Knight of Clear Skies

Very nice Rodd, would be nice to see these alongside a wider view. Looking at professional data the WISE set covers the entire sky, have you looked into that at all? I've been experimenting with Ha/IR composites as the visible Ha is just a skin on much larger hidden structures.

Here's the Angelfish Nebula with the Samyang. Just a 30 second exposure with the 6d for the starfield, taken last night during a small gap in the clouds, with about 40 minutes of Hα taken with the modded 1100D blended in using Photoshop.

Very successful first light.

Superb images.

Hustled outside in a biting wind last night to take advantage in a break in the clouds. I was after a quick colour starfield to blend with my Hα Angelfish from last year. Just had time to grab a 30 second exposure with the Samyang 135mm f2 before the cloud rolled across. I then blended in some Hα data taken with the Samyang and a 50mm lens using Photoshop. The Angelfish (Sh2-264) nebula is also known as the Lambda Orionis or Meissa ring, thought to be a supernova remnant. To see why you need to look at it in IR. This image makes use of data products from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I had a quick go at blending my image with some data from the WISE space telescope to make the composite above. As I understand it, the Hα signal is a relatively thin skin on a much larger structure. Notice the boundary at top-right between the most defined section of Hα and the warm dust, which provides shade from the UV light from Meissa. Also notice how much brighter Betelgeuse is than Bellatrix in IR. Hope you like the images, I enjoy matching up features in different wavelengths to better understand the structures of deep sky objects and the processes that shape them. I'm wondering if I can get hold of some radio data to show the full extent of the Orion molecular cloud. As a bonus, here's the body of Orion in Hα RGB.

Counted 27 from the edge of Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. But my nephews counted 18 from inside a town across the river from Southampton, perhaps their younger eyes would have counted more than me from down here?

I'll try and do a proper count this year if the skies cooperate. I've created a composite image to help promote the 2021 star count.

Nice work, not easy to pick anything out of Sirius' glare.

A composite I put together to show what's hiding in the constellation Orion. The middle panel is a short exposure which roughly corresponds with the number of stars that can be seen from a truly dark site. The right hand panel has an hour of H-alpha data blended in in an attempt to show the sheer scale of Barnard's Loop and the Angelfish Nebula in the sky, although it's not possible to do it justice in a photo. I also put together a version to support the CPRE 2021 star count.

Superb image, love the definition of the evaporating globules on the left. Am I right in thinking SH2-52 is the nebula at the top of this image or do I have my bearings wrong?

Looks like the visible OIII is centred on Xi Persei, which is the ionization source for the nebula. It's a runaway star lighting up part of a molecular cloud as it barrels past rather than a young star embedded in the nebula itself, which may account for the weak OIII signal. I had a quick go at making an Ha/IR composite using some low-res data from the WISE observatory.

Decent enough image but it's not focused on infinity, so doesn't help with the diagnostics I'm afraid. A quick snap of the Moon might be easiest way to test it.

Could be that the lens simply isn't reaching focus with the M42 adaptor, my modded 1100D had the sensor re-shimmed to ensure infinity focus with camera lenses. Another modded camera I've used will reach focus with some lenses but not others, it's fine with modern auto-focus lenses and telescopes as they will go past infinity but not all combinations of M42 lens and adaptor will work with it. Some adaptors are thicker than others and move the lens further from the body, a thinner one may work. Notice that the nebulosity isn't in focus. Alternatively it could be some kind of internal reflection in the lens, possibly a problem with the coatings. There were applied to the lens 50 odd years ago and who knows what's been done to them since (an overzealous cleaner might have worn them away). I'd recommend trying the camera with an auto-focus lens to confirm there isn't a problem there. You could also try the Takumar on a distant target in daylight, or on the Moon. Hope that's some help, in its current form at least it gives quite a nice artistic effect.

It was a single 1-minute exposure at ISO 800. I'm lucky to be shooting from the edge of a dark sky park and the comet was particularly well placed to the north, there are no towns in that direction until you hit the coast.

Superb, haven't seen a better one.

I shot it from Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, recognised by the IDA as a [dark sky landscape](https://www.darksky.org/bodmin-moor-first-uk-area-of-outstanding-natural-beauty-to-achieve-ida-dark-sky-park-status/). It wasn't quite full astro-dark but pretty close, the Milky Way was very bright.

Thanks everyone, glad I made the effort. Very clear, tail was a good 6 degrees to the naked eye. I was at a dark site on the edge of Bodmin Moor but I friend of mine was able to see it from Plymouth.

Thanks. Not a great deal, slight local contrast enhancement using Noel's actions in PS (layer on top and about a 30% blend). Interesting question. The ion tail is more affected by the solar wind than the dust. Possibly they could diverge more the further the comet is from the Sun as the radiation pressure drops off with distance? But it could be difficult to tell as the appearance depends more on the viewing angle.

Just a one minute exposure of comet C/2020 F3 from last night showing an ion tail at least ten degrees long. Samyang 135mm f2 and Canon 700D.

Thanks Rodd, think I'm looking in the right spot now.

Have I caught it in this wide but shallow mosaic or am I looking in the wrong place please?

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/astronomers-discover-huge-circular-arc-near-the-big-dipper/ 30 degrees long, that's three times the apparent size of Barnard's Loop. Here's the MDW survey image.

The 250D should be good for AP although it would require modification (removal of one of the IR filters) to give the best results on nebulae by improving its sensitivity to Hydrogen-Alpha emission. There are some very large DSOs up there that don't require long focal lengths to image. For example, this is a 2-minute exposure of M31 at 135mm after a quick image process, taken from a dak site.

The Takumar 135mm f3.5 is a good budget AP lens. This is my most recent effort with it, with Ha data blended in from my Samyang 135mm f2.

Agree with the above, I'd think more about the camera than the scope. I'd just like to add, guiding isn't essential with a low-read noise CMOS camera. This was taken with 30 second unguided subs using the 1600MM cool.