Category Archives: Star Clusters

Imaging Session June 20th, 2020

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.

Supernova in M61! Another M13 Globular Shot, Too.

Supernova SN2020jfo in M61. 248×30 sec, Gain 30, Offset 31, Bin 2, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6. Detail Crop.
Supernova SN2020jfo in M61. 248×30 sec, Gain 30, Offset 31, Bin 2, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.  Full field view.

 

I imaged the galaxy above and the globular below on Sunday, May 10, 2020.  Very nice weather that day and a pretty good evening, too.   Being I had to work the next day, I cut the session short and only got data on two objects.

 

M13 Globula Cluster. 100×30 sec, Gain 42 and 1hr (60×60 sec) at Gain 30, Offset 31, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.

Imaging Session April 30, 2020

M63, the Sunflower Galaxy. 121×60 sec @ Gain 30, Offset 15, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6
M5 Globular Cluster.. 172×60 sec @ Gain 30, Offset 15, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6
M27 Planetary Nebula. 60×60 sec @ Gain 30, Offset 15, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6

The Sunflower Galaxy was the second time this year for imaging it, so I combined the two data sets and got this detail view below.  It is 3.77 hrs total time:

M63, the Sunflower Galaxy. 152×30 sec, Gain 42, 121×60 sec @ Gain 30, Offset 15, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.

Imaging Session April 29, 2020

The Moon on Apr 29, 2020. Televue TV-85 at F/5.6, QHY183c, UHC-S filter.
Comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4) on Apr 30, 2020 UT. 20×60 sec, Gain 30, Offset 15, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S Filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
M81 & M82 Galaxies, 3hrs on Apr 29, 2020. 180×60 sec, Gain 30, Offset 15, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
M12 Globular Cluster on Apr 30, 2020. 70×60 sec, Gain 30, Offset 15, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.

These are all the objects I managed to image on the night of Wednesday, April 29, 2020 and on into Thursday morning.  SharpCap 3.2 LiveStacking with dark and flat calibration plus dithering was used for acquisition.  Only minimal processing for all of these captures in Fitsworks and PS CS3.

I was trying not to waste a very clear evening after a storm had moved through earlier that day.  Not too bad, I guess.

M67 Open Cluster in Cancer

M67 Open Cluster on Feb 22, 2020. 50×30 sec @ Gain 37, Offset 15, QHY183c cooled to -20C, UHC-S filter, TV-85 at F/5.6, SharpCap 3.2 LiveStacking with Dither.

A quickie of M67.   Marginal conditions with seeing and only average transparancy.  But, you have to take what you can get in February.   Hopefully, we’ll get more than just one or two nights of good skies in March.