C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on Feb 10, 2023, 03:43 UT. 15×120 sec, unity gain, offset 30, QHY294C-Pro at -10C, UV/IR filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on Feb 10, 2023, 01:30 UT. 40×120 sec, unity gain, offset 30, QHY294C-Pro at -10C, UV/IR filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on Feb 10, 2023, 01:30 UT. 40×120 sec, unity gain, offset 30, QHY294C-Pro at -10C, UV/IR filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
It was a clear Thursday afternoon and early evening, Feb 9th, 2023 (Feb 10th in Universal Time after 6pm here in Cajun Country,) when I tried to image Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) again. The clearing didn’t last long, however. Clouds interrupted and got into many of the sub-images. In one case of 30+ sub-images, half had to be eliminated.
But, what I did manage to get was good enough to produce several star-freeze versions and at least one star-streaks version of the comet on this night. Plus, as a bonus one more deep sky object.
C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on Feb 10, 2023, 01:30 UT. 40×120 sec, unity gain, offset 30, QHY294C-Pro at -10C, UV/IR filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on Feb 10, 2023, 03:37 UT. 31×120 sec, unity gain, offset 30, QHY294C-Pro at -10C, UV/IR filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on Feb 10, 2023, 01:21 UT. 40×120 sec, unity gain, offset 30, QHY294C-Pro at -10C, UV/IR filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
This one was processed as an arcsinh (color) stretch that seems to work for this exposure and didn’t with other stacks. This is the same data as the above image, btw. Different take and look.
C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on Feb 10, 2023, 01:21 UT. 40×120 sec, unity gain, offset 30, QHY294C-Pro at -10C, UV/IR filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
I had good luck on the Rosette for a short run from about 11:30 PM till midnight, which is when the moon rose. The data was good and cloud free. Despite the lack of exposure, it was adequate enough to get this level of a display image:
With a very nice comet in the sky, I decided it was time to break down and get the camera I’ve wanted since the advent of the CMOS cooled-camera revolution. It’s the QHY294C-Pro, an 11MP camera with low noise, 14bit output and a larger chip than the QHY183c.
I immediately noticed how much less noise it has than the old CMOS camera and how sensitive it is. I should have got this one in the beginning.
A quick test was done on the Orion Nebula region for 30 minutes of exposure. It came out better than some of my hours long attempts with the old camera or my DSLR. Plus, the nearly full moon was out and produced a very harsh gradient and strong vignetting. The flat I used was for a different orientation of the camera, so it did not fully remove the vignetting, but it got all the dust motes that were on my UV/IR filter and sensor cover. (I should have blew off the dust on both before starting out, I guess. lol)
I cropped the image above down a bit. Here’s another version with different color balance and it is the full field, uncropped original:
First light image – The Orion Nebula and Running Man Nebula. 60×30 sec, Unity Gain (1600,) Offset 60, QHY294C-Pro, UV/IR filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6 (480 mm.)
BTW, no dark calibration in the above image. It was a straight raw stack. I covered the scope after the above test and shot darks in prep for what I was really after.
This was my main target, Comet C/2023 E3 ZTF. It was highest in the sky at 8:30 PM local time and I started imaging it right before that. I spent several hours on it, but this image is just the first 1.5 hours of that time.
BTW, my friends at Televue Optics, Inc., liked the above comet image enough to use it on their blog. The post is about comet imagers using Televue equipment for their shots. It is linked here: Televue Optics Blog – Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) Imagers
Here’s another version with a less red background color from the moon’s interference:
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on Feb 4th, 2023, 2:30-4:00 UT. 107 x 60 sec at unity gain, offset 60, QHY294C-Pro, UV/IR filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
A nearly full moon was out and in the same quadrant of the sky as the comet. Moonlight this bright is tough to deal with and creates some very harsh gradients. Luckily I took some flats the next morning and was able to use them to help minimize that issue.
NGC 4565 Edge-On Galaxy. 222 x 60 sec at unity gain, offset 60, QHY294C-Pro at -10C, UV/IR filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.M83 Southern Pinwheel Galaxy. 95 x 60 sec at unity gain, offset 60, QHY294C-Pro at -10C, UV/IR filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
Last but not least, were two galaxies I imaged to test the resolution and sensitivity of the new camera. The image scale lacks for galaxies, but the color and low noise were outstanding.
Remember, all of these were taken on a bright moonlit night a day or so before full moon. I would say the first light test was a major success!
Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF. 16×300 sec @ gain 11, offset 17, QHY183c at -15C, UV/IR Filter, TPO/Askar 40mm F/4.5.
Comet C/2022 E3 was where Earth was passing through the comet’s orbital plane and we got to see a strong anti-tail during the passage.
While waiting on the comet, I imaged a few nebula. None of them serious attempts.
The Witch Head Nebula. 22×300 sec, gain 11, offset 17, QHY183c at -20C, UV/IR filter, TPO/Askar 40mm F/4.5.M78. 8×60 sec at gain 30, offset 17, QHY183c at -20C, TPO/Askar 40mm F/4.5.
Normally I avoid doing anything on Friday the 13th. lol. But, since astronomical time is Greenwich Mean Time, the 13th ended at 6:00PM CST, so I was good. Ha!
The Orion Nebula and Friends. 37×2 (core,) 22 x 300 sec, Gain 11, Offset 17, QHY183c at -20C, Astronomic L-3 UV/IR filter, TPO (Askar) 180mm, F/4.5.
I imaged 3 objects this night. One was the object above, the Orion Nebula (and friends,) one was the Flaming Star Nebula and I shot about 2.5 hours of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF.)
Equipment used was an Askar 180mm F.L., F/4.5 scope (40mm objective,) an Astronomic L-3 UV/IR filter and a QHY183c camera, and an Atlas EQ-G with EQMOD.
Here’s the Flaming Star. I missed the focus on this. I threw away several processing attempts before salvaging what I could for this display image. Oh, well… next time.
The Flaming Star Nebula (and friends.) 33 x 300 sec, Gain 11, Offset 17, QHY183c at -20C, Astronomic L-3 UV/IR filter, TPO (Askar) 180mm, F/4.5.
Next, after waiting till 2:30-3:00 AM, I took images of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). It is small and still kind of dim, but has a long, faint tail. I have two data sets with about an hour each of exposure.
Star Freeze version of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). 11×300 sec, guided on the comet, Gain 11, Offset 17, QHY183c at -20C, Astronomic L-3 UV/IR filter, TPO (Askar) 180mm, F/4.5.Star Streaks version of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). 11×300 sec, guided on the comet, Gain 11, Offset 17, QHY183c at -20C, Astronomic L-3 UV/IR filter, TPO (Askar) 180mm, F/4.5.tar Freeze version of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). 12×300 sec, guided on the comet, Gain 11, Offset 17, QHY183c at -20C, Astronomic L-3 UV/IR filter, TPO (Askar) 180mm, F/4.5.Star Streaks version of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). 12×300 sec, guided on the comet, Gain 11, Offset 17, QHY183c at -20C, Astronomic L-3 UV/IR filter, TPO (Askar) 180mm, F/4.5.
M31 – 10×180 sec, Gain 11, Offset 30, QHY183c at -20C, UV/IR filter, TPO 40mm, F/4.5.
Only 30 minutes of exposure for this test image of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) with a TPO 180mm F/4.5 Ultrawide Astrophotography Lens. Askar is the OEM and the lens is a small APO triplet with 40mm objective that has 2 elements of FPL-53 glass and includes a triplet reducer/flattener, making it a sextuplet full-frame astrograph. The spot diagram for this lens shows that it doesn’t quite produce perfectly round star images, however, even at the center. But, some of that is correctable during post-processing and the lens produces a pretty flat image regardless.
I also did 70×3 min subs for the Veil Complex that I took before the M31 set. That turned out like this:
Veil Complex. 70 x 180 sec, Gain 11, Offset 100, QHY183c at -20C, UV/IR filter, Askar 40mm, F/4.5.
Here is a lighter version:
Veil Complex, lighter version. 70 x 180 sec, Gain 11, Offset 100, QHY183c at -20C, UV/IR filter, Askar 40mm, F/4.5.
The middle of a work week and I go and pull an all-nighter imaging session. Weather was too good to pass up the chance. I must be insane or obsessed – or both. lol
It was worth it. I got some good data and was able generate these 3 images so far. They’re still in the preliminary stages, though. Each were essentially saved as seen from SharpCap v4’s LiveStack module. I just did some basic adjustments in PS to make them pretty but are not the final product. I’ve been so busy with work and also recuperating from a bout of some kind of a stomach bug that I haven’t had time to devote to make final renditions.
I got 3 hrs for M31 and about an hour each for the Orion and Horse Head Nebulae. I used 5 minute sub-images for most of this session. I little too long for my mount’s sometimes iffy guiding, perhaps, but mostly correctable in final post-processing, which I will eventually get to.
Update: Finished the Orion Nebula / Running Man post-processing job and also work on the very first image taken during this session, the Eagle Nebula. I actually got the Eagle going first and then put it on the back burner, since I did not have very much time on it.
Eagle Nebula (Pillars of Creation.) 11×240 sec, Gain 11, Offset 100, QHY183c at -20C, UV/IR filter, Astro-Teech AT60ED at F/4.8.Orion and Running Man Nebulae – 12×300 sec, Gain 11, Offset 17, QHY183c at -20C, UV/IR Filter, Astro-Tech AT60ED at F/4.8.
Update 10/31/22: Finished the Horse Head and Andromeda Galaxy post-processing:
Horse Head Nebula on Oct 20, 2022. 10 x 5 min, Gain 10, Offset 0, QHY183c at -20C, UV/IR filter, Astro-Tech AT60ED at F/4.8.Andromeda Galaxy on Oct 20, 2022. 36 x 5 min, Gain 11, Offset 17, QHY183c at -20C, UV/IR filter, Astro-Tech AT60ED at F/4.8.
Lagoon Nebula – 7×240 sec, Gain 11, Offset 100, QHY183c at -20C, UV/IR filter, Astro-Tech AT60ED at F/4.8.The North America Nebula – 26×240 sec, Gain 11, Offset 100, QHY183c at -20C, UV/IR filter, Astro-Tech AT60ED at F/4.8.
I managed to get 2 good images for a short imaging session on Oct 14, 2022 (Oct 15, UT.) I was at my new location on a pretty clear night (at first) and getting good sub-images without any LP filters. Clouds came and eventually shut me down at about 10:30 PM that evening, however. Plus, the moon had risen by that time and would have ended the session anyway. I was lucky to get what I got, I guess.
Both images were captured in SharpCap 4.x and needed very little processing. I wanted to do a mosaic of the North America nebula, but it was not to be that evening. But, I did have some duo-band filtered data taken from the city that was pretty good, so I combined it to do a mosaic anyway:
Combined data of the NA nebula using the data from this session and data taken in June of 2021.
Veil Nebula, Oct 1, 2022. 7 x 240 sec, Gain 11, Offset 100, 65×30 sec, Gain 30, Offset 60, QHY183c at -15C/-20C, UV/IR filter, Astro Tech AT61ED at F/4.8.
I have a new imaging location I tested out for this session. I only shot one object, the Veil nebula, with various exposures to see what the results would be. No filters except a UV/IR (clear) and exposures up to 4 minutes per sub-image.
This is 7×4 minute subs plus 65×30 sec subs for a total of about an hour of integration. I could have almost doubled the 4 min exposures to 8, since the LP was minimal. But, I only had darks up to 4 minutes long and was not going to burn time shooting more, so those were the longest.
Conditions were very good, very transparent, average seeing and not too cold. I was not prepared to stay all night, unfortunately and I should have brought along my insulated coveralls. It got a little chilly just sitting at the computer and not moving.
Update: I had some data of the same object taken from the city using an L-eNhance filter and the same scope, so I mixed a little bit of that in as luminance for just the nebula to see how that would look:
Enhanced with 1 hr of additional L-eNhance Filter Data from a previous session (just the Nebula.)
Combined data – 32×180 sec taken with TV-85 and 35×180 sec taken with AT60ED.
RegiStar let me combine two shots, one from Nov 2021 and one from Jan 2021, both taken with my QHY183c camera, but with two different telescopes. Both were from the same location – a very light polluted metro area, using a Baader UHC-S L-Booster filter.
I am pleased that the UHC-S filter has this much response to blue reflection nebula while keeping out the enormous amount of LP that I have to shoot through here in the city.
Images of Comets, Nebulae, Galaxies and Star Clusters
