Category Archives: Nebulae

Orion’s Belt Mosaic

Orion’s Belt Mosaic. Upper frame is 50×60 sec @ ISO 3200, plus 40×60 @ ISO 6400. The lower frame is data from 2007, 31x180 sec ISO 1600 and 2013 data that includes 40x180 sec ISO 1600 sub-images.  Finally, there are 3×180 sec @ ISO 800. TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Modified Canon T3.
Orion’s Belt Mosaic. Upper frame is 50×60 sec @ ISO 3200, plus 40×60 @ ISO 6400. The lower frame is data from 2007, 31×180 sec ISO 1600 and some 2013 data that includes 40×180 sec ISO 1600 sub-images.  Finally, there are 3×180 sec @ ISO 800 sub-images that were taken on Nov 2, 2014.  Scope and camera used were a TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS filter and a Modified Canon T3.

Here’s one that’s in progress.  I shot this area over two nights.  I have very little of the Horse Head region from these sessions, but another 40 subs of the belt stars upper frame area.  I should be able to put something together with other data from older sessions and get a somewhat complete mosaic image. (Update: Yes, I was able to add some old data and smooth it out.)

Another M45

M45, The Pleiades. 40x120 sec @ ISO 3200, TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Modified Canon T3.
M45, The Pleiades. 40×120 sec @ ISO 3200, TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Modified Canon T3.

I had time to kill while waiting for Orion to get into position, so I shot 40 x 2 minute sub-images of the Pleiades at ISO 3200.  I did not spend much time in post processing this, but it came out half-decent regardless.

The PacMan Nebula

The PacMan Nebula. 38x300 sec @ ISO 1600, TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Modified Canon T3.
The PacMan Nebula. 38×300 sec @ ISO 1600, TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Modified Canon T3.

Over 3 hours worth of data in 5 minute ISO 1600 sub-images were used for this image of the PacMan Nebula.   It came out alright, I guess.  I didn’t have to do much noise reduction on it and it still seems reasonably smooth.

The Little Dumbbell Nebula – M76

The "Little Dumbell Nebula".  50 x 180 sec @ ISO 1600.  TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Modified Canon T3.
The “Little Dumbell Nebula”. 50 x 180 sec @ ISO 1600. TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Modified Canon T3.

Here is the “Little Dumbbell” Nebula, otherwise known as Messier 76, NGC 650/651, the Barbell Nebula, or the Cork Nebula.  It is a planetary nebula in the constellation Perseus.  I had never imaged it before, so now I finally got something on it.  

Gamma Cassiopeiae, IC59 & IC63

Gamma Cass, IC59, IC63 on Oct 25, 2014.   98x60" ISO 6400, TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Modified Canon T3.
Gamma Cass, IC59, IC63 on Oct 25, 2014. 98×60″ ISO 6400, TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Modified Canon T3.

The Gamma Cass area with the, “Ghost Nebula” (IC63) was an appropriate target for this time of year with Halloween just around the corner.  This was actually just a test run for how well ISO 6400 would work with 80-100 sub-images.  Click the image for an enlargement or click here to see the full size version.

Southern Sadr Region

Southern Sadr Region.  37x180" ISO 1600, TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Modified Canon T3.
Southern Sadr Region. 37×180″ ISO 1600, TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Modified Canon T3.

This is in Cygnus and is the middle star of the Cygnus cross, Sadr.   I love this area and it has so much nebulosity.   I really need to devote more time to it, as this is only a taste, it seems.

Comet Siding Spring Meets Mars

C/2013 A1/Mars Encounter, Oct 19, 2014. 10 x 180 sec @ ISO 1600, 20 x 60 sec @ ISO 6400, TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Modified Canon T3.
C/2013 A1/Mars Encounter, Oct 19, 2014. 10 x 180 sec @ ISO 1600, 20 x 60 sec @ ISO 6400, TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Modified Canon T3.

Update October 20, 2014:  The above image is an update with more time added.  Compare it to the image below which was made with only 20 minutes of data shot at ISO 6400 (20×60 sec sub-images.)  I took an additional 30 minutes of 3 minute sub-images at ISO 1600 and added it in, so the combined total is 50 minutes.

siding_spring-20x60-6400-85f5_6
Comet Siding Spring and Mars. 20×60 sec @ ISO 1600, TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Modified Canon T3.

Well, the big comet encounter of the year took place tonight, Oct 19, 2014 and Mars and Comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1) both survived.  LoL.   Seriously, it was a very close encounter if you had darkness when it was closest.  Here in southern Louisiana, it took place during daylight, so I had to catch it after closest approach as C/2013 A1 was bidding Mars farewell.

I had a strange night with some issues, but I managed to get some decent data and also lucked out with some good weather for this event.  This image is from the first set of images I took and it is a composite of comet-only processed and star background processed image stacks.  The comet moved a good distance in the twenty-five minutes it took to get the sub-frames, so I had to isolate it with different alignment and stacking techniques than I use for normal deep-sky images.

The Crescent Nebula Area – Mosaic

The Crescent Nebula Area. Mosaic of 117x60sec ISO 6400, 9x720" ISO400, 11x480" ISO800 (5.21 hrs.) Data acquired on Oct 17, 2014, Nov 2, 2013, Nov 6 & 7, 2010 and Oct 1, 2007.
The Crescent Nebula Area. Mosaic of 117x60sec ISO 6400, 9×720″ ISO400,
11×480″ ISO800 (5.21 hrs.) Data acquired on Oct 17, 2014, Nov 2, 2013, Nov 6 & 7, 2010 and Oct 1, 2007.

 

The Crescent Nebula Area. Mosaic of 117x60sec ISO 6400, 9x720" ISO400, 11x480" ISO800 (5.21 hrs.) Data acquired on Oct 17, 2014, Nov 2, 2013, Nov 6 & 7, 2010 and Oct 1, 2007.
The Crescent Nebula Area, Version 2. Mosaic of 117x60sec ISO 6400, 9×720″ ISO400,
11×480″ ISO800 (5.21 hrs.) Data acquired on Oct 17, 2014, Nov 2, 2013, Nov 6 & 7, 2010 and Oct 1, 2007.

A mosaic of the Crescent Nebula area.  Exposures from 4 different years were used.  The base image was acquired on Nov 2, 2013 and was 40x60sec ISO 6400.  I imaged it again on October 17, 2014 with 77 images and added that into the mix.  Two nights of imaging in Nov 2010 of 9×720″ ISO400, 11×480″ ISO800 sub-images were also added in (for a total of 5.21 hours integration time.)  Finally, data from an image of just the Crescent Nebula itself, taken with my SN-8 telescope was used and it was made with 57×180″ ISO 1600 sub-images taken on Oct 1, 2007.

I used RegiStar to manipulate the data.  The beauty of software like RegiStar is that it can combine data taken years apart.  In this case, over 7 years.  I was able to take the nebulosity caught with a high ISO stack of sub-images, but with a noisy background and combine it with stacks of subs taken at lower ISO values which had a much smoother background.   The stacked mosaic-like result let me bring out more of the dim nebulosity that pervades the Crescent Nebula area and keep the noise at bay, somewhat.  A little more detail in the Crescent itself was enhanced with data from my larger, 8″ scope.

I present a regular version and an enhanced, lighter version that was generated from the data in the first image with Starizona’s Levelizer plug-in for PS.