Knight of Clear Skies

It's a tough target for a DSLR. I did manage to capture it with the Samyang 135mm f2 lens, Ha filter and modded 1100D but I got a much better result with my 1600MM cool.

What's the capture details for that one please Uranium?

I've had some fun sessions recently but have drawn a complete blank on any deep imaging since the Spring, one way and another. AP is definitely an intermittent hobby in this country.

https://petapixel.com/2021/12/16/sony-unveils-groundbreaking-cmos-sensor-that-gathers-twice-the-light/?fbclid=IwAR0VQut5dBD2YgvBGul0I9-6wGqpkDgUvE8C0iUoaHSw2IQKNDeV8sC6FnE "Sony explains that typical image sensors place photodiodes and pixel transistors on the same substrate, but in this new design, it was able to separate them onto different substrate layers. The result is a sensor that approximately doubles the saturation signal level — basically its light gathering capability — which dramatically improves the dynamic range and reduces the noise."

I missed a few imaging sessions this Autumn when the actual weather turned out to be far better than either forecast I looked at. Most puzzling one I had was a night when the entire country was clear, but there was persistent cloud above me. I could see clear sky on the Eastern horizon but despite a brisk wind it just wasn't getting closer. I worked it out in the end by looking at Sat24. The updraught from Dartmoor was enough to trigger continuous cloud formation, leaving me clouded out while the rest of the country was completely clear. Weather is complex and tricksy.

Presented in a festive palette.

Here's a couple recent images using the Samyang, I've been experimenting with blending deep Ha images with quick colour starfields.

Indeed. Or try a large mosaic with single sub 30-second panes first to check how reliably it works.

In theory, yes, but this was my attempt at a mosaic of the entire Virgo Cluster. I couldn't see what I was doing as it was awkward to review two panels on my laptop screen. My attempts to work out or enter target coordinates went very wrong somewhere. I tend to favour simple low-tech solutions where possible but debugging an auto-mosaic setup could well be time-effective in the long run.

Yes, looking at the stars there doesn't appear to be any overlap in the centre.

Is that showing the edge of each frame? Looking at the asterisms I'm not seeing any overlap, so it's possible something went wrong with the framing.

Storm Arwen trucking past the observatory last night. Sounds like Scotland and NE England caught the brunt of it. Damage was minimal down here, an empty bin was knocked over.

It passes very close to M3 on 3rd December.

It also passes very close to M3 on the 3rd December.

Thanks for the heads up. Leonard could be naked-eye visible in December, so fingers crossed.

Went up to the Hurlers last month to take a few pictures. Got there in time for moonset, which by good luck was perfectly lined up with the Milky Way. Was a beautifully clear night, once my eyes fully adapted the Milky Way was showing a great deal of grainy structure.

Could a Chinese lantern be a possibility?

Looks very natural and unforced, and nicely framed to bring in the objects of interest.

Thanks Martin. I'm getting good results blending in very short runs of colour data with Ha images. The Samyang gives a nice starfield quickly, 30 seconds can be worthwhile. It's a handy technique for UK imaging, I grabbed the 12 minutes for the Cygnus image between gaps in the clouds, getting a little drizzle on the lens in the process.

That's a good result that will stand you in good stead for future imaging. Corner stars are looking decent and you haven't tried to push the image beyond what the data will support.

It's a literal as well as a figurative broom.

Fine catch you have there.

Great image, love the detail and subtle colours.

Last week I took the opportunity to snap a quick colour starfield between the clouds, so I could blend in a Ha mosaic I'd previously taken of the same region. While it's a particularly busy region much of the action is happening out of sight behind the dust of the Cygnus rift. I've labelled a couple objects of interest. On the left is the ionising source for both the NA and Pelican nebulae. The star J205551.3+435225 is a type O star with a surface temperature of 40,000k. If it wasn't dimmed by the intervening dust it would appear 10,000 times brighter, about as bright as Albireo. On the right is Cygnus OB2, home to some of the most massive and luminous known stars in out galaxy. The base starfield is just 6x2 minutes with the 6D. The Ha mosaic was 26x2 minutes per panel with the modded 1100D and Ha filter. In both cases I used the Samyang 135mm f2 lens. There is also a little data blended in from an old RGB image, to add some OIII. Hope you like it, any thoughts on the image would be welcome.

Great image, and not a target I was familiar with.