Other Camera Astro photos

[DavidN]

I took up astrophotography about a year ago and bought myself a telescope + dedicated ZWO astro camera (although it does have a Sony IMX571 sensor so half compliant with this forum!) + equatorial mount. Attached are a few photos taken. I must admit that while normal photography processing can be challenging, astrophotography processing is a whole different world of frustration. Hope you like the selection.

The Western Veil Nebula in Cygnus is a beautiful segment of the Cygnus Loop, a vast supernova remnant formed by an exploded star. This cloud of heated gas and dust displays intricate, filamentary structures shaped by the expanding shock wave. Narrow-band filters reveal distinct colours: hydrogen glows red, while doubly ionised oxygen emits a striking blue-green light, highlighting the nebula's delicate lacework. This part of the Veil is found near the star 52 Cygni.

M45, the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters or Subaru, is a striking open star cluster located in the constellation Taurus. Dominated by hot, young blue stars formed within the last 100 million years, it contains over a thousand member stars. A key feature is the beautiful blue reflection nebulosity surrounding the brighter stars, caused by the cluster currently passing through a dusty region of space, reflecting the starlight. This distinct cluster has been noted across cultures for millennia.

The Andromeda Galaxy, M31, residing in the constellation Andromeda, is the nearest major barred spiral galaxy to our Milky Way located about 2.5 million light-years from Earth. This vast stellar system (approx. 152,000 light years across), composed of stars, gas, and dust, is notable as the most distant object visible to the unaided eye from dark locations.

The Jellyfish Nebula, IC 443, is a prominent bubble-shaped supernova remnant located in the constellation Gemini. This cosmic formation represents the expanding debris cloud from a massive star that exploded thousands of years ago. Featuring a distinctive arcing ridge and dangling tentacles, its complex structure is a result of interacting with surrounding molecular clouds. The nebula also hosts a neutron star, the dense remnant core of the original star.

 

[rcreamer]

I took up astrophotography about a year ago and bought myself a telescope + dedicated ZWO astro camera (although it does have a Sony IMX571 sensor so half compliant with this forum!) + equatorial mount. Attached are a few photos taken. I must admit that while normal photography processing can be challenging, astrophotography processing is a whole different world of frustration. Hope you like the selection.

View attachment 88024

The Western Veil Nebula in Cygnus is a beautiful segment of the Cygnus Loop, a vast supernova remnant formed by an exploded star. This cloud of heated gas and dust displays intricate, filamentary structures shaped by the expanding shock wave. Narrow-band filters reveal distinct colours: hydrogen glows red, while doubly ionised oxygen emits a striking blue-green light, highlighting the nebula's delicate lacework. This part of the Veil is found near the star 52 Cygni.



View attachment 88025

M45, the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters or Subaru, is a striking open star cluster located in the constellation Taurus. Dominated by hot, young blue stars formed within the last 100 million years, it contains over a thousand member stars. A key feature is the beautiful blue reflection nebulosity surrounding the brighter stars, caused by the cluster currently passing through a dusty region of space, reflecting the starlight. This distinct cluster has been noted across cultures for millennia.


View attachment 88028

The Andromeda Galaxy, M31, residing in the constellation Andromeda, is the nearest major barred spiral galaxy to our Milky Way located about 2.5 million light-years from Earth. This vast stellar system (approx. 152,000 light years across), composed of stars, gas, and dust, is notable as the most distant object visible to the unaided eye from dark locations.


View attachment 88029

The Jellyfish Nebula, IC 443, is a prominent bubble-shaped supernova remnant located in the constellation Gemini. This cosmic formation represents the expanding debris cloud from a massive star that exploded thousands of years ago. Featuring a distinctive arcing ridge and dangling tentacles, its complex structure is a result of interacting with surrounding molecular clouds. The nebula also hosts a neutron star, the dense remnant core of the original star.

Very impressive, that is perhaps the very best photo of the Pleidies I've ever seen! Edit: I just noticed that your photo clearly shows the UGC 2838 galaxy

I am in the very early stages of learning astrophotography (Sky Watcher Star Adventurer GTi + A7R5 + 200mm ii). I have only recently been able to take 2-hour data sets with 2-minute exposure times. I live in a Bortle 4.5 area. I haven't even tried calibration frames yet. My results are not spectacular.

I may want to follow your path someday as I am now seeing the limitations of the GTi and A7R5.

Would you mind sharing:
• Scope, mount
• Capture details such as number of frames and integration times by filter?

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Wow, these are stunning!

 

[DavidN]

Very impressive, that is perhaps the very best photo of the Pleidies I've ever seen! Edit: I just noticed that your photo clearly shows the UGC 2838 galaxy

I am in the very early stages of learning astrophotography (Sky Watcher Star Adventurer GTi + A7R5 + 200mm ii). I have only recently been able to take 2-hour data sets with 2-minute exposure times. I live in a Bortle 4.5 area. I haven't even tried calibration frames yet. My results are not spectacular.

I may want to follow your path someday as I am now seeing the limitations of the GTi and A7R5.

Would you mind sharing:
• Scope, mount
• Capture details such as number of frames and integration times by filter?

Hi Richard, thanks for the comments. Like you i started by buying a mount (Skywatcher eq6-pro) and tried with my A1 & 200-600 but got very frustrated trying to get the polar alignment right then actually finding and focusing on the target, so, i decided to raid my piggybank and go the whole hog. I ended up with a Stellamira 86ED which is a 600mm fl F7 refractor + a 0.8 reducer to take it down to 480mm @ F5.6. I chose a ZWO Asi2600mc air as the camera as this is a 3 in 1 unit i.e. it has the main camera + guide camera + asi air computer in it. This computer then links over wi-fi to my laptop to let me control everything. It’s a big learning curve which i’m still on. Processing is also a big learning curve. I started by using Siril which is free software and powerful + there are great tutorial videos on youtube by Rich at Deep Space Astro. Recently, Luke at Astrowizard.lukomatico.com has developed a couple of simple to use programs - StackingWizard and AstroWizard aimed at beginners and are really easy to use.
With regard to capture details, it depends what the target is but i generally use between 3 - 5 mins exposures and as many as i can get. The nights are getting longer now and i managed 100 exposures the other night. It is possible to combine multiple nights into the same stack.
Wrt filters, i have a dual narrowband filter which you need for nebula like the jellyfish above + you can shoot when the moon is up. If you are shooting galaxies or reflection nebula then, generally, you need to do this without the filter.
There are lots of youtube videos explaining how to take calibration frames (flats, biases and darks)- it’s not that difficult once you’ve done it once.
Hope some of that helps and inspires you to keep trying - definitely look into the astrowizard stuff as it’ll make your life easier.
Clear skies.

 

[rcreamer]

Thank you for your reply. For my first few stacks, I've been using Photoshop but am now looking for something designed for astro. I'll definitely look at Astrowizard. Thanks!

 

[rcreamer]

I took up astrophotography about a year ago and bought myself a telescope + dedicated ZWO astro camera (although it does have a Sony IMX571 sensor so half compliant with this forum!) + equatorial mount. Attached are a few photos taken. I must admit that while normal photography processing can be challenging, astrophotography processing is a whole different world of frustration. Hope you like the selection.

View attachment 88024

The Western Veil Nebula in Cygnus is a beautiful segment of the Cygnus Loop, a vast supernova remnant formed by an exploded star. This cloud of heated gas and dust displays intricate, filamentary structures shaped by the expanding shock wave. Narrow-band filters reveal distinct colours: hydrogen glows red, while doubly ionised oxygen emits a striking blue-green light, highlighting the nebula's delicate lacework. This part of the Veil is found near the star 52 Cygni.



View attachment 88025

M45, the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters or Subaru, is a striking open star cluster located in the constellation Taurus. Dominated by hot, young blue stars formed within the last 100 million years, it contains over a thousand member stars. A key feature is the beautiful blue reflection nebulosity surrounding the brighter stars, caused by the cluster currently passing through a dusty region of space, reflecting the starlight. This distinct cluster has been noted across cultures for millennia.


View attachment 88028

The Andromeda Galaxy, M31, residing in the constellation Andromeda, is the nearest major barred spiral galaxy to our Milky Way located about 2.5 million light-years from Earth. This vast stellar system (approx. 152,000 light years across), composed of stars, gas, and dust, is notable as the most distant object visible to the unaided eye from dark locations.


View attachment 88029

The Jellyfish Nebula, IC 443, is a prominent bubble-shaped supernova remnant located in the constellation Gemini. This cosmic formation represents the expanding debris cloud from a massive star that exploded thousands of years ago. Featuring a distinctive arcing ridge and dangling tentacles, its complex structure is a result of interacting with surrounding molecular clouds. The nebula also hosts a neutron star, the dense remnant core of the original star.

Hi Richard, thanks for the comments. Like you i started by buying a mount (Skywatcher eq6-pro) and tried with my A1 & 200-600 but got very frustrated trying to get the polar alignment right then actually finding and focusing on the target, so, i decided to raid my piggybank and go the whole hog. I ended up with a Stellamira 86ED which is a 600mm fl F7 refractor + a 0.8 reducer to take it down to 480mm @ F5.6. I chose a ZWO Asi2600mc air as the camera as this is a 3 in 1 unit i.e. it has the main camera + guide camera + asi air computer in it. This computer then links over wi-fi to my laptop to let me control everything. It’s a big learning curve which i’m still on. Processing is also a big learning curve. I started by using Siril which is free software and powerful + there are great tutorial videos on youtube by Rich at Deep Space Astro. Recently, Luke at Astrowizard.lukomatico.com has developed a couple of simple to use programs - StackingWizard and AstroWizard aimed at beginners and are really easy to use.
With regard to capture details, it depends what the target is but i generally use between 3 - 5 mins exposures and as many as i can get. The nights are getting longer now and i managed 100 exposures the other night. It is possible to combine multiple nights into the same stack.
Wrt filters, i have a dual narrowband filter which you need for nebula like the jellyfish above + you can shoot when the moon is up. If you are shooting galaxies or reflection nebula then, generally, you need to do this without the filter.
There are lots of youtube videos explaining how to take calibration frames (flats, biases and darks)- it’s not that difficult once you’ve done it once.
Hope some of that helps and inspires you to keep trying - definitely look into the astrowizard stuff as it’ll make your life easier.
Clear skies.

One last question, was the Pleidies photo taken on the SkyWatcher EQ6 Pro?