Witch’s Broom Nebula – 90×30 sec, QHY183c, -25C cooling, Gain 30, Offset 5, UHC filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
After a few all-nighters during the recent good weather we’ve been having down here in Cajun Country, I must say I’m worn out. LoL. But, I had lots of fun shooting very dim objects through Bortle Red Zone skies that I would have never thought would let me capture what I did. Modern progress with astro-filters and more sensitive cameras save the day! Plus, none of the stuff I bought broke the bank.
Since I shot the Eastern Veil with the new setup, I had to try the western part, aka the Witch’s Broom. It was easy with the QHY183c and a cheap UHC filter. I got 45 minutes worth of 30 second sub-images and they stacked automatically in SmartCap 3.2. Star colors could be better, but this is about normal for a UHC filter shot. The red channel was not quite in focus, however. I fixed it after acquiring the data for the above image.
I shot 3 other objects on this night, Gamma Cas, M33 (again) and the Horse Head Nebula, with 2 of them completed. I got clouded out during the last session with the Horse Head. Below are the results:
Gamma Cas – 75×30 sec, QHY183c, Gain 30, -25C, UHC filter, TV-85 at F/5.6.M33 – 10×120 sec, QHY183c, Gain 30, -25C, UHC filter, TV85 at F/5.6.
M27 – 90×30 sec, QHY183c at -25C, Gain 30, UHC filter, TV-85 at F/5.6.M27 – Close Crop Detail at 100% Res. 90×30 sec, QHY183c at -25C, Gain 30, UHC, TV-85 @ F/5.6.Eastern Veil Nebula – 103×30 sec, QHY183c at -25C, Gain 30, Offset 25, UHC filter, TV-85 at F/5.6.M31 – 90×30 sec, QHY183c at -25C, Gain 30, UHC filter, TV-85 at F/5.6.M33 – 30×30 sec, QHY183c at -25C, Gain 30, UHC filter, TV-85 at F/5.6.M45 – 100×30 sec, QHY183c at -25C, Gain 30, UHC filter, TV-85 at F/5.6.M42 – 40×30 sec, QHY183c at -25C, Gain 30, UHC filter, TV-85 at F/5.6.
What a night! My new QHY183c astro camera worked really well once I had it hooked to a computer that could handle the 20MP downloads and live stacking requirements of SharpCap 3.2. I used my older Panasonic ToughBook for controlling the scope and the guiding while another laptop, a Toshiba i7-based unit, was used for image acquisition and live-stacking. I was able to bag six objects with this setup before I had to turn in and get some sleep.
(BTW, EAA is Electronically Assisted Astronomy. It is a way to “observe” from a light-polluted metro area with real-time captures and strong LP filters on a computer using highly sensitive astro cameras.)
SharpCap 3.2 works really well on the faster machine but not on the ToughBook. The USB 3 port and it’s 2.5Ghz processor are just not powerful enough, I guess. I will have to tuneup the Toshiba to do all the stuff the ToughBook was doing and live-stack with SharpCap, all at the same time. Hopefully, I’ll take care of that soon.
M104, the Sombrero Galaxy. Taken in May of 2008, revamped in May of 2018. 7×300 @ ISO 800, Canon XT, TV-85 at F/5.6
One of my favorite galaxies. I like all edge-on galaxies and this one has a uniqueness to it that makes it special. The original had a splotchy background and the color was muted and dull. I increased saturation and shifted the color balance to be more bluish. I used the add noise PS filters to get the background to look smoother.
NGC 891 on Dec 12, 2017. 60×20 sec @ 1832 Gain, RT Sony IMX224, TV-85 at F/5.6, SharpCap 2.9.
This version of the Outer Limits Galaxy came out better than my first go of it with the Rising Tech IMX224 cam, even though it seems to be slightly out of focus. I bet I will be trying again soon, since I think it could be better with the right exposure/gain, location and of course, better focus. 🙂
M51 Spiral Galaxy on 12/13/2017. 81×20 sec @ 1832 Gain, Rising Tech Sony IMX224, Televue TV-85, SharpCap 2.9.
Here’s an object I’ve been itching to shoot with the RT IMX224 cam. This is only 27 minutes worth of 20 sec exposures! 🙂
I think that between 500 and 1000 subs would really be what this object needs with this setup. In the meantime, I put the above image together with 25 minutes of DSLR camera data taken with the same scope. Check it out:
M51 – 27 minutes IMX224 and 25 minutes with a DSLR (at a dark site) combined.
M82 Galaxy on Dec 11, 2017. 333 x 8 sec @ 2098 Gain, RT IMX224, SharpCap 2.9, TV-85 at F/5.6.
I imaged this galaxy with the Rising Tech Sony IMX224-based Eyepiece/Guider cam the other night. It could use more time, but what I did get shows it well enough. Color on the stars were lacking since the gain settings I was using washed them out.
M103 Open Cluster. 10×15 sec, 30×8 sec, 540×2 sec @ 2000 Gain. RT Sony IMX 224, TV-85 at F/5.6.M15 Globular Cluster. 9×8 sec, 47×2 sec @ 2000 Gain. RT Sony IMX 224, TV-85 at F/5.6.NGC 891 Edge-On Galaxy. 152×4 sec @ 2000 Gain. RT Sony IMX224, TV-85 at F/5.6.Gamma Cass Ghost Nebula. 50×8 sec @ 2000 Gain. RT Sony IMX 224, TV-85 at F/5.6.The Little Dumb Bell Nebula. 100×8 sec @ 2000 Gain. RT Sony IMX 224, TV-85 at F/5.6.
Here is a roundup of objects I was able to see during my most recent Electronically Assisted Astronomy (EAA) observing session. These were taken in a Bortle Red zone and under a nearly full moon on Dec 1, 2017.
Cassiopeia region including M31, wide angle view. 6×300 sec @ ISO 1600, Sigma 28-70 Zoom at 28mm, F/2.8, Astronomic CLS filter. North is to the right in this view.
By luck I framed this one with M31 and the Cassiopeia region and got all the good nebulae that were in the area to boot. You can see the Heart and Soul Nebulae, the PacMan Nebula, emission nebula NGC 7822, and other smaller nebulae like the one near Gamma Cass. The Double Cluster is there along with lots of other open clusters.
It is not the best lens and I did do some distortion correction in PS. It was a little difficult to process since this was the first time I used the Astronomik CLS filter. Before, I had one light pollution filter and two cameras, so I finally got another one so they both have one. All I need now is a small mount for light loads like the setup I used here and I could get two cameras going at the same time. Yeah, buddy! 🙂
M51 Spiral Galaxy on Apr 22, 2017, 03:23 UT. 5×300 sec @ ISO 1600, IDAS-LPS, Canon T3, TV-85 at F/5.6.
I was testing the rig on this as the first thing after getting all my gear setup. It was only 5 sub-images. I stopped when Comet Johnson got high enough to shoot.
The full size, full res original is fun to poke through since there are many faint fuzzies in this area, which makes it interesting. I also have a cropped version below:
M51 Spiral Galaxy on Apr 22, 2017, 03:23 UT. 5×300 sec @ ISO 1600, IDAS-LPS, Canon T3, TV-85 at F/5.6. Close-cropped version.
Images of Comets, Nebulae, Galaxies and Star Clusters
