NGC 7497

Colorful stars, integrated flux nebulae, and a galaxy, what more can you ask for.  The centerpiece of this image is spiral galaxy  NGC 7497 located approximately 60 million light-years towards Pegasus.  This almost edge-on galaxy stands out well and does show some detail much to my surprise given the size of my scope.  This region also has faint clouds of interstellar dust which ride above the galactic plane and dimly reflect the Milky Way's combined starlight.  These clouds are known has integrated flux nebulae and are commonly associated with molecular clouds.  This region in home to the diffuse molecular cloud MBM 54, less than 1000 light-years years away.  There appears to be other small galaxies scattered throughout this region as well. 

Dates: 9-18-20, 9-19-20, 10-7-20, 10-8-20, 10-9-20, 10-14-20

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http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

NGC 7497 
Home Monroe, CT
Dates: 9-18-20, 9-19-20, 10-7-20, 10-8-20, 10-9-20, 10-14-20
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805
f/7
Focal Reducer: AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO L, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: L 210 x 90, R 63 x 90, G 64 x 90, B 62 x 90
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 5 C
Processing: APT, NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop.

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http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

Sh2-86 & NGC 6823 (2020)

 So this is NGC 6823, 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.  Also found within the confides of Sh2-86 is the small very bright reflection nebula NGC 6820 which is located in the lower right portion of the larger nebula.  There is a long trunk-like pillar of gas and dust emanating from outer region protruding  towards the star cluster that is a highlight of this region.  The huge pillar is believed to be shaped by the erosion from hot radiation emitted from the star cluster. Numerous dark globules of gas and dust are also visible across throughout this region.

So this is the third time I have imaged this object and not surprisingly this time of year.  The first time was three years ago with my old setup using a UHC filter (https://www.astrobin.com/309164/).  The second time was an HaRGB image (https://www.astrobin.com/365596/?image_list_page=4&nc=&nce=) from two years ago soon after I got the ASI1600 but still using the Orion ED80.  This time I went all out with Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Sulfur filters.  I captured RGB data for the stars and merged them into the the starless narrowband version produced using StarNet++.  Fortunately this is much more detailed than either of my previous images, especially from the 2017 version.  I am always surprised how the colors from narrowband images end up looking.  I let the detail guide me on how to adjust the colors and this is what I ended up with.  I probably could have forced it to a more common blue hue with heavy processing but this is sort of growing on me and I have seen other images with similar colors.   

Dates: 9-20-20, 9-21-20, 9-22-20, 9-23-20, 9-24-20, 9-28-20, 9-30-20

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1 

Sh2-86 & NGC 6823 (2020) 
Home Monroe, CT
Dates: 9-20-20, 9-21-20, 9-22-20, 9-23-20, 9-24-20, 9-28-20, 9-30-20

Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805
f/7
Focal Reducer: AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, OIII, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: Ha 61 x 240s, OIII 59 x 240s, SII 61 x 240, R 36 x 90, G 39 x 90, B 45 x 90
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 10 C
Processing: APT, NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop.

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

Sh2-101 Tulip Nebula (2020)

Sharpless 101 (Sh2-101) also known as the Tulip Nebula is yet another gem found in Cygnus located about 8,000 light years.  Stewart Sharpless cataloged this Ha region in his 1959 catalog of Ha emission nebula.  Located near the center of the nebula are two bright yellow stars and a very bright blue-white star called HDE 227018.   This area is also home to Cygnus X-1, a microquasar which is the bright star half the distance from the nebula to the edge of the right side of the image.  This is one of the most intense X-ray sources measurable from Earth, probably attributable to the presence of a black hole.

I have seen many incredible SHO image of this recently so me trying to be different did in Ha and OIII.  I might have picked up more detail with sulfur but I did get a lot of detail in the nebula itself.  This image also is far superior from the image I took of back in 2018.  It was one of the last images I did with my old setup (Orion ED80 and modified Canon T3i/600D).

Imaging this time was very difficult and I had to toss 2 or 3 days worth of data due to the western forest fires.  I thought I had decent data but the skies were too cruddy and so after examining the subframes closely I saw that they were very poor.

Dates: 9-11-20, 9-12-20, 9-14-20, 9-15-20, 9-16-20, 9-18-20, 9-19-20, 9-18-20

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

Sh2-101 Tulip Nebula (2020) 
Home Monroe, CT
Dates: 9-11-20, 9-12-20, 9-14-20, 9-15-20, 9-16-20, 9-18-20, 9-19-20, 9-18-20
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805
f/7
Focal Reducer: AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, OIII, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: Ha 67 x 240s, OIII 88 x 240s, R 19 x 90, G 13 x 90, B 19 x 90
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 15 C
Processing: APT, NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop.

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

Moon-Mars 10-2-20 From Boothe Park

The Moon and Mars made a gorgeous pair tonight.  They are less than two degrees apart.  I captured this this at Boothe Park during our normal meeting on the first and third Friday's of each month.  The image is a composite of two exposures.  The moon was a 1/800 second exposure and Mars was a 4 second exposure. I combined them in photoshop and did minor processing.

Moon-Mars 10-2-20
Location: Boothe Park, Stratford, CT
Date: 10-2-20
Camera: Canon T3i/600D modified
Lens: Canon 200mm f/2.8L II USM 
Focal Length: 200mm
f/4.0
Mount: iOptron SkyGuider Pro on a Manfrotto Tripod
Filter: Astronomik OWB Clip-In
Autoguiding: none
Exposure: 1 x 4s, 1 x 1/800
ISO: 200
Processing: Photoshop, Topaz DeNoise AI

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1