IC 1311 (2025)

This is my latest, it features an open cluster, IC 1311, in a sea of hydrogen gas. IC 1311 is an open cluster with hundreds of stars approximately 4000 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. In addition to the emission nebula which it resides in, a dark nebula, LDN 885, and a planetary nebula, PN G077.6+04.3 (DSH J2009.6+4114) below and to the right of the cluster, are also found in this rich background. I really like the color and swirling structure of the emission nebula, especially in the upper portion of the image. I like to say I found this on my own, but credit goes to Robert Eder for showcasing this object a few months ago with a larger focal length setup. These clusters embedded in nebulae are becoming my favorite objects to image!

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/21jd6d/?nc=collection&nce=712

IC 1311 (2025)
Dates: 8-3-25, 8-12, 8-14
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
f/7 (f/5.6)
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 76 x 300, R 59 x 90, G 54 x 90, B 55 x 90 (10h 32m)
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.

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Active Solar Regions 8-15-25

This was my first and maybe only Sun Image for this year - I am very busy. I had to remember how I set everything up from last year as well as how to process these which was the hard part. There were many relatively small spots on the surface but I zeroed in on this region because of the two interactive spots on the upper left and the prominences on the right. It felt good scanning the sun again with the Quark.

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/37d57l/?nc=collection&nce=712

Active Solar Regions 8-15-25 
Date: 8-15-25
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: 9.35s (100 of 500)
Gain: 100
Offset 0
FPS: 64
Temp: 18 C
Processing: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, IMPPG, Topaz Denoise, Photoshop

Sh2-124 (2025)

This is my version of Sharpless 124 (Sh2-124) which is a dim emission nebula located in the constellation of Cygnus. It lies approximately 8500 light-years from us meaning the light began its journey when humans were shifting from hunting and gathering to agriculture. The nebula is composed mostly of hydrogen gas but there was a fair amount of oxygen and sulfur as well. Originally I planned on doing just hydrogen and oxygen but I have to thank astrophotographer Rodd Dryfus (image) who recommended including sulfur since it provided more depth than just the Ha and OIII (he had done it both ways).

There are a lot of dark nebulae in this region as well as unnamed dustlanes which I really like. There is a small Planetary Nebula, PN G094 +00.8, on the left central region of my image. I see a small round red blue splotch that looks like it could be a PN but charts indicate the PN is just above that. Not sure if the charts are off or if one of the tiny stars above is the PN. Lastly, this region sits in a heavy starfield and although I prefer not to do star reduction, sometimes it is necessary. The starfield is still quite colorful and rich.

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/680c5k/?nc=collection&nce=712

Sh2-124 (2025)
Dates: 7-4-25, 7-6, 7-15, 7-18, 7-21, 7-22, 7-28, 7-29, 8-3 
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
f/7 (f/5.6)
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 138 x 300, OIII 127 x 300, SII 120 x 300 R 57 x 90, G 39 x 90, B 41 x 90 (35h 30m)
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GraXpert, Bill Blanshan Star Reduction, Bill Blanshan Color Masks, Bill Blanshan Stretching, Topaz Denoise.

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LBN 575 (2025)

This is my version of LBN 575 and a portion of LBN 573 located in the constellation Cepheus. Both are faint reflection nebulae illuminated by scattered light from nearby stars. LBN 575, the lower region contains LDN 1259, LDN 1261 and LDN 1262. LDN 1262 is the darkest portion and reportedly houses a number of Herbig-Haro objects although none are visible in my image. LBN 573 is located in the upper portion of the image but not all of it was captured. There is a lot of dust and gas in the background as evidenced by the faint nebulosity. I also like the rich and colorful starfield that this molecular cloud rests in.

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/5qr4cy/?nc=collection&nce=712

LBN 575 (2025)

Dates: 5-26-25, 6-3, 7-2, 7-21
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
f/7 (f/5.6)
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, L
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: L 333 x 90, R 66 x 90, G 76 x 90, B 74 x 90 (13h 43m)
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.

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Sh2-115 & Sh2-116 (2025)

The main object in this field is the emission nebula Sh2-115 located 7500 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. Hot stars in a small star cluster designated as Berkeley 90 located within the nebula are ionizing the gases causing the nebula to glow. The small blue nebula on the left is Sh2-116, also known as Abell 71 or Pk 85+04.1, is a planetary nebula. It is unclear to me how far away Sh2-116 is from us as several sources suggest that it is part of the Sh2-115 complex making it 7500 light-years away, however, other sources suggest it is 2400 light-years away.

In addition to the main attractions I also like the swirling hydrogen bands in the region as well as the colorful starfield of this region.

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

Sh2-115 & Sh2-116 (2025)
Dates: 6-2-25, 6-4, 6-20, 6-23, 6-24, 6-29 
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, UV
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: Ha 100 x 300, OIII 77 x 300, SII 73 x 300, R 38 x 90, G 39 x 90, B 40 x 90 (23h 45')
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GraXpert, Bill Blanshan Stretching, Bill's Star Reduction, Topaz Denoise.

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http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

IC 1396a - Elephant's Trunk Nebula (2025)

This spectacular object is my latest version of the Elephant's Trunk Nebula or IC 1396a. It is a dark, dense globule of dust with a bright rim of highly ionized gas that extends over 20 light-years. It is part of a very large region of ionized gas, IC 1396, located approximately 2,400 ly away in the constellation Cepheus. Winds from two young stars in the center of the end of the trunk have carved out a cavity in the globule. Just left of these stars is vdB 142, a small blue reflection nebula surrounding bright star HD239710.

I have imaged the entire nebula, IC 1396, with smaller focal length faster setups (small f-ratio) in the past, however, I used the EdgeHD8 with a focal length of 2032mm and f/10 focal ratio. Since the focal ratio was large, i.e. slow, a longer total exposure is necessary. I have been using this setup for small galaxies and smaller bright objects but figured I would give it a shot on a larger emission nebula to pick more detail. I am very happy how it turned out and one added benefit of this target was that it was far from the moon. This was especially helpful when limited clear nights were available.

In addition to the three dimensional look, there are two small dark spots next to small yellow and blue stars on the upper left region. At first I thought they might be dust spots or dead pixels, however, I checked many other images and saw these same spots - not sure what they are. Lasty, I was very selective on the exposures and deleted many frames including all of the natural luminosity data as I was not centered correctly.

Dates: 4-27, 4-28, 4-30, 5-26

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/isj36n/?nc=collection&nce=712

IC 1396a - Elephant's Trunk Nebula (2025)
Dates: 6-2-25, 6-4, 6-20, 6-23, 6-24
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 800
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 2032mm (native)
F/10 (native)
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: ZWO Filter Drawer
Filter: IDAS NBZ
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: Askar M54 OAG/ZWO ASI174 mini
Exposure: NBZ 200 x 300 (16h 40m)
Gain: 139
Offset 0
Temp: 0 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXT, NoiseXT, StarX, Bill's Color Masks, Bill's Stretching, GraXpert

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NGC 4559 (2025)

This is my version of the well-detailed spiral galaxy NGC 4559 located 30 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. Also known as Caldwell 36, this galaxy is about 100,000 ly across making roughly the same size as our own Milky Way galaxy. The galaxy has very large dark dust lanes along with several HII regions and star clusters scattered throughout the spiral arms. Most of these HII regions and star clusters are distinct enough to have their own IC designations. One of my favorites is IC 3564 located on the bottom portion of the galaxy. Interestingly, the yellow star just below the dense blue knot (IC 3550) at the end of the right side spiral arm was given a designation of IC 3554.

The weather has been particularly wacky lately which explains the four days spread over a month.

Dates: 4-27, 4-28, 4-30, 5-26

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/ner5te/?nc=collection&nce=712

NGC 4559 (2025)
Dates: 4-27-25, 4-28, 4-30, 5-26
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 800
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 2032mm (native)
F/10 (native)
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: ZWO Filter Drawer
Filter: Optolong Luminosity (2-inch)
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: Askar M54 OAG/ZWO ASI174 mini
Exposure: Lum 254 x 90 (6h 21m)
Gain: 139
Offset 0
Temp: -10 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXT, NoiseXT, StarX, Bill's Color Masks, Bill's Stretching, GraXpert, Topaz Denoise

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