This is M81 & M82, also known as Bode’s and the Cigar Galaxy. This is a pair of beautiful galaxies in Ursa Major. Also in this image, is NGC3077. This is my longest image to date. I spent most of the time with the luminance filter. I was trying to capture the IFN that’s surrounding the region in the sky.
This group of galaxies is the closest galaxy group to our own very local group of galaxies which include the Milky Way
This was a total of 43 hours and 4 minutes of exposure time.
NGC281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula. This was my second attempt with this target, but my first with narrowband filters.
I tried to do a blend and get an RGB look with this. I, however, do not remember the exact pixel math formulas I used to get this result.
I’ll try again in the future to add more data to this and see if I can come up with more details on this image. Maybe even add some RGB data for star color.
This is my longest project to date—32 HOURS OF DATA over nine nights. I originally planned on taking 50 hours, but the weather and moon got in the way of what I aimed for. I’m still thrilled with the progress. I learned a lot during this image, and I’m glad I took on this challenge.
I got about 8 hours of RGB data supplemented by around 17 hours of Ha and 2 hours of Oiii, along with another 4 hours of luminance data.
This is VdB152, it doesn’t have a common name, but a friend called it ‘The Cosmic Penguin.’ There are multiple nebulae in this image. A Dark nebula, LDN 1217, forms the thick pillar. There is the reflection nebula along the bottom called LBN538. Not to mention the whisps of Ha going along the corners of the nebula.
This will continue to be a project for me, and I’ll collect some data over the next couple of years and get more detail.
This is NGC 6888 also known as the Crescent Nebula. I do not understand the name at all. Some people call i the Horseshoe Crab Nebula or Euro Sign nebula. I like the name Space Brain Nebula.
This was my first narrowband image. I processed it using an HOO Palette. I’m quite proud of the results I was able to achieve with this. I had originally planned on getting some RGB data for star colors, but time and the weather worked against me.
This is M81 & M82, also known as Bode’s and the Cigar Galaxy. This is a pair of beautiful galaxies in Ursa Major. Also in this image, is NGC3077.
This group of galaxies is the closest galaxy group to our own very local group of galaxies which include the Milky Way
This was the first target I imaged with my new telescope, the Explore Scientific FCD 100 Carbon Fiber 127mm Triplet. This was a total of 18 hours and 50 minutes of exposure time.
Messier 78 or NGC 2068, also known as Casper the Friendly Ghost (not sure how it applies, I don’t see a ghost), is a bright blue reflection nebula in Orion. The nebula can be found between Betelgeuse and closer towards Alnitak.
This is the first multi-night imaging session that I planned. I captured this over three nights totaling a little over 14 hours of data.
I also learned some new techniques in PixInishgt while processing this target.
The Pleiades is one of my favorite objects to stare at. It’s bright and can be observed from anywhere, all you need are your eyes. Binoculars and a telescope help, but is not necessary. I imaged this a few years ago and wasn’t too happy with it, and I’ve always wanted to revisit this.
This is my second attempt at the Pleiades. I took this the same night as The Horsehead Nebula as I was waiting for Orion to rise.
For Diwali, I present the Flame and the Horsehead Nebula. This is Barnard 33, a dark nebula in the constellation of Orion. The dark nebula which forms the horse’s head is illuminated from behind by the bright emission nebula IC 434
Right next to the Horsehead Nebula is the Flame Nebula and a small blue reflection nebula NGC 2023.
The Horsehead and the Flame are right by Alnitak, the first star in Orion’s Belt.
This is IC1805, also known as the Heart Nebula. This is a large nebula about 7500 light-years away from us.
The nebula shines bright red due to all the hydrogen gas excited by the nearby stars. The center of the nebula has a cluster of stars that contribute to this as well.
The other significant part of this nebula is NGC896, also known as the Fish Head Nebula. I captured this a few days ago in incredible light-polluted skies in my apartment complex.
Sometimes it’s fun to work with bad data because you’re not expecting much and it turns out OK.
The Wizard seems to be my arch-nemesis so far. This is the second time I’ve tried this target with little luck. I had issues with flats and I was able to crop in and salvage some of the data.
I will be trying this again later this month. The third time is the charm.
This is NGC 7360 The Wizard Nebula. This is a star cluster/emission nebula in Cepheus.
