M15 - A different Look! (2024)

Messier 15 is a glubular cluster located some 35,000 light-years away in the constellation of Pegasus (a.k.a. The Winged Horse). At an age of roughly 12 billion years, it is one of the oldest globular clusters known. The last time I imaged this was in 2018 so it was time for a revisit. This time around I went after some the integrated galactic dust (IFN) as well as the very faint hydrogen gas in this region of space. I was very happy to get some of the gas and dust especially since none of this was in any of the subframes. 

M15 - A different Look! (2024)
Dates: 10-23-24, 10-24, 10-26, 10-27, 10-28, 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, 11-5, 11-7, 11-9, 11-15, 11-16, 11-24, 12-1
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
f/7
Focal Reducer: 0.8x AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO
EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: Antlia Ha; ZWO R, G, B, UV
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: Ha 248 x 300, UV 336 x 90, R 48 x 90, G 51 x 90, B 48 x 90 (  h  ')
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: -10 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GraXpert, Bill Blanshan Stretching, Topaz Denoise.

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Sh2-103 - Cygus Loop (2024)

This is the second time I imaged Sh2-103, the first was in 2021, however, this was with a different setup (better). In this attempt, the 200mm camera lens was replaced with the Askar FRA300 and the ZWO ASI294MC was replaced with the ASI2600MC. These changes allowed for much better resolution and detail than the previous version.

The Cygnus Loop or the Filamentary Nebula refers to the visible structure of a supernova remnant located in Cygnus. The progenitor star was 20 times more massive than the Sun and exploded between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago. The nebula is quite large at 120 light-years in diameter (3 degrees) and approximately 2400 light-years across.

The Veil Nebula is so large that it consists of several different NGC numbers describing different parts but I like the way Howard Banich (September 2021 Sky & Telescope) separated it into five parts.

1 - The First Veil - NGC 6960 is also known as the Witch’s Broom. (bottom)

2 - The Second Veil - Fleming’s Triangle (formerly Pickering’s Triangle) also known as Simeis 3-188 was discovered by Williamina Fleming in 1904 at the Harvard College Observatory but credit was given to her director E. C. Pickering until recently. (bottom, just above NGC 6960)

3 - The Third Veil - Southern Blowout Region is very faint and located at the left edge of Fleming’s Triangle. (left side)

4 - The Fourth Veil - NGC 6974, NGC 6979, and Assorted Filaments are located just above Fleming’s Triangle and are also quite dim. (middle right)

5 - The Fifth Veil - NGC 6992, NGC 6995, IC 1340, and the Southeastern Knot - The portion is very bright and to me, resembles a claw. (top)

I started this project in October and finished in November 2024 for a total of 34.7 hours with the dual band NBZ filter and 1.3 hours of straight color for the star. The goal was to be sure to get enough data to get some of the dim Ha nebulosity surrounding the main portions without having to push the saturation and sacrifice the detail. In fact that was what I still struggled with - trying to get the right balance. I had to collect over numerous nights because of the not so great field of view, although it is improving with neighbors removing trees.

High Resolution:

https://www.astrobin.com/ugaytn/?nc=collection&nce=712

Dates:

10-5, 10-6, 10-7, 10-9, 10-20, 10-21, 10-22, 10-23, 10-24, 10-26, 10-27, 10-28, 11-2, 11-3, 11-5, 11-18

Sh2-103 - Cygus Loop (2024)
Dates: 10-5-24, 10-6, 10-7, 10-9, 10-20, 10-21, 10-22, 10-23, 10-24, 10-26, 10-27, 10-28, 11-2, 11-3, 11-5, 11-18
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Telescope: Askar FRA300 Pro
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 300mm
F/5
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: ZWO AM3
Filter Adaptor: ZWO Filter Drawer
Filter: IDAS NBZ, Camera UV-IR
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to a ZWO Mini guidescope
Exposure: UV-IR 52 x 90, NBZ 417 x 300 (36h 3')
Gain: 100
Offset 0
Temp: -10 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXT, NoiseXT, StarX, Bill's Color Masks, Bill's Star Reduction, Bill's Stretching, Topaz Denoise, GraXpert

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

IC 63 - Ghost of Cassiopeia

Located 550 light-years away in Cassiopeia IC 63 and the surrounding objects such as IC 59 and Sh2-185 are reflection and emission nebulae composed of gas and dust. Energy in the form of ultraviolet radiation from the nearby but not shown, blue-giant star Gamma Cassiopeiae (a.k.a. Navi), excites the hydrogen gas which inturn causes the red glow. The blue colored regions are from reflected light off the dust.

I like how IC 63 seems to be pointing upwards towards Gamma Cassiopeiae (not shown) wanting to be fed more energy so it can continue to glow. Even though I love stars and imaged it with Gamma Cass in the field of view, I cropped it out for a number of reasons. Also, I captured ~9 hrs of OIII but in hindsight probably would have been better off with more RGB data instead as the natural blue came out much more than the oxygen. IC 59 in the upper left had the most blue signal. I did blend the OIII in as the background was somewhat smoother with it added in. As usual I struggle with how much star reduction to do and I did more than I typically do, however, I am sure most people would be more aggressive.

Dates: 9-15-24, 9-19, 9-20, 9-22, 10-3, 10-5, 10-6, 10-7, 10-8, 10-9, 10-15, 10-20, 10-21, 10-22

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/j3n02i/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

IC 63 - Ghost of Cassiopeia
Dates: 9-15-24, 9-19, 9-20, 9-22, 10-3, 10-5, 10-6, 10-7, 10-8, 10-9, 10-15, 10-20, 10-21, 10-22
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
f/7
Focal Reducer: 0.8x AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO
EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: Antlia Ha, OIII; ZWO R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: Ha 157 x 300, OIII 109 x 300, R 41 x 90, G 43 x 90, B 41 x 90 (25h 20')
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GraXpert, Bill Blanshan Color Masks, Bill Blanshan Stretching, Topaz Denoise.

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

VdB30 (2024)

VdB30 is a reflection nebula located somewhere between 1600 and 6900 light-years away in the constellation Camelopardalis. It surrounds a central bright blue supergiant star, Alpha Camelopardalis (Alpha Cam, HD 30614). Although the cloud of gas and dust that surrounds the star is very large, it has a low reflectivity making it hardly noticeable. Another interesting thing about Alpha Cam is it is considered a runaway star having a reported speed between 60 and 4200 km/second. Runaway stars have abnormally high speeds relative to the interstellar medium which were set into motion by a supernova explosion of a companion star.

I barely captured the reflection nebula and was not really expecting to catch much of it anyway so the question why I attempted to go after this object is the first place. The answer is that it was a filler. We had several clear nights last month and I was going after other targets which went behind trees after a few hours and wanted to keep imaging. VdB30 may be a reflection nebula but it sits in a region with a faint hydrogen emission nebula. This made the vdB30 a good choice because I could collect data on moonlight nights well. I really like how the Ha arcs around vdB30 and forms a boomerang appearance. I also collected OIII data, however, there was not much signal and the HOO version was very similar to the HaRGB version. I did use it as the background was a bit smoother and I did a small blend of RGB around Alpha Cam.


Dates: 9-3-24, 9-4, 9-5, 9-7, 9-8, 9-9, 9-10, 9-11, 9-12, 9-13, 9-14, 9-15, 10-5

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/4qmcqe/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

VdB30 (2024)

Dates: 9-3-24, 9-4, 9-5, 9-7, 9-8, 9-9, 9-10, 9-11, 9-12, 9-13, 9-14, 9-15, 10-5

Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
f/7
Focal Reducer: 0.8x AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO
EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: Antlia Ha, OIII; ZWO R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: Ha 213 x 300, OIII 97 x 300, R 53 x 90, G 49 x 90, B 54 x 90 (29h 44')
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GraXpert, Bill Blanshan Color Masks, Bill Blanshan Stretching, Topaz Denoise.


https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

SNR G126.2+01.6 - It's Dim!

Supernova remnant SNR G126.2+01.6 is located in the constellation Cassiopeia not very far from other popular objects such as IC 63 - The Ghost of Cassiopeia. I am always looking for uncommon objects to investigate with my camera and saw that Goran Nilson (https://www.astrobin.com/mj605m/) had done a wonderful job on this with his dual RASA setup. There are only a handful of other images of SNR G126 on Astrobin (all of which are better than mine) for a very good reason - this object is faint, especially in OIII. If you do decide to go after this one, give yourself plenty of nights! Processing was really tough, especially trying to 'tease' out the oxygen. Fortunately, PixInsight and Photoshop make it possible. I thought the stars came out well so the only reduction I did was with BlurXTerminator.

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/medzn4/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

SNR G126.2+01.6

Dates: 9-8-24, 9-9, 9-10, 9-11, 9-12, 9-14, 9-15
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
f/7
Focal Reducer: 0.8x AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO
EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: Antlia Ha, OIII; ZWO R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: Ha 133 x 300, OIII 143 x 300, R 39 x 90, G 37 x 90, B 38 x 90 (25h 51')
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GraXpert, Bill Blanshan Color Masks, Bill Blanshan Stretching, Bill Blanshan Star Reduction.

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Comet C/2023 A3

This is my quickly acquired image of Comet 2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS taken on the evening of October 16th 2024 around 7pm. It was not visible with the naked eye from the St John's Cemetery but was with my camera. I hoped to get the ground in the image for perspective but I did not have time to wait so I just went to as much of the comet as possible. The tail was enormous at approximately 18 million miles (29 million km).

As reported by Adam Block, the thin part that points towards the horizon is due to previously released dust in its orbit. The comet orbits on a plane and we are seeing the plane edge-on.

Comet 2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS

Date: 10-16-24

Camera: Canon T3i/600D
Telescope: Canon EF 50mm f/2.8L Lens
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 50mm
f/2.8
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: iOptron SkyGuider Pro

Filter: Astronomik OMB Clip-in
Exposure: 40 x 5s
ISO: 800
Temp: 18 C
Processing: PixInsight, Photoshop

vdB 4 & NGC 225 (Sailboat Cluster)

Although there are several objects in this dust rich image, I decided to name it most prominent object first and that is the reflection nebula vdB 4 named after Dutch astronomer Sidney van den Bergh. It has a blue-white tint and is located 2,000 light-years away in Cassiopeia. In addition to being relatively bright, it shows a lot of sharp detail.

NGC 225, also known as the Sailboat Cluster, is an open cluster approximately 2,200 LY away and is approximately 100 to 150 million years old. The cluster is in the center of the image just below vdB 4 and made up of mostly blue stars although there is a fair number of yellow stars. The outline of the Sailboat is hard to see in my image as it is obscured a bit by the dust, however, the 'hull' is oriented about 30 degrees from horizontal and part of vdB 4 making the 'sail'.

Other goodies in this image are the dark nebula LDN 1291 to the left of vdB 4, LBN 1302 just below vdB 4, and the dusty stringers that appear to be raining down from the cluster. I did not crop this image as I also liked the colorful star field. I struggled with how much to enhance the stars vs. star reduction but in this version after doing initial reduction with BXT for both the RGB and Luminosity images, I did a 35% Luminosity blend with the RGB stars.

High Resolution:

https://www.astrobin.com/am39mj/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

vdB 4 & NGC 225 (Sailboat Cluster) 
Dates: 9-2, 9-3, 9-4, 9-5
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
f/7
Focal Reducer: 0.8x AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO
EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO R, G, B; Camera L 
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: L 294 x 90, R 84 x 90, G 79 x 90, B 83 x 90
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GraXpert, Bill Blanshan Color Masks, Bill Blanshan Stretching.

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

MWP1 with ALV1

MWP1, the highlight of this image, is one of the oldest known bipolar Planetary Nebula (PN) known at 150,000 years. Being so old it has grown to 15 light-years across but has also become very faint. It is located approximately 4500 ly away from us in the constellation Cygnus. It is named after its 1993 discoverers, C. Motch, K. Werner and M. Pakull but it is also known as the Methuselah Nebula. The star responsible for MWP1 happens to be one the hottest known and is the blue star located in the center of the nebula.

ALV1 or PN G79.8-10.2 is an even fainter Planetary Nebula seen below MWP1 on the image. It was discovered in 2009 by Portugese amateur astronomer Filipe Alves.

Both of these objects are exceedingly dim and best done in very dark skies with a fast telescope. So naturally I attempt it with my medium speed telescope and crappy skies, 😏. Nothing was visible in any of my subs except the stars so I was imaging with hope. After lots of processing I was able to bring out the OIII signal along with the Ha. Most of the other images of this object seem to have more OIII signal and less Ha. My data did show a great deal of OIII signal in MWP1 but not in the surrounding area, however, there was a great deal of Ha. I suspect this may be due to less than optimal sky conditions when imaging OIII compared to Ha - also Ha is more forgiving. Whatever the case, I am satisfied with the final product.

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/ofm6x6/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

MWP1 with ALV1
Dates: 8-10, 8-11, 8-12, 8-13, 8-22, 8-23, 8-24, 8-27, 9-1
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
f/7
Focal Reducer: 0.8x AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO
EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: Antlia Ha, OIII; ZWO R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: Ha 88 x 300, OIII 74 x 300, R 39 x 90, G 31 x 90, B 28 x 90 
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GraXpert, Bill Blanshan Color Masks, Bill Blanshan Stretching, Bill Blanshan Star Reduction.

Partial Lunar Eclipse 9-17-24

These are some quick pics of the partial Lunar Eclipse on 9-17-24 from my yard taken between 10:30 and 11:00 pm. The closeups were taken with a Canon T3i/600d camera and Canon 200mm lens. The widefield image which shows a partial rainbow in the clouds and Saturn off to the right was with a Canon 50mm lens.

 

Sh2-173 - Phantom of the Opera Nebula

Sh2-173 is more than a tribute to the mask worn by the Phantom of the Opera in the Broadway Musical. Claude Rains (1943) and Lon Chaney (1925) played the iconic character in the movie adaptation of the novel by Gaston Leroux and wore a similar mask. This has been on my bucket list for quite a while but was never in my FOV from my observatory until recently thanks to our neighbors removing trees. Unlike many nebula nicknames, this one actually resembles the 'Phantom of the Opera'.

Located in the constellation Cassiopeia, Sh2-173 is a hydrogen alpha (Ha) emission nebula approximately 8,800 light-years from Earth. It is very faint, requiring long exposures to bring out the nebulosity. It also sits in a very rich and colorful starfield so although I did a bit of star reduction I tried to preserve as much as possible.

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/uhwnrt/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Sh2-173 - Phantom of the Opera Nebula
Dates: 7-25-24, 7-31, 8-1, 8-4
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
f/7
Focal Reducer: 0.8x AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO
EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: Antlia Ha; ZWO R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: Ha 109 x 300, R 38 x 90, G 32 x 90, B 44 x 90 (11h 57' 30")
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GraXpert, Bill Blanshan Color Masks, Bill Blanshan Stretching, Bill Blanshan Star Reduction.

Flying Bat & Squid w/ a Color Camera (2024)

The Flying Bat Nebula, Sh2-129, is a huge region of ionized hydrogen gas represented by the red color whereas the much dimmer Squid Nebula, Ou4, consists of (doubly) ionized oxygen gas. Located in Cepheus approximately 2,300 light-years away, Sh2-129 is a faint emission nebula and has been known about since at least the 1950's as a neighbor to IC 1396, the Elephant Trunk Nebula. The Squid (Ou4) sits within the Sh2-129 and does resemble a squid with its tentacles wrapped up. Ou4 is a relatively new discovery from 2011 by French astro-imager Nicolas Outters and it may seem odd that this was not found until 2011 but there is a really good reason, it is really dim.

This is my second go-around with this, however, this time I used the Askar FRA 300, a ZWO ASI2600MC color camera, and the IDAS NBZ dual band filter. Compared to my previous image from 2020 (https://www.astrobin.com/dehe24/?nc=&nce=), the telescope has a smaller focal length and the camera has a larger sensor meaning the field of view is larger.

I was a bit apprehensive about attempting this with a color camera given how faint Ou4 is. The Hydrogen Alpha (Ha) signal was very strong and appeared in the individual subframes, however, there was no hint of OIII in any subframe. Color cameras don't capture as much individual color signal as does a mono camera in a given amount of time which is why I was concerned. I captured over 50 hours worth of data, much more than before, in order to ensure I would have enough signal to bring out the OIII.

After stacking the data, the Flying Bat was very clear and it mostly masked the faint Squid. To bring out the Squid, I separated the color image into RGB channels, using the red as the Ha portion, and combined the green and blue to make an OIII image. I was quite happy with the results as the Squid popped out quite well in the OIII image. I could have brought out the Ou4 even more but liked the natural looking faint translucent appearance.

Higher Quality:

https://www.astrobin.com/pzeern/?nc=collection&nce=712

Dates: 7-2-24, 7-8, 7-12, 7-14, 7-15, 7-19, 7-20, 7-26, 7-30, 8-2, 8-5, 8-12, 8-13 

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Flying Bat & Squid w/ a Color Camera (2024) 

Dates: 7-2-24, 7-8, 7-12, 7-14, 7-15, 7-19, 7-20, 7-26, 7-30, 8-2, 8-5, 8-12, 8-13 
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Telescope: Askar FRA300 Pro
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 300mm
F/5
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: ZWO Filter Drawer
Filter: IDAS NBZ, Camera UV-IR
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to a ZWO Mini guidescope
Exposure: UV-IR 87 x 90, NBZ 627 x 300
Gain: 100
Offset 0
Temp: 0 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXT, NoiseXT, StarX, Bill's Color Masks, Bill's Star Reduction, Bill's Stretching, Topaz Denoise, GraXpert

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Setting Moon Over Santa Monica 8-20-24

I did attempt to capture the full moon setting over the water but I was a day late. It was a bit too bright to capture the image I would have liked, oh well! This was a composite of four shots around 7:00 at 3 minutes apart. 

Camera: Canon T3i/600D
Telescope: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Lens
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 200mm
f/4.0
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: Cheap Tripod
Exposure: 1/2500s
ISO: 200
Temp: 18 C
Processing: PixInsight, Photoshop

Jupiter-Mars 8-19-24

While in Santa Monica vacationing I managed to get Jupiter and Mars in the same FOV with my Canon EOS T3i (600D) and a 200mm Lens on the morning of 8-19-24. They were closest between the 14th and 15th. The sky conditions were not ideal, lots of light pollution but Jupiter was easily seen as was Mars. Jupiter's four moons (Galilan) were in an alignment starting from the bottom left Callisto, Io, Jupiter , Europa, and finally Ganymede on the top right. Mars was quite bright as well as it will be approaching Earth, thus appearing larger and brighter. The spikes around Jupiter and Mars are caused by aperture adjuster. Had I planned this better I would have kept the aperture open and used step down rings.

Camera: Canon T3i/600D
Telescope: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Lens
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 200mm
f/4.0
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: Cheap Tripod
ASI120 Mini attached to a ZWO Mini guidescope - None
Exposure: 1.6s

ISO: 1600
Temp: 18 C
Processing: PixInsight, Photoshop

Active Sun 8-13-24

It was finally a clear day and I was set up from the previous night of imaging. I was mainly doing observing, however, I did capture this image. I would had done a video but we are getting ready to travel so there was not much time. It looked stupendous live especially the active spot regions and the detached prominence! 

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/v4dda7/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Active Sun 8-13-24
Date: 8-13-24
Camera: ZWO ASI174MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80
Barlow: DayStar Quark 4.2x
Focal Length: 600mm (2520mm w/Quark)
F/7.5 (F/31.5 w Quark)
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: ZWO AM3
Filter Adaptor: None
Filter: Baader UV-IR, Daystar Quark
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 5.86s (100 of 500)
Gain: 100
Offset 0
FPS: 64
Temp: 18 C
Processing: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, PixInsight, IMPPG, Topaz Denoise, Photoshop

NGC 7635 - Bubble Nebula (2024)

This is my latest image of NGC 7635 or the Bubble Nebula (a.k.a. Sh2-162). NGC 7635 is being pushed out by the stellar wind of a massive star, SAO 20575, within 'the bubble'. Located approximately 7,100 light-years away in Cassiopeia, NGC 7635 is situated in a giant molecular cloud which is able to contain the expansion of the bubble gas. The glow results from the gas getting ionized by the hot radiation from the central star. The Bubble is about 10 light-years across.

Other Deep Sky Objects (DSOs) found in this field include LBN 548/549 - the bright red area around the Bubble, LDN 1231 - a dark nebula up and left of the Bubble, Sh2-161 - LBN 547 - the large faint red Ha region on the left, PN G112.5-00.1 - a planetary nebula below and right of the Bubble, and one of my favorite area LBN 544 - a bright blue and red Ha region with a fair amount of oxygen on the upper right portion of the image.

Capturing went pretty smoothly except for one night when I thought I was centered on the object but was way off. I finally figured out how to have N.I.N.A. check the centering every so often, courtesy of Pat Prokop (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc-Vtv1XzxQ&t=1876s), in case clouds or space aliens get in the way. Processing also went smoothly. As usual there is a lot of subjective coloring with SHO objects which I struggle with. However, for this object I went with what was most pleasing to me and also what other people liked on Astrobin.

Pat's Channel (www.youtube.com/@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy)

Dates: 7-7-24, 7-11, 7-13, 7-14, 7-18, 7-19, 7-29

High Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/g3o7ew/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

NGC 7635 - Bubble Nebula (2024) 
Dates: 7-7-24, 7-11, 7-13, 7-14, 7-18, 7-19, 7-29
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
f/7
Focal Reducer: 0.8x AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO
EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: Antlia Ha, OIII, SII; ZWO R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: Ha 75 x 300, OIII 73 x 300, SII 68 x 300, R 46 x 90, G 47 x 90, B 44 x 90 (Total 21h 25')

Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GraXpert, Bill Blanshan Color Masks, Bill Blanshan Stretching.

Solar Animation 7-19-24

For this animation, rather than just focusing on the prominences I kept the surface features as well. I am getting more familiar with producing these time-lapses but still have a way to go but I am not sure how detailed I can get with the ED80. There are three to four large prominence regions in this cropped view but I also was drawn to the movement of the filament (dark streak) in the right center. I ended up with five versions with other versions having less noise but also less detail before settling on this one. (48 min. Time-Lapse)

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/rjst9o/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Solar Animation 7-19-24
Date: 7-19-24
Camera: ZWO ASI174MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80
Barlow: DayStar Quark 4.2x
Focal Length: 600mm (2520mm w/Quark)
F/7.5 (F/31.5 w Quark)
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: ZWO AM3
Filter Adaptor: None
Filter: Baader UV-IR, Daystar Quark
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 6.97s - 48 min (100 of 500 every 30s)
Gain: 100
Offset 0
FPS: 63

Temp: 22 C
Processing: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, PixInsight, IMPPG, Topaz Denoise, Photoshop

Huge Prominence on 7-17-24

I captured this very large prominence on 7-17-24 while making a video comparing the ASI174 to the ASI178 for solar imaging with my setup - Link. I was stunned when I saw this prominence through the eyepiece after doing my testing and decided to image this. For reference, this is the southeast portion of the sun and the sunspot is designated as 3756. I originally attempted to make a time-lapse, however, in my haste to take advantage of the clear morning sun quickly set up my mount onto the concrete blocks which point to the general direction but you still need to check the polar alignment with a compass, Stellarium, or some other app. I completely forgot 😕 and was wondering why it was veering off after a few minutes - oh well!

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/xfefb6/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Huge Prominence on 7-17-24
Date: 7-17-24
Camera: ZWO ASI174MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80
Barlow: DayStar Quark 4.2x
Focal Length: 600mm (2520mm w/Quark)
F/7.5 (F/31.5 w Quark)
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: ZWO AM3
Filter Adaptor: None
Filter: Baader UV-IR, Daystar Quark
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 8.10s (100 of 500)
Gain: 100
Offset 0
FPS: 67
Temp: 18 C
Processing: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, PixInsight, IMPPG, Topaz Denoise, Photoshop

NGC 7129 - A Small Reflection in a Rich Field

Located some 3,300 light-years in the constellation Cepheus is a small reflection nebula, NGC 7129, illuminated by a young star cluster. The interesting shape, often described as a rosebud, was produced when hot young stars blew a bubble in the very large molecular cloud in this region. To make things more interesting, this region also contains lots of hydrogen, enough to produce faint Ha emission nebulae.

I have a love-hate relationship with processing molecular clouds with both reflection and emission nebulae as they have conflicting processing techniques when highlighting them. Because of this the final result depends on the preference of the astrophotographer. In trying to set a balance I went with showing a bit more Ha. Perhaps if I were in a dark site with Bortle 3 or lower skies I would have balanced it differently. The reflection nebula has a blue hue and shows lots of interesting structure caused by the solar winds streaming outward against the molecular cloud.

Lastly, the region is rich in stars of all types. If you have been following me, you know I like stars so I left many of them. However, I did do some reduction using BlurXTerminator on the RGB stars and did not use the Luminosity data for the stars.

High Quality:

https://www.astrobin.com/01awih/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

NGC 7129 - A Small Reflection in a Rich Field

Dates: 6-4-24, 6-7, 6-9, 6-10, 6-12, 6-13, 6-15, 6-24, 6-27
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
f/7
Focal Reducer: 0.8x AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO
EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: Antlia Ha; ZWO L, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: L 326 x 90, Ha 174 x 300, R 114 x 90, G 113 x 90, B 107 x 90 (Total 30h 58")
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GraXpert, Bill Blanshan Color Masks, Bill Blanshan Stretching, Topaz Denoise.

Solar Prom Animation from 7-2-24

This is my second solar animation. Processing went a little smoother as I am getting more familiar with techniques. This time around I darkened the surface since there was nothing noteworthy in the region of the prominences. The roughly 6 second animation represents 1 hour and 4 minutes of real time on the sun. It started off pretty well detail wise, however, the sharpness seemed to get worse halfway through. I think this was due to diminishing seeing conditions, especially since it was very cloudy an hour later.

The large prominence in the right portion is quite impressive, however, I really like how the portion in the lower region floats above the chromosphere accepting particle releases from the large prom and releasing particles to the left.

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/intj17/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Solar Prom Animation from 7-2-24
Date: 7-2-24
Camera: ZWO ASI174MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80
Barlow: DayStar Quark 4.2x
Focal Length: 600mm (2520mm w/Quark)
F/7.5 (F/31.5 w Quark)
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: ZWO AM3
Filter Adaptor: None
Filter: Baader UV-IR, Daystar Quark
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 7.34s - 64 min (100 of 500 every 30s)
Gain: 100
Offset 0
FPS: 67
Temp: 18 C
Processing: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, PixInsight, IMPPG, Topaz Denoise, Photoshop

Solar Surface and Proms from 6-22-24

So I'm finally caught up as this is the last of my 'old' images. The next solar project will be within the same week as collection which occured today, 😉. These were taken a mere week ago when I was checking out the Quark after cleaning it. I had an oops moment when I forgot to remove the plastic cover during an outreach event. Because the Quark is installed at the eyepiece the full photon force of the sun hits the cap and vaporizes (burns a hole on it) it. Fortunately, it still worked well enough for the outreach event. I did contact DayStar and explained that there was a little film on the diagonal (which I cleaned) and the Quark. She said it happens often and it was safe to use 91% isopropyl alcohol and Q-tips for cleaning which I promptly did.

The first image shows well defined active regions along with a large almost continuous prominence. The second image has less active regions on the surface but a very distinct and well defined prominence. 

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/h6hry5/B/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Solar Surface and Proms from 6-22-24
Date: 6-22-24
Camera: ZWO ASI174MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80
Barlow: DayStar Quark 4.2x
Focal Length: 600mm (2520mm w/Quark)
F/7.5 (F/31.5 w Quark)
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: ZWO AM3
Filter Adaptor: None
Filter: Baader UV-IR, Daystar Quark
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 100 x 7.34 ms (100 of 500)
Gain: 100
Offset 0
FPS: 64
Temp: 15 C
Processing: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, IMPPG, Photoshop, Gradient XTerminator, TopazDenoise.

Active Regions from 6-4-24

During this quick observing and testing session from a few weeks ago, surface features were quite apparent. An Active Region is concentration magnetic activity that has several types of features within the area. In this region, numerous sunspots (dark spots) are concentrated in three areas. Plages, bright yellow areas near the spots associated with high heating, are also visible. Lastly, Active Region Filaments (ARF), long dark fibrous strands populate the left and central active regions.

PS: This was the last of the older solar images, I only have one more and that is only five days old... 

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/paw8hu/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Active Regions from 6-4-24
Date: 6-4-24
Camera: ZWO ASI174MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80
Barlow: DayStar Quark 4.2x
Focal Length: 600mm (2520mm w/Quark)
F/7.5 (F/31.5 w Quark)
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: ZWO AM3
Filter Adaptor: None
Filter: Baader UV-IR, Daystar Quark
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 100 x 7.974 ms (100 of 500)
Gain: 100
Offset 0
FPS: 66
Temp: 15 C
Processing: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, IMPPG, Photoshop, Gradient XTerminator, TopazDenoise.

Solar Surface & Proms from 6-1-24

This is a long delayed image from three weeks ago of the sun (there were two but this was the best) - been busy with the end of the semester and such. I eventually would like to do more animations but that takes a lot of time and I need more general practice. I like how the prominences turned out as well as the surface detail especially around the active region with the sunspots. I especially like how the two main prominences are actually connected to each other as shown in the image. 

Unfortunately I don't know the designations since they were collected a few weeks ago. If you go on the solar websites that I know it is straightforward to get the designations, however, it is not so easy. I like processing these images but it is much different than processing deep sky stuff. The next purchase would be an autofocuser however the reason I haven't purchased it yet is that I use this scope for visual solar and I find using the manual focus knob much easier than anything else for visual purposes. On the other hand, all you really need to do is unscrew two allen wrench push pin screws (for a ZWO EAF) and you can make it manual so I think that is next.

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/udos63/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

The Solar Surface from 6-1-24
Date: 6-1-24
Camera: ZWO ASI174MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80
Barlow: DayStar Quark 4.2x
Focal Length: 600mm (2520mm w/Quark)
F/7.5 (F/31.5 w Quark)
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: ZWO AM3
Filter Adaptor: None
Filter: Baader UV-IR, Daystar Quark
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 100 x 6.134 ms (100 of 500)
Gain: 100
Offset 0
FPS: 66
Temp: 15 C
Processing: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, IMPPG, Photoshop, TopazDenoise

Messier 99 (2024)

This is my latest version of Messier 99 (M99), my only other version of this is from 2017 taken with my Canon T3i/600d attached to the ED80. M99, also known as NGC 4254 or St. Catherine's Wheel, is a spiral galaxy located 40 million light years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. It is approximately 40 million light-years away and 75,000 ly in diameter. Numerous other galaxies much further away than M99 are also present in this image.

Although the galaxy looks to be face-on, it is actually inclined 42° from our line of sight. Another interesting item is that one arm is more tightly wound than the other and the core seems to be slightly offset from the center. Interactions with other galaxies are the likely cause of the peculiar shape. The galaxy is not classified as a starburst galaxy, however, studies indicate that it has star formation 3x larger than other similar galaxies. As evidence many blue star clusters make up the arms and give it a blue tint. Note: Hydrogen nebular regions which would normally appear red are also found in the arms but unfortunately I was unable to bring them out - I did collect some Ha data which would have helped but it did not look good due to bad sky conditions or camera ice so I did not use it.

Dates: 5-2-24, 5-12, 5-28, 5-30, 5-31, 6-1, 6-3

Higher Quality:

https://www.astrobin.com/pjxd6k/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Messier 99 (2024)
Dates: 5-2-24, 5-12, 5-28, 5-30, 5-31, 6-1, 6-3
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-Pro
Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 800
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 2032mm (native), 1400mm
F/10 (native), F/7
Focal Reducer: Celestron 0.7 Reducer Lens
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: ZWO Filter Drawer
Filter: Camera UV-IR
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: Askar M54 OAG/ZWO ASI174 mini
Exposure: UV-IR 455 x 90 (11h 22m)
Gain: 139
Offset 0
Temp: -10 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXT, NoiseXT, StarX, Bill's Colormasks, Bill's Stretching, GraXpert, GradientXT, Topaz Denoise

Solar Animation from 5-26-24

This is the final run from my April 26 imaging session with the ZWO ASI174. I decided to do an animation/time-lapse to finish off for the day. I collected several 500 frame bursts every 30s for 27 minutes to make this time lapse. I really like these solar animations as they show how dynamic the sun really is. It is certainly not the best time lapse as it is overly above the chromosphere and there are still some blurry frames (although I did remove several). I could go on with critiquing it but I learned quite a bit by doing it. For one thing I did a lot of Batch Processing work using many different programs. The process I used was from the Youtube channels of Chuck's Astro (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXijbjkclMc&t=647s) and AZAstroguy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L4yHtkpVY4&t=11s).

Basically it was Sharpcap (capturing), AutoStakkert (stacking), PixInsight (crop), IMPPG (sharpen, align), Photoshop (color, time/lapse), Topaz DeNoise (sharpen), and I attempted to use NAFE. I don't know if I could have improved it as so much depends on the seeing conditions and by the time I did this, the conditions were deteriorating.

In addition to the flares on the end, the surface shows quite a bit of neat activity as well.

Higher Quality:

https://www.astrobin.com/tcdbgp/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Solar Animation from 5-26-24
Date: 5-26-24
Camera: ZWO ASI174MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80
Barlow: DayStar Quark 4.2x
Focal Length: 600mm (2520mm w/Quark)
F/7.5 (F/31.5 w Quark)
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ
Filter Adaptor: None
Filter: Baader UV-IR, Daystar Quark
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 27 min (100 of 500 every 30s)
Gain: 100
Offset 0
FPS: 66
Temp: 15 C
Processing: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, PixInsight, IMPPG, Photoshop

Surface Features from 5-26-24

In my ongoing journey to the sun, this image focuses on some of the surface details of the chromosphere. Numerous sunspots (3691, 3695, 3690, 3693, & 3692) and filaments are visible. A fairly active region located on the left side contains multiple sunspots including 3691 and 3695. On the right hand side a long narrow dark brown linear structure known as a filament seems to point towards a smaller active region that includes the sunspot 3692.

This was captured last week at roughly the same time as the flares from my previous post. Similar processing was in order to bring out the surface detail and this was a bit easier since there were no flares to bring out.

Higher Quality
https://www.astrobin.com/8i11gw/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Surface Features from 5-26-24
Date: 5-26-24
Camera: ZWO ASI174MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80
Barlow: DayStar Quark 4.2x
Focal Length: 600mm (2520mm w/Quark)
F/7.5 (F/31.5 w Quark)
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ
Filter Adaptor: None
Filter: Baader UV-IR, Daystar Quark
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 100 x 7.612 ms (100 of 500)
Gain: 100
Offset 0
FPS: 66
Temp: 15 C
Processing: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, IMPPG, Photoshop

Solar Flares/Prominances from 5-26-24

This image focuses on the solar flares/prominences, however, the chromosphere does show some amazing structure. I like the swirling flames of these prominences and they look better than ones I have captured up to this point. The previous full disk image was with an inexpensive white light filter whereas this was with an expensive eyepiece solar filter known as a Quark. The Daystar Quark uses a specialized hydrogen etalon filter designed for solar imaging. I have the Chromosphere model which focuses mainly on the surface but does a decent job on the flares. There is a Flare model that focuses on the flares rather than on the surface. Rumor has it that the Chromosphere does a better overall job so I went with it instead of the Flare model. There is also a Gemini model which can switch between the flares and chromosphere but it is twice the price.

I used Sharpcap for capturing and am getting more comfortable with it. Processing was done with AutoStackert, IMPPG, and Photoshop. I am sure a more experienced solar processor would be able to produce a better image but I am having a good time playing around with it.

 

Higher Quality 

https://www.astrobin.com/0tn0ow/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Solar Flares/Prominances from 5-26-24
Date: 5-26-24
Camera: ZWO ASI174MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80
Barlow: DayStar Quark 4.2x
Focal Length: 600mm (2520mm w/Quark)
F/7.5 (F/31.5 w Quark)
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ
Filter Adaptor: None
Filter: Baader UV-IR, Daystar Quark
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 100 x 8.4020 ms (100 of 500)
Gain: 100
Offset 0
FPS: 65
Temp: 15 C
Processing: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, IMPPG, Photoshop

Sunspots 5-26-24

What a difference one day makes as it is cloudy and rainy today! This was from yesterday and is my best solar image taken with a simple inexpensive white light filter (Daystar N5 film) - however, it was with my new solar camera (ZWO ASI174MM). Lots of sunspots (3695/3691-top left, 3690-just under the previous, 3693-lo the left, 3692-center, 3686/3685-bottom right). You can actually make out some other detail in addition to the sunspots which I was quite happy with.

Higher Quality - annotated version 

https://www.astrobin.com/2cd4d4/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Sunspots 5-26-24
Date: 5-26-24
Camera: ZWO ASI174MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80
Barlow: none
Focal Length: 600mm 
F/7.5 
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ
Filter Adaptor: None
Filter: Baader UV-IR, Daystar Solar Filter (SolarLite Film-N5)
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 100 x 9.9340 ms (100 of 500)

Gain: 100

Offset 0

FPS: 67 

Temp: 15 C

Processing: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, IMPPG, Photoshop

Messier 95 (2024)

This is my latest version of Messier 95, the previous version is from five years ago. M95 or NGC 3351 is a barred spiral galaxy approximately 38 million light-years away and 70,000 ly across making it about half the size of our own Milky Way. The spiral arms are tightly bound to the central core and contain many young blue stars as evidenced by the blue regions in the rings. Another interesting feature is the bright nuclear ring that surrounds the core. It is not clear to me why some galaxies have this but quite a few do. Also interesting to me is the dark red/brown dust lane across the inner core. 

This image is orders of magnitude better than my previous attempts which were captured with less than half the focal length as this version. Also my processing is much improved, however, given the relative size of this galaxy, I believe the focal length was the biggest factor.

https://www.astrobin.com/9gl4ni/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Messier 95 (2024)

Dates: 4-13-24, 4-25, 4-26, 5-8
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-Pro
Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 800
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 2032mm (native), 1400mm
F/10 (native), F/7
Focal Reducer: Celestron 0.7 Reducer Lens
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: ZWO Filter Drawer
Filter: Camera UV-IR
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: Askar M54 OAG/ZWO ASI174 mini
Exposure: UV-IR 261 x 90 (6h 31')
Gain: 139
Offset 0
Temp: -10 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXT, NoiseXT, StarX, Bill's Colormasks, Bill's Stretching, GraXpert, Topaz Denoise

Caught a bit of the Aurora here in Monroe!

 Aurora in Monroe CT! 

Friday 5-10-24.

Location: Home Monroe, CT

Date: 5-10-24

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i/600d modified

Lens: Opteka 8mm fisheye

Barlow: None

Focal Length: 6.5mm

f/3.5

Focal Reducer: None

Mount: Tripod

Filter: Astronomik Clipin OWB 

Autoguiding: None

Exposure: 1 x 10s

ISO: 1600

Temp: 15 C

Post Processing: Photoshop, PixInsight.

Solar Activity 5-11-24 - First Light the ASI174MM

These are the first images with my ZWO ASI174MM. It was the perfect morning to do this especially coming off of the aurora's the night before. I am very happy with this camera, even the live view was so much better than the ASI178. RThere will be more in-depth information later. I just wanted to get some images. One thing I will mention is that I don't have a good view of the morning sun from my observatory so I set the scope and all on to the AM3 Mount which is fine. However, I could not find the APP to run the mount so I had to scramble and use the hand controller which fortunately worked fine. I later found out that ZWO changed the name of the mount APP.

The ring structures visible on some of the images are an artifact known as Newton's rings. They can be corrected with tilt adjuster which I have I just have to play around with it, otherwise these are my best solar images yet. 

Solar Activity 5-11-24 - First Light the ASI174MM
Date: 5-11-24
Camera: ZWO ASI174MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80
Barlow: Daystar Quark 4.2x
Focal Length: 600mm (2520mm w/Quark)
F/7.5 (F/31.5 w Quark)
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: ZWO AM3
Filter Adaptor: None
Filter: Camera UV-IR, Ha-Quark
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 100 x 6.1340 ms (100 of 500)
Gain: 100
Offset 0
Temp: 15 C
Processing: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, IMPPG, Photoshop

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Sunspots: Quark & ASI178

So this is my first closeup of sun spots with my developing solar setup. Based on when the data was collected, 2024 - April 27, I believe this sunspot grouping is AR3654 and the one on the left side is AR3655. It is not the best solar image as the detail and sharpness could be better but I am happy with it. This summer I plan to do more solar imaging with the setup I built a few years ago. It consists of the Orion ED80, Daystar Quark Chromosphere, and ZWO ASI178. Sharpcap was used for image acquisition while AutoStakkert & IMPPG were used for the main processing although I did a bit of final work in PixInsight and Photoshop. There is some type of artifact on the right that I was able to reduce a bit.


I did collect a series of five videos of a solar flare in an attempt to make a video using batch processing. It worked, however the detail was not good and it was not worth posting. The likely causes for the lack of sharpness are poor 1) seeing conditions, 2) scope not good enough, and/or 3) the camera not good enough. I can't do anything about the weather but the scope I think is fine as I took some lunar images with it recently and was quite satisfied. The ZWO ASI178 is a very good lunar and planetary camera with its small pixel size of 2.4 micrometers and capture speed of 60 fps (10 bit), however, for solar work using a Quark, a faster speed and larger pixel size would be better. I have ordered an ASI174 which has a capture rate between 160 fps (10 bit) and pixel size of 5.86 micrometers. Fortunately, since solar and planetary cameras are not cooled, they are not as pricey as deep sky cameras, relatively speaking. The other thing that could make a higher quality image is doing flats. Doing flats with solar imaging is a bit different than deep sky flats and I have not tried them yet although the method for collecting them looks fairly easy.

Sunspots: Quark & ASI178
Date: 4-28-24
Camera: ZWO ASI178MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80
Barlow: Daystar Quark 4.2x
Focal Length: 600mm (2520mm w/Quark)
F/7.5 (F/31.5 w Quark)
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: Orion Sirius Pro
Filter Adaptor: None
Filter: Camera UV-IR, Ha-Quark
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 300 x 4.1910 ms (30% of 1000)
Gain: 200
Offset 0
Temp: 15 C
Processing: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, PixInsight, Photoshop

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

Spring Moon (Camera/SharpCap Test?)

Seems like I am turning into a lunar photographer as of late since this is my second image within a month. Actually, like my last image, I was using the moon for testing once again. The moon is great for doing equipment and processing tests. In this case I was getting familiar with SharpCap again and testing my equipment for solar work.

My main solar setup consists of:

1) Orion ED80 - FL 600mm/F7.5

2) ZWO ASI178MM Pro

3) DayStar Quark Chromosphere

4) Orion Sirius Equatorial Mount

5) SharpCap capturing software

I used SharpCap to collect a video using the following camera settings:

Capture Area = 3096 x 2080

Gain = 290

Exposure = 0.2050ms

Duration = 20.189s

Frame Count = 496

Actual Frame Rate = 24.5680fps

I used AutoStakkert preprocessing processing software to stack the video frames selecting the best 20% or 99 frames. I did minimal final processing in PixInsight and Photoshop to produce this image. It came out pretty well but not as good as my single exposure shot from last month (https://www.astrobin.com/gv30xe/?nc=collection&nce=712). 

However, it is not really comparable since the slightest seeing conditions can affect the quality. Also, and maybe more important, they were with two completely different setups. Another thing that Niall MacNeill pointed out to me last month, was that lucky-stacking may work really well for closeup surface shots but for whole moon images single exposure shots show more detail. The following table lists the specs of each setup. Column 3 is my Solar Setup with the Quark and Column 4 is with the ASI174 (which I currently do not have) in place of the ASI178.

	Edge800 ASI294MC	Solar Setup ASI178	Solar Setup w/Quark ASI178	Solar Setup w/Quark ASI174
Telescope	Edge800	ED80	ED80	ED80
Reducer/Barlow	0.7x	none	4.2x	4.2x
Focal Length	1432mm	600mm	600mm	600mm
Camera	ASI294MC	ASI178MM	ASI178MM	ASI174MM
Pixel Size	4.63µm	2.4µm	2.4µm	5.86µm
Resolution	4144 x 2822	3096 x 2080	3096 x 2080	1936 x 1216
Sensor Size	19.1 x 13.1 mm	7.4 x 5.0 mm	7.4 x 5.0 mm	11.3 x 7.1 mm
Scale	0.67 arc”/pixel	0.83 arc”/pixel	0.2 arc”/pixel	0.48 arc”/pixel
Video Rate	19 fps 10bit/ 16 fps 14bit	60 fps 10bit/ 30 fps 14bit	60 fps 10bit/ 30 fps 14bit	164 fps 10bit/ 128 fps 12bit

The image scale are very close at 0.67 vs. 0.83 arcsec/pixel but there is no way to make up the difference between a 1432 mm Focal Length and a 600 mm Focal Length system. The whole point of using such a large scope is to get more detail.

The other thing I noticed was that the frame rate was ~24 fps which indicated that I was probably using 14 bit and for solar imaging it may be better to use 10 bit to take advantage of the higher capture rate. Of course I have no idea how to do this at the moment. Lastly, I may purchase the venerable ASI174 which has proven itself to be an excellent solar camera. It seems the price has come down a slight amount for that camera over the years most likely because ZWO has a newer and slightly more expensive solar camera, the ASI432.

Spring Moon (Camera/SharpCap Test?)
Date: 4-16-24
Camera: ZWO ASI178MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm 
F/7.5
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: Orion Sirius Pro
Filter Adaptor: None
Filter: Camera UV-IR
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 99 x 0.2050 ms
Gain: 290
Offset 0
Temp: 15 C
Processing: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, PixInsight, Photoshop

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1