The Pelican Nebula from the City
Images
Pickering’s Triangle on Nov 18, 2020
Comet Close Approach – ATLAS (C/2020 M3 (ATLAS))
A very dark sky would have made quite a difference for this comet, but to me it is almost too small to be worthy of a trip to the boonies just for this guy. A runt comet. lol
This was taken from a Bortle 7-8 zone in a Metro area with the Optolong L-eNhance filter, my QHY183c camera and Televue TV-85 telescope.
It was moving very fast and exposures of two minutes showed slight trailing. I made a star-streaks version with some 3×5 minute simulated exposures and 4×3 minute simulated exposures. The actual sub-images were 30 seconds and SharpCap was used to LiveStack the simulated exposures. Here it is below:
This was taken before the 1st image, so you can see how far that sucker moved in the intervening time.
Thor’s Helmet
“Thor’s Helmet,” aka NGC 2359. First time I ever shot this with any camera. For years I’ve passed this guy up for bigger or better objects nearby, but not on this night. It was a main goal for this night’s imaging session. It did not get high enough to image until 2:00 am here and I took a nap as soon as I started it going. Luckily, I got enough data before sunrise to make a half-decent final image
UPDATE Nov 13, 2020:
More time added with 30×120 sec sub-images at Gain 20, offset 200 to the above. Total time 3 hrs, 22 min.
Horse Head and Flame Nebula in Full Moon Conditions
I was killing time while waiting for Thor’s Helmet to get into position, so I shot the Horsehead and Flame Nebula region. I used Fitsworks to crop out the dithering artifacts and set a black point and do the initial color balance. Photoshop and some hue and saturation adjustments to finish it off. Then, one pass with color blotch action and one horizontal banding removal action later and this is how it came out. A few other tweaks were done, too. Not too bad for the minimal effort and a full moon night.
The Bubble Nebula and M52 Open Cluster During a Full Moon
Halloween 2020 – Hunter’s Full Moon (Blue Moon)
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.