astroenthusiast

As the galaxy season winds down, there are other interesting deep sky wonders to see, like this wide image view captured on 05/15/2021 at 1:00 am ET, of the Ring Nebula using a 102mm APO Triplet refractor at F/7. The camera exposure time was 120 minutes, using a ZWO ASI2600 mm Pro CMOS one shot color camera 

Deleted and reprocessed the image, found a dark spot, mostly likely dust. 

Aah! I see, yeah that can make a difference to track, even with a fast focal ratio scope. 

Reprocessed 

23 hours ago, Tan Zhi Qi said:

Wow! The Crab Nebula. This is a tough target (at least for me lol). Well done there mate! 👍👍

Thank you Tan! How is it tough for you?

It has been pretty much cloudy with occasional rain here in Atlanta, GA for the past week.

So, I have decided to start working on building a radio astronomy telescope with a 1.5m dish. My project will not make a dent in the field of radio astronomy, but it should yield some radio observations of the sun during cloudy days and maybe I will figure out in the future how to link several more dishes up to listen to faint DSOs.

The image displayed here is of the galaxy NGC 4303 (center), a member of the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies.  NGC 4303 lies 55 million light years away from our planet and carries a designation of Messier 61.

If you look to the upper left, you will notice NGC 4292 – Lenticular galaxy, and to the lower left of Messier 61, lies the galaxy NGC 4301. There are multiple other galaxies present in the image, some very faint due to the light pollution (no LPO filter was used), this was a quick captured snapshot.

The imaging train used was a 6.5” APO refractor at F/7 and a CMOS ASI2600 OSC used with 47 minutes of exposure time.
Hopefully, the rain will clear soon.

Clear skies!

@Tan Zhi Qi Thank you so much for the likes Tan!!!!

The images of the Bode & Cigar Galaxies were captured using 200 sub-frames at 30 second exposures each. The astrophotography processing software used was PixInsight and Adobe photoshop for stacking and processing the final image.

The amateur astrophotography equipment used, an APO Triplet 6.5” refractor at F/7. The camera used, an ASI2600 CMOS OSC.

The Cigar Galaxy, Messier 82 was captured using 30 sub-frames at 30 second exposures each. 

The astrophotography software used to process the image was PixInsight and Adobe photoshop

There is no comparison to the amount spectacular details the Hubble space telescope presents to us humans back here on Earth.
I appreciate the beauty of Messier 82, the Cigar Galaxy.

There is quite a bit of star formation going on in M82, according to NASA. I dream of one day the opportunity to visit the Cigar galaxy, but unless someone has a warp drive-bubble starship (Alcubierre drive) parked in Earth orbit, guess we will have to just enjoy images from NASA, and us amateur astrophotographer’s.

The image was captured using 81 subframes at 60 second exposures each. The image was taken using my main rig, the Explore Scientific ED 165mm APO Triplet Refractor and ASI2600 CMOS OSC.

I really appreciate all my fellow Stargazers and all the likes!!
Clear skies!

The information obtained from: NASA/Gov/10/19/2017, https://lnkd.in/dJh99_x Information accessed on: 04/22/2021.

The image of Messier 81, the Bode Galaxy discovered by German astronomer Johann Elert Bode in 1774. M81 is in the constellation Ursa Major and lies at 11.6 million light years from our planet.

Stargazers using small telescopes or binoculars should catch a slight dim patch of light, depending on the location and light pollution (Bortle scale) in the skies. Try using the averted vision trick, when viewing through binoculars or a small telescope.

The image was taken using 50 subframes at 60 second exposures each, with a camera temperature of -20.5C. The amateur astronomical equipment used was an Explore Scientific ED165mm APO Triplet refractor and ASI2600 OSC camera.

The information obtained from: NASA/Gov/10/19/2017, https://lnkd.in/dgzCWsH
accessed on: 04/22/2021.

The Eyes Galaxies, located in the Virgo Cluster, with a distance between 50 – 52 million light years away. NGC 4438 & NGC 4435 are 100,000 light years apart, with an apparent magnitude of 10.

The image was captured using 88 sub-frames at 60 second exposures each. The equipment used, an Explore Scientific ED165 mm F/7 FPL-53 APO Triplet refractor and ZWO ASI2600 CMOS one-shot color camera (OSC), along with a Baader Moon & Sky-Glow filter.

There are multiple galaxies identified in the image, others were to faint to make out.

The galaxies, NGC 4438 (center upper left) and NGC 4435 (center lower right), also known as the Eyes Galaxies are in the Virgo Cluster and lie at 50 million light years away from our planet.

The distance between the two galaxies is 100,000 light years. There are multiple galaxies present, for one, Messier 86 (bottom center) the elliptical galaxy.

The image was captured using 88 sub-frames at 60 second exposures each. The amateur astronomical equipment used: ES ED165 mm APO F/7 refractor, ASI2600 CMOS one-shot color camera (OSC) and Baader Moon & Sky-Glow filter.

NGC 6503 - A wider field of view, image captured. 
There were 142 sub-frames used to capture the image of NGC 6503, with a camera gain of 230, cooled to -21.2C.

The telescope used, Explore Scientific ED 6.5" APO triplet refractor at F/7 and a CMOS one-shot color (OSC) camera.

The dwarf galaxy NGC 6503, according to NASA lies 18 million light years away in what appears to be an empty patch of galactic space, referred to as the Local Void. The lone dwarf galaxy sits by itself at the edge of the Local Void, in the constellation Draco.

There were 142 sub-frames used to capture the image of NGC 6503, with a camera gain of 230, cooled to -21.2C. The telescope used, Explore Scientific ED 6.5" APO triplet refractor at F/7 and a CMOS one-shot color (OSC) camera.

The information obtained from: NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, 06/10/2015, https://lnkd.in/e7MhH8q
Information accessed on: 04/21/2021

T

8 hours ago, Tan Zhi Qi said:

@astroenthusiast You're most welcome! I really love every pictures that you post here. 

Thank you so much!!

@Tan Zhi Qi Hi Tan, thank you so much for the many, many likes!!!

The image of the Sun’s Chromosphere was taken on 04/11/2021 at 12:53 PM ET, using an Altair Hypercam 174M mono CMOS camera, fan cooled and a Daystar Quark Chromosphere H-Alpha filter.

The image was over exposed to show the solar prominence to the lower right. Nasa data was analyzed to guestimate (visual) the Earth’s size in comparison to the prominence. Processing software used, AutoStakkert 2.6.8 (200 sub-frames), RegiStax 6.0, and Adobe photoshop.

Nasa data: https://lnkd.in/djNtn-X (no copyright data was taken from Nasa).

@jamgood Thank you for the like!!

@jamgood Thank you for the like!!

A Daystar Quark Chromosphere Hydrogen-Alpha filter with an internal telecentric Barlow at 0.5 Angstrom bandwidth was used.

A Televue 2.5x Powermate used with a Lunt 80MT APO refractor and Altair Hypercam 174m monochrome camera, cooled.

The Sun’s surface in Calcium light (half disk) was captured using an Altair Hypercam 174m monochrome camera, fan cooled and Daystar Quark Calcium H-line filter with a built-in telecentric Barlow.

The second image (right) of the Sun’s Chromosphere was captured using the same camera equipment above, but in addition a Daystar Quark Chromosphere Hydrogen-Alpha filter with an internal telecentric Barlow at 0.5 Angstrom bandwidth was used.

A Televue 2.5x Powermate & SharpCap was used to magnify and stretch the image. The telescope used, a Lunt 80MT APO refractor.

Solar processing software used: Stakkert2 for analyzing, stacking, and processing the image. Registax 6.0 was used to intensify the wavelet of the image and Adobe photoshop was used to create the final image. There were 200 sub-frames used for stacking.

The solar photography equipment used was a Lunt 80MT APO refractor, Televue 2.5x Powermate and Altair Hypercam 174M mono camera, cooled.

The solar photography equipment used was a Lunt 80MT APO refractor, Televue 2.5x Powermate and Altair Hypercam 174M mono camera, cooled.

The Sun, shown in Calcium light, using a Daystar Quark Calcium H-Line filter. The image was captured using 300 sub-frames taken on April 12, 12:00 PM ET. The solar photography equipment used was a Lunt 80MT APO refractor, Televue 2.5x Powermate and Altair Hypercam 174M mono camera, cooled.