IC 348

The central portion of the image shows IC 348, a 2-million year old open star cluster associated with two small reflection nebula LBN 758 and LBN 601 (LBN refers to Lynds catalog of Bright Nebula). It is estimated to be 970 light-years away and resides in the Perseus Molecular Cloud which accounts for the cloudy appearance of the background.  The larger nebula, LBN 758, is located in the center of the open cluster the while the smaller LBN 601 is just to the left of the bright blue giant star Atik (38-Per).

The image also contains some dark nebulae, in particular, the barely visible LDN 1471 in the upper left portion.   In addition, the more visible LDN 1468, LDN 1470, and LDN 1472 (LDN refers to Lynds catalog of Dark Nebula) appear on the right portion of the image.  One of my favorite areas in this view is the illuminated gas and dust of the molecular cloud on the bottom left and is one of the reasons I did not crop this image.

I thought it would be easy to process but it was surprisingly tough as I wanted to highlight the faint gas & dust from the molecular cloud while keeping the noise low.  I also had horrible gradients that ABE nor DBE in PI could not remove.  Getting frustrated after an hour I switched to Gradient Exterminator in PS and it fixed it with one simple click and then went back to PI.  I am sure there many PI experts who could have done it but I could figure it out.

The weather was no help, even on clear nights clouds came in for a visit.  I started in early December thinking I would be done in a couple of days and this would be my last object with the ED80 as my main scope.  I only managed to get about five hours of usable exposures and you think I would have been able to get more like 15 hrs with the amount of time passing since I started this project.  Oh well, my telescope has not arrived yet either.

If you do this object I would recommend getting as much luminosity data as you possible as that had the greatest effect on the outcome.  I collected a little over an hour of Ha one of the nights before the clouds moved in but when I stacked it, there was barely anything there so I decided not to pursue this course when the LRGB was much more useful.

Lastly, I have been putting together an APT video tutorial series and made a new video while imaging the IC 348 of having APT  do an Automatic Meridian Flip [https://youtu.be/r0jhx_Jf_3s] and it worked! I don't know if I will use it that often as I like to make sure my wires don't get tangled and to do it manually only takes five minutes anyway.  However, I gotta give credit to Ivo and the rest of the APT team it stopped imaging, turned off the autoguider, flipped the scope, zeroed in on the object with plate-solving, started PHD2 guiding, and then started imaging again.  Worked like a charm.

IC 348

IC 348
Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 12-10-18, 12-11-18, 12-12-18, 12-18-18, 12-29-18
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO R, G, B, L
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: R 41 x 90, G 34 x 90, B 38 x 90, L 81 x 90 (4.85 hr total)
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -5 C
Post Processing: PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/

Using Astrophotography Tool - Automatic Meridian Flip

Colorful Festive Array! - Wirtanen, Pleiades, & California Nebula

So I finally had a bit of clearing on a night where I was able to image stuff.  One of the things I wanted to try was Comet 46P(Wirtanen) with Pleiades (M45) and the California Nebula (NGC 1499) in the same field of view.  So I went to my nifty fifty (50mm) lens attached to my trusty Hap Griffin modified Canon T3i/600D.  I wanted to get 45 minutes on this but had to settle for 30 minutes due to the usual clouds which appear in CT even on supposedly clear nights.  The moon was high and bright but I wanted to try it anyway so I did a 30s test shot at ISO 1600 and saw Pleiades and the Comet with lots of noise and no California Nebula .  I then did a 30s test shot with the Baader Moon and SkyGlow Neodymium Filter and it actually worked really well.  The California Nebula was well defined but there was still lots of camera noise.  I then lowered the ISO to 800 and increased the exposure to 60s and the noise was much less.  Thanks to Shannon Calvert for recommending ISO 800 for better a backgrounds.

There is a large molecular cloud between Pleiades and the California Nebula which I would love to get but you need much more exposure and a dark moonless night to pick it up really well.  You can see the darkened region in the middle of the image. Some of the noise I was picking up was the cloud but with a bright moon and limited exposure it was not optimal.  Anyway, the objects do make for a festive holiday array!

Also, I was trying to stack this with PI but was getting the following error: 
- Cannot execute instance in the global context.
- Reason: No master calibration frames or overscan regions have been specified.  
I ended up stacking it in DSS and then transferring it in PI.  I did not take any support frames and though I programmed so it would not to bother with flats and etc.

Wirtanen, Pleiades, & California Nebula

Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 12-18-18
Camera: Canon T3i/600D Modified
Telescope: Canon 50mm (Ninfty Fifty)

Barlow: None
Focal Length: 50mm
f/1.8
Focal Reducer: Orion 

Mount: Orion Sirius EQ Goto
Filter Wheel: None
Filter: Baader Moon and SkyGlow Neodymium Filter
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 31 x 60
ISO: 800
Offset
Temp: -5 C
Post Processing: PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/

Using Astrophotography Tool - Creating Flats

NGC 7635 - Bubble Nebula & Vicinity

I have an image of the Bubble Nebula from three years ago when I imaged the globular cluster M52 for my Messier Catalog.  Needles to to say, this HOO image blows it away.  NGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula, is being pushed out by the stellar wind of massive star inside the nebula. Also in this region is a cloud of gas and dust in this region which is able to contain the expansion of the bubble gas.  However, the gas gets heated by the hot radiation from the bubble's central star causing it to glow. The Bubble is about 10 light-years across.  Also located in this image is M52 - Cassiopeia Salt and Pepper Cluster off to the right and the even more impressive NGC 7538 - Northern Lagoon Nebula to the left.  I was going to crop the Bubble like many other imagers do but I saw the Northern Lagoon and decided to keep the large field.  Besides there are many other great close ups of the Bubble with larger aperture scopes so I decided to keep the large field.  The upper left portion of the image contains even more nebulosity and and not just hydrogen, the gas also had a strong oxygen signal as well.

I was not planning to image this object this year or at least with the ED80 as I thought my new telescope (ordered three months ago) would have arrived by now, oh well - I hear it is in California waiting to go through customs. I imaged this in Ha and OIII and did capture a little SII but chose not to add it as it was less than an hour and I was not happy with the focus.  I am being more picky with focusing these days.  In fact I through out a nights worth of oxygen as it was way out of focus.  I thought my filters were par focal before learning the hard way that par focal is a bunch of hogwash.  Unfortunately I did not have time to add any RGB for a star field either so this will have to do for now. I am looking forward to the new winter constellations most of which are visible from my astronomy shed which makes setup much easier.

Processing took a little while as always as I was trying new things in PI and PS.  I took a short course on processing with PixInsight and Photoshop offered by fellow AB imager Shannon Calvert of the Westport Astronomical Society (WAS) the other night and picked up some new tricks especially with noise reduction.  Of course it was on one of the few perfectly clear nights we have in Connecticut.

HOO

Ha

OIII

NGC 7635 - Bubble Nebula

Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 11-11-18, 11-29-18
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, OIII
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: Ha 41 x 180, OIII 50 x 180 (4.55 hr total)
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -10 C
Post Processing: PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/

NGC 404 - Mirach's Ghost

I was not planning to image Mirach and the Ghost (NGC 404) as I just needed a bright star to carefully check how far off or how close each filter's focus is from one another.  I assumed they were all par focal since they were same brand but I had my doubts.  I recently shot the Bubble in Ha and then the following night in OIII. On the second night I checked the focus in luminosity.  The night was wasted, after stacking, it was clear the focus was way off. After some research and AB communication with Gary Imm I discovered there is no real such thing as par focal.  I don't have a fancy electronic focuser that takes care of offsets so I thought I would see if I could make a chart and do it manually.  That really did not work however I did get much better at focusing and discovered that the LRGB and Ha are very close, beyond detection, however, the OIII and SII were different.  From now on I will carefully check each filter in particular the narrowband filters.  I re-imaged the Bubble in OIII last night and although I did not stack them, the individual subframes were far sharper than I have seen in my previous OIII images.

The Ghost is a dwarf lenticular galaxy, similar to the Small Magellanic Cloud.  Astronomers suspect one or several mergers with smaller galaxies roughly 1 billion years ago caused star formation and that NGC 404 is a former spiral galaxy that was transformed into a lenticular one by those events.

In my image NGC is to the lower left within Mirach's shine.  I did not crop it much as I liked the star field and this was more of a test anyway.  Several blue and yellow stars are scattered throughout the image.  Mirach or Beta Andromedae is a red giant 197 light-years from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 2.05 - perfect for focusing practice.

NHC 404 - Ghost of Mirach
Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 11-27-18
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO R, G, B
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: R 10 x 90, G 13 x 90, 16 x 90 (58.5 min total)
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -10 C
Post Processing: PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/

Orion Atlas Mount Extension is the same diameter as Orion SkyView Pro Mount Extension

The Orion Atlas Telescope Mount Extension ($99.99) is the same diameter as Orion SkyView Pro Mount Extension ($99.99).  The Atlas Extension is 8.4" (21.3 cm) where as the SkyView Extension is a whopping 16" (40.64 cm) and both extensions have a 4" (102 mm) outside diameter.  The connection/adapters are different so you will still need to get both extensions if you want the larger length tube with the Atlas mount or visa versa.

     Orion SkyView Extension                                           Orion Atlas/Atlas Pro Extension

                                 

In Addition:
The Atlas Mount uses the same diameter adapter as the Atlas Pro Mount and I believe the Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Mount - both extensions should work.  The Sky-Watcher version of the smaller extension is Sky-Watcher Pier Extension for the EQ6 and EQ6-R mount.

Sky-Watcher Pier Extension for the EQ6

Also, the Orion SkyView Pro Telescope Mount Extension works with the original Orion Sirius Mount (discontinued) and I believe the original Sky-Watcher HEQ5, therefore, these extension swaps will work with these mounts as well!

Note:
The new Orion Sirius Pro AZ/EQ-G Mount and Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ5 have a different mount head adapter that bolts to a 3-5/8" (92 mm) diameter tube and will not work with this extension swap.

Orion Sirius Pro Extension

So why do I know all this?  

I have a concrete pier in my astronomy shed with a modified Orion SkyView Pro Mount Extension to hold my telescope.  In order to open the roof of my shed, I had to move the telescope as home orientation was too high.  It did not need to be so high as I have trees which block low altitude objects anyway.  I purchased a new Atlas Pro last year and noticed when I imaged past the meridian, the camera hit the leg so I knew I needed an extension.  When I started looking into purchasing the Atlas Extension I noticed it looked like the SkyView Extension only smaller.  I contacted Orion to check if they knew the tubes were interchangeable, they did not think it would work since the adapters were different.  However, since I was getting one Atlas Extension it could hurt to see if the bolt pattern and diameter lined up.  As luck would have it, the extension fit perfect and I order another extension for my mount.  Both the concrete pier and Atlas Pro Mount are happy!

         Orion SkyView Extension                                        Atlas Pro with Extension

             

                                    

It is too bad Orion or Sky-Watcher could not offer the tubes and adapters separately so you can chose what size lift you would like.  Oh well!

The Ghost of Cassiopeia - IC 63 (2018)

They say there are no such things as ghosts but there sure looks like there is one in Cassiopeia. Located approximately 550 light-years away IC 63, a.k.a. the ghost of Cassiopeia is a a nebula being shaped by radiation from a nearby variable star, Gamma Cassiopeia (a.k.a. Navi the middle star in Cassiopeia), which is slowly eroding away the ghostly cloud of dust and gas (source: ESA/Hubble).

I was not planning on imaging IC 63 but it was finally clear and an OK size for my 80 mm refractor. I ordered a new larger refractor (115mm) a couple of months ago and have been waiting for to arrive.  I imaged over three nights although I was only planning on two, however, the camera moved slightly so I moved it back, quickly checked the focus and imaged.  When I looked at the images the next day it looked as if the focus was off a bit so I re-imaged after carefully focusing the following night.  Turns out the focus seemed the same so I used all the images, I attributed the difference to better clarity the first night.

Processing was basically trying things to see what looked good.  I processed the Ha and OIII and combined them into an HOO image.  I then experimented with combining Ha and OIII into the green channel at various percentages.  I then did an HaRGB but really just used the Ha in place of the red channel.  I then did a normal RGB image.  After much trial and error, the final image was a combined HaGB with HOO.  The HOO was made with 100% Ha - red, 80% OIII + 20% Ha - green, 100% OIII - blue.  I then added RGB for the stars.

 HaGB+HOO(0.8/0.2)                         More Noise Reduction

Original Version

New Version - Less NR, added 25% Luminosity

HOO(0.8/0.2)

HOO

RGB

Ha

IC 63 and IC 59 - Ghost of Cassiopeia

Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 11-8-18, 11-10-18, 11-11-18
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, OIII, R, G, B
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: Ha 37 x 180s, OIII 60 x 180s, R 36 x 90, G 38 x 90, 39 x 90 (7.7 hrs total)
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -10 C
Post Processing: PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/

Using Astrophotography Tool - Meridian Flip

Triangulum Galaxy, M33 (2018)

After a month of crazy weather, pneumonia, and finishing other projects, I finally finished the Triangulum galaxy (M33).  This spiral galaxy is the third largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, after Andromeda and the Milky Way.  It is located 3 million light-years from Earth in the Triangulum Constellation and can be seen with the naked eye in dark locations.  Triangulum is moving towards Andromeda and studies from 2005 and 2011 suggest that it may have interacted with Andromeda in the past.  Several regions contain star-forming HII nebula some of which are visible in my modest image.   

Once again this was a great learning experience with PixInsight as I did a little more processing with it which is why it took a few days to finish.  I had to watch more videos and there is a lot of trial and tweak.  I was able to add Ha data but not as a 100% addition but as a 20% addition to enhance the Ha regions which already were visible in the LRGB version.  PI is a great tool for experimenting with combining data sets.  I also did the final processing with PS as there some things which are much easier for me in PS at this point in time.

Lastly, while collecting imaging I made a couple of short YouTube videos on using AstroPhotography Tool (APT for Idiots).  I plan on making more over the course of a year but they won't necessarily be in any logical order until I am done.  I am a firm believer that best way to learn something is teach it and hopefully the videos will benefit new APT users.

Using APT - Focusing (4:08) - https://youtu.be/01wpkvc6r3w
Using APT - Plate-Solving (6:35) -  https://youtu.be/wTiDS4txAEQ

M33 HaLRGB

M33 - Triangulum Galaxy HaLRGBLocation: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 9-29-18, 10-29-18, 10-30-18, 11-3-18
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, L, R, G, B
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: Ha 32 x 180s, L 2 x 90s, R 38 x 90, G 38 x 90, 38 x 90
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -10 C
Post Processing: PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/

Using Astrophotography Tool - Plate Solving (Point Craft)

Using APT - Focus

M31 - Andromeda (2018)

This is my first image of Andromeda, our sister galaxy, in over three years.  Andromeda is a spiral galaxy located 2.5 million light-years from the Milky Way and is heading towards us.  It will collide with us in about 4.5 billion years resulting in the formation of an elliptical galaxy.  Recent observations from the Spitzer telescope reveal Andromeda contains one trillion stars which is more than double in the Milky Way.

There are a couple of big differences from my image of three years ago, 1) in this new image I framed it 25 degrees off the declination line so I could get entire galaxy, 2) in addition to collecting LRGB data, I also collected Ha data as I wanted show regions of nebulosity.  I did manage to combine the Ha data into the LRGB image in PI but it was not as easy as combining nebula images.  It was a trial and error approach as PI has many different options for combining images and I had to try many different methods before I found one that worked okay. 

The final image is an improvement over my original, however, I wish it were a little more detailed.  I do like the star field and the two satellite galaxies M110 and M32 both are resolved.  I think had I gotten more RGB data and luminosity on a clearer night would have improved the quality.  Waiting perfect nights to image in NE is few and far between.  I did successfully add the Ha data and all of the small red areas located on the spiral arms around the edges are regions of high Ha activity or nebulae.  These are areas where star formation is taking place.  If we were in Andromeda looking at the Milky Way I imagine we would see something similar.

More learning:
I have been using APT for well over six months now as my main camera controller and have been liking everything about it except the focusing.  I used BYEOS to focus when I still had the DSLR as the FWHM did not jump around nearly as much as it does with APT.  When I got the ZWO ASI1600 BYEOS was not an option.  I purchased a a Bahtinov mask which worked well with SGP as it gave a nice big view to adjust but APT gave me this barely visible view.  I also could not see nebulae or other things to check the framing. I knew I must be missing something as I can't believe so many AP use this program.  Finally, I pressed the log scale button to give the maximum exposure and eureka - I the star spikes are clearly visible and so are nebulae.  Yes, I feel like an idiot which makes me the perfect person to write or make the Idiots Guide to APT youtube videos.

HaRGB

Ha 

Luninosity

M31 - Andromeda Galaxy HaRGB

Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 9-28-18, 9-29-18, 10-3-18, 10-4-18, 10-13-18, 10-14-18
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, L, R, G, B
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: Ha 40 x 180s, L 60 x 60s, R 39 x 60, G 34 x 60, 36 x 60
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -10 C
Post Processing: PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/

M15 (2018)

M15 is the second object as part of my imaging with pneumonia series. I was not planning to image with pneumonia - I took this last week when I thought I had a small nasal infection.  It was taken after I completed NGC 6934 while waiting for Andromeda to appear.  I captured the red and 10 green subframes on 10/13 and finished on 10/14.  I was not planning on imaging this although my last image of M15 was a 30 minute exposure from  three years ago.  Needless to say this image is much better.  Like NGC 6934, I was happy how the background turned out.  I have never been truly satisfied with my images of globular clusters possibly because I have such a small aperture telescope so I am always happy to get a good background. So far I could not be any happier with my new camera.  Also, for those who notice orientation, it is not E-W or N-S because I have my camera set approximately 25 degrees off in order to capture Andromeda and Triangulum when I get to it.  I haven't touched my camera so I can easily image over days or weeks.

M15
Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 10-13-18, 10-14-18
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO R, G, B
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: R 20 x 60s, G 20 x 60s, B 18 x 60s
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -10 C
Post Processing: PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/

NGC 6934

NGC 6934 is a globular cluster that is home a a few hundred thousand stars in the constellation of Delphinus (or dolphin). Lying 50 000 light-years from Earth, in the outer reaches of our Milky Way galaxy, NGC 6934 is home to some of the most distant stars still to be part of our galactic system — in a sense, it's a far-flung suburb to the Milky Way’s city center (source: SpaceTelescope). I had no plan to image this last Saturday but it was in a perfect location while I waited for my planned target - Andromeda. I have taken no images of clusters with my new camera so I finally figured it was about time.

I could have set up the Atlas Mount in the front lawn and moved the scope of the permanent pier to get a much longer imaging window which is what I normally do for with polar objects. However, I was very sick - I was being treated for sinusitis and had no strength or will to set up. Turns out I have pneumonia and should not have been out at all.

Anyway, here is my first image of a globular cluster. It is only one hour and I did not do any luminosity subframes. It seems some people always take luminosity data on any object others only save it for something like a galaxy or nebula, in any case I chose to not collect any. The star field came out colorful and the cluster was very small so I decided not to crop it too much and focus more on background. Lots of orange, gold, and blue stars appear in the background and there are a few large blue stars on the bottom of the image.

NGC 6934
Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 10-13-18
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO R, G, B
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: R 16 x 60s, G 19 x 60s, B 20 x 60s
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -10 C
Post Processing: PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/

NGC 6992 - Eastern Veil Nebula (HOO)

Located 1470 LY from us in the constellation Cygnus the Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust.  NGC 6992 or the Eastern Veil Nebula forms a portion of the Cygnus Loop, a supernova remnant. A star 20 times more massive than the Sun exploded around 8,000 years ago to form this complex (source: Wikipedia). This is another favorite image during the summer months for astrophotographers. 

I very happy with how this image turned out as it blows my previous image captured two years ago out of the water.  The framing could have been a bit better but everything else went smoothly.  I captured 1.5 hrs of Ha on 9/16 and 1.5 hrs of OIII on 6/18 while the moon was out. My only regret was I did not get any RGB data for the star field, however, HOO star field came out better than I anticipated.  

This image was fun to process as everything I did in PI looked OK when I tried it.  In contrast, I had to do heavy processing on my image from a couple years ago and nothing seemed to look good.  I ended up combining it with the simple RGB Combination, however, I did experiment with using PixelMath and doing Ha and OIII combinations in the green and blue channels.    I did an Automatic Background Extraction, noise reduction - SNCR, Histogram Transformation, Curves and then switched to Photoshop for a couple of things and that was it.

NGC 9662 - Eastern Veil Nebula - HaOO
Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 9-16-18, 9-18-18
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, OIII
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: Ha 30 x 180s, OIII 30 x 180s
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -10 C
Post Processing: PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/

IC 1396 - Elephant's Trunk Nebula

The Elephant's Trunk Nebula (IC 1396) is located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth.  The gas and dust in and around the Elephant's Trunk are being illuminated and ionized by a very bright, massive star (HD 206267). The Elephant's Trunk appears on the right side of the wide field image and is light up on the sides. 

Although it took a while to process, I did not really have to do much in PI or PS.  I am growing very fond of this new monochrome cooled camera as images appear virtually noise free compared to what I used to capture.  I especially like how the Elephant's Trunk resembles a canyon upon close examination.  The trunk itself is a dark elongated area composed of gas and dust with many young proto-stars not visible with optical telescopes.  It is revealed by the Spitzer Telescope's infra red detectors (http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu).  The wide field image shows much of the nebulosity of the whole region as well as the colorful star field.

I believe the camera has taken my telescope to its limit, meaning I need a new telescope.  The F7.5 ED80 has been a proven workhorse and all my telescope deep sky images on Astrobin have been taken with it.  It is a very sturdy, inexpensive telescope at less than $500.  Although it is listed as an apochromatic, it is a doublet with extra-low dispersion glass on one of the lenses, still OK, just not a triplet.  I do recommend it for anyone who wants to get started in AP but you might get a better deal if you just start of with a slightly more expensive triplet if the accessories are included. 

For example, the Orion currently lists the ED80 at $479 for the optical tube only and single speed focuser.  Add in the rings, dual speed focuser, and diagonal standard on most entry level 80mm triplets and you are up to $800 or more.  The Astro-Tech AT80 currently lists at $749.  You may be able to this scope cheaper on Ebay or you get it as a package deal with the Sirius mount which includes all the extras.  Of course I did neither and opted for the more expensive way.  I suppose this little review would be better served on a buyers guide or something since most Astrobin users are far beyond the ED80.

Wide Field HaRGB

Wide Field Ha

Crop HaRGB

IC 1396 - Elephant's Trunk Nebula - HaRGB Processing in PixInsight
Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 9-4-18 (Ha), 9-5-18 (RGB)
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, R, G, B
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: 9/4-(Ha) 34 x 300s, 9/5-(R) 30 x 60, (G) 19 x 60, (B) 20 x 60
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -10 C
Processing: APT, PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/

NGC 6823 (and SH2-86) - HaRGB Processing in PixInsight

NGC 6823 is an open cluster surrounded by a nebula complex Sh2-86 in the constellation of Vulpecula.  The open star cluster is about 50 light years across and lies about 6000 light years away. The center of the cluster formed about two million years ago and is dominated by bright young blue stars (source: wikipedia and Astronomy).

I captured this object last year (image) using a UHC filter (29x180s) and Canon T3i and processed it using my former method.  This new image HaRGB was captured using the ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro and processed primarily using PixInsight. 

I wrote up a comparison between two methods for producing HaRGB images below.  The two methods are as follows: method 1 - using the LRGB combination and method 2 - using PixelMath.  If you are not familiar with PixelMath I recommend watching the Harry's Astro Shed video Adding Ha to RGB which is the procedure I followed.

Creating the HaRGB Image

1) Registering, aligning, and stacking was done in PixInsight using the Batch Preprocessing function.  I followed Chuck's Astrophotography (Stack and Combine Filters in PixInsight) method to do this.

2) Automatic Background Extraction was run on the Ha channel to make the Ha image.

Ha

Method 1 - Using LRGB Function to create the HaRGB image 

For this method I did not use anyone's specific directions, it was described on numerous websites and forums.

3) An RGB Image was created using the RGB combination function.  Processing included: ABE, Color Calibration, SNCR noise reduction, HistogramTransformation,  Extract CIE Component, Reduce star size - Star Mask - Morphological Transformation, Sharpness and Saturation - Mask - Convolution.  This was only for show as the image was not used for anything.

RGB

4) The simplest HaRGB Image was created by combining the separate channel using the LRGB process and the Ha was put into the Luminosity channel at 0.5 strength.  Further processing included: ABE, Color Calibration, HistogramTransformation,  Extract CIE Component, Reduce star size - Star Mask - Morphological Transformation, Sharpness and Saturation - Mask - Convolution.

HaRGB - Simple

In my opinion this image was better than my image from last year and the star colors came out very well.  However I was not satisfied with the detail or the look so I did some more research on combining HaRGB.  Most experienced PI users do not use the LRGB process to combine Narrowband data but rather a process using the PixelMath function.  

Method 2 - Using PixelMath to create the HaRGB image 

For this method I chose Harry's Astro Shed video Adding Ha to RGB to complete the combination (http://harrysastroshed.com/pixinsight/pixinsight%20video%20html/pixinsighthomeinter.html).

3)  The original was Ha image which ABE was already run was further enhanced using the using the following script: ((Ha*100)-(R*7)/(100-7) added to RGB/K channel.  That is the Ha image (Ha) and the Red Channel (R) are merged and the unwanted Ha is subtracted out of the image.  The '7' is the filter size and the '100' is I believe the intensity which can be adjusted. I ended up using 140 for my image.

Enhanced Ha

4)  Next up was adding the Enhanced Ha image to the Red channel again using PixelMath.  I used the following script for this:  $T+(Enhanced Ha-Med(Enhanced Ha))*4 and then applying this to the Red Channel.  What you get is an Enhanced Red Channel image.  The number '4' is the scale and can be adjusted to give the optimal look.

Red Channel

Enhanced Red Channel

5)  Finally you can combine your RGB channels using the Enhanced Red Channel to make the HaRGB image.  Further processing included: HistogramTransformation,  Extract CIE Component, Reduce star size - Star Mask - Morphological Transformation, Sharpness and Saturation - Mask - Convolution.

HaRGB-v1

Finally

In my opinion this method produced a far superior image than the simple LRGB method (method 1).  The detail and sharpness are greatly enhanced using the PixelMath process (method 2).  However, I do like the star colors of the LRGB method and will attempt to add them to the image using a star mask. I did no processing in Photoshop except for file saving as I wanted  to show a comparison between HaRGB images using the LRGB method and the PixelMath method.  I will add updated versions of the final image when they become available.

Version2
For this next addition I added the Enhanced Ha the LRGB function.  Enhanced Ha was added to the luminosity channel at 0.65 intensity.

HaRGB-v2

Version 3

Toned down the red channel, minor sharpening and noise reduction in Photoshop

HaRGB-v3

Version 4
Toned down the red channel, minor sharpening and noise reduction in Photoshop

HaRGB-v4

Version 5
Added the RGB star colors using photoshop and then back to PI - PixelMath, StarMask, and Morphological Transformation.

HaRGB-v5

Comparison

NGC 6823 (and SH2-86) - HaRGB Processing in PixInsight

Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 8-28-18 (Ha), 8-29-18 (RGB), 8-30-18 (RGB), 9-2-18 (RGB), 9-3-18 (Ha) 

Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, OIII, SII
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: (Ha 8/28) 44 x 180s, (Ha 9/3) 29 x 180, (R) 63 x 60, (G) 52 x 60, (B) 47 x 60

Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -10 C
Processing: APT, PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/

Wizard Nebula in SHO

The Wizard Nebula is located 7200 light years away and surrounds the open star cluster NGC 7380. The interplay of stars, gas, and dust appears to some like a fictional medieval sorcerer hence the name Wizard. The region spans 100 about light years which makes it appear larger than the Moon.  This object was very dim and probably not the best object to experiment with this type of imaging.  I had numerous problems imaging but in the end I learned a great deal and feel much more comfortable using the camera, taking flats, locating objects, and plate-solving.

As can be seen on the processing front, I need a lot of practice with PI and PS.  I was very happy how the Dumbbell turned out a few weeks ago and thought this would be just as easy.  There was nothing easy with this object, from collecting the subframes to final processing. Version 1 was done mostly in PI where I did minor processing on the individual NB channels prior to combining.  Version 2 was stacked framed and aligned in PI but the processing on the individual NB channels was done in PS as was the combining.  Neither of these images are anything to write home about but I did get something.  We are expecting some cloudy weather so it looks like I will have more time to experiment with doing another version...

Version 1

Version 2

Version 3

Version 4

NGC 7380- Wizard Nebula - SHO (Hubble Palette) 

Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 8-23-18 (Ha, OIII), 8-24-18 (OIII, SII)
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, OIII, SII
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: Ha 41 x 180s, OIII 39 x 180, 38 X 180
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -10 C
Processing: APT, PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/

The Wizard Nebula using 8-Bit Data

As I mentioned to another Astrobin friend recently, learning to use a new camera, new camera control software, and new processing software all at the same time was a brilliant move on my part, NOT! I somehow reset camera to record in 8-bit rather than 16-bit so all of the 3.5 hours of data is bad or unusable. It took me two days to find out why it would not stack (error - no stars found), I posted on CloudyNights and it took a while before someone analyzed one of the sub-frames and discovered file format is 16-bit integer but the numbers only go from 0 to 255 (= 8 bit). I did manage to stack these without the flats. The SII looked like the stars were way over blown, the Ha looked OK, and the OIII looked like a dull gray hunk of wax with little specs of stars. With all that I decided I would process the Ha data so here it is - at least to get more practice with PI. I plan on re-doing this object this week if it clears up.

Also, I continue to use SGP for Plate-Solving and APT for capturing the images. This object was hard to locate as it is so dim it did not show up in live view or even the individual subframes using the APT software. APT has Plate-Solving too and it works well except it does not center the object on its own. That is you take reference image, press solve, and it solves the frame but does not adjust it to the object to the center like SGP which does it automatically. For easy to see objects like globular clusters it is no problem but for dim nebula it is nearly impossible. With my DSLR and BYEOS, the live view interface was exceptional and I was usually able see something of a nebula without viewing it in another program. Oh well. I took it face value the SGP centered on it as I was not sure of anything until I brought into PI and there it was dead on!

NGC 7380- Wizard Nebula-Ha
Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 8-16-18
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: Ha 23 x 180s
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -1 C
Post Processing: PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/

First Image with the ZWO ASI1600MM - M27

I decided on the Dumbbell Nebula (M27) or Apple Core Nebula because it was bright and it was perfectly situated so I could image from my observatory rather than setting up from a different part of my lawn.  We have lots of trees so I have to be strategic with imaging.  I tried to image from a different location few nights prior but had all sorts of issues and ended up wasted a clear night so I stayed where the equipment is set up.  It was a good move as I had more issues but this time I was able to resolve them.

I decided to give SGP another try since some of my issues were a result of APT.  I believe I have a curse where software is involved so I ended up using both programs. To make a long story short, APT's live screen frame and focus is not great, in fact I use BYEOS to focus with my Canon 600d, so I set up a sequence in SGP and focused on Vega using a new Bahtinov Mask.  I then started the preset sequence with which included a pre-framed M27 using the plate-solving function.  I followed Chuck's Astrophotography procedure for this.  It worked perfectly - centered right on the object and then... error in starting PHD2!  I started PHD2 manually but it froze the whole program so I had to restart my computer.  Rather than lose another clear night I quickly set up a plan APT which was all I had to do since I was already focused and centered on it.  It worked great, the only other issue I had was in all my fumbling around I forgot to check my temperature.  I was planning on doing it at -15 C, however, when I started it was at -1 C.  Oh well, the images frames were much less noisy than I anything I have ever done before.

The time of the capture plan happened to correspond perfectly to the visibility of M27.  I stacked the frames in PI which aligned everything and did a RGB combination as well as a HaOO combination.  I did a little more processing in PI than I did with the California Nebula before doing the final processing in PS.  In the end, I added the RGB (25% combine) data to the HaOO data to improve the star color.  There is a better way using a star mask but I don't know how to do that, yet!

I am very happy with the final result.  The inner nebula with the white dwarf central star is visible and the faint outer nebulosity is visible.  Although more OIII data might bring this even more, this is a small object to image with a 80 mm refractor so I think I will wait for a new scope to image this again.

HaOO-RGB

HaOO

RGB

HaOO-RGB Wide Field

Comparison

M27 - Dumbbell Nebula-HaOO-RGB

Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 8-9-18
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ

Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Red, Green, Blue, Ha, OIII

Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: RGB 15 x 60s, Ha 22 x 180s, OIII 22 x 180s
Gain: 139

Offset 21
Temp: -1 C
Post Processing: PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/