Petergoodhew

Abell 6, a small (188 arc seconds) planetary nebula in Cassiopeia that is overshadowed by it's larger, more flamboyant neighbour HFG 1. So I decided to give it more of the attention that I think it deserves by going deeper, and with higher resolution, than it normally receives. It was first catalogued by George Abell in 1955.

Image captured on my remote dual rig at Fregenal de la Sierra in Spain between 22-26 October 2021.
Scopes: APM TMB LZOS 152 Refractors
Cameras: QSI6120wsg8
Mount: 10Micron GM2000 HPS
A total of 65 hours 30 minutes image capture (HaOIIILRGB)
More details at: https://www.imagingdeepspace.com/abell-6.html

NGC 4490, also known as the Cocoon Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It is approximately 25 million light years from Earth. It interacts with its smaller companion NGC 4485 and as a result is a starburst galaxy. NGC 4490 and NGC 4485 are collectively known in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies as Arp 269. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1788.
Image captured on my remote dual rig at Fregenal de la Sierra in Spain between 17-19 May 2021.
Scopes: APM TMB LZOS 152 Refractors
Cameras: QSI6120wsg8
Mount: 10Micron GM2000 HPS
A total of 6.7 hours image capture (LRGB)
More details are available on my website at: https://www.imagingdeepspace.com/arp-269.html

Arp 120 - The Eyes Galaxies - a pair of galaxies known as NGC 4435 and NGC 4438 about 52 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. They were discovered on 8 April 1784 by William Herschel. In the 2014 film Interstellar, NGC 4438 can be seen in Murphy Cooper's notepad during the film's climactic sequence.
Image captured on my remote dual rig at Fregenal de la Sierra in Spain between 12-16 May 2021.
Scopes: APM TMB LZOS 152 Refractors
Cameras: QSI6120wsg8
Mount: 10Micron GM2000 HPS
A total of 9.4 hours image capture (LRGB)
More details are available on my website at: https://www.imagingdeepspace.com/arp-120.html

Arp 188 is a disrupted barred spiral galaxy located 420 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Draco. Its most dramatic feature is a massive trail of stars about 280,000 light-years long; the size of the galaxy has been attributed to a merger with a smaller galaxy that is believed to have occurred about 100 million years ago.
Image captured on my dual rig in Spain.
Scopes: APM TMB LZOS 152 Refractors
Cameras: QSI6120wsg8
Mount: 10Micron GM2000 HPS
A total of 13.2 hours image capture (LRGB)
More details are available on my website at: https://www.imagingdeepspace.com/arp-188.html

NGC 4567 and NGC 4568 - The Siamese Twin Galaxies - a pair of galaxies in the constellation Virgo. They are colliding and merging together, and are about 60 million light-years from Earth.
Image captured on my dual rig in Spain.
Scopes: APM TMB LZOS 152 Refractors
Cameras: QSI6120wsg8
Mount: 10Micron GM2000 HPS
A total of 9.3 hours image capture (LRGB)
More details are available on my website at: https://www.imagingdeepspace.com/ngc-4567-and-ngc-4568.html

Arp 84 is the combination of gravitationally-interacting galaxies NGC 5395 and NGC 5394. They are around 165 million light years from Earth in the constellation of Canes Venatici and are receding from Earth at 3,510 kilometers per second.
Image captured on my dual rig in Spain.
Scopes: APM TMB LZOS 152 Refractors
Cameras: QSI6120wsg8
Mount: 10Micron GM2000 HPS
A total of 7.6 hours image capture (LRGB)
More details are available on my website at:
https://www.imagingdeepspace.com/arp-84.html

ARP 242 - The Mice Galaxies - is a pair of interacting galaxies in the constellation of Coma Berenices about 300 light-years from Earth. They were discovered by William Herschel on March 13, 1785 giving them designation NGC 4676. The northern galaxy is IC 819 and the southern IC 820. I'm intrigued at how the night sky must appear when viewed from within one of these galaxies, with two "milky ways" crossing the sky.
Image captured on my dual rig in Spain.
Scopes: APM TMB LZOS 152 Refractors
Cameras: QSI6120wsg8
Mount: 10Micron GM2000 HPS
A total of 7 hours image capture (LRGB)
More details are available on my website at: https://www.imagingdeepspace.com/arp-242.html

Thanks Alistair - this almost sounds too good to be true.  As you know, I've no ability to sync both scopes other than doing a lot of manual fiddling. I have to calculate the time of the flip and make sure the slave scope isn't imaging or guiding until the flip is done.  Another bonus is the abiity to do sky flats - something else that SGP doesn't support.  Have you come across anything that SGP does and Voyager can't do?

On 30/03/2021 at 00:36, ampleamp said:

After various delays, i just completed my first test array sequence in near enough full moon (of course). It all worked fine and am feeling quite happy with myself at the moment as i usually find some way to mess things up. With much to learn, I still have a very manual approach to this software but so far so excellent.

I am quite a bit off any real automation, not least my roof motor doesn't work at the moment, though this remains my ultimate goal to achieve this year. Leonardo will dial in some time soon and I hope send me in the right direction re Dragscript and some basic automation etc. Despite this being another world for my very non-computer orientated brain, i can see huge potential with this software and will continue to get used to where options and services live. As @sloz1664  the safety elements of reliable closing in bad weather, and reopening should clear skies return are worth a lot to me. Hopefully i can now think about consigning SGP to archive 😉 

Alistair, I'm intrigued by the Voyager support for dual rig setups.

Does it manage to pause the slave before a meridian flip and then restart it after the flip?

I'v been using the SX AO for a few months.  As Olly says, I use it to keep the second scope on my dual rig perfectly aligned and to compensate for differential flexure.  At 1200m focal length, and with minor differences between the scopes (tube, focuser, camera, and adapters are all slightly different) - and for 30 minute exposures - the flexure is enough to cause problems. The AO fixes it perfectly. I wouldn't recommend it as an adaptive optics solution (SX call it Active Optics, not Adaptive Optics). Yes the device is fast, but as Sara says, when I tried it my Lodestar X2 just wasn't able to pick up a bright enough star to refresh at the rate of the AO unit.  Maybe with a faster scope, shorter focal lent=gth, and wider field of view it should be better - but that's just a hunch, not experience on my part. Installing it, and getting it running with PHD2 was very easy.  If the drift exceeds to capacity of the AO then PHD2 sends a pulse to the mount to nudge a little to recentre the AO unit.  It's worth noting that the AO cannot function without a Lodestar - so this does get expensive as it's not just the cost of the AO unit.

Peter

Looking pretty good to me Rodd

5 hours ago, petevasey said:

A cracking image, Peter of what would appear to be a very difficult target - well done, particularly to have the first colour image.  I suggest you submit it to Astronomy Now - a good candidate for Picture of the Month!  I see you imaged it remotely from what no doubt was clear dark Spanish sky.  So you've set us quite a challenge in the UK!  But there are a few clear nights forecast over the weekend - I'll have to see what my murky Northumberland sky can produce.....

Cheers,

Peter

Thanks Peter. In my experience these ultra-faint targets can only be captured with very clear dark skies, and with the moon well below the horizon. Otherwise the signal gets drowned out by the sky background. Even in Spain, with 3nm/5nm Ha/OIII filters, I can't see any trace of them if the moon is above the horizon - even if it's on the other side of the sky. So now I just don't even bother trying until the moon has gone - unless I'm shooting a bright target (which I never seem to do these days!)

Peter

59 minutes ago, gorann said:

Yes, excellent indeed, as always! Did you use the star pattern to frame it or was it anything to be seen in shorter subs?

Thanks Goran,

I had the coordinates from the original discovery so I knew where to look.  I then keep increasing exposures, binning and stretching the images until something appears.  In this case almost nothing was visible with 1800s bin 2x2 subs - hence I had to go bin 3x3.

1 hour ago, wornish said:

What has Rodd got to do with this post ?

Am I missing something?

I was wondering that too!

StDr 1 - a possible planetary nebula in the constellation of Taurus, discovered by Xavier Strottner and Marcel Drechsler in November 2019. This is the first time it has been imaged in colour. It is extremely faint - and so 1800 second exposures binned 3x3 were necessary.

Astrodon Blue: 17x300"
Astrodon Green: 18x300"
Astrodon Red: 18x300"
Astrodon Lum: 21x300"
Astrodon OIII: 8x1800s bin 3x3
Astrodon Ha: 19x1800s bin 3x3

Total Integration: 20 hours

Captured on my dual rig in Spain.
Scopes: APM TMB LZOS 152 (6" aperture 1200mm focal length)
Cameras: QSI6120wsg8
Mount: 10Micron GM2000 HPS

Kronberger 24 is a faint planetary nebula in the constellation of Cygnus. It was discovered by Matthias Kronberger in 2010.

Reference: <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/0910.0465v1.pdf" rel="noreferrer nofollow">arxiv.org/pdf/0910.0465v1.pdf</a>

Astrodon Blue: 210x300"
Astrodon Green: 20x300"
Astrodon Red: 20x300"
Astrodon OIII: 41x1800s bin 2x2
Astrodon Ha: 27x1800s bin 2x2

Total Integration: 39 hours

Captured on my dual rig in Spain.
Scopes: APM TMB LZOS 152 (6" aperture 1200mm focal length)
Cameras: QSI6120wsg8
Mount: 10Micron GM2000 HPS

7 minutes ago, ampleamp said:

👍🏼 Faint. My daughter says it’s witchcraft. 
 

She promised not to tell!

23 minutes ago, ampleamp said:

Do you have any single sub 30 minute 2x2 frames to view as I would like to see where you started from on this. 

Here you go Alistair - a typical unprocessed OIII 30 minute Bin 2x2 sub. The Ha is much much fainter.

Peter

Kronberger 63 is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Orion . It was discovered by Austrian Mattias Kronberger who is a member of the amateur group Deep Sky Hunters.
It is very faint and thus rarely imaged. Indeed my searches have found only one other image, produced by the Chart32 team in Chile.

Astrodon Blue: 21x300"
Astrodon Green: 20x300"
Astrodon Red: 20x300"
Astrodon OIII: 48x1800s bin 2x2
Astrodon Ha: 26x1800s bin 2x2

Total Integration: 42 hours

Captured on my dual rig in Spain.
Scopes: APM TMB LZOS 152 (6" aperture 1200mm focal length)
Cameras: QSI6120wsg8
Mount: 10Micron GM2000 HPS

Abell 24 (PK 217 + 14.1) is a faint planetary nebula in the constellation of Canis Minor.

Astrodon Blue: 20x300"
Astrodon Green: 20x300"
Astrodon Red: 20x300"
Astrodon Ha: 37x1800s bin 2x2

Total Integration: 23.5 hours

Captured on my dual rig in Spain.
Scopes: APM TMB LZOS 152 (6" aperture 1200mm focal length)
Cameras: QSI6120wsg8
Mount: 10Micron GM2000 HPS

1 hour ago, ollypenrice said:

I can see the point of the extra rings, certainly, but are they not fighting with the alignment device to some extent?

Olly, in my case the rings ARE the alignment device - there's nothing else to align them! I decided to exploit Alistair's point that the slightest turn of a bolt moves everything. In my case, with focal length of 1200 and small sensor (my field radius is 0.36 degrees) I needed a very precise way of aligning. Assuming I want, say, 90% overlap between images I need to adjust the alignment to around 0.04 degrees. My simple solution was to stick heavy-duty steel brackets on the extra rings that are as close as possible to the focusers, with hex bolts connecting them. I can now, using an allen key, finely adjust to with 0.01 degrees.

The other issue of differential flexure proved more problematic.  I had naively thought that by having the same OTAs,  both with Feathertouch focusers  and QSI6120 cameras that both scopes with flex in pretty much the same way.  However life is never that simple! One of the scopes was bought second hand a few years back, the other was brand new. So the tubes were slightly different, the Feathertouch focusers were different, one of the QSI cameras was an OAG version, the other had a separate OAG. The net of this was that the two scopes flexed in different ways. It wasn't just the tubes, but the gear hanging off the back of the tubes too. No amount of tightening could stop the second scope from having oval or trailing stars.  The solution was to fit a Starlight Xpress Active Optics device to the second scope. I now have better stars on the second scope that I have on the primary scope!

2 minutes ago, nightcasper said:

Great image Peter you do like the dim targets 😀 Happy New Year.

Dave

Thanks Dave. I do enjoy a challenge - and some of these are really challenging!  It's good to get going again after two months of cloud and rain.  Happy New Year to you and the family - and the best of luck with Pixelskies in 2020.

Peter

EGB 4 (a nebula discovered by Ellis, Grayson, & Bond in 1984) is NOT a comet, despite it's comet-like appearance. It is an emission nebula surrounding a catacylismic binary star system called BZ Cam in the constellation of Camelopardis.

It has an unusual bow-shock structure as BZ Cam (with it's associated wind) moves through the interstellar medium, similar to the bow wave in front of a ship that is moving through water.

BZ Cam is believed to be a white dwarf star that is accreting  mass from an accompanying main-sequence star of 0.3-0.4 solar masses.
It is around 2,500 light years away, and has a space velocity of 125 km/second.

I can only find one previous image of EGB 4 online, a NASA APOD from 2000, so I believe this could be the first amateaur image and thefirst colour image.

Yes it's incredibly faint!

Astrodon Blue: 15x300"
Astrodon Green: 15x300"
Astrodon Lum: 20x600"
Astrodon Red: 15x300"
Astrodon OIII: 25x1800s bin 2x2
Astrodon Ha: 56x1800s bin 2x2

Total Integration: 48 hours

Captured on my dual rig in Spain.
Scopes: APM TMB LZOS 152 (6" aperture 1200mm focal length)
Cameras: QSI6120wsg8
Mount: 10Micron GM2000 HPS

References:

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap001128.html

THE ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL, 115:286-295, 1998 January © 1998. The American Astronomical Society.

aanda.org/articles/aa/full/2001/36/aa1385/aa1385.right.html

52 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

That's sensational! I've never seen a PN like this before, let alone seen this one. What an absolute glory. Bravo! Image of the Year for me.

Olly

Many thanks Olly.  If I hadn't visited Les Granges so many times I would never have learnt so much from you that has made shooting and processing such difficult images possible! 

On 16/12/2019 at 20:08, steppenwolf said:

What an unusual planetary, it seems very 'one-sided' which really adds to its appeal

Yes Steve its a real oddity that I find really beautful.  Apparentlly the one-sidedness stems from the fact that it's moving through space and creating a bow-shock as it moves forwards.  The strange "braided" look comes from the shock wave hitting the ISM.