SGL 2022 Challenge 9 - Ceph and Cass

[emyliano2000]

SH2-187 in HaLRGB

Imaging Telescopes Or Lenses

Astro-Tech AT106EDT

Imaging Cameras

ZWO ASI294MM ×

Mounts

Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 GT

Filters

Chroma Blue 1.25" · Chroma Green 1.25" · Chroma H-alpha 3nm Bandpass 1.25" · Chroma LoGlow Light Pollution 1.25" · Chroma Red 1.25"

Accessories

MoonLite CFL 2.5 inch Large Format Refractor Focusers · MoonLite High Resolution Stepper Motor · QHYCCD PoleMaster · TS-Optics TSFlat2 × · ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25″ / 31mm ×

Software

Adobe Photoshop · Aries Productions Astro Pixel Processor (APP) · Fabien Chéreau et al. Stellarium · Main Sequence Software Sequence Generator Pro (SGP) · Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight · Welsh Dragon Computing StellariumScope

Guiding Telescopes Or Lenses

Opticstar AR90

Guiding Cameras

QHYCCD QHY5L-II M

Acquisition details

Dates:

5 Oct 2022 ·  9 Oct 2022 ·  15 Oct 2022 ·  30 Oct 2022

Frames:

Chroma Blue 1.25": 40×180″(2h) (gain: 125.00) -15°C bin 2×2
Chroma Green 1.25": 40×180″(2h) (gain: 125.00) -15°C bin 2×2
Chroma H-alpha 3nm Bandpass 1.25": 50×300″(4h 10′) (gain: 125.00) -15°C bin 2×2
Chroma LoGlow Light Pollution 1.25": 101×300″(8h 25′) (gain: 125.00) -15°C bin 1×1
Chroma LoGlow Light Pollution 1.25": 19×300″(1h 35′) (gain: 125.00) -15°C bin 2×2
Chroma Red 1.25": 42×180″(2h 6′) (gain: 125.00) -15°C bin 2×2

Integration:

20h 16′

Emil

 

[gorann]

Here is what my Samyang 135 caught sitting on top of the RASAs, so same night (16-17 October) as my previous entry. The image contains Sh2-140 and 12 more from the Sharpless catalogue, and quite a few LDNs and LBNs. All in Cepheus. Camera was Omegon veTEC571C (a budget alternative to the ASI2600MC I have on the RASAs but seemingly as good). IDAS NBZ dual-band filter (so Ha and Oiii). I have added about 50% RASA data to the centre of the image. Processed in PI and PS, and starless processing of course.

Cheers, Göran

 

 

 

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by gorann

[Sleepy Kiki]

This is the Lion Nebula also known as SH2-132 shot over 3 nights in October and November. Each night I used a different filter to build up this SHO image over 13 hours.
Imaged using a WO Star 71 and ZWO ASI2600MM
45x300sec HA
57x300sec OIII
54x300sec SII

Integrated in APP and processed in Photoshop

[Varavall]

Images taken over 2 nights, 31/10 and 6/11. 

SW 200pds; ZWO ASI 1600MM-cool; filters: Astrodon 5nm Ha, Optolong 7.5nm Oiii and Sii (15x600s  Ha,  24x600s Sii & 40x600s Oiii). Calibrated, aligned and stacked in ASTAP;  star removal using StarnetGUI and processed in GIMP.

[Budgie1]

Sh2-136 - Ghost Nebula taken over two nights, on 18th October & 13th November, and consisting of around 5h20m of 180s subs, with darks, flats & flat-darks.

Processed in PI.

Kit:

• Evostar 100ED DS Pro
• ASI294MC Pro cooled to -10°C, Gain 200, Offset 30 and using Baarder CMOS UV/IR Cut filter.
• HEQ5 with Rowan belt kit
• APT & PHD2

[Fegato]

IC 1805, the Heart Nebula, imaged in broadband.

I had the first opportunity in weeks to get out and image on Friday. My main aim was to capture the second panel of a Perseus Molecular Cloud image that I started in September, but I had a few hours before that was high enough in the sky, so went for IC 1805 first. It's a 2 panel mosaic to give this large target a bit of space, and to capture the long "artery" that moves off to the top right. I lost time to clouds, and even got a light shower wetting the rig when I wasn't looking (it survived fortunately!), and in the end I managed to get just over half an hour on each panel.

RASA 11 v2 on CEM120, ZWO ASI2400MC Pro, 74 x 30s and 78 x 30s for the 2 panels.

[Ratlet]

Her is my heart nebula.  Taken with:
200mm SMC Takumar @ F5.6, Altair Astro 533c Hypercam, GEM28 Mount.  SVBONY 30mm guidescope and ASI120MM for guiding.  All controlled with Nina through an Intel NUC. 

2 hours of 90s exposures @-5°C under 95% illuminated moon.

Edited November 21, 2022 by Ratlet

[Danni C]

This is my Question Mark Nebula NGC7822

Acquired from my garden in UK South coast  (Bortle5) on the moon lit nights of 9th, 12th &13th November totalling 7.5 hours of integration.

Acquired with William Optics FLT91 / 0.8x flatener reducer & ZWO2600MC camera & Optolong L-Enhance filter.

Mount was Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro (unmodified) guided via Skywatcher Evoguide ED50 & ZWO120MC-S camera.

Capture via ASIAir Pro

Stacked using APP & Processed in Affinity Photo

[Xiga]

This is my take on Barnard 150, aka the Sea Horse Nebula. 

The Lum was captured over 2 moonless nights on Sep 28 and Oct 1st. The RGB was captured on Nov 3 & 5, with a fairly bright moon about (although low down).

SW 80ed; Qhy268m; HEQ5-Pro

Lum: 125x120s (4 hr 10);

G: 20 x 180s (1 hr);

B: 20 x 180s (1 hr);

R: 10 x 180s (0.5 hr).

Total: 6 hr 40

Stacked in APP and processed in PS. 

Starless processing (using StarXTerminator) used to bring out the dust, and NoiseXTerminator used for NR. 

[AMcD]

This is my take on IC1396 taken with my QHY268M and TS Photo Line 130 Triplet Apo on Losmandy G11.  The data was gathered on 12-13, 14, 18 and 20 November 2023.   

L, R, G and B approximately 4 hours each of 120s integrations for a total of approximately 16 hours.

Processed in Pix Insight and Photoshop.

[powerlord]

Here's a late entry. Only 5 hours of data from last Wednesday night. I liked the look of this area of the sky - with LBN576 one I've not imaged before, plus the 'full stop' from the question mark nebula, etc.

Shot with asi2600 and L-ultimate filter. 10 min subs. Processed in Affinity Photo.

With only 5 hours, there was a lot of noise, and best will in the world, I couldn't do that much about that. So I chose to keep most of the stars in the darker areas, only reducing them where there was a fair bit of nebulosity.

The full stop nebula was super bright so needed some attention with local contrast work in affinity photo to bring out the detail in there without it all just whiting out.

Plate solve shown also.

 

[Aramcheck]

Here's NGC185 a dwarf spheroidal galaxy approx 2 million light years from Earth in the constellation of Cassiopiea. One of at least 13 satellite galaxies which orbit M31. According to the interweb it's total luminosity is about 8 million times  that of the Sun and over 70% of the stars are over 12.5 billion years old. Unusually for a dwarf spheroidal, there is an Active Galaxy Nucelus with much more recent star formation in a compact region near the galaxy core.

I mainly wanted to have a go at this one to see if any of the galaxies globular clusters could be identified (see annotated close up).

Data captured 20/11/2022 from our Bortle 8 skies here in Leeds. SW 200pds + ZWO 2600MC-PRO with a SW OAG & ZWO 120MM for guiding. Only managed 19 x 3 min subs due to cloud & a dewed up secondary (the latter messed up the flat frames somewhat!). Images captured with APT & PHD2. Processed in Pixinsight.

Cheers
Ivor

[Adreneline]

There are certain nebula we are all drawn to because they are so rewarding to image. The Heart Nebula is an emission nebula, 7500 light years away from Earth and located in the Perseus Arm of the Galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia. My personal preference is to image the nebula is SHO. This image is 15 x 300s of Ha, OIII and SII collected in just one night using a RedCat 51 with ASI1600MM-Pro and Astronomik Ha, OIII and SII filters.

The imaged was pre-processed in AstroPixelProcessor. Gradient removal was performed using the light pollution removal tool. The integrated masters were then transferred to PixInsight where following initial noise reduction using NoiseXterminator the image was cloned. The original was processed as a starless image with as near identical as possible stretch was performed on each component to produce a starless SHO image. The clone was treated in the same way with the addition of star reduction on the OIII and SII components. Stars from the clone were then blended with the starless original to produce this image.

Thanks for looking.

Adrian

 

[Adreneline]

In late August I started on a project to produce an ultra-wide field image of Cepheus using my RedCat 51 and ASI1600MM - the plan was a 40 pane mosaic. For reasons I don't understand large parts of the image failed to merge correctly so I decided to start again using both my RedCat 51 and my Samyang 135mm.

This is an image made up of essentially 32 panes taken with both the Samyang 135mm with ASI183MM and the RedCat 51 with ASI1600MM with all data collected since late September, through October and November. Although the coverage varies across the image every pane was processed in as near an identical manner as I could achieve with APP and PI before combining as a mosaic in APP. The intention was to reveal accurately the extent of nebulosity throughout the region. I naively thought I would be able to create a full SHO image but lack of clear moonless nights put paid to the OIII component; the few frames I did collect provided an incomplete and very noisy coverage. Hence this Ha only image.

As the object of the exercise was to reveal the nebula I have chosen to present this as a starless image.

I cannot see me completing a HOO image let alone an SHO image this nebula season. Maybe autumn 2023 will present more opportunities.

Thanks for looking.

Adrian

[bdlbug]

NGC7822 - Cederblad 214

Imaging Telescopes :     StellaMira 90mm ED Triplet
Imaging Cameras :     ZWO ASI2600MM Pro ×
Mounts :    Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 GT
Accessories :     StellaMira 2" 0.8x Reducer / Field Flattener
Software
    Adobe Photoshop · Aries Productions Astro Pixel Processor (APP) · Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight · ZWO ASIAIR ×

Acquisition details

Dates:
    1 Sep 2022 ·  16 Sep 2022 ·  17 Sep 2022 ·  20 Sep 2022 ·  23 Sep 2022 ·  27 Sep 2022 ·  28 Sep 2022
Frames:
    Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 2": 127×300″(10h 35′)
    Antlia 3nm Narrowband Oxygen III 2": 130×300″(10h 50′)
    Antlia 3nm Narrowband Sulfur II 2": 109×300″(9h 5′)
Integration:
    30h 30′

And a bit of astrophysics background from our good friend Wiki

NGC 7822 is a young star forming complex in the constellation of Cepheus The complex encompasses the emission region designated Sharpless 171, and the young cluster of stars named Berkeley 59. The complex is believed to be some 3000 light years distant, with the younger components aged no more than a few million years. The complex also includes one of the hottest stars discovered within 1 kpc of the Sun, namely BD+66 1673, which is an eclipsing binary system consisting of an O5V that exhibits a surface temperature of nearly 45000 K and a luminosity ~100000 times that of the Sun. The star is one of the primary sources illuminating the nebula and shaping the complex's famed pillar of creation -type formations.

 

[Adreneline]

I decided to reconfigure my equipment and reunite the Samyang 135mm with my ASI1600MM to produce a single pane image of an area of Cepheus not covered in the Ha mosaic. In one night I was fortunate enough to gather enough Ha, OIII and SII data to create this image. Once again I have tried to process each component in an equivalent way so as not to favour Ha, OIII or SII beyond the data that was collected. As far as I can tell I have stretched the Ha, OIII and SII data to the same extent.

I've used my usual approach of pre-processing in APP and using the light pollution removal tool before exporting to PI for all post-processing. The original was cloned and processed as starless; the clone was processed in an identical manner except OIII and SII stars were reduced before combining to produce a star filled image. Stars were then extracted and recombined with the original (starless image).

The starless image is stunning but I thought it best to present this image with stars which hopefully do not detract from the delicacy of the nebula surrounding these well known targets.

Thank you for looking.

Adrian

[Sleepy Kiki]

Bubble Nebula and Lobster Claw Nebula

First time I've imaged this lovely part of the sky and I can see what draws imagers to it. There's so much going on in there and that also becomes a challenge to balance everything.

Imaged on a WO Star 71 with SHO narrowband filters on a ASI2600MM.

Total time about 7.5 hours over two nights in the last week. Integrated in APP and processed in Photoshop

 

 

Edited November 30, 2022 by Sleepy Kiki

[bdlbug]

sh2-155 The Cave Nebula in Cepheus

This image was originally planned to be a long deep integration project, but the weather took a turn to the cloudy rainy side , so I processed the data I aquired through October.
Interesting Wiki fact is that the name "Cave Nebula" was coined for this object by Patrick Moore
The image shows the diffuse Cave nebula in the constellation Cepheus, within a larger nebula complex containing emission, reflection, and dark nebulosity. It is widely known as the Cave Nebula and is located approx 2400 light years from earth.

Imaging Telescopes :     StellaMira 90mm ED Triplet
Imaging Cameras :     ZWO ASI2600MM Pro ×
Mounts :    Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 GT
Accessories :     StellaMira 2" 0.8x Reducer / Field Flattener
Software
    Adobe Photoshop · Aries Productions Astro Pixel Processor (APP) · Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight · ZWO ASIAIR ×

Dates:
    10 Oct 2022 ·  14 Oct 2022 ·  15 Oct 2022 ·  18 Oct 2022 ·  20 Oct 2022 ·  30 Oct 2022
Frames:
    Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 2": 126×300″(10h 30′)
    Antlia 3nm Narrowband Oxygen III 2": 27×300″(2h 15′)
    Antlia 3nm Narrowband Sulfur II 2": 39×300″(3h 15′)
Integration:
    16h

 

 

 

[bdlbug]

The Lion Nebula Sh2-132 is a weak emission nebula near the constellations of Cepheus and Lacerta,its located about 10,400 light years from earth and is a huge area of ionised hydrogen and oxygen gas. There are two Wolf-Rayet stars WR 152 and WR 153, WR 152 that deliver the energy to ionise this region.
In the frame is a very faint planetary nebula, PN G101.5-00.6, I originally thought it was a processing artifact, but turns out its a real thing, its slightly up and left from NGC 7226 in this image

Imaging Telescopes :     StellaMira 90mm ED Triplet
Imaging Cameras :     ZWO ASI2600MM Pro ×
Mounts :    Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 GT
Accessories :     StellaMira 2" 0.8x Reducer / Field Flattener
Software
    Adobe Photoshop · Aries Productions Astro Pixel Processor (APP) · Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight · ZWO ASIAIR

Dates:
    2 Oct 2022 ·  5 Oct 2022 ·  6 Oct 2022
Frames:
    Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 2": 60×300″(5h)
    Antlia 3nm Narrowband Oxygen III 2": 53×300″(4h 25′)
    Antlia 3nm Narrowband Sulfur II 2": 63×300″(5h 15′)
Integration:
    14h 40′

 

[dk101]

Sh2-142 in Cepheus. My first nebula! Taken in West London on 2-Oct, 6-Oct and 8-Oct. Would have taken more but we have not had any decent nights since!

Gear: SkyWatcher 200p Classic, SkyWatcher AZ-EQ6 Pro, SkyWatcher f4 CC, ZWO ASI 2600MM-Pro, ZWO 36mm Ha, SII and OIII filters.

Ha - 52×300s (4h 20')
OIII - 53×300s (4h 25')
SII - 33×300s (2h 45')
Total integration: 11h 30'

Captured using NINA, processed using PixInsight.

[MartinB]

The challenge is now closed.  The results will be announced within the next 2 weeks

[MartinB]

The results are in!

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/403904-sgl-2022-challenge-9-ceph-and-cass/