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/