baader 2" Coma Corrector

Camera: ZWO 294mm Pro (mono)

Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 position, .36" filters

Filters: 
 - R (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )
 - G (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )
 - B (Baader Planetarium LRGB 36 mm Round CCD Filter )

Mount: 
- Losmandy GM811
- RAEXT EXTENSION DOVETAIL
- Losmandy 12" Tripod Extension
- Losmandy SADDLE PLATE FOR G-11 MOUNT
- Losmandy 16" UNIVERSAL DOVETAIL PLATE
- Losmandy LW Tripod
- Alt-AZ/Elevation Tensioning bolts and washers (Michael Herman's)

Guiding: 

- ZWO 120mm mini (red filter)
- Agena 60mm f/4 (240mm FL) Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
- PHD2 Software (2.6.9 Dev 5)
  - Multistar option
  - RA algorithm:  Predictive PEC
  - Dec algorithm: Resist Switch
  - Used previous calibration
  - Dither: Small, every 3 frames

Acquisition: 

- Mini PC Beelink T4 @ scope
- MS Windows Remote Desktop to mini PC
- Sequence Generator Pro 3.2.660