Recommended 105mm
My Optimal System 108.5mm
Monday, June 28, 2021
Sunday, June 27, 2021
Sh2-73 - A Dusty Molecular Cloud
Sh2-73 was originally classified as an emission nebula hence added to the Sharpless Catalog of emission Nebula, however, it is actually a molecular cloud illuminated by the integrated light from the galaxy. It is located approximately 392 light-years (120 parsecs) from Earth in the constellation of Hercules. Although it was misclassified as an emission nebula, it has some colorful stars associated with it and is still very pleasing to image (in fact I think I like imaging dark reflection nebulae more than emission nebulae).
Capturing and processing was straightforward although I did lose a bit of some RGB data as I forgot to set the temperature to zero degrees - trying to do too many things at once. It is very dark and nothing was visible on the individual subframes which always concerns me when imaging. This may be the last image from this scope for a little while as I finally received the EdgeHD8 and will be busy activating that setup as well as the 200mm Canon Lens setup. This AT115 setup has been great and also very stable so I am keeping it untouched which is why I have been building a new imaging setup.
Capturing and processing was straightforward although I did lose a bit of some RGB data as I forgot to set the temperature to zero degrees - trying to do too many things at once. It is very dark and nothing was visible on the individual subframes which always concerns me when imaging. This may be the last image from this scope for a little while as I finally received the EdgeHD8 and will be busy activating that setup as well as the 200mm Canon Lens setup. This AT115 setup has been great and also very stable so I am keeping it untouched which is why I have been building a new imaging setup.
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http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1
Sh2-73
Dates: 6-5, 6-6, 6-9, 6-10, 6-16, 6-17
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 L, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: L 259 x 90, R 58 x 60, G 53 x 60, B 56 x 60
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 15 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoiseAI.
https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
NGC 7023 Region (2021) - New Equipment
NGC 7023 or the Iris Nebula is a favorite of mine and only fitting it should be First Light for my ZWO ASI294MC connected to a Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Lens with the ZWO Filter Drawer for Canon Lenses. The region is heavily laden with interstellar dust as can be seen in the image. The characteristic blue color from NGC 7023 comes from the dust grains reflecting light from the bright central star. Also interesting is that polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been detected within this nebula so it may be a good place to get some naphthalene (moth-balls).
Located in the constellation Cepheus these molecular clouds are approximately 1,300 light-years away in a rich field of stars. I had to do several rounds of star reduction and made processing a bit difficult. I consider this image satisfactory and would have needed to collect more data than the 2.65 hours to make it a noteworthy image. I pushed the dusty areas as much as I could but really could not go any further. I am happy with what I did get for the limited time and there is some detail in the core. Most of the stars appear yellow but a good portion of those are yellow because the light is being filtered by the gas and dust of the molecular cloud.
This was a test done over three nights plagued with problems. It was not only first light with the camera and adapter but also of my second imaging computer so I can run two rigs. This Canon 200mm Lens to ASI294 setup was an afterthought while I was waiting for the EdgeHD8 to arrive (which came last week). I used 90 second exposures as I have found this to be good value with unfiltered images from my yard. Although the lens can go to F/2.8,I have found F/3.5 to be a decent value for imaging. All of the data collected on the first night was lost because I had the gain set at zero rather than unity gain of 120. The second night I had data issues due to Microsoft OneDrive hijacking my computer trying to download while collecting images - I don't remember signing up for this but I uninstalled it and hopefully it stays gone. I also had trouble guiding, every time I turn on guiding it interferes with the imaging camera. I am pretty sure the PhD2 knows which camera is which but I had the issue with APT and NINA. Guiding works alone though. Fortunately with only a 200mm FL, guiding was not necessary so this image was made with 90 second exposures. However, I do have to get this solved guiding is critical for the the Edge.
NGC 7023 Region
Dates: 6-16, 6-17, 6-18
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-Pro
Telescope: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Lens
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 200mm
f/3.5
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: ZWO - None
Filter: None
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to a ZWO Mini guidescope - None
Exposure: L 106 x 90
Gain: 120
Offset 0
Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoiseAI.
https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1
Located in the constellation Cepheus these molecular clouds are approximately 1,300 light-years away in a rich field of stars. I had to do several rounds of star reduction and made processing a bit difficult. I consider this image satisfactory and would have needed to collect more data than the 2.65 hours to make it a noteworthy image. I pushed the dusty areas as much as I could but really could not go any further. I am happy with what I did get for the limited time and there is some detail in the core. Most of the stars appear yellow but a good portion of those are yellow because the light is being filtered by the gas and dust of the molecular cloud.
This was a test done over three nights plagued with problems. It was not only first light with the camera and adapter but also of my second imaging computer so I can run two rigs. This Canon 200mm Lens to ASI294 setup was an afterthought while I was waiting for the EdgeHD8 to arrive (which came last week). I used 90 second exposures as I have found this to be good value with unfiltered images from my yard. Although the lens can go to F/2.8,I have found F/3.5 to be a decent value for imaging. All of the data collected on the first night was lost because I had the gain set at zero rather than unity gain of 120. The second night I had data issues due to Microsoft OneDrive hijacking my computer trying to download while collecting images - I don't remember signing up for this but I uninstalled it and hopefully it stays gone. I also had trouble guiding, every time I turn on guiding it interferes with the imaging camera. I am pretty sure the PhD2 knows which camera is which but I had the issue with APT and NINA. Guiding works alone though. Fortunately with only a 200mm FL, guiding was not necessary so this image was made with 90 second exposures. However, I do have to get this solved guiding is critical for the the Edge.
https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1
NGC 7023 Region
Dates: 6-16, 6-17, 6-18
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-Pro
Telescope: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Lens
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 200mm
f/3.5
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: ZWO - None
Filter: None
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to a ZWO Mini guidescope - None
Exposure: L 106 x 90
Gain: 120
Offset 0
Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoiseAI.
https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1
Thursday, June 10, 2021
Eclipse (2021)
Just when you thought you saw enough eclipse pictures I have to post mine. A bit late as I had to work right after capturing and no time to process earlier - although there was not that much to do. If anything I had to tone down the colors as it really looked like this. Two of my image have sea birds flying by. The images were taken with my Canon T3i/600d modified camera with my Orion ED80 f/7.5 refractor mounted on an Explore Scientific Twilight Mount. Location: Birdseye Boat Launch, Stratford CT.
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