The Bubble Nebula and M52 Open Cluster During a Full Moon
Category Archives: Nebulae
Eastern Veil on Oct 11, 2020
The Helix Nebula on Oct 11, 2020
116 minutes in 15 sec sub-images (464×15.) QHY183c at -15C, Gain 37, Offset 200, L-eNhance filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6, SharpCap 3.2 LiveStacking with dark subtraction and dithering.
Taken from a metro area, Bortle 7-8 zone, the day after Hurricane Delta. Above average transparency and average seeing.
The Swan Nebula
200×15 sec, QHY183c at -15C, Optolong L-eNhance Filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6, SharpCap 3.2 LiveStacking w/Dither. Taken from a Bortle 7-8 zone metro area.
The Butterfly Nebula
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
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 in 16 Minutes
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:
M8, The Lagoon Nebula on Aug 21, 2020
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.
Imaging Session Aug 8th, 2020
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
Below is a rendition from previous sessions data and this nights efforts.
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:
Imaging Session June 20th, 2020
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:
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.