M45 and The Horsehead with SM 90 EDT

[Roy Foreman]

Tuesday 22nd February was the only clear, moonless night I've had in West Somerset this winter.  Sadly my time was limited so I could not make full use of it, but I did manage to bag some half decent images of the Pleiades, and the Horsehead and Flame nebulae with the Stella Mira 90 working at F/4.8 with its dedicated reducer / flattener, and an ASI 6200 full frame OSC.  No filters.

The image of the Pleiades is something of a milestone for me.  When I first got into astro imaging more years ago than I care to remember the Pleiades was top of my hit list, but after half a lifetime of trying I always seem to have failed miserably on what should have been a relatively easy target.

So, to have managed to record not only the blue reflection nebulosity but also a hint of the dusty clouds around it, I feel that, after all these years of trying, I have finally bagged an image for which I can say 'Yes, at last I've done it'

And to have done this on the night when my dear mother, the only person who ever showed real interest in my astronomy, sadly passed away. makes the image all the more special to me.

Thanks for looking.

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Really nice images 🙂 

So sorry for your sad loss too.

Steve

[Roy Foreman]

17 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Really nice images 🙂 

So sorry for your sad loss too.

Steve

Thank you so much.

[SagarMV]

Awesome pictures. Very clear and beautiful images👌.  But loss of your mother on the same day of your capturing above images makes me sad. 

[Roy Foreman]

3 minutes ago, SagarMV said:

Awesome pictures. Very clear and beautiful images👌.  But loss of your mother on the same day of your capturing above images makes me sad. 

Thank you for your kind words and so glad you like the images.

[andy fearn]

2 hours ago, Roy Foreman said:

Tuesday 22nd February was the only clear, moonless night I've had in West Somerset this winter.  Sadly my time was limited so I could not make full use of it, but I did manage to bag some half decent images of the Pleiades, and the Horsehead and Flame nebulae with the Stella Mira 90 working at F/4.8 with its dedicated reducer / flattener, and an ASI 6200 full frame OSC.  No filters.

The image of the Pleiades is something of a milestone for me.  When I first got into astro imaging more years ago than I care to remember the Pleiades was top of my hit list, but after half a lifetime of trying I always seem to have failed miserably on what should have been a relatively easy target.

So, to have managed to record not only the blue reflection nebulosity but also a hint of the dusty clouds around it, I feel that, after all these years of trying, I have finally bagged an image for which I can say 'Yes, at last I've done it'

And to have done this on the night when my dear mother, the only person who ever showed real interest in my astronomy, sadly passed away. makes the image all the more special to me.

Thanks for looking.

sorry to hear of your loss. cracking images . maybe frame them in memory of your dear mother.

Best regards.

[Roy Foreman]

4 hours ago, andy fearn said:

sorry to hear of your loss. cracking images . maybe frame them in memory of your dear mother.

Best regards.

What a lovely idea. Thank you for that and so glad you like the images.

[wongataa]

Great photos.  Nice and clear horse head and love the wispy gas in the Pleiades

[Roy Foreman]

On 25/02/2022 at 08:42, wongataa said:

Great photos.  Nice and clear horse head and love the wispy gas in the Pleiades

Thank you and glad you like them. These are my two favourite DSO's.