Gerr

I was up here on 12th May (01:30hrs) waiting for the Arc and galactic core to appear before the Moon did! Been waiting some time to get me a panorama of our galaxy in ‘rainbow’ fashion. The coastguard lookout post was quite a decent and elevated focal point for the foreground and would of been rude not to get myself in the picture too!!! Taken with a Canon 6D (modded), Startracker and Rokinon 24mm lens. Foreground 3x images at ISO 800 f5.6, landscape orientation at 150secs. Plus 1x image of a selfie (ISO 1600, 30secs). Sky 7x images tracked at ISO 640 f4, portrait orientation at 120secs. No calibration images or stacking of images due to limited time. Processed in Lightroom, PTGui and Photoshop. Hope u like. CC’s welcome.

Been waiting for some time to capture the galactic centre rising above the horizon and got a rare opportunity last Thursday. There was heavy rain a few hours before I went out and this resulted in mist and heavy dew on the landscape. This gave me some issues with lens condensation (no heater strap) but the mist was quite nice on the landscape. The shot was taken from Rhoscolyn Coast Guard station as it is a decent site for dark skies towards the Llyn Peninsula where the core was going to rise. Unfortunately I had the RAF base at Valley glowing with all its lights on to deal with!! However I liked the green air glow that this light pollution produced. Both sky and foreground were shot at ISO640 with aperture stepped down to f4 for sky and f6 for foreground. Sky exposures were limited to 120secs on a Startracker with the foreground taking 150secs (a couple of 30 and 60 second shots were also taken to reduce the light pollution). I used a Canon 6D (astromodded) and Rokinon 24mm f1.8lens. The image was processed using Lightroom, PTGui and Photoshop CS.

A brief interlude from the rubbish weather about two weeks ago allowed me to have a go at the Cigar Galaxy M82. I hoped and managed to get some good integration time using a UV filter for RGB and then a L-eXtreme filter for the Ha red stuff (which I knew was at the centre of this galaxy). I produced two images, HaRGB and RGB versions, to see the difference between them. Well - only one of them gets the Cigar!!! You can choose your preferred one if you wish. I managed 70 lights with the L eXtreme filter at 300secs (5.8hrs) and with the UV filter I managed 153 lights each of 120secs duration (5.1hrs). Equipment used was my Zwo ASI 294MC Pro and SW200P reflector on HEQ5 mount. Images are cropped. The RGB Image: The HaRGB Image:

I grabbed the data on this on Dec 17th with my SW200P and ASI 294MC Pro mounted on the HEQ5. Moon was 39% illuminated so I used the L-eXtreme filter in the imaging train. I managed 32 lights at 360secs with camera cooled to -10 at unity gain. Stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop CS. The L-eXtreme helped in isolating the narrow band data which allowed me to attempt an SHO rendition. The result: CC's welcome.

Reprocessed image:

Yes for certain a cooled OSC dedicated camera takes you to the next level. Weather, dark skies (I’m Bortle 6) with no Moon help. Post processing is a ‘dark art’ in itself - easy to ruin good data here. You develop your own workflow over time that suits your set-up and data acquired. Always there are tweaks to this!! Many You Tube videos out there (Delta Astrophotography I really like). It’s a constantly evolving process and I am always learning! Thanks, Gerr.

I wanted to have a last chance at getting the Orion nebula before this Hunter left our skies. Opportunity presented itself two weeks ago and I just got around to processing it now. I acquired 33 x 120secs of lights (66 mins) along with 20 x 30 secs to blend Orion's centre in. The Zwo Asi 294mc pro (with Astronomik LP filter), HEQ5 mount and SW ED80 were utilised for this. Stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop CS. M42 (and the Running Man): CC's welcome.

The Heart and Soul Nebula in Cassiopeia 7500 light years away. I shot this widefield image with my Tamron 24 - 70mm zoom lens at f/2.8 utilising 48mm of its focal length at ISO1600. I took 33 images of 60sec duration with my Canon 650D (astro-modded) on a star tracker from my Bortle Class 5 back garden. A dozen calibration images also (darks and flats). Stacked in Sequator and processed in Photoshop CC. I quite liked the result and am really starting to enjoy this type of imaging. Any CC's welcome.

Yes - a consequence of short integration times due to our lousy weather!! Easy to be heavy handed in image processing. Gerr.

Located 12000 light years away in the constellation of Auriga (the Charioteer). Less than 2hrs on this one (seems to be my average recently) using 360secs exposure on SWED 80 with L-eXtreme filter and 294mc pro. Moon 70% illuminated. Bortle Class 5. Stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop CS - RGB format.

The Elephant Trunk Nebula in Cepheus 2400 light years away. The Moon was well lit and so I used the L-eXtreme filter to combat the night glow whilst acquiring data on this target. I managed 2 hrs (360 sec exposures) only in my Bortle class 5 suburban garden with the Zwo Asi294mc pro and SWED80 Refractor. The image was stacked in DSS and processed entirely in Photoshop CS. I also decided to extract the narrowband data separately and render a Hubble palette version of this nebula. The result:

My previous attempt was using the same SWED80 Pro, HEQ5 Mount but a Canon 650D Camera (see image below). Processed in DSS and Photoshop 7. Not sure how many lights I took but I'm glad to say I think I have learned a bit about astrophotography and processing since then!! Being a member on this forum has certainly helped!! Gerr.

The Rosette Nebula in Monoceros (the 'Unicorn' constellation) and open cluster NGC 2244. I have been meaning to revisit this nebula and got my chance last week (I've only been trying for three years)!! Even so, the weather was problematic (as usual) and I lost a few subs (approx. 50%) but still managed 30 lights of 240 secs duration (about 2hrs integration time - rarely do I get more where I live). My weapons were the Zwo ASI294MC Pro, SWED80 Refractor (on my HEQ5 Mount) and pre-emptive use of the Optolong L-eXtreme filter (the Moon was 47% illuminated). This combination along with good luck and some limited calibration frames (no more than 10 Darks, Flats & Dark Flats) allowed me to produce my best image so far!! Processed using DSS and Photoshop CS (with some extra 3rd party plug ins). Hope you like.

Following on from the Horsehead and Flame I imaged it was M78's turn (I was rushing on targets but opportunity seems very rare lately)!! Only once I tried before (which was a dismal failure) and with no Moon arising for another two hours I aimed the 8inch reflector at it and hoped for the best this time around. Zwo ASI294MC Pro with astronomik LP filter I managed 32 Lights of 180secs duration (just over 1.5 hrs). Stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop CS. Not sure if I processed this correctly?? Lots of background '?dust' and maybe too much noise reduction?? CC's therefore welcome.

Thanks. I think galaxies benefit from sharpening but nebulae I like to be 'smoother'. Drawing down on texture in Photoshop's camera raw filter softens this image nicely. Framing is key and I always do this under image acquisition as cropping can be difficult to aesthetically please in post processing! Gerr.

The Horsehead and Flame Nebulae - I never tire of shooting this one. My only opportunity came about last week where I managed just over 2 hours of lights (weather really has been bad here for months). SWED80 DS Pro / HEQ5 / ZWOASI294MC Pro / Optolong L-eXtreme Lights: 70x120secs plus calibration frames DSS and processed in Photoshop CS. Hope u like!

Re-processed with more of the red stuff brought out!!!

I shot this image with a Canon 70-200mm f4 zoom lens attached to a Canon Rebel T41 (650D) astro modified camera. The camera was mounted on a Star Adventurer using the short end of the zoom (70mm). This did not encompass the whole of Orion or Loop as the camera sensor is APS-C type which has a crop factor of 1.6. However, I was really wanting to try out this recently acquired lens and wondered if I was able to catch the Witch Head next to Rigel as well as all the other Nebulae in this region. I managed 38 lights at 140 secs (approx. 1 3/4hrs) at ISO 3200 / f4. I also used 8 dark frames and then put everything into DSS and processed the stacked image in Photoshop CS. This was taken from my suburban back garden (Bortle 5) under moonless and cloudless skies (a first for a long while!!). I think I got a result!! Hope you agree, CC's welcome.

Welcome, You will also learn a lot about weather on this site - clouds being the most prevalent!! When you do get to see some dark clear skies let me know please !! I think I have forgotten how to use my telescopes and will need advice too!!!!

My last image of 2022 taken beginning December (not that I remember) as it seems we have had bad weather for months!!! Finally got round to processing it using DSS and Photoshop CS. I managed 7hrs (new record for me) over two nights acquiring 70 x 360sec useable lights. Darks and Flats too. SW200P - HEQ5 Mount - Optolong L-eXtreme filter - Zwo ASI 294MC Pro camera (unity gain at -10). Let there be clear skies soon!! Hope you like:

I considered going mono put the price tag of this set-up put me off. OSC is a less complex imaging process. This you will fully appreciate after weeks of inactivity you suddenly have a clear weather window where you want to quickly aim and shoot at a target without having to remember how to do it right!!!

Hi All, I managed a few runs on Jupiter last night and noticed a little surprise on processing. I got Ganymedes shadow in Jupiters southern hemisphere and thought I'd try and animate the image sequence for some fun. What do you think? I was quite chuffed. Hope this Gif file works here!! Otherwise you can have the bogey prizes of an underwhelming attempt at Mars in opposition and a fling at Saturn!! Mars: Saturn:

These were imaged last Saturday using an 8" Sky Watcher Reflector (200P) and Zwo Asi 462mc planetary camera with IR cut filter. I also utilised a Televue Powermate x2.5 Barlow. This combo gives me a theoretical resolution of 0.24 arc seconds / pixel. This is nicely oversampled for Lucky Imaging technique that I now use for planets and lunar surfaces. Seeing was 'okay'. Objects were tracked using Heq5 Pro mount and Synscan controller. Camera was connected to Laptop using USB3 which allowed Firecapture to give me about 70fps. I used best 20% of 5000 frames using Autostackert. The stacked images were then sharpened in Register and tweaked in Photoshop CS. Hope you like. CC's welcome.

As above continued!! SW200P Reflector Televue x2.5 Barlow ZWO Asi 462MC IR Pass Filter Avistackv2 and Photoshop 2100 images which were reduced to 770 after quality analysis. Final Image: CC's welcome.

Lunar imaging from my back garden last week which is a relatively new process for me. After testing the water on SGL with a similar image previously and taking on-board some constructive criticism I hope this is an improvement. I have been stricter on the quality analysis and stacking process in Avistack and more careful of Photoshop adjustments (deconvolution and sharpening). Equipment used: SW200P Reflector