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NGC 246 - the interesting and quite large 'Skull' planetary nebula in Cetus. 26th December 2008. 12"LX200ACF OTA at f7, SBIG ST10XME with Astrodon filters and AO-8. Luminance 12 x 5 minutes, RGB 5 (blue 4) x 5 minutes. The central star is a double - the box in the top right corner is a less stretched crop showing the duplicity. |
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Although the data for this image of Messier 1 - the Crab nebula in Taurus - was collected on the nights of 29th November and 18th December, I overlooked it and didn't process it until November 2009! But it belongs here. ST-10XME on 12" LX200R with AO8. Luminance 20 x 5 minutes, RGB each 6 x 2.5 minutes binned 2x2. (Cropped from full frame - some of the frames were slightly rotated on different nights.) |
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NGC 2237, the Rosette Nebula in Monoceros responds well to narrowband filters, and I revisited it on 6th and 7th December. Here are a couple of variations to choose from - the first using Ha, O3, S2 as RGB, the second is the Hubble Palette, S2, Ha, O3, with the Ha (green) held back to prevent excessive greenness! Luminance 15 x 10 minutes H-alpha, colour each 7 x 10 minutes, OIII, SII, Ha from luminance frames. SBIG ST10XME, TMB 105 with .8 WO reducer, AO-8 |
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In Taurus near Alnath, the large but very faint supernova remnant Simeis 147, also known as Sharpless 240, really needs high altitude contrasty sky and professional standard instruments to get fine detail, for example this APOD I got a partial image of this a couple of years ago, but with a succession of clear nights had another go. Same 135 mm lens as last time, but the larger chip of the ST10 re the Art 285 captured the whole thing. The small nebulosity near the left edge is SH 242. Narrowband helps! All luminance taken on 1st. December. Yes, the sky cleared beautifully a few hours AFTER the occultation of Venus which was clouded out - Sod's law in spades!! Luminance 10 x 15 minutes ( I had another 10 from an earlier night, but they were taken in very poor seeing, and combining them with the later 10 bloated the stars a bit - pity to waste all that data but....) RGB each 6 x 5 mins Ha, OIII, SII. |
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The beautiful planetary nebula NGC 1514 in Taurus, 29th November 2008. Meade 12" LX200R OTA at f10, SBIG ST10XME, Astrodon filters, AO-8. Luminance 15 x 5 minutes, RGB each 5 x 5 minutes. |
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B33, the Horsehead nebula in Orion, 24th and 27th November Meade series 5000 127 mm refractor, SBIG ST10XME camera with AO-8. Astronomik narrowband filters. Luminance 17 x 10 minutes Ha, RGB Ha, OIII, SII each 5 x 10 minutes (I used 5 of the already captured Ha) |
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NGC 891, edge on galaxy in Andromeda. 25th, 26th and 28th October 2008. Luminance 38 x 10 minutes, RGB each 8 x 3 minutes, binned 2x2. ST10XME and AO-8 on 12" LX200ACF OTA at f10, Astrodon filters. This image was published as Picture of the Month in the April 2009 edition of Sky at Night magazine. |
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NGC 7479 barred spiral galaxy in Pegasus. 24th and 28th October 2008. SBIG ST10XME with AO-8, Astrodon filters, 12" LX200ACF OTA at f10, Luminance 8 + 8 x 10 minute subs, RGB each 8 x 3 minutes binned 2x2 |
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IC 5146, the Cocoon nebula in Cygnus. 23rd and 26th September 2008. 12" LX200ACF OTA at f7, ST10 XME with AO-8. Luminance Astronomik Ha filter, 1 x 10 minute and 15 x 15 minute subs. Red H-alpha, Green O3, Blue S2, each 6 x 15 minute subs. |
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vdB 141 nebula in Cepheus. This bright nebula with associated dust cloud is popularly known as The Ghost Nebula for obvious reasons! 20th and 28th September and 5th October LX200ACF OTA at f7, SBIG ST10-XME with Astrodon filters and AO-8. Luminance 29 x 10 minutes, RGB each 12 x 4 minutes binned 2x2. This image appeared in the November 2008 'Practical Astronomer' |
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Messier 17, the 'Swan'/'Omega' nebula in Sagittarius. 8th August 2008, Les Granges, France 4" Genesis refractor, ST10XME, AO-8 and narrowband filters. Luminance 6 x 10 minutes Ha, GB each 6 x 4 minutes O3 and S2, Ha again used to provide Red. (See here for a flight of fancy!) This image was 'Picture of the Month' in the November 2008 'Astronomy Now' magazine |
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Messier 31, the Great Galaxy in Andromeda. 2nd August 2008 at Les Granges, France. SBIG ST10XME with ZS66 and 0.8 reducer, Luminance 5 x 5 minutes, RGB each 5 x 2 minutes. |
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Markarian's Chain in Virgo. 4th April 2008 at Kielder. SBIG ST-4000XCM one-shot colour camera (belonging to a friend), TMB105 with f7 reducer. 7 x 10 minutes. |
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NGC 2685 - the Helix or Spindle galaxy. Peculiar polar ring galaxy in Ursa Major. Also classified as Arp 336. Several imaging attempts during March 2008.
SBIG ST8XME and 12" LX200 ACF at f10 (cropped from full frame). Luminance 22 x 15 minutes, RGB each 5 x 5 minutes binned 2x2 This image was published in the May 2008 issue of Practical Astronomer |
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Clavius and Tycho Lunar crater area. 16th February 2008. Artemis 285 and 12" LX200 ACF at f10. Individual exposure times 1/50th second. I used a Red filter to improve contrast. |
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Messier 96 spiral galaxy in Leo. 12th February 2008. SBIG ST-8XME, 12" LX200 ACF at f10, AO-8. Luminance 1 x 8 min + 12 x 10 mins RGB each 8 x 3 mins binned 2x2, Astrodon filters. |
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NGC5394/5 (Arp 84) interacting galaxies in Canes Venatici. 11th and 12th February 2008. ST-8 on 12" LX200 ACF at f10, guided using AO-8. Luminance 13 x 10 minutes, RGB each 6 x 3 minutes binned 2x2. This image was published in the April 2008 issue of Astronomy Now |
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NGC 2403 spiral galaxy in Camelopardalis. 11th February 2008. ST-8 on 12" LX200 ACF at f7. Luminance 15 x 7 minutes, RGB each 5 x 3 minutes binned 2x2. North is up. |
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NGC 3718 in Ursa Major. SBIG ST-8 and AP 0.7 reducer on the 12" LX200R, with SBIG AO-8 'adaptive optics' unit. 11th January 2008. Luminance10 x 10 minutes, RGB each 4 x 4 minutes binned 2x2. |
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Other images I've seen of the Orion nebula area taken with a Canon 350D seem to come out well, so on 10th January 2008 I attempted it using my ZS66 refractor at native 388 mm focal length. Clouds were being a nuisance, but I managed 8 x 2 minute frames at ISO800. I'd hoped to get some shorter and longer ones to blend together, but no joy, so the core is a bit burnt out, and the fainter detail noisy. The Canon and Deep Sky Stacker are a great combination - it's actually fun! |
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