Milky Way Images - National Parks

I will be posting various images of the Milky Way from our vacation in the Yellowstone - Glacier Park area.  I haven't done many of these before so it will be a trial and error operation. 

Images MW-1 and MW-2 were both 30 second exposures of different parts of the Milky Way.  They were collected at our first location, a campground/RV park/cabin spot in Victor Idaho very close to Jackson, Wyoming and the Teton National Park.

I really did not do much processing on this and it came out better than anything I did before with much heavier processing.  There is no substitute for dark skies!

MW-1

MW-2

MW-1 and MW-2

Location: Victor, ID
Date: 7-21-19
Camera: Canon T3i/600D modified
Lens: Canon EF 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

Focal Length: 18mm
f/3.5
Mount: iOptron SkyGuider Pro on a Manfrotto Tripod
Filter: none
Autoguiding: none
Exposure: 1 x 30s
ISO: 1600
Processing: Photoshop, Lightroom

The next stop was in Glacier National Park.  This provided another opportunity to image the Milky Way.  As before, I used the standard Canon 18-55mm lens set at 18mm but also took a total of eleven 30 second exposures and stacked them in DSS.  However, the image color was way of whack - I tried playing around with it but just could not get it look as pleasing as the single exposure. Oh Well!

While I was imaging these I was scanning the heart of the galaxy with my 10 x 50 binoculars and was amazed at the clusters and nebulae that we usually just image.  As shown on the annotated version, lots of objects are visible in this image. Although the color is not there when looking at them live with the binoculars, they incredibly stunning and glisten in the sea of stars.

 MW-3

MW-4

MW-3 and MW-4

Location: Glacier National Park, MT
Date: 7-24-19
Camera: Canon T3i/600D modified
Lens: Canon EF 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

Focal Length: 18mm
f/3.5
Mount: iOptron SkyGuider Pro on a Manfrotto Tripod
Filter: none
Autoguiding: none
Exposure: 1 x 30s
ISO: 1600
Processing: Photoshop, Lightroom, PixInsight

Yellowstone marked the last stop for imaging, thus these are my last of the Milky Way images for this series.  I used two different lenses this time, one being the 18-55mm standard lens and the other being the Opteka 6.5mm Fish Eye.  For image MW-5, I stacked six 60 second images taken with the 18mm lens.  Image MW-6 was a single 2 minute exposure for the Milky Way combined with a 1 minute exposure for the foreground.

I am OK with the images and the stacking resulted in less noise, however, when I was doing the foreground for all of my images in this series, I should have turned off the tracking.   

MW-5

MW-6

MW-5 and MW-6

Location: Glacier National Park, MT
Date: 7-25-19
Camera: Canon T3i/600D modified
Lens: Canon EF 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 and Opteka 6.5mm Fisheye

Focal Length: 18mm and 6.5mm
f/3.5 and f/5.6
Mount: iOptron SkyGuider Pro on a Manfrotto Tripod
Filter: none
Autoguiding: none
Exposure: 6 x 60s and 1 x 120s
ISO: 1600
Processing: Photoshop, PixInsight

Iris Nebula (2019)

Here lies my latest version of the Iris Nebula (NGC 7023 or Caldwell 4).  It is a bright reflection nebula approximately 1300 light-years away in the constellation of Cepheus and is 6 light-years across (bright blue portion).  NGC 7023 is actually the cluster within the nebula (a.k.a. LBN 487).  The nebula is lit by the young central star named V380 Cep (mag. +7.1), which is believed to have burst into life just 5,500 years ago in a region containing huge amounts of dust. The bright blueish portion is due to the reflected light in the visible portion of the spectrum.  Harder to pickup is the faint reddish brown outer colors resulting from dust absorbing ultraviolet light from the star and releasing it as dim reddish light.  Also, researchers using infrared light detectors found that this nebula contains complex carbon molecules known as Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs).   

This is one of my favorite reflection nebulae and is much better than my image from three years ago. I spent a lot of time trying to enhance the dark portions with blowing out the rest of the image and a special thanks goes to Astrobin user Will Czaja for recommending "dark structures enhancement in PI". The reddish dust portion was where I spent most of the time and probably 'chickened out' by not going further or more dramatic with enhancements than some of the other images I have seen.

Several dark nebula appear in this image among them is LDN 1174 just left of the center, LDN 1172  upper central, LDN 1170 near the top, and LDN 1173 just right of the center.  Of course the bright yellow star T-Cep on the lower right corner has the geometric pattern from my camera but the other bright stars seem unaffected.  Imaging was tough due to the unstable weather but I managed to get more by holding of an waiting for more clear nights. 

Lastly, this was the second image made using the ZWO EAF focuser and the first image made using the ScopeBuggy.  I have two locations in my yard to image from, one is the astronomy shed and the second is from my front lawn.  The weather can changes here at the blink of an eye I got tired of the back and forth.  There was some concern that it would not be stable enough for imaging but I made some modifications to it.  YouTube: https://youtu.be/6VsdEA4CL3U.

NGC 7023 - Iris NebulaLocation: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 6-27-19, 6-28-19, 6-30-19, 7-3-19, 7-4-19
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm
f/7
Focal Reducer: Astro-Tech 0.8x Focal Reducer/Field Flattener for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO L, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: L 248 x 90s, R 60 x 90s, G 57 x 90s, B 59 x 90s
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 8 C
Post Processing: PixInsight, Photoshop, Lightroom
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/

Upgrades to Scopebuggy for Imaging

So if you want to move your easily transport your scope around on your lawn, you really have two only choices other than making you own.

1) ScopeBuggy   

2) JMI Wheeley Bar

All things being equal, I would have purchased the JMI Wheeley Bar, however, the JMI is more expensive.

The ScopeBuggy is a little over $400 after shipping and tax (I paid $420 from Camera Concepts & Telescope Solutions, CCTS).  The JMI Wheeley Bar is close to $700 after shipping and tax to get the equivalent system.  The medium size JMI Wheeley Bar is $389 but cost another $259 for the 10" pneumatic tire system upgrade.

I chose the ScopeBuggy mainly because of the price and am happy with the purchase but I did have to upgrade the system for imaging purposes.  I like to tinker with things so I was OK with modifying the ScopeBuggy and platform, however, if you are uncomfortable with doing modifying things then the JMI Wheeley Bar system may be more appropriate.

Modifications on the ScopeBuggy:

1) Add 5/8" washers to the three wheel axles to act as spacers so it fits more snug.

2) Add 5/8" washers to the top axle on the 'Gooseneck' where the handle connects so it fits more snug.

3) Replace the 3/8" Stabilizer Bolts with longer hex-bolts and wingnut for more support.

4) Secure the each tripod leg to the ScopeBuggy.

I used two methods: 1) A metal band connected to an angle bracket attached to the Stabilizer Bolt on one end and a U-bolt on the other end.  2) A rubber strap or Bungy cord attached to a U-bolt.  I like method one the best and will do all of the sides using that method soon. 

Other Modifications:

1) Level ground somewhat and set concrete blocks under where the tripod legs would normally sit when it is leveled.

2) Roll the telescope out and place bricks under the each tripod leg shoe of the ScopeBuggy. It should be very close to being level. Adjust the tripod leg to level if needed.  Put roofing shingles between the brick and ScopeBuggy to absorb additional vibrations.  More than one shingle can be used per side for final leveling if needed. 

I ended up not using the Stabilizer Bolts as my system was light enough for me to lift up and set the bricks under each side.