M52 and the Bubble Nebula

Open Cluster M52 and the Bubble Nebula.

"To the eye, this cosmic composition nicely balances the Bubble Nebula at the upper right with open star cluster M52. The pair would be lopsided on other scales, though. Embedded in a complex of interstellar dust and gas and blown by the winds from a single, massive O-type star, the Bubble Nebula (aka 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."

- https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091030.html

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Likely the best I can do with the L-Pro filter.

Technical Info:

Optics: SGO 6" f/4 Imaging Newtonian @ 610mm FL

Explore Scientific 2" HR Coma Corrector

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro

Filter: 2" Optolong L-Pro

Mount: Losmandy GM8

Guiding: QHY Mini Guide Scope + PHD2 Software

Acquisition: Sequence Generator Pro

Exposure: Light (Gain 200) - 130 subs @ 120 Seconds

Calibration: 50 Bias, 30 Darks, 50 Flats

Temperature: 17 C

Camera Temperature: -10 C

Bortle: 7/8

​Processing:

• Deep Sky Stacker
• Adobe Photoshop
• Topaz Denoise AI
• Astronomy Action Set plug in for PS
• Astro Flat Pro plug in for PS

Limits of One Shot camera with a Light Pollution filter

So I've tested to see just how much detail one can capture before there are diminishing returns on my equipment.

So for me, that includes:

• Bortle 7/8 Skies
• SGO 6" f/4 Imaging Newtonian
  
• ZWO ASI 533MC Pro camera (3.76 x 3.76 micron sensor)
  
• Optolong L-Pro filter

I can't seem to improve details beyond 2 hours on small galaxies or 3 hours on nebula

Here are the results:

Draco Trio of Galaxies

Bubble Nebula

For nebulas, I'm receiving on Optolong L-Enhance tomorrow which will allow the Ha, Hb, and Oiii through.

LESSON: Perfect balancing required for meridian flips

So, last night I had intended to image the Draco Trio all night which to no surprise requires a meridian flip. I had great guiding until it got past the meridian. It started a slow degrade from there. I ended up changing targets to another object on the east side.

Don't cheat on balancing! Spend an extra minute trying to get as close to 'east biased' as possible. After the flip set a slight bias to the West. In general, I try to avoid flips altogether and stay on the east side of the mount when possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYKycMPwpQ8

Anyway, here is 2 hours on the Draco Trio.

2 Hours on the Draco Trio

40 minutes on M52 and the Bubble Nebula

Comparison of DSS and Sharpcap Stacking

So, I find it interesting to compare the stacking in Deep Sky Stacker which is using many darks and bias frames compared to SharpCap stacking with just one dark frame.

The object, M27 ends up looking much better in the SharpCap version. I applied the same processing steps to both while the background better in DSS.

Stacked with DSS

Stacked with SharpCap

DSS on Left, SC on right

What do you think?

The Fireworks Galaxy and an Open Cluster

NGC 6946, or "The Fireworks Galaxy", is one of a ~dozen nearby neighbors to the Milky Way. The galaxy, is a 9th magnitude face-on spiral galaxy positioned on the border between Cepheus and Cygnus. 

At ~22.5 Million light-years it's one of the nearest galaxies outside of the Local Group. In the past 100 years, 9 supernovae have been observed in NGC 6946, hence the nickname the Fireworks Galaxy!

I so enjoy capturing photons from two different objects and this photo contains a lovely open cluster, NGC 6939. Discovered by William Herschel in 1798, it contains some ~630 stars. With the use of photometric studies, the age of the cluster was estimated to be between 1,0 and 1,3 billion years

The Fireworks Galaxy and Open Cluster NGC 6939

This is one of my favorite photos even though it could use another hour of data. I may go back and add some to it.

Technical Info:

Optics: SGO 6" f/4 Imaging Newtonian @ 610mm FL

             Explore Scientific 2" HR Coma Corrector

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro

Filter: 2" Optolong L-Pro

Mount: Losmandy GM8

Guiding: QHY Mini Guide Scope + PHD2 Software

Acquisition: Sequence Generator Pro 

Exposure: Light (Gain 100) - 57 subs @ 120 Seconds

Calibration: 50 Bias, 30 Darks, 0 Flats

​Processing: Deep Sky Stacker, Adobe Photoshop, Topax Denoise AI, Astronomy Action Set plug in for PS, Astro Flat Pro plug in for PS

The Apple Core Nebula

Messier 27 (M27) as known as the Apple Core Nebula, is a planetary nebula in Vulpecula. M27 is approximately 1,360 light years away. Discovered by Charles Messier in 1764 who added it to his now famous catalog used by amateur astronomers around the world. A planetary nebula has nothing to do with planets but is created when a star blows off its outer layers after it has run out of fuel to burn. Our own sun will suffer this fate without some external intervention in some 5 billion years.

M27; Apple Core Nebula

Technical Info:

Optics: SGO 6" f/4 Imaging Newtonian @ 610mm FL

             Explore Scientific 2" HR Coma Corrector

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro

Filter: 2" Optolong L-Pro

Mount: Losmandy GM8

Guiding: QHY Mini Guide Scope + PHD2 Software

Acquisition: Sequence Generator Pro 

Exposure: Light (Gain 100) - 15 subs @ 120 Seconds

Calibration: 50 Bias, 30 Darks, 0 Flats

​Processing: Deep Sky Stacker, Adobe Photoshop, Topax Denoise AI, Astronomy Action Set plug in for PS, Astro Flat Pro plug in for PS

New Direction in Imaging - Sharpless Catalog

If anyone were to look at astrophotography on Facebook, flickr, Instagram, etc, there is a glut of all the famous and simpler objects. Everyone including me has done M81/M82, M51, and the list goes on.

I guess I want to walk a different path. Not for the publicity but for the adventure of doing something a little different. So I've chosen to pursue the Sharpless catalog of emission nebula as the base for what I'll go after. Sky and Telescope magazine had a really good article by Ron Beecher on the "Treasures of the Sharpless Catalog." It allows me to do two things I've wanted to do for a while:

1. Be a bit different than the mainstream
2. Do Mosaics

I'll be needing to do quite a few mosaics to get some of the larger Ha regions of our galaxy like the North American/Pelican nebula. One of the first objects from this catalog I'll be going for will require a 4 panel mosiac as shown below.

So, like Bilbo Baggins, I'm going on an adventure!

QHY5L-II with QHY mini-guide scope 130mm - Image scale calculation

From: http://celestialwonders.com/tools/imageScaleCalc.html

Settings Experimental Nights coming up

Night 1

1. Nail down auto focusing steps.

Night 2

1. PHD2 settings with ASCOM camera and Zfilter Algorithm
2. 120 Second Exposures with Gain 200 and Offset 50.
3. 120 Second Exposures with Unity Gain.

100 Percent Automation attempt tonight - M101, M109, Trifid Nebula

100 Percent Automation attempt tonight - M101, M109, Trifid Nebula

The Pinwheel Galaxy - M101 - Starting to collect data

Starting collecting data on M101 not so much for having it as I've done it with a camera lens before but for working on something with a lot of color.

After being woken up with PHD warnings on the other object I was shooting (scope was then pointing at my neighbor's siding) I thought I'd switch over to M101... and then go back to bed.

Got 61 minutes of integration. I'd like to get 4 total hours before publishing to FB/Instagram.

Whale and Crowbar Galaxies

Whale and the Crowbar or Hockey Stick Galaxies.

NGC 4631 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. The galaxy's shape gives it the appearance of a whale. It is located 30 million light years from Earth. NGC 4656/57 is a warped barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici and is nicknamed the Crowbar Galaxy.

Last frame is a single frame with a satellite running through it.

191, 60 second exposures stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and processed in Photoshop.

Capture Information:

Optics: SGO 6" f/4 Imaging Newtonian @ 610mm FL
Explore Scientific 2" HR Coma Corrector
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
Filter: 2" Optolong L-Pro
Mount: Losmandy GM8
Guiding: QHY Mini Guide Scope + PHD 2
Acquisition: Sequence Generator Pro
Exposure: Light (Gain 100) - 191 subs @ 60 Seconds
Calibration: 50 Bias, 50 Darks, 50 Flats
​Processing : Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker, Adobe Photoshop