Sh2-264 - Lambda Orionis Ring & Collinder 69

Sh2-264 is a very large hydrogen rich region which is much larger than my image.  It goes by many names such as Lambda Orionis Ring, Angelfish Nebula, Orion's Head Nebula, and North Orion Bubble and is located approximately 1400 light-years from Earth.  An open cluster, Collinder 69, is found near the center of the nebula.  The bright blue star in the center of the image, Lambda Orionis (a.k.a. Heka or Meissa), is at the center of the open cluster and is also the head of Orion.  This star is also responsible for the ionization of the the nebula.

Many of my targets are planned well in advance, however, this one was selected because it was in a good location while I waited for another target.  I think it turned out pretty well overall.  I did have some interesting reflection problems with the LRGB data most likely due to the orientation of the telescope and the star Heka.  Other than doing a lot localized processing in order to remove the reflections, the normal processing was fairly straightforward. 

Dates: 1-10-21, 1-11-21, 1-16-21, 1-18-21, 1-19-21, 1-20-21

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Sh2-264 - Lambda Orionis Ring & Collinder 69

Dates: 1-10-21, 1-11-21, 1-16-21, 1-18-21, 1-19-21, 1-20-21, 1-19-21
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None

Focal Length: 805mm

f/7

Focal Reducer: 0.8x AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer

Mount: Orion Sirius

Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25"

Filter: ZWO Ha, L, R, G, B

Focuser: ZWO EAF

Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope

Exposure: Ha 109 x 180, L 112 x 60, R 74 x 60, G 78 x 60, B 79 x 60

Gain: 139

Offset 21

Temp: 0 C

Processing: APT, NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoiseAI.

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Sunrise from Seymour High School 1-26-21 (i-phone)

Sunrise at from Mike Avena's Room this morning! I-phone through the window.

Double Cluster h & chi Persei (NGC884 & NGC869) - 2021

Well it is the the Double Cluster a.k.a. Caldwell 14, or h & chi Persei or NGC 884 & NGC 869.  It is one of my favorite objects to observe with binoculars as well as any telescope, big or small and can be seen with the naked eye.  Both clusters are about 7,500 light-years away and lie in the constellation of Perseus and are a few hundred light-years apart.  In my image NGC 884 is on the left while NGC 869 shows up on the right.  Most clusters are young (relatively) but these are young  even for clusters at 12.8 million years old.  Research shows there are more than 300 blue-white super-giant stars in each of these clusters and they are approaching us at approximately 39 km/s.  There are also some red supergiant stars within the Double Cluster - five associated with NGC 884.  

This version is much better than my previous version from over three years ago and I am very happy how it turned out.  Imaging this was not really planned as it was a filler while waiting for different objects.  I only have a 1.5 hr. window from my shed (from the front yard I have several hrs.) so I figured why not do an experiment and start to capture the exceedingly faint hydrogen associated with this region.  I started in November and went into January capturing anytime there was a hint of clear weather.  In the end I obtained a little over 15 hrs. of Ha, trashing about half as many - I was hoping for about 30 hrs. but that was not to be.  Unfortunately the Hydrogen alpha was too faint for 15 hrs. using  my F5.6 imaging system.  I will revisit this when I have a faster system, perhaps hyperstar, and more time.

Dates: 12-6-20, 12-7-20, 12-8-20

Double Cluster h & chi Persei (NGC884 & NGC869) - 2021
Dates: 12-6-20, 12-7-20, 12-8-20
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm

f/7
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
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: R 56 x 90, G 62 x 90, B 56 x 90
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 0 C
Processing: APT, NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoiseAI.

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M1 - Crab Nebula - SHO (RGB stars)

Messier 1 (a.k.a. NGC 1952) commonly referred to as the Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant in the constellation Taurus and is approximately 6300 light years from us.  It is 11 light-years in diameter and expanding at a rate of 1500 km per second.  M1 is very popular among amateurs and professionals, however, this is only my second time on it - the first was over four years ago. Also, I am not sure I see any crab.

Chinese and Arab astronomers recorded the supernova event in the summer of 1054.  I can only wonder if they were more scared or curious.  Fortunately some more learned observers described it as a "guest star" that was brighter than Venus and visible in the daytime for several weeks. It is believed the Anasazi (native Americans in the southwest) recorded it in a wall painting in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.  

The star that exploded as a supernova is referred to as the supernova's progenitor star.  This occurs when the star uses up its fuel to produce nuclear fusion and the core collapse which produces a fierce explosion.  Mass estimates, chemical composition, and the presence of a pulsar suggest the progenitor star to be 8-11 times the mass of our own sun.  The psychedelic  looking multicolor filaments which make up the nebula are remnants of the star’s atmosphere and consist mainly of ionized helium and hydrogen, however, other elements such carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, neon, and sulfur are also present.

This was captured with narrowband filters (hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur) which accounts for the weird colors but they allow for much more detail to be highlighted. I did collect natural data using red, green, and blue filters for the stars.

This image is much more detailed than my image for four years ago which is good as I have much better equipment.   There is a dim stream pointing upwards on the top edge (midway) that I thought was really interesting.  I would have cropped it more but I already cropped past my usual limit.  For comparison, the full moon is 30 arcminutes across and the Crab Nebula is only 6 arcminutes.  Overall I am happy with the results of the AT115 refractor and ZWO ASI1600 pairing on this object although a larger scope would be preferential.

Messier 1 (a.k.a. NGC 1952) - Crab Nebula
Dates: 12-22, 12-23, 12, 26, 12-29, 12-31, 1-2, 1-7, 1-8
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm
f/7
Focal Reducer: 0.8x AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, OIII, SII, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: Ha 70 x 240, OIII 61 x 240, SII 62 x 240, R 30 x 90, G 30 x 90, B 30 x 90

Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 0 C
Processing: APT, NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoiseAI.

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NGC 1555 - Hind's Variable Nebula

I was about to consider this image of Hind’s Variable Nebula (NGC 1555 or Sh2-238) done with about 5 hrs of LRGB exposure time when as luck would have it, an article appeared in the February 2021 issue of Sky & Telescope focusing on this very object.  I liked the article so much I decided to give this object more time.

 

The article, "The Story of T Tauri”, was a fascinating story and I highly recommend it.  The star, T Tauri, is the very young pre-main sequence star owing its birth to the Nebula.  In my image Hind’s Variable Nebula is to the right of bright orange T Tauri in the center of the image. The nebula changes in brightness as the clouds move around the star.  The name, T Tauri, is presently used to describe all pre-main sequence stars.  They tend to have high lithium concentrations (100x more than the sun) which is indicative of young stars (as a star gets older it destroys lithium).  The article goes on to discuss many other facets about the T Tauri, two hidden stars within the nebula revealed by infrared sensors, and many other things.  The star we can see, T Tauri, is known now as T Tauri North and the two hidden stars have been designated as T Tauri South a and b.

Located approximately 400 LY away in constellation Taurus Hind’s Variable Nebula is small relative to us making it a very good target for a large focal length telescope such as an Edge 800HD which I do not have, yet.  I do like the larger field of view and fortunately there are a lot of dusty areas around Hind’s Nebula.  Most of the stars appear yellow orange but I suspect that is due to the great amount gas and dust. It was first described by English astronomer John Russell Hind in 1852 and so was named in his honor.

I also collected three hours of Ha data during nights when the moon was out but did not use it as it did not add any detail.  The Moon was one of the reasons it took so long to complete this project. It went right through my field of view on December 27, 2020 at 10 am.  This image of the Moon was from December 26 when it was just west of NGC 1555 and not quit in the FOV. I added it to the image of NGC 1555 at the same scale.  So does that mean this is what you would see if you looked at the moon from, say the International Space Station? Well, if you are Superman perhaps, otherwise no!

NGC 1555 (Sh2-238) - Hind's Variable Nebula
Dates: 12-13, 12-14, 12-15, 12-18, 12-22, 12-23, 12-29, 1-2-21, 1-4, 1-6, 1-7

Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm
f/7
Focal Reducer: AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, L, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: Ha 45 x 240, L 138 x 90, R 82 x 90, G 66 x 90, B 90 x 90
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 0 C
Processing: APT, NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoiseAI.

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