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APM 08279+5255 – Quasar in Lynx

March 18, 2024 by

Telescope/Camera: Seestar S50

Filter: None

Exposure: 181x10sec (30min) saved as FITS

Average Light Pollution: Bortle 8, fair transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.5 mag/arc-sec^2

Software: Nebulosity, Photoshop

This is one of my absolute favorite objects to image and I was curious whether I could capture it with my Seestar S50. The faint 15th magnitude star marked by the red arrow is the distant quasar APM 08279+5255, the most distant object visible in amateur telescopes with an estimated distance of 12 billion light years! To put this in perspective the Universe is estimated to be 13.8 billion years old and the light from this object has been traveling for 12 billion of those years. The sun is relatively young by comparison, only 4.6 billion years old. When the sun was born the light from this quasar had already been traveling for 7.4 billion years, give or take. At magnitude 15.2 it is a fairly easy photographic target, though locating the exact field can be a bit of a challenge. APM 08279+5255 may also be glimpsed through a large telescope at a reasonably dark site. Imagine that, seeing the farthest observable object in the known Universe with your own eyes! Now that would be neat! In the meantime, I can take a peek at it from my Bortle 8 backyard with my little Seestar S50.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Seestar S50 Example Images

February 22, 2024 by

M42, The Great Nebula in Orion, Seestar S50, 10s x 30m

This is a quick example from my shake-down tests with the Seestar S50. The image on the left was the raw live stack saved as a FITS and converted to a TIFF using Nebulosity. This preserves all of the source data from the live stack in a lossless format suitable for later processing and analysis. The middle image is the displayed real-time live stack showing the enhanced image which is saved as full-scale and thumbnail JPEG. The image on the right is the same data as the source image on the left, but processed using Photoshop, saved as a TIFF and finally as a JPEG. The illustrates that the Seestar does a great job grading, aligning and combining the source images, and saving a high-quality raw image in a lossless format. This is not only handy for later processing but does a great job showing what an object really looks like before the image is processed. The real-time enhanced image looks excellent and in some ways a tad better than my processed image (primarily a bit better contrast than my processed image, though that’s a matter of taste). And finally, the processed example shows that the raw live stack is well suited for stand-alone processing. For my initial evaluation I was also saving all of the raw source images so that I could stack them myself, but so far, I have found that the live stacked image works so well I no longer save the individual source images unless I have a specific interest in doing so.

Next up… I am going to see if I can pull photometric data from the raw live stack. The Seestar is so capable and easy to use it should make an excellent platform for obtaining photometric images of variable stars and asteroids. I’m hoping that ZWO adds a user-defined target capability to the app to make it easier to locate objects that are not in the current database.

There’s always one more thing! 🙂

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

NGC 2903 – Spiral Galaxy in Leo

January 30, 2024 by

Telescope: Astro-Tech 8” f/8 Ritchey-Chretien, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Canon EOS Ra, Baader Mk III MPCC, GSO IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ZWO ASI120MM mini, PHD2

Exposure: 48x60sec, gain ISO 1600 saved as RAW, dithered every 2 images

Darks: Internal

Flats: 64×1/250sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, Bortle 8, fair transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.5

Stacking: Average, 1 sigma clip

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard EOS, Deep Sky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop

NGC 2903 is a fairly bright (Mv 9.0) galaxy located just south of the head of Leo (the Lion). The galaxy is 20.5 million light years away and is 80,000 light years across, making it a little slammer than the Milky Way. I first spotted this galaxy while star-hopping around Leo and Cancer. It is an easy target in an 8” scope where I was able to clearly see the core and bar. The sweeping arms are gorgeous in the photograph, but they are not visible from my backyard.

NGC 2903 is currently well-placed rising in the east during the early evening.

Filed Under: Deepsky Imaging

NGC 2261 – Hubble’s Variable Nebula in Monoceros

January 26, 2024 by

Telescope: Astro-Tech 8” f/8 Ritchey-Chretien, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Canon EOS Ra, Baader Mk III MPCC, GSO IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ZWO ASI120MM mini, PHD2

Exposure: 56x60sec, gain ISO 1600 saved as RAW, dithered every 2 images

Darks: Internal

Flats: 64×1/250sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, Bortle 8, poor transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.3

Stacking: Average, 1 sigma clip

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard EOS, Deep Sky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop

Hubble’s Variable nebula is a small, bright, fan-shaped reflection nebula in Monoceros (the Unicorn). The bright tip of the nebula is not just a star, but a dense nebula hiding a binary system at its core (R Mon). Clouds of dust are believed to orbit this system, casting shadows up onto the veil causing the overall brightness of the nebula to vary. Time lapse sequences spanning weeks of time show the shadows sweeping across the nebula. Visually, NGC 2261 appears very much like a beautiful fan-shaped comet. In fact, it appears more like a comet than some comets!

NGC 2261 is presently rising in the east as the sky darkens.

Filed Under: Deepsky Imaging, Uncategorized

Waning Crescent Moon – 1/5/2024 5:30am EST

January 5, 2024 by

Telescope: Astro-Tech RC8 @ f/8, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Canon EOS Ra, Baader Mk III MPCC, GSO IR Filter

Exposure: 98×1/400 sec, ISO 1600, saved as RAW

Seeing: Fair, 3/5, haze

Software: Backyard EOS, Nebulosity, Autostakkert, Registax, Photoshop

I took advantage of the clear evening last night to pull and all-nighter imaging run. When I stepped outside this morning to check on my gear I found that the sky was closing in and my scope was buried under a thick coating of frost. I was about to begin the process of covering my gear up and saw that the moon was in a hole in the overcast just large enough to grab a quick set of images, so I went back inside, slewed to scope over to the moon, set the exposure, and free-ran the camera until it started to fade, ending up with 98 usable frames. The result was kinda neat with the setting sun just barely catching the eastern rim of Copernicus. A pretty neat end to a very long night.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

M81 – Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major

January 2, 2024 by

Telescope: Unitron 510 5” f/16 refractor, Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Canon EOS Ra full frame DSLR

Filter: 2” Baader Fringe Killer (minus V)

Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm Guidescope, ASI290MM, PHD

Exposure: 47x60sec, ISO 1600, saved as RAW

Darks: Internal (Long Exposure Noise Reduction)

Flats: 64x1/125s sky flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Bortle 8, fair transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.6 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 1-sigma clip

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard EOS, Deepsky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop

This is the last image in this image set taken with the Unitron 510.

M81 is a beautiful spiral galaxy that is interacting with the nearby M82. The sky conditions for imaging this delicate galaxy were far from optimal, but it is still neat to see the beautiful sweeping arms sprinkled with star forming regions resulting from a close encounter with M82. Very pretty.

M81 is low in the northeast during the early evening and is high overhead after midnight.

Filed Under: Deepsky Imaging

NGC 2392 – The Eskimo Nebula in Gemini

December 29, 2023 by

Telescope: Unitron 510 5” f/16 refractor, Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Canon EOS Ra full frame DSLR

Filter: 2” Baader Fringe Killer (minus V)

Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm Guidescope, ASI290MM, PHD

Exposure: 67x30sec, ISO 1600, saved as RAW

Darks: Internal (Long Exposure Noise Reduction)

Flats: 64x1/125s sky flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Bortle 8, fair transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.5 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 1-sigma clip

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard EOS, Deepsky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop

NGC 2392, Eskimo Nebula, is a wonderful little planetary nebula Gemini. Visually this nebula looks much like its nickname, even in a small telescope. Planetary nebula are formed when a star sheds its outer shell as it nears the end of its life while the core collapses into a fiercely bright white dwarf whose intense radiation sets the expanding shell of gas aglow, often with a beautiful blue/green color. The structure of NGC 2392 shows that it experienced several shedding events.

The Eskimo Nebula is currently well placed in the east during the early evening and a fairly easy target for small telescopes.

 

Filed Under: Deepsky Imaging

NGC 1245 – Open Cluster in Perseus

December 27, 2023 by

Telescope: Unitron 510 5” f/16 refractor, Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Canon EOS Ra full frame DSLR

Filter: 2” Baader Fringe Killer (minus V)

Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm Guidescope, ASI290MM, PHD

Exposure: 16x60sec, ISO 1600, saved as RAW

Darks: Internal (Long Exposure Noise Reduction)

Flats: 64x1/125s sky flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Bortle 8, fair transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.5 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 1-sigma clip

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard EOS, Deepsky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop

NGC 1245 is a relatively faint but rich open cluster in central Perseus. It may be a tad faint for small telescopes, but blossoms into a fine patch of stardust in larger telescopes.

NGC 1245 is currently well placed in the evening sky and is high overhead in the northeast as the sky darkens.

Filed Under: Deepsky Imaging

M103 – Open Cluster in Cassiopeia

December 25, 2023 by

Telescope: Unitron 510 5” f/16 refractor, Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Canon EOS Ra full frame DSLR

Filter: 2” Baader Fringe Killer (minus V)

Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm Guidescope, ASI290MM, PHD

Exposure: 16x60sec, ISO 1600, saved as RAW

Darks: Internal (Long Exposure Noise Reduction)

Flats: 64x1/125s sky flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Bortle 8, fair transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.5 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 1-sigma clip

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard EOS, Deepsky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop

M103 is one of several open clusters in Cassiopeia. It is small, rather sparse, and was once thought to be an asterism rather than a true cluster, but it has since been shown to be a distant open cluster. Located just 1.5 degrees northeast of delta Cassiopeia it is easy to find and makes a nice target for small telescopes.

M103 is currently high in the northeast during the early evening.

 

Filed Under: Deepsky Imaging

Jupiter – 11/19/2023, 18h53m to 19h37m EST

November 29, 2023 by

Telescope: Unitron 510 5” f/16 refractor, Atlas EQ-G

Camera: ZWO ASI 294MC

Filter: 2” Baader Fringe Killer (Minus Violet)

Exposure: 5x(3min x 5ms), Gain 340, saved as RAW8/SER

Seeing: 3/5

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: SharpCap Pro, Autostakkert, Registax, Nebulosity, Photoshop

These are the final, processed images from my second evening dedicated to evaluating the 510 for planetary imaging using a ZWO ASI294MC camera with SharpCap Pro. If you look closely you can see the ghost of Europa disappearing behind the planet in the first image (18h 53m). Each image in this sequence is a set of five 3min x 5ms RAW8/SER files stacked in AutoStakkert, wavelets in Registax, then derotated and combined in WinJuPos. The results is very encouraging given that these were taken at the telescope’s native focal length without the aid of a Barlow. I am very happy with how sharp the limb of the planet looks without any of the artifacts that you often see from the wavelets. The colors are a bit soft, which I suspect is from using a very high gain on the camera. More testing is needed…

Filed Under: Solar System Imaging
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