Moonrise!The Moon and Mars on Oct 2, 2020. TV-85 at F/5.6, QHY183c at -15C, L-eNhance Filter.
A beautiful evening for the Moon and Mars conjunction on October 2, 2020. Condition were so good that I was able to capture the moon rising behind a tree. Usually the muck is so thick at that altitude that I would not be able to get a good image, but this night it was extremely transparent.
The moonrise shot was a single frame. I had to do a composite for the still image of the Moon and Mars together. 10 frames were stacked in AutoStakkert of just the moon and 2 Mars frames were combined for the disk of Mars.
The MP4 video file is the first time I have tried including one in a astrophoto post. It is small enough in size to download in a reasonable amount of time. Video editing software I used was rudimentary and I really couldn’t get the background color corrected very well. I’ll have to find something that can do that job for future projects like this.
The Butterfly Nebula on Oct 2, 2020. 247×15 sec, Gain 37, Offset 200, QHY183c at -15C, L-eNhance filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
For a night with a full moon, this came out pretty good. Good transparency helped. Minimal processing with only color balance and saturation/hue adjustment tricks were used.
M16 – The Eagle Nebula on Oct 2, 2020. 40 minutes in 160×15 sec sub-images, TV-85 at F5.6, L-eNhance filter, QHY183c at -15C, Gain 37, Offset 200.M16 – The Eagle Nebula on Oct 2, 2020. 40 minutes in 160×15 sec sub-images, TV-85 at F5.6, L-eNhance filter, QHY183c at -15C, Gain 37, Offset 200. Cropped.
I shot this while waiting for the Moon and Mars to get higher in the sky on Friday, Oct 2nd, 2020. After shooting some moonrise shots, I turned the scope to this and got 40 minutes of sub-images before it went behind a tree.
It was also the first time I imaged using a generator for power and a battery backup unit to keep the scope running if I ran out of gas and had to refill the tank. I got a great deal on the generator that I could not pass up. It will work better in the field with my current imaging setup than the battery system I had before.
Trifid Nebula, M20 on Aug 21, 2020. 65×15 sec, Gain 30, Offset 218, Optolong L-eNhance filter, QHY183c at -10C, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
Here’s a very short run I did on the Trifid Nebula. An extra short quickie with only minimal processing. I was interrupted by a couple of young gents who saw me imaging in the front parking lot and wanted to see what I was up to. They also wanted to see Jupiter, so I obliged. By the time I got back to the Trifid, it was already about to go behind a tree. Oh, well…
I am hoping to get this object with about an hour of exposure at least, if not more. To that end, I added what I had taken before with my SN8 and Canon XT camera to see how it might look. The additional data was 54 minutes of 3 min ISO 800 subs. It is about a half-n-half blend:
Combined data from SN8 scope and Televue TV-85 scopes, about 70 minutes total.
M8, the Lagoon Nebula on Aug 21, 2020. 240×15 sec, Gain 30, Offset 218 QHY183c at -10C, Optolong L-eNhance filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
I had been wanting to get some data on this one for quite some time. Finally, a clear night with no big commitments the next work day came along on Thursday evening, Aug 20, 2020 and I got my chance.
I setup my rig in the front parking lot of the place where I stay at instead of the usual back alleyway. It was the only place to get a clear view without trees and street light glare interfering.
I used the Optolong L-eNhance filter, which works really well for this object. I did an hour’s worth of exposure, which was enough to tamp down the noise enough for a decent final image. It could use more and I might add to it later if I get the chance.
Witch’s Broom Nebula. 1.75 hours in 30 sec sub-images, gain 42, offset 150, QHY183c at -15C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.The Moon on Aug 8, 2020. 7 frames stacked with SharpCap 3.2 LiveStack, UHC-S filter, QHY183c at -15C, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.Pacman Nebula – 188×15 sec, Gain 30, Offset 150, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
The night of August 7th/8th, 2020 was relatively clear, but hot and slightly muggy. Average transparency at first and below average towards the end of the night. I wanted to get out to my dark sky site, but at the last minute decided to stay in the big city, being that the conditions were not ideal.
I observed quite a few things and did quickies on them and some of the images are not really worth being posted. Here is one below of the Ring Nebula, which was. I was actually after the little galaxy next to the ring, IC 1296, which my Canon cameras never showed despite shooting the ring with them from much darker locations. It is nearly 15th magnitude and even dimmer in blue light, where it predominantly radiates
Ring Nebula and IC 1296. 372×15 sec, QHY183c, Gain 30, Offset 50, -10C cooling, UHC-S filter, Televue TV85 at F/5.6.
Below is a rendition from previous sessions data and this nights efforts.
Ring Nebula and IC 1296. 34×30, 4×15 sec, Gain 42, Offset 100, 372×15 sec, Gain 30, offset 50, QHY183c -10C to -15C,, UHC-S filter, Televue TV85 at F/5.6.
Finally, with the Witch’s Broom Nebula data from this night and 2 other nights, I combined the data to make this updated rendition of the W. Veil/Witch’s Broom Nebula. Check it out:
Witch’s Broom Nebula, combined data. 90×30, 46×30 and 410×15 sec data sets all taken with the QHY183c camera and Televue TV-85.
Comet Neowise on Jul 25, 2020. 47×4 sec @ ISO 1600, Canon T3, IDAS-LPS, Sigma Zoom 28-70 at 70mm, F/4, tripod mounted.
The evening of Jul 25, 2020 was supposed to be clouded out. It was at first, but for a short time, a sucker hole opened and I was able to get a batch of sub-images of Comet NEOWISE. The total was 57×4 sec shots, but only 47 of those would stack correctly, so a little over 3 minutes of exposure. Too bad it wasn’t totally clear. Oh well, it is what it is.
I guess I am lucky to even get images. July is the worst month for an evening comet here along the Gulf coast. We have thunderstorms galore in the afternoons and left-overs of them for hours afterwards and into the evenings.
I did do another rendition of the 47×4 sec data set. This time I aligned on the comet when stacking and it helped it come out better than before. Surprising how much it moved in the short exposure run vs the background stars, which you can see by how long the stars are elongated in this version and the comet is not:
Comet Neowise on Jul 25, 2020. 47×4 sec @ ISO 1600, Canon T3, IDAS-LPS, Sigma Zoom 28-70 at 70mm, F/4, tripod mounted.
Comet Neowise in the Clouds, Jul 23, 2020. Canon T3 camera on a tripod, IDAS-LPS and 18×4 sec @ ISO 1600 sub-images, Sigma 28-70 Zoom at 70mm, F/4.
Comet Neowise in between clouds, Jul 23, 2020. It was probably the best night weather wise since Comet Neowise moved to the evening skies, but still too cloudy to bring out my bigger scope. I used a Canon T3 on a tripod with a Sigma 28-70 Zoom for this session.
The top image is stacked with more adaptive noise reduction/rejection and the bottom was a straight additive stack to max out the dimmest parts. All subs were dark and offset calibrated.
Comet Neowise in the Clouds, Jul 23, 2020. Canon T3 camera on a tripod, IDAS-LPS and 18×4 sec @ ISO 1600 sub-images, Sigma 28-70 Zoom at 70mm, F/4.
Not too bad for being in a Bortle 7 Red Zone and using only an IDAS-LPS filter. But, I need to get to a dark sky location (and some better weather) before this thing passes me by! LoL! Soon, hopefully.
Comet NEOWISE on July 9, 2020. 20 seconds of exposure using 8×2 sec and 1×4 sec sub-images. Canon T3 at ISO 400, Sigma 28-70 Zoom at 70mm, F/4. Camera on tripod. Taken from a metro location with Bortle 7 red zone light pollution levels.
Clear skies, but muggy and lots of muck to shoot through with it that low. It was the clearest morning so far since the comet became visible. That’s a dirt pile in the foreground, btw and not a mountain. LoL!
Below is an image that is a reprocess job on the data with a different color balance, slightly more sub-images and tighter cropping. I also did dark and offset calibration to try and reduce noise.
I was hoping it would come out better than the first one, but since conditions were sub-par to begin with, I guess I will just have to wait until it gets in the evening skies to get a better shot. Oh, well…
Comet NEOWISE on July 9, 2020. 48 seconds of exposure using 14×2 sec and 5×4 sec sub-images. Canon T3 at ISO 400, Sigma 28-70 Zoom at 70mm, F/4. Camera on tripod. Taken from a metro location with Bortle 7 red zone light pollution levels.
M22 Globular Cluster. Taken on Jun 20, 2020. 60×15 sec, QHY183c at -15C cooling, Gain 42, Offset 100, Baader UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6, Atlas EQ-G w/EQMOD. SharpCap 3.2 LiveStacking and PHD2 Guiding with dithering on. Metro area Bortle Red Zone, below average transparency.M22 Combined Data to Date with Jun 20, 2020 data as a base.Ring Nebula – M57. Taken on Jun 20, 2020. 48×15 sec, QHY183c at -15C cooling, Gain 42, Offset 100, Baader UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6, Atlas EQ-G w/EQMOD. SharpCap 3.2 LiveStacking and PHD2 Guiding with dithering on. Metro area, Bortle Red Zone, below average transparency .
Friday night, Jun 19th, 2020 was warm and muggy and clouds persisted till after 9:00 PM. It was predicted to clear, so I went to bed early and woke up just before 2:00 AM and setup my scope then. It was clear, but the transparency was poor and the humidity was still high.
I managed to get a decent amount of data on two objects, and I also peeked at 2 or 3 other things in between. M22, the globular cluster in the first image, was a secondary target and I really wanted to get the Omega Nebula and the Trifid Nebula nearby. My narrow window to image them was so small, however. Trees and streetlights were in the way. By the time I was ready to shoot, that area had moved out of position.
I had imaged M22 a few times, but with other scopes. I took all the data I had on it and recombined it to produce the 2nd image above. It is data from an 8″ Schmidt-Newt and a 6″ Schmidt-Newt, along with the data from the first image above.
The Ring Nebula was a quick peek that turned into a usable image. The full size image is a crop at 100% resolution of the central area. I was hoping to pick up that galaxy that is nearby to the Ring, but 48×15 sec sub-images wasn’t enough to bring it out.
However, I did have a stack of 34×30 sec sub-images taken in March that I blended this night’s data with and now you can see it, just barely, above and slightly left of the ring. Check it out:
Ring Nebula – M57. Taken on Mar 7 and Jun 20, 2020. 34×30 sec and 48×15 sec, QHY183c at -15C cooling, Gain 42, Offset 100, Baader UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6, Atlas EQ-G w/EQMOD. SharpCap 3.2 LiveStacking and PHD2 Guiding with dithering on. Metro area, Bortle Red Zone, below average transparency .
It looks like I need to get out of the big city to get the summertime nebulae targets like Omega and the Trifid. Late June and early July sometimes has clear skies and hopefully I’ll be lucky and get to a dark sky site before too long.
Images of Comets, Nebulae, Galaxies and Star Clusters
