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Hi All, Sharing my image of one of the most popular object for astroimagers... The Horsehead Nebula/Barnard 33 with Alnitak and the Flame Nebula. As I continue to have terrible sky conditions for astroimaging, I'm struggling to complete any images before the imaged object season is finished. Seems like my nights are perpetually cloud covered. I'm keeping an eye on the sky, and when I spot some clarity, I immediately open the observatory and start to gather photons. I captured this image by noticing that there was a clear window of opportunity and managed to have a couple of hours of clarity before clouds returned. I'd like to capture at-least another hours worth of exposure time through this filter to smooth out some of the noise but also would like to capture other color channels and create a color photo... but with the weather being against me, I'm running out of time. This images total exposure time was 1 hour and 40 minutes, consisting of 10 x 600 second 7nm narrowband H-Alpha subs. Taken through a 80mm Refractor @ f6.25, on a hypertuned CGEM mount with QHY268M camera. Clear Skies.

6th December 2015 Equipment: NexStar 8SE Time: 01:00 - 03:45 During the imaging of Barnard33 through the OIII filter using the 80mm refractor, I setup the 8SE on the single arm alt-az mount for observing. Orion Nebula looked great and bright through just the eyepiece but when using the UHC filter it was detailed and awesome. The shape of the nebula was clearly visible, the fishes mouth and the mustache shaped extends were very distinctly brighter than the reminder of the nebula. There was a lot of the nebulosity visible starting to take on the shape of the "flame" as photographed except it was more rounded. The four stars in the trapezium were bright and distinct. The second object I was looking for to observe was the globular cluster 47Toucana. When I located, it was not in the database of the NexStar 8SE hand controller (atleast not as 47Toucana), it looked dimmer that I was expecting. I spend a bit of time looking at the globular through both the 40mm eye piece and the 11mm Nagler... Both showed a dim image of the globular. Through the 11mm I did see some granulation and irregularly speckled stars extending out from the core. I did a "identify object" scan on the hand controller and it come up as NGC362 and the next nearest object was NGC265 in the list. Looking up the objects NGC362 is magnitude 8 and 47Toucana NGC104 is magnitude 5.8. Both of these objects should be a lot brighter in the eyepiece than the object I was observing and struggling, just barely resolving stars around the globular. That point brings me to the next nearest object, NGC265. In StarWalk it's shown to be magnitude 12.5 and when squinting and de focussing my vision on the shown picture it definitely resembles the shape, brighter/denser core and speckled stars at the outer edges. It also makes a lot more sense for it to be so dim in the FOV when looking at it through a telescope with a maximum resolving power of magnitude 14.5. So I think I was actually looking at NGC265, and not 47Tucana or NGC362. The reason why the catalog on the NS8 hand controller shown NGC362 as a first choice if because the object was manually found after locating the constellation Toucana, the three objects are close together, the NS8 has very little objects in this part of the sky in the database and the star alignment might have been a few degrees off. The reason I didn't look up the data and thought the NGC362 was the Globular cluster 47Toucana is because I didn't want to turn on the iPhone or the iPad and destroy my night adapted vision...REMINDER: GET RED FILM FOR IPHONE AND IPAD. 47Toucana needs to be looked for and observed another night.... So does NGC362 for that matter and compare to NGC265 to confirm the above theory. The next object I wanted to find and observe for the first time was the Horsehead nebula. Reading others observation about the Horsehead, some claim to have spotted it in 4" refractors from dark skies, I though that I might have a chance from my semi dark location. I located Alnitak and looked for any hint of the Horsehead or Flame nebulae with no luck, than I spend a few minutes looking for the nebulae using UHC and OIII filters with no luck. I rushed a bit using the UHC and OIII since it's commonly documented that a h-beta filter is the best filter to spot it. Through the h-beta filter Alnitak was still quite bright but the background was a lot darker, but I still couldn't spot either the Flame or the Horsehead nebulae. I've spend a fair bit of time looking for it through both the 40mm and 11mm eyepieces but at the end before I gave up I still couldn't spot any of them. When I brought my head up and looked at the sky toward Orion's Belt, it was quite obvious that my sight was quite dark adapted since the sky was glowing, it was almost milky bright... I put not seeing the Horsehead nebula down to the sky glow being much too bright for it to come through. The hunt will need to continue another night. The last object I observed was The Carina Nebula. As previously the Carina nebula is a sight to behold, it is definitely my favorite nebula to observe along with the Orion Nebula. It looks stunning through the UHC filter and 11mm eyepiece, the detail in the brightest arm was visible clearly, although not as defined as the last time I looked at it, but close. Through the 40mm eyepiece and the f6.3 focal reducer, there was a lot of the nebula visible in the FOV. Not only the brightest arm, but also the other two features that starts to make the "storm trooper face" shape. This is another object that I always spend a considerable time observing through various magnifications. Both the Orion and Carina nebulae have a slight blue-gray color look to them through the UHC filter which gives it a almost painted appearance. Tonight I was not going to get stopped by dew like last time I was observing so I ran a RCA loom from the CGEM and through a gender changer connected the 8SE dew heater strap, seems to have done the trick since there was no dewing of the optics. The seeing was quite still tonight but as dark adaption revealed, the sky glow was quite bright. Toward the end of the observing session some thin cloud patches were coming and going, not interfering with the imaging. Tonight was definitely a great night of observing. MG

What an epic sight the Horsehead Nebula is, I cannot tell you how stoked I am to have finally seen this. was in Andrew's C11 with a focal reducer and a 25mm plossl. Seen easily, not photographic, but so much more than a notch. Skies are so much better here at the Astrofarm in Confolens than they have been in Norfolk. Until now, I doubted that I'd ever see it having struggled in Norfolk for months. Seen by 3 other Messier Marathon participants too. Full report to follow, but just starting on the galaxies in Leo now. Chris

Reading a few articles about the HorseHead Nebula and wondered if I could bag it visually. It's a clear night on January 1st and a back garden session chasing my quarry with my 200P Dob. It's bloomin' cold (-4°C) outside and I'm wrapped up like a Michelin Man. The seeing is fair to good. Those who have read any of my other reports will know I'm very fortunate to enjoy Bortle 3/4 skies to the South and my "test objects" M1, M33 are easy catches with a 27mm BST Starguider. M33 was also visible through 8x40 field binoculars before dinner, suggesting a good evening was at hand. So onto the HorseHead. Moving Alnitak out of the field of view the Flame Nebula with the dark central band was plainly visible. Moving down and across I could see nebulosity surrounding the most eastern of the three close mag 7 stars. Spent a lot of time observing with options of 12 and 27mm EP's plus and O-III filter that I had to hand. The filter made observing worse for this target, so that was put back in the case. The 12mm EP showed increased contrast of the faint nebulosity around the star and occasionally teased out a line of contrast extending beyond the three start mag 7 stars. It appeared to be IC434. I swapped back to the 27mm and checked the Flame, which was brighter now. IC434 had a defined edge, dark on the East and lighter on the West but "fuzzing" in and out even with averted vision. It was pretty much on the limit of visibility. In all I spent two long cold hours outside and I think I may have caught the HorseHead three times as a darker finger appeared through the line of IC434. Nudging the scope made sure it wasn't wishful thinking - there was something there. However, being pedantic, I couldn't say for sure it was the HorseHead as definition wasn't really there and IC434 was disappearing into the background then some minutes later reappeared. However, there is no other object in the vicinity that would present a darker finger ingressing into IC434, so I think it's quite likely that it was the HH. I've read that a H-Beta filter makes observing the HorseHead easier, so that will be on the shopping list soon enough. Although I couldn't be 100%, I'm fairly sure I did catch a glimpse of it and am pretty happy. Returned inside to warm up, de-frost the scope and enjoy a drop of The Macallan, as is fitting for the New Year. Wishing everyone clear skies for 2019! Richard

Just had a lovely session on the winter targets that are now coming into view in the early hours. These were the targets that I first tried out my NV monoculars when I got them in November last year so it’s nice to give them another go with the greater experience and better equipment I have now. This was also the first proper go with my Harder Digital Night Vision momoculars and chroma 5nm Ha filter combination. The views were fantastic - I compared side by side with my photonis 4g Night Vision and 6nm Astronomik filter and the gap between the two setups is large. The angelfish was clear and showed good detail with the Harder whereas the photonis was only just showing a trace of the nebula. On Barnard’s loop the full loop was clear and obvious in the Harder whereas the photonis only showed the brighter top half. This was on 21.0 SQM skies. There was just so much nebulosity showing everywhere with the Harder which I haven’t seen like this before. Lots of new things to have a look at in greater detail in the future. With my AP130GTX and 40mm plossl (with 5nm chroma) the views of the horsehead, rosette, monkeyhead, flaming star, heart, California, Pac-Man, the Cone and Lowers were also pretty fabulous. All photos were with my Huawei P20 Pro, unprocessed. I’m really chuffed with my new kit! One of my best sessions ever.

Now i dont know if i'd call this cheating - but i did a monochrome version of this because it just feels so much easier to bring out the little detail in this image without creating too much background noise in the colour version . I think i like this more than the colour version edited with PI LE, CS5 Unmodified Canon 50D, Sigma 50-500mm APO F/4.5-6.3, SW EQ5, 30 x 120s ISO 800 Sorry but cant remember what focal length this was taken at! taken in a very light polluted aberdeen

Hi, During the 3 clear nights in a row, I had last week, I could not resist giving the Horsehead Nebula a go, using my Vixen VC200L. Whilst imaging with my Canon 450D via APT, I could not make out the Horse's head whatsoever on my laptop screen, but I knew I was on target, because I could see NGC2023, at the bottom of my screen. Anyway I was pleasantly suprised with this result after processing through APP and tweaking in GIMP. Not the total failure I was expecting. Image Info:- Vixen VC200L Telescope Canon 450D camera unmodified ISO 1600 All I could do before fog ended the night:- x20 120 sec Lights, x20 100 sec Lights, x10 80 sec Lights, x10 40 sec Lights x21 Darks, x40 Bias and x40 Flats Processed in APP Regards, Steve

Hi all, my second attempt at imaging over multiple nights, captured 60 mins Ha and a couple of 5 mins on Oiii and Sii on Christmas evening, then added more Oii and Sii on the 30th Total of 60 mins Ha 25 mins Sii and 30 mins Oiii Hubble mapped - SII,Ha,OIII = R,G,B. The Oiii data was very noisy but I'm fairly happy overall, also the ZWO Oiii filter caused a massive ring around Alnitak when stretched ! Comments welcome, I know it needs more data and I will need to learn to be more patient but the year is running out Thanks for looking and have a good 2020.

Hi! Finally my new camera QHY163C was tested under dark sky :-) I'm very happy with result, it's only 90mins of exposure (30x180s) calibrated with darks, biases and flats. My only worry is ampglow on CMOS but I will try to reduce it next time Best regards and Happy New Year! :-) Tomek

Here's my latest, taken back at New Years, and I've been working through the Pixinsight Book processing it, hope you enjoy: 19 x 180s lights, flats darks and bias, equipment as per kit, Pixinsight processed. I didn't get as much data as I would like as dew eventually stopped the session (my guidescope fogged up and the laptop was dripping wet), so noise was a bit of an issue if I'm honest. Here's some blurb stolen from Wikipedia: Alnitak (Zeta Orionis), the bright star in the picture, which is the leftmost star in Orion's belt, is a multiple star. The primary star is a hot blue supergiant with an absolute magnitude of -6.0 and is the brightest class O star in the night sky with a visual magnitude of +2.0. It has two bluish 4th magnitude companions. The Horsehead Nebula (top right of pic) is a dark nebula. The nebula is part of the much larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. It is approximately 1500 light years from Earth. The red or pinkish glow originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula, ionized by the nearby bright star Sigma Orionis. Magnetic fields channel the gases leaving the nebula into streams, showing as streaks in the background glow. A glowing strip of hydrogen gas marks the edge of the massive cloud, and the densities of nearby stars are noticeably different on either side. The heavy concentrations of dust in the Horsehead Nebula region and neighbouring Orion Nebula are localized, resulting in alternating sections of nearly complete opacity and transparency. The darkness of the Horsehead is caused mostly by thick dust blocking the light of stars behind it. The Flame Nebula (NGC 2024, just below Alnitak in the pic), is an emission nebula. It is about 900 to 1,500 light-years away. Alnitak shines energetic ultraviolet light into the Flame and this knocks electrons away from the great clouds of hydrogen gas that reside there. Much of the glow results when the electrons and ionized hydrogen recombine. Additional dark gas and dust lies in front of the bright part of the nebula and this is what causes the dark network that appears in the center of the glowing gas. At the center of the Flame Nebula is a cluster of newly formed stars, an estimated population of 800 stars. Several of the other stars in the pic show reflection nebulae where starlight is reflected off inert dust and gas, illuminating it. Cheers, Stuart

I have been at the Horsehead now for over a month. The main target is a detail view taken through my Esprit 120 - https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/286778-horsehead-ha-esprit-120/#comment-3142273. However, I have also been gathering Ha through my WO Star 71 perched on top of the Esprit - https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/286774-free-rider-wo-star-71-and-horsehead/#comment-3142239. Nevertheless, despite imaging every possible night between 2 January and (now) 9 February, I have managed only 8 hours through the Esprit and 5 hours 40 mins through the WO. After posting my Ha, images, I received a surprise e-mail from @ollypenrice. He had taken pity on me and sent me some Lum and RGB data that he had taken a while back at Les Granges. I must say that I was a little overwhelmed by his gesture. The Ha was captured through a WO Star 71 (Mk I) attached to a Moravian G2-8300 - 17 x 20 mins (Chroma Ha 3nm filter) The LRGB was shot through Olly's reduced Baby Q (I think this is now Sara Wager's Baby Q) and an Atik 4000 camera. Lum is 2 hours 40 minutes of 5 minute subs; I am not sure how much RGB there is. My WO 71 shots had to be cropped substantially because the scope is piggy-backed on top of my Esprit 120, but is not aligned with it. Olly's data matched it pretty closely - I had to remove the top half of his data and a small sliver of the right hand side of my Ha. Everything was registered to everything else via Registar (which did a great job as far as I can tell). Alnitak was a bit of a pain. The Lum did not show the pair. However, a false Lum stolen from the RGB did (as did the Ha). So I have just about been able to show it as a double. I went back and forth on the middle belt star (I think it is called Alnilam). You can see its halo top left. I could have tried to take this out, but I thought it looked more natural left in. There is so much dust in this area, and I could have brought out more. However, of the gazillion versions I put together, this one seemed to me to be the most pleasing. Comments and criticism are always welcome:

Following on from the 'free' widefield picture - https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/286774-free-rider-wo-star-71-and-horsehead/#comment-3142262 - here is the image through my Esprit 120. This is 8 hours in total. Last night we had a 'half-moon', more or less, and it was not too far away from the Horse. The Ha subs in both the Esprit and the WO looked about the same as they had done when there was no moon about. SGP does an Autostretch of downloaded subs. The 'black point' of the moonless and half-moon shots were only about 100 ADU apart, which I thought was pretty good. Rather foolishly I wasted time last night trying to get some LRGB. A 5 min Lum sub, autostretched by SGP, had an ADU in the high 8,000s (and looked pretty horrible)! Looks like I will have to wait for the disappearance of Moony McMoonface before taking on the LRGB acquisition. So this is: Skywatcher Esprit 120 Astrodon 3nm Ha - 24 x 20 minute subs = 8 hours QSI 690 I've tried not to go too 'extreme' with the processing:

Another image from Southern France, around 5 hours of data. I left out the Ha data as this looks more natural.