Solar Activity on 7-23-21

I took a diversion from the deep sky stuff I normally do the other day and imaged the Sun. One of the cool things about the sun is you can actually see these flares and prominences, with the right equipment, and they look just as impressive as the image shows - maybe more so. The equipment in my case is the Daystar Quark Ha Eyepiece solar filter attached to the Orion ED80.

Image 1 shows a massive flame coming out to the left and I put a scale image of Earth for comparison. Image 2 shows looping flares which are relatively low to the surface. Image 3 shows what could be classified as a prominence where the two protrusions are in contact with each other. If I was better at this (like Chuck's Astro) I would have made several separate images of this over an hour to make a video - a goal for some later date. The image also shows what looks like filaments, dark eyebrows, on the lower left. Also in this image is an ejection on the upper middle portion in the dark region. This third image was rotated 180 degrees so it was actually the bottom.

Sun & Solar Flares
Home Monroe, CT
Date: 7-23-21
Camera: ZWO ASI178 MM
Telescope: Orion ED80 F7.5 Refractor
Barlow: Quark 4.3x
Focal Length: 600
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter: Daystar Quark Chromosphere

Tilt Adjuster: Daystar Interference Eliminator
Exposure: 0.088857
Best 30% of 500
Gain: 255
Processing: SharpCap, PixInsight, Photoshop.

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NGC 6946 - Fireworks Galaxy

NGC 6946 a.k.a. The Fireworks Galaxy is described as a face-on intermediate spiral galaxy bordering Cepheus and Cygnus at a distance 25 million light-years. It is approximately 40,000 light-years across and contains about 100 billion stars. Although it has a small bright nucleus, the galaxy as a whole is very faint as it is close to the galactic plane of the Milky Way. I could barely see it in subframes during imaging. It is classified as a starburst galaxy (star-forming) due to its high rate star formation. It has ten times the star formation as the Milky Way yet is half the size hence the Fireworks nickname. The arms contain many dense areas where star-formation is occurring - the upper-left arm shows a very prominent region where it is occurring.

This is my second image with the new setup (Edge & ASI294MC) and is the first time I ever imaged this object. It was a bit tough to process given the great amount of stars and galactic material in between it and us so a lot of star reduction was in order. I learned a lot since my previous image about this setup and the Asiair so, hopefully there is improvement. I did add another ~1.5mm to the backspace and the stars were not as elongated in the corners on the uncropped raw data. I did try adding 4.5mm for my latest object but that is in process. I believe I have decent autofocus settings now as I get a good V-curve and also checking and performing the collimation is easier now.

I also used the Baader Neodymium Moon & Skyglow filter rather than a plane UV/IR filter since the moon was starting to show itself. I also used the Deep Sky Stacker as PI was giving me horrible results with this camera and flats. I'll have more to say on this issue at a later date!

NGC 6946 - Fireworks Galaxy
Dates: 7-15, 7-19
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-Pro
Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 800
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 2032mm (native)
F/10 (native)
Focal Reducer: Celestron .7 Reducer Lens
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: ZWO Filter Drawer
Filter: Baader Neodymium Filter (2-inch)
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Orion ST80
Exposure: L 129 x 180
Gain: 120
Offset 0
Temp: 0 C
Processing: Asiair app, DSS, PixInsight, Photoshop, Gradient Exterminator, Topaz DeNoiseAI.

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NGC 6633 - Tweedledum Cluster

Located roughly 1,000 light-years from Earth, NGC 6633, also known as the Tweedledum Cluster (IC 4756 a.k.a. Tweedledee is nearby), is a large open cluster about the same relative size as the full moon in the constellation Ophiuchus. The cluster sits in a very rich starfield and is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye but better observed with binoculars or small telescopes. It contains approximately 38 known stars, most of which are young hot blue estimated to be about 600 million years old.

I am interested in less commonly imaged objects and NGC 6633 certainly falls into that category. It was such a nice diversion to process something that was pretty straight forward for a change meaning no processing gymnastics were needed.

The only mishap was after collection of the luminosity data, I removed the camera and then reattached the next day, however, I forgot to align it properly.  It ended up not making a big difference as I cropped it even more so.  BTW this was done with the AT115 & ASI1600 setup. 

NGC 6633 - Tweedledum Cluster
Dates: 7-5, 7-16
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 58 x 60, R 53 x 60, G 45 x 60, B 44 x 60
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Sensor Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoiseAI.

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M57 - Testing 1-2-3

At long last this is First Light with my Celestron EdgeHD 800 Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope (SCT). I purchased this specifically for the many small galaxies of galaxy season. I missed that but fortunately there are a plethora of other small objects which I have avoided over the years. Although I have imaged M57 or The Ring Nebula before, I selected it again because it was bright and in an ideal location for me to do all of this testing. I am very happy with the final images especially given the limited exposure time. I was only using this object as a test and will try something that I have not done before if it ever clears up.

If you are interested in more detail, read in between the paragraphs, otherwise skip to the conclusions and image descriptions.

Data Collection
The first night out I successfully did the collimation, autofocus, and tried some imaging using NINA and APT to no satisfaction and plenty of frustration. The problem may be the computer or Microsoft - whatever the case I ditched it for the Asiair Pro. We have had a horrible stretch of weather here so testing has been exceedingly slow. The next time (a few days later) I had the Asiair Pro up and running. Everything worked - slewing, plate-solving, autofocus, autoguiding, meridian flip, and parking the scope. On the second night (7/5) I collected 60 x 90 second frames with no filter. Also on the second night I collected 19 x 180 second frames using the IDAS NBZ filter. In my haste I did not check the collimation beforehand and noticed it may not have been the best it could have been. The third night (7/11) I did collimate the scope and managed to collect 36 x 90 second frames making the total exposure 96 x 90 second or 2.4 hrs.

Brief Discussion
After reviewing the data from both nights, the collimation was not that far off so it was usable although I should check it every night. I replaced the collimation original screws with Bob’s Knobs which are much easier to adjust. The stars turned out much better than I anticipated they would. They were round (in the central region) and tighter than I thought they would be using an SCT with this focal length (I was expecting them to be more bloated). I recently discovered the color astro cameras do not come with built-in UV/IR filters which can add to star bloating which may have contributed to the large stars of my recent Iris Nebula image using the ASI294 and Canon Lens. I used the same setup on the Elephant Trunk Nebula only with the IDAS NBZ filter and no bloat. The stars on corners of the images are pointing towards the center, this is a classic indication that back focus needs more space. It is close so not too much space is needed.

There were problems with the support frames in particular with the flats. After many trial sets I was able to produce a usable set for the unfiltered data. I was never able to produce usable flats for the NBZ filter. I did order a light panel to aid in this effort. What a pleasure it was to use my old autoguider (6 yrs old) the Orion ST80. This is currently sold as part of the Awesome AutoGuider Package by Orion. I had forgotten how pleasant and easy it is to use a ‘real focuser’ rather than the helical focuser.

Lastly, the Field of View (FOV) for the Edge is much smaller even with the focal reducer than the AT115 which translates into more detail for smaller objects. One of my images shows the comparison between the two using the ASI294. Another way to look at it is the ASI294 uses 11.7 Mp to make an image, therefore, the image made with the Edge will be more detailed than the one made with a cropped AT115 image.

Conclusions
- Collimation adjust every imaging session 
- Backfocus is close as is, however, will adjust in an effort to improve
- Dark Frames look good and do their job
- Flats are going to need some work before I use them
- Orion ST80 with ASI120 mini Autoguider setup works well

Descriptions
Image 1: Cropped - unfiltered RGB + IDAS NBZ (partially)
- The NBZ data was not good enough to make a complete image but was able to use a portion of it to accentuate the Ha/OIII gas surrounding the main portion of M57

Image 2: Uncropped - unfiltered RGB + IDAS NBZ (partially)
- The NBZ data was not good enough to make a complete image but was able to use a portion of it to accentuate the Ha/OIII gas surrounding the main portion of M57

Image 3: Cropped - unfiltered RGB

Image 4: Uncropped - unfiltered RGB

Image 5: FOV comparison
- EdgeHD 8” with 0.7 FR and ASI294
- AT115 with 0.8 FR and ASI294

Image 6: Uncropped - unfiltered RGB
- After stacking and ABE

Image 7: with the Dust Bunny Nebula
- For submission to NASA?  I found a UFO pretending to be a dust bunny!

M57 - Ring Nebula

Dates: 7-5, 7-11
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-Pro
Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 800

Barlow: None
Focal Length: 2032mm (native)
F/10 (native)

Focal Reducer: Celestron .7 Reducer Lens 
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: ZWO Filter Drawer
Filter: IDAS NBZ (2-inch)
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Orion ST80
Exposure: No Filter 96 x 90, NBZ 19 x 180
Gain: 120
Offset 0
Temp: 0 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, Gradient Exterminator, Topaz DeNoiseAI.

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IC 1396 - Emission Nebula - HOO* (2021)

Located approximately 2400 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus, IC 1396 (SH2-131) is a large cloud of ionized gas and dust. Within its confines is IC 1396A or commonly referred to as the Elephant Trunk Nebula because of its similar appearance. It sits on the top portion of my image pointing upwards. Most visible light images show IC 1396A as dark, however, that is because it glows in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum as does the famous Horsehead Nebula. Several very young stars have been detected in the Elephant Trunk indicating that it is an active stellar nursery.

The really bright orange star located on the lower left at the edge of the nebula is Mu Cephei or Herschel's Garnet Star. It is a red supergiant nearly 100,000 times brighter than the Sun, one of the largest known stars. If it were placed in the Sun's position it would engulf the orbit of Mars and maybe Jupiter. It is also nearing its death as it has burned up all of its hydrogen and is now fusing helium into carbon.

So this is the second image taken with the ZWO ASI294MC Pro attached to the Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Lens with the ZWO EOS Filter Drawer. I decided to make use of the filter drawer by using the IDAS NBZ filter. I purchased this dual-band filter over many other versions because this can also be used with fast setups including Hyperstar which I now have. I had my lens set at F/4 this time rather than F/3.5 which is what it was set on for the IRIS Nebula. The total exposure was 4.35 hrs (87 x 180s) and was collected over two nights when the moon was up. I would have had more time but I still have been having computer and program issues which are eating away imaging time.

So how do you make an HOO image from a color camera? I call it the “Cuiv Special”! Actually I followed a video from Cuiv (Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=740ZLTe95eg&t=908s) where he separated the color image and recombined it in such a way to mimic a narrowband image.  I had to modify it a bit as he did a full SHO combination. Of course it will only work if the data you collect is from a Multi-narrowband filter such as the IDAS NBZ. Attached is a short video comparison with and without using the NBZ filter. (Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TofY62bsTLk)

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IC 1396 - Emission Nebula

Dates: 6-23, 6-28
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-Pro
Telescope: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Lens
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 200mm
f/4.0
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: ZWO EOS Filter Drawer
Filter: IDAS NBZ (2-inch)
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to a ZWO Mini guidescope - None
Exposure: L 87 x 180
Gain: 120
Offset 0
Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Gradient Exterminator, Topaz DeNoiseAI.

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Using The IDAS NBZ Filter!

Over the last few years, multi-narrowband filters have popped up into the market place.  They are particularly useful for one-shot color cameras and DSLRs although they can be used as luminance filter for monochrome cameras as they are excellent at reducing light pollution.  The current filter choices for these multi-narrowband filters include 1) dual-band (Ha & OIII), 2) Tri-band (Ha, OIII, & SII), 3) Quad-band (Ha, OIII, SII, & Hb).  Numerous manufactures now have these in their lineup and following is a partial list:

ZWO Duo Band (Ha & OIII)

Radian Triad Quad-Band (Ha, OIII, SII, & Hb)

Optolong L-eNhance (Ha, OIII, & Hb)

Optolong L-eXtreme (Ha & OIII)

Altair TriBand (Ha, OIII, & Hb)

IDAS NBZ (Ha & OIII)

IDAS NB1 (Ha, OIII, & Hb)

IDAS NB2 (Ha & OIII)

IDAS NB3 (OIII & SII)

I wanted to get a good multiple narrowband filter to be used with the ZWO ASI294MC Pro and was looking at the various options.  After doing some research I purchased the IDAS NBZ filter specifically because it was redesigned to handle telescopes with focal ratios as low F2.  

I had a chance to test this on IC1396, The Elephant Trunk Nebula, the recently during near full moon from my Bortle 5 skies.  The test consisted of collecting two 180 second exposures without the filter and then collecting two exposures with the NBZ filter.