May 2022 – AstroFotoBlog

NGC 2060 Tarantula Nebula

May 31, 2022 JakubK

H II nebula

1 Comment

Our galaxy Milky Way is surrounded by two dwarf galaxies. Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). SMC I captured recently by the relatively short focal length of 250 mm. LMC is much larger, so it wouldn’t fit into the field of view of my 94 mm refractor. However, LMC is full of very interesting objects, just like the Tarantula Nebula. I used the HaLRGB technique to make the nebulosity pop.

Telescope	Sharpstar 94EDPH
Aperture	94 mm
Focal length	414 mm
Mount	Rainbow Astro RST 135
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope
Camera	ZWO 2600MM @-10°C
Corrector	F4.4 Quad Reducer
Filters	Antlia HaLRGB
Exposure	16x180s HaL, 10x180s RGB, Gain 100, bin 1x1,
Date	2022-05-31

IC 4628 Prawn Nebula

May 31, 2022 JakubK

H II nebula

0 Comment

DSO HII region IC4628 Kiripotib Namibia Nebula Prawn Nebula Rainbow Astro RST135 Scorpius Sharpstar 94EDPH ZWO ASI 2600MM

IC 4628, also called Prawn Nebula is an HII region in the constellation Scorpius. Due to very low southern declination, it is poorly visible even from southern Europe. The southern hemisphere is obviously a better place to observe/photograph this deep-space object for example in Namibia, where this beautiful nebula rises very high in the sky. The open cluster on the left side is called the Northern Juwel box cluster.

Telescope	Sharpstar 94EDPH
Aperture	94 mm
Focal length	414 mm
Mount	Rainbow Astro RST 135
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope
Camera	ZWO 2600MM @-10°C
Corrector	F4.4 Quad Reducer
Filters	Antlia Ha, OIII, SII 3 nm
Exposure	39x300s, Gain 100, bin 1x1,
Date	2022-05-31

NGC 292 Small Magellanic Cloud

May 30, 2022 JakubK

Galaxy

1 Comment

iOptron Skyguider Pro Kiripotib Namibia NGC 292 NGC292 Small Magellanic Cloud SMC Tucan Tucana William Optics RedCat 51 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Small Magellanic Cloud, shorty SMC, is a dwarf galaxy, which is gravitationally bonded to the Milky Way. It has an irregular shape, which resembles a droplet. Compared to the Milky Way’s size (100’000 light-years in diameter) it’s significantly smaller (7’000 light-years in diameter) and it’s roughly 200’000 light-years far from us.

SMC is visually accompanied by two globular clusters. NGC 104 at the top and NGC 362 at the left side. The clusters are obviously much closer to us than the galaxy.

This galaxy is quite important for astronomy, because Henrietta Swan Leavitt, an astronomer at the Harvard College Observatory, discovered several variable stars in this galaxy. Variable stars change the intensity in periodic cycles. So, based on the apparent brightness of the variable star, the distance can be determined. Since this discovery, mankind can measure the distance between the galaxies.

The picture is a stack of 159 photos, 2 minutes each. This means in total I was photographing this object for 5.3 hours.

Telescope	William Optics RedCat 51/250 f4.9
Aperture	51 mm
Focal length	250 mm
Mount	iOptron Skyguider Pro
Autoguiding	ZWO 178MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope 30/130 mm
Camera	ZWO ASI071 MC Pro @-10 °C
Filters	none
Exposure	159x120s, ISO 1600
Date	2022-05-30

IC 4592 Blue Horsehead nebula

May 30, 2022 JakubK

Reflection nebula

0 Comment

Blue Horsehead nebula IC 4592 IC4592 iOptron Skyguider Pro Namibia Scorpius William Optics RedCat 51 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

IC 4592, also known as the Blue Horsehead Nebula, is a stunning region of dust and gas located in the constellation Scorpius, about 4000 light-years away from Earth. The nebula gets its name from the shape of its central dark cloud, which appears to resemble the head of a horse. The blue color of the nebula comes from the reflection of light from nearby stars (Nu Scorpii) off of the dust particles in the cloud.

Telescope	William Optics RedCat 51/250 f4.9
Aperture	51 mm
Focal length	250 mm
Mount	iOptron Skyguider Pro
Autoguiding	ZWO 178MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope 30/130 mm
Camera	ZWO ASI071 MC Pro @-10 °C
Filters	–
Exposure	50x180s, Gain 95
Date	2022-05-30

NGC 5139 Omega Centauri

May 30, 2022 JakubK

Globular cluster

1 Comment

Centaurus Cluster DSO Globular cluster NGC5139 Omega Centauri Rainbow Astro RST135 Sharpstar 94EDPH ZWO ASI 2600MM

NGC 5139 Omega Centauri is the biggest globular cluster in Milky Way. Even though this cluster is approximately 17 thousand light-years away from Earth, it can be seen even by unaided eyes. This is because it contains roughly 10 million stars. I managed to see this cluster in a very dark place in Namibia and I must say, it’s brighter than any other object in the sky.

Telescope	Sharpstar 94EDPH
Aperture	94 mm
Focal length	414 mm
Mount	Rainbow Astro RST 135
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope
Camera	ZWO 2600MM @-10°C
Corrector	F4.4 Quad Reducer
Filters	Antlia LRGB
Exposure	38x180s L, 12x180s RGB, Gain 100, bin 1x1,
Date	2022-05-30

Milky Way in Namibia

May 29, 2022 JakubK

Milky Way

1 Comment

Canon EOS 6D iOptron Skyguider Pro Kiripotib Milky Way Namibia Panorama Samyang 24 mm f1.4 Samyang XP 14mm f2.4 Sigma 50 mm f1.4 Art

Milky Way is usually visible only if you are in a dark location. For example, there is a desert called Kalahari in Namibia. In this desert, there is an Astro farm Kiripotib. You will see the Milky Way in all its beauty if you get there. We spent several nights just looking at it:

I rented this observatory for a couple of days. Inside is a heavy-duty equatorial mound MK-100, combined with Meade 10″ telescope, which allowed me to capture stunning galaxies like NGC 6744 Galaxy or M83 Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, or NGC 5128 Centaurus A Galaxy.

Milky Way formed an arc in the evening spanning from east to west. Later, it rose up and formed a line from south to north. What a fantastic view we had:

Lens	Samyang XP 14mm f/2.4 @f2.8
Camera	Canon EOS 6Da
Mount	iOptron Skyguider Pro
Exposure	50x20s, ISO 1600
Date	2021-05-30

Lens	Samyang 24mm f/1.4 @f2.8
Camera	Canon EOS 6Da
Mount	iOptron Skyguider Pro
Exposure	75x12s, ISO 1600
Date	2021-05-31

And here is the most complex picture spanning from the Lagoon Nebula on the left to the Carina Nebula on the right. The picture was made as a panorama stitch of 6 photos. Each photo is a stack of 10 images, each 60 seconds long. This means in total I spent only one hour on this photo.

Lens	Sigma 50 mm f1.4 Art @f2.8
Camera	Canon EOS 6Da
Mount	iOptron Skyguider Pro
Exposure	60x60s, ISO 1600
Date	2021-05-28

IC 2944 Running Chicken Nebula

May 29, 2022 JakubK

H II nebula

1 Comment

Centaurus DSO HII region IC 2944 IC 2944 Running Chicken Nebula IC2944 Kiripotib Namibia Nebula Rainbow Astro RST135 Running Chicken Nebula Sharpstar 94EDPH ZWO ASI 2600MM

IC 2944 Running Chicken Nebula is an H II region located in the constellation Centaurus. It’s a galactic neighbor of the Carina Nebula because they both belong to the Sagittarius spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. I must admit that this was my secondary nebula target for my trip to Namibia. Therefore, I didn’t dedicate much time – only 3 hours. However, the details popped out, so overall, I am happy with this “fake” Hubble palette picture.

And here is an even more “fake” picture, where the stars are completely removed. However, the nebulosity gained a 3D-like look.

Telescope	Sharpstar 94EDPH
Aperture	94 mm
Focal length	414 mm
Mount	Rainbow Astro RST 135
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope
Camera	ZWO 2600MM @-10°C
Corrector	F4.4 Quad Reducer
Filters	Antlia Ha, OIII, SII 3 nm
Exposure	36x300s, Gain 100, bin 1x1,
Date	2022-05-29

NGC 6752 Globular Cluster

May 29, 2022 JakubK

Galaxy Globular cluster

1 Comment

DSO Globular cluster Kiripotib Namibia NGC 6752 NGC6752 Pavo Rainbow Astro RST135 Sharpstar 94EDPH ZWO ASI 2600MM

NCG 6752 is a globular cluster located in the constellation Pavo. It contains approximately 100’000 stars and it is 13’000 light-years from Earth. Like most recently captured deep space objects, this cluster is visible only from the southern hemisphere.

My intention was to capture the cluster with the galaxies surrounding it, but since this part of the sky is full of stars, the galaxies are almost hidden.

Telescope	Sharpstar 94EDPH
Aperture	94 mm
Focal length	414 mm
Mount	Rainbow Astro RST 135
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope
Camera	ZWO 2600MM @-10°C
Corrector	F4.4 Quad Reducer
Filters	Antlia LRGB
Exposure	36x180s L, 10x180s RGB, Gain 100, bin 1x1,
Date	2022-05-29

Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex

May 29, 2022 JakubK

Dark Nebula Globular cluster H II nebula Reflection nebula

0 Comment

Canon EOS 6D iOptron Skyguider Pro Kiripotib Namibia Rho Ophiuchi Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex William Optics RedCat 51

The Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex is a dense region of gas and dust located in the constellation Ophiuchus, near the border with Scorpius. It is one of the closest star-forming regions to Earth and contains a number of young, hot stars as well as protostars still in the process of forming. The cloud complex is known for its striking red and blue colors, caused by the presence of ionized gas and reflection of starlight off dust grains. Basically, nearly all the colors of the universe can be seen here.

Telescope	William Optics RedCat 51/250 f4.9
Aperture	51 mm
Focal length	250 mm
Mount	iOptron Skyguider Pro
Autoguiding	ZWO 178MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope 30/130 mm
Camera	Canon EOS 6Da
Filters	none
Exposure	60x120s, ISO 1600
Date	2022-05-29

NGC 6744 Galaxy

May 28, 2022 JakubK

Galaxy

2 Comments

Galaxy Kiripotib Meade 10"MK 100 Namibia NGC 6744 NGC6744 Pave Spiral galaxy TS 0.67 reducer ZWO ASI071MC Pro

NGC 6744 is a galaxy in the constellation Pavo. The galaxy has beautiful spiral arms, which attracted my attention and I spent 4 hours collecting the light coming from this 28 million light-years distant deep space object.

Telescope	Meade 10"
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	2097 mm
Mount	MK 100K
Autoguiding	MGEN 240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 @-10°C
Corrector	TS 0.67 reducer
Filters	none
Exposure	78x180s, Gain 95, bin 1x1,
Date	2022-05-28

M83 Southern Pinwheel Galaxy

May 28, 2022 JakubK

Galaxy

1 Comment

DSO Galaxy Kiripotib M83 Meade Messier83 MK 100 Namibia Southern Pinwheel galaxy TS 0.67 reducer ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 83, sometimes called Southern Pinwheel Galaxy is one of the most difficult deep space objects in the whole of Messier’s catalog. It is located between the constellations Hydra and Centaurus. This galaxy has a very low southern declination (close to the horizon) and this makes it difficult to photograph in Central Europe. I tried a few years ago in La Palma, but my attempt was ruined by clouds and bad weather in general. This time I was better prepared: traveled south and hired a telescope with a much longer focal length. However, after the acquisition in the post-processing stage, I noticed that the final image is not that sharp and it was not really publishable. I was quite disappointed and put the picture in the archive. Recently I came back to this image because a new tool for sharpening was released – BlurXTerminator. I must say, this plugin for Pixinsight makes magical things. It reduces the stars and simultaneously makes the non-stellar object significantly sharper. I managed to turn an unfocused picture into this:

Telescope	Meade 10″
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	2097 mm
Mount	MK 100K
Autoguiding	MGEN 240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 @-10°C
Corrector	TS 0.67 reducer
Filters	non
Exposure	52x180s, Gain 95, bin 1×1,
Date	2022-05-28

NGC 3372 Eta Carina Nebula

May 28, 2022 JakubK

H II nebula

2 Comments

Carina Carina nebula DSO Eta Carinae Great Carina Nebula Kiripotib Namibia Narrow band Nebula NGC 3372 NGC3372 Rainbow Astro RST135 Sharpstar 94EDPH ZWO ASI 2600MM

Eta Carina Nebula is the southern hemisphere’s most prominent deep space object. In fact, this nebula is the reason why I packed all my portable astro-gear and flew to Namibia. Carina is approximately 4x brighter than the Orion nebula, which could be considered a highlight of the northern hemisphere. Moreover, it’s much larger. The nebula is a combination of emission and dark nebulae, located in the constellation Carina and it’s roughly 8500 light-years away from us.

It was a struggle to get the rig working in Namibia, but after two nights I managed and the next day, when I processed the pictures, a big smile appeared on my face. Well done, mission accomplished.

During our stay at Kiripotib Namibia, the other guest rented a 14.5-inch Dobsonian telescope and allowed us to have a look at the Carina (thank you so much, Peter). It was a simply spectacular view. Such a huge aperture combined with TeleVue eyepieces – WOW effect was there. Moreover, the Dobsonian had a filter wheel with OIII, UHC, and H-beta filters. Just by turning it, one could see a completely different nebulosity. I was really happy to see this beautiful deep space object with my own eyes.

Here is the processed picture in the Hubble color palette.

And here is bi-color version (R-Ha, G-OIII, B-OIII)

Telescope	Sharpstar 94EDPH
Aperture	94 mm
Focal length	414 mm
Mount	Rainbow Astro RST 135
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope
Camera	ZWO 2600MM @-10°C
Corrector	F4.4 Quad Reducer
Filters	Antlia Ha, OIII, SII 3 nm
Exposure	87x300s, Gain 100, bin 1x1,
Date	2022-05-27

Saturn

May 28, 2022 JakubK

Solar system

1 Comment

Kiripotib Meade 10"MK 100 Namibia Planet Saturn Solar system ZWO ASI485

I have been chasing this planet for a very long time. Saturn is the most beautiful planet in the Solar System and yet I haven’t been able to photograph it properly. This is mainly caused by the fact that in the last years this planet had very low southern declination (it has been quite close to the horizon). Therefore, I was not able to capture it from home, and during my travels, to southern places, I never had a suitable telescope with me. Finally, I got an opportunity. I was in the southern hemisphere, specifically in Namibia, and I rented Meade 10″ Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. The first night I photographed Centarus A Galaxy. Early in the morning around 4 a.m. I came to park to scope, but before that, I removed the ASI071 camera. Focal length 3130 mm I prolonged by TeleVue 2.5 Barlow lens to nearly 8 m, attached ZWO ASI485, and captured 2000 frames. Then I selected 25% best frames and here we go:

Telescope	Meade 10"
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	7825 mm
Mount	MK 100K
Autoguiding	non
Camera	ZWO ASI485MC
Corrector	TeleVue Barlow 2.5x
Filters	non
Exposure	2000x180ms, Gain 222, 25% selected,
Date	2022-05-28

NGC 5128 Centaurus A Galaxy

May 27, 2022 JakubK

Galaxy

3 Comments

Centaurus Centaurus A Centaurus A Galaxy DSO Galaxy Kiripotib Meade 10"Namibia NGC 5128 NGC5128 TS reducer 0.67 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

NGC 5128 Centaurus A is a galaxy, which can be found in cancellation, you can guess which one, Centarus. This galaxy is not visible from Europe or from the northern hemisphere. If anyone wants to observe or photograph it, he has to go south. And this is precisely what I did. I went to Namibia, specifically to an Astrofarm Kiripotib. I went there with a plan and this Galaxy was my first and primary target. As for most galaxies, one needs a long focal length. Therefore, I rented a telescope there. Specifically, it was Meade 10″. I brought my own focal reducer TS 0.67 and attached my old ASI071. I made in a total of 133 pictures, each 3 minutes long, and stacked them together. This means nearly 7 hours of exposure time. The dust cloud blocking the light from the galaxy really popped out with the little help of deconvolution.

Telescope	Meade 10"
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	2097 mm
Mount	MK 100K
Autoguiding	MGEN 240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 @-10°C
Corrector	TS 0.67 reducer
Filters	non
Exposure	133x180s, Gain 95, bin 1x1,
Date	2022-05-27

AstroFotoBlog

Month: May 2022

NGC 2060 Tarantula Nebula

IC 4628 Prawn Nebula

NGC 292 Small Magellanic Cloud

IC 4592 Blue Horsehead nebula

NGC 5139 Omega Centauri

Milky Way in Namibia

IC 2944 Running Chicken Nebula

NGC 6752 Globular Cluster

Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex

NGC 6744 Galaxy

M83 Southern Pinwheel Galaxy

NGC 3372 Eta Carina Nebula

Saturn

NGC 5128 Centaurus A Galaxy

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories

Meta