Nebulae

20160806 NGC6888 LRHaGB 9x600s This is my interpreation of NGC 6888 the Crescent Nebula. This image is composed of 12-10 minute images through Red, Green, Blue, Luminance and Ha filters for a total exposure of 10 hours. The Crescent Nebula is an emission nebula powered by a Wolf-Rayet star in the constellation of Cygnus (The Swan). The star is dying very quickly and it has shed a lot of it's star matter and continues to do so at a very high rate. NGC 6888 is around 5000 light-years distant and is rather dim. It can be seen with a modest telescope, an OIII or UHC filter helps tremendously. Date:7/17/16 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: Apogee CG16M Optics: Planewave CDK-17 Exposure: L=R=G=B=Ha = 12x600 secs each Processing: PixInsight 20160716 NGC6888 Ha 12x600s This is the beginning of a composition I will be making this summer. It is NGC 6888 the Crescent Nebula. This image is composed of 12-10 minute images through an Ha filter. I intend to add color to it at a later date. The Crescent Nebula is an emission nebula powered by a Wolf-Rayet star in the constellation of Cygnus (The Swan). The star is dying very quickly and it has shed a lot of it's star matter and continues to do so at a very high rate. NGC 6888 is around 5000 light-yeas distant and is rather dim. It can be seen with a modest telescope, an OIII or UHC filter helps tremendously. Date:7/17/16 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: Apogee CG16M Optics: Planewave CDK-17 Exposure: Ha = 12x600 secs Processing: PixInsight 20160625 Sh2-112 LHaRGB 5x10m Here is my interpretation of Sharpless 2-112. With the onset of Summer the constellation of Cygnus (The Swan) begins to rise earlier in the evening. The Milky Way bisects this constellation and it is full of very interesting Ha and H II nebulae. Close to the star of Deneb, the tail of the swan, lies a very faint patch of H II nebulosity catalogued by Sharpless as 2-112. Sh2-122 is about 1800 light years distant, it is quite faint so it is a challenging object even with moderate size telescopes. This image is composed of 1 hour each of Luminance, Hydrogen alpha, Red, Green and Blue (LHaRGB) light for a total of 5 hours of exposure. Processed entirely with PixInsight. Date: 6/25/16 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: Apogee CG16M Optics: Planewave CDK-17 Exposure: L=Ha=R=G=B = 6x600 secs Processing: PixInsight 20151108 IC405 LRGB 6x600s Here is my interpretation of IC405 aka The Flaming Star Nebula in the constellation of Auriga. It is a very active region and is interesting because is an emission nebula and a reflection nebula. This image was taken with my Planewave CDK-17 and CG16M Andor camera from my observatory at Hutville, Central Ohio. It is composed of 1 hour of exposure for each of the primary colors (RGB) and Luminance. IC405 is about 5 light-years wide and is about 1500 light years distant. Date:11/8/15 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: Apogee CG16M Optics: Planewave CDK-17 Exposure: L=R=G=B = 6x600 secs Processing: PixInsight
20150814 Pelican 12x600 LRGB Here is my interpretation of IC5067 The Pelican Nebula. In the Summer the constellation of Cygnus (The Swan) rides high in the sky and it brings within it this complex collection of excited Hydrogen gas and stellar nurseries. The Pelican is in our Milky Way about 1800 light-years distant. It is relatively bright so it is visible in moderate size telescopes. This complex also contains an ionization front Herbig-Haro 555, is visible at the end of the finger of dust that extends to the left near the middle of the Pelican's neck. theThe prominent blue star near the bottom is 57 Cygni, at magnitude 5 is barely visible with the naked eye in a suburban setting. This image is composed of 2 hour each of Luminance, Red, Green and Blue (LRGB) light for a total of 8 hours of exposure. Date:8/14/15 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: Apogee CG16M Optics: Planewave CDK-17 Exposure: L=R=G=B = 12x600 secs Processing: PixInsight 20150422 Tarantula 6x15 Here is my interpretation of the Tarantula Nebula. This nebula resides at the leading edge of the Large Magellanic Cloud in the constellation of Dorado at around 160000 light years distant. The image is very noisy as it is composed of only six 15-second images taken with the T5i at ISO 12800. This was captured at Coonabarabra, NSW Australia during the Oz Sky Star Safari in April 2015. Date:4/22/15 Location: Oz Sky Star Safari, Coonabarabra, NSW Australia Mount: Astrotrac Camera: Canon T5i Optics: Canon 70-200 f/2.8 + 1.4x Teleconverter at 280mm f/4 Exposure: 6x15 secs Processing: PixInsight 20150522 Eta Carina 16x15s rot In April 2015 I had the privilege to attend the Oz Sky Star Party at Coonabarabra, New South Wales, Australia. Given the very long trip I decided to try a min-max approach to imaging. I'd try to maximize the imaging capabilities with a minimum amount of equipment. Here's my interpretation of the Eta Carinae nebulae and its environs located in the constellation Carina about 7200 light years distant. Located between Canopus and the Southern Cross, Eta Carinae is easily pinpointed as the brightest star within the large naked eye Carina Nebula. Even with the modest equipment used the lobes of the surrounding reflection nebula known as the Homunculus Nebula on either side of a bright central core are visible! Date:4/22/15 Location: Oz Sky Star Safari, Coonabarabra, NSW Australia Mount: Astrotrac Camera: Canon T5i Optics: Canon 70-200 f/2.8 + 1.4x Teleconverter at 280mm f/4 Exposure: 16x16 secs Processing: PixInsight 20140907 NGC7635 LHaRGB 4hHa30mLRGB h By the end of Summer in the constellation of Cassiopea one of my favorite targets NGC7635 the Bubble Nebula rides high in the sky. The Bubble nebula is around 10,000 light-years distant the main component of the emission nebula is the spherical cloud of excited hydrogen. Even though it is a challenging object to observe an OIII or Hydrogen alpha (Ha) filter will make it possible with modest telescopes. This image is composed of 240 minutes of Hydrogen alpha and 30 minutes each of Luminance, Red Green and Blue making it a LHaRGB. Date:9/7/14 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: Apogee CG16M Optics: Planewave CDK-17 Exposure: Ha= 24x600 secs, L=R=G=B = 6x300 secs Processing: PixInsight
20140829-NGC6888-Crescent-HaRGB-8x5mins Here is my interpretation of another nebula in the constellation of Cygnus (the Swan), it is NGC6888 the Crescent Nebula. Most of the nebula is composed of excited hydrogen so this image was made using 45 minutes of exposure of Red, Green, Blue and Hydrogen alpha for each color. The Crescent is quite faint and cannot be seen with the naked eye but an OIII filter will make it quite evident even in smaller telescopes. The middle star that energizes this nebula is a Wolf-Rayet class. This complex near the center of the constellation is around 5000 light-years away. Date:8/29/14 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: Apogee CG16M Optics: Planewave CDK-17 Exposure: Ha=R=G=B = 9x300 secs Processing: PixInsight 20140827 M8 LRGB 7x5m The Lagoon Nebula aka M8 is located in the Sagittarius constellation. M8 is around 5000 light-years distant and is quite bright and large. Easily visible with binoculars from a suburban location and even visible with the naked eye from a dark site. In the image you can see distinctive dark clouds of protostellar material called Bok globules. Famed astronomer John Herschel named the very center of the Lagoon nebula the Hourglass Nebula, it has a very intricate structure. Date:8/27/14 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: Apogee CG16M Optics: Planewave CDK-17 Exposure: L=R=G=B = 7x300 secs Processing: PixInsight 20140820 IC5146 Cocoon LRGB 6x300s In the constellation of Cygnus (the Swan) lies IC 5146 the Cocoon Nebula. This huge cloud of excited hydrogen spans 15 light-years and is about 3300 light-years away. This nebula is quite bright at magnitude 7.2 can be seen with modest telescopes from relatively dark sites. I may add more data later on as this image is composed of 30 minutes each on Luminosity, Red, Green and Blue for a total of 2 hours of exposure. Image Details: Date:8/20/14 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: Apogee CG16M Optics: Planewave CDK-17 Exposure: L=R=G=B = 6x300 secs Processing: PixInsight 20140815 M20 LRGB 5x300secs At 5200 light years away in the constellation of Sagittarius lies NGC 6514, The Trifid Nebula also known as M20. This image is composed of 30 minutes each of Luminance, Red, Green and Blue and it clearly shows the dual nature of this object; the red Hydrogen II emission nebula in the lower region and the bright blue reflection nebula in the upper region. In addition the dark nebula that gives the nebula its name is clearly evident. Image Details: Date:8/15/14 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: Apogee CG16M Optics: Planewave CDK-17 Exposure: L=R=G=B = 6x300 secs Processing: PixInsight
20140311 M42 DSLR The Great Orion Nebula M42 and the Running Man NGC 1977. Image captured by my good friend Tom Klausing with a modified Canon T3i and an AP Firestar. Processed with PixInsight. 121109 M1 LHaRGB On July 4, 1054 the Chinese recorded the appearance of a new star close to the one of the horns in the constellation of Taurus (The Bull). The star was so bright that it could be seen even during the daytime hours. In the 18th century Charles Messier observed the remnants of that supernova and made it the first item of his now famous Messier Catalogue. M1 The Crab Nebula is about 6300 light years away from us and is one of the very few objects in the sky that show significant differences from the first time that was imaged to the present. My rendition of this object includes more than 8 hours of Luminance, Ha, Red, Green and Blue data taken in late 2012 and late 2013. Image Details: Date:11/9/13 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: Apogee U16M Optics: Planewave CDK-17 Exposure: L=12x600 secs + 8x300 secs, R=12x600 secs + 8x300 secs, G=12x600 secs + 6x300 secs, B=12x600 secs + 6x300 secs, Ha=3x1200 secs Processing: PixInsight 131227 IC434 Horsehead HaRGB At around 1500 light years away The Horsehead Nebula or Barnard 33 is a dark nebula by the bright star Alnitak in the constellation Orion. The dark cloud blocks the light of the emmission nebula IC434 behind. In this image we also see NGC 2024 a beautiful reflection nebula that stands in front of the Horsehead relative to us. This image is a composite of 5 2/3 hours of Ha, Red, Green and Blue signal. Image Details: Date:12/27/13 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: Apogee U16M Optics: Planewave CDK-17 Exposure: Ha=90 mins, R=95 mins, G=80 mins, B=75 mins Processing: PixInsight 130927 Soap Bubble HaRGB PN G75.5+1.7 The Soap Bubble Nebula is an extremely dim object in the constellation of Cygnus. It was first discovered during Summer of 2007 and given a proper designation a year later. The Soap Bubble is invisible in RGB to image it I had to use the Ha narrow band filter. Image Details: Date:9/27/13 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: Apogee U16M Optics: Planewave CDK-17 Exposure: Ha=8x1200 sec, R=6x300, G=6x300, B=6x300 Processing: PixInsight
131001 NGC7293 LRGB 20x600 NGC 7293 The Helix Nebula a large but very dim planetary nebula in the constellation of Aquarius. Image Details: Date:10/1/13 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: Apogee U16M Optics: Planewave CDK-17 Exposure: L=21x600, R=21x600, G=21x600, B=21x600 Processing: PixInsight 080505 RhoOph 40x3 cs temp The Rho Ophiuchi Cloud complex in the constellation Ophiucus. The cloud complex include dark clouds of dust, blue reflection nebulae and red emision nebulae. The globular cluster M4 is behind this complex. Image Details: Date: 5/5/2008 Location: New Mexico Skies, NM Mount: Astrotrac I Camera: Canon 40D Optics: Canon 70-200 2.8L @ 200 mm Exposure: 40 x 120 sec Processing: Photoshop CS 111025 M42 DBE ht HDR ACDNR cr Widefield image of the Great Orion Nebulae complex. The following objects can be seen: on the lower right, the Great Orion Nebula (M42) and the Running Man Nebula (NGC1977), on the left side, The Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) in fornt of IC 434. The Flame Nebula (NGC2024), around the Flame IC 432, NGC 2023 and Alnitak, the easternmost of the three distinctive stars in Orion's belt can also be seen. Image Details: Date: 10/25/2011 Location: New Mexico Skies, NM Mount: Astrotrac I Camera: Canon 40D Optics: Canon 70-200 2.8L @ 200 mm Exposure: 10 x 120 sec Processing: PixInsight IMG 2088 I was honored that my widefield image of the Great Orion nebulae complex was selected as the front and back cover of the December 2011 issue of the Reflector magazine.
IMG 2089 I was honored that my widefield image of the Great Orion nebulae complex was selected as the front and back cover of the December 2011 issue of the Reflector magazine. 111027 NGC7000 28x3 BkgNorm ht ACDNR sat SCNR Widefield view of the area around Deneb in the constellation Cygnus. It includes the North America Nebula (NGC7000) and the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070). Image Details: Date: 10/27/2011 Location: New Mexico Skies, NM Mount: Astrotrac I Camera: Canon 40D Optics: Canon 70-200 2.8L @ 200 mm Exposure: 10 x 120 sec Processing: PixInsight 080524 NGC4236 9x10 2b hp a NGC4236 Barred Spiral galaxy in Draco Image Details: Date: 5/24/2008 Location: Hutville, OH Mount: Paramount ME Camera: SBIG ST10XME Optics: Meade 12" LX200 GPS f/10 Exposure: 9 x 600 sec Processing: Photoshop CS Sh 2 155 Ha-120mins Car w
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