LBN 639

LBN 639 is located in the constellation Pisces and is part of a larger structure known as the MBM 3 molecular cloud.  Information is sparse for this object however I did find a distance estimate of 807 to 858 light-years from Jim Thommes website (http://www.jthommes.com/Astro/LBN639.htm).  Several  galaxies which are over 500 million light-years away are visible in this image as well as some quasars.  

I enjoy imaging dark reflection nebula and molecular clouds so naturally I live in one of the worst places to do these types of projects but oh well, I like a challenge.  One of the advantages of using the hyperstar system is that it is very fast (collects photons quickly) with a focal ratio of 1.9.  It really does pick up a lot faint nebulosity quickly, however, the stars are not as good as refractor stars.  I did do some tweaking with the telescope which improved their quality but it is still not as good as refractor stars in my opinion.   

I have noticed for a long time that when I collect luminosity data the stars seem a little larger (high FWHM) than the RGB data - this seems to be worse with the hyperstar.  I did not think anything of it until I saw a recent post by Rodd Dryfuss who lives close by and was mentioning he is not collecting  luminosity data anymore for certain objects because of this very reason.  For this object as well as most molecular clouds and such luminosity is needed for the nebulosity but not for the stars.  I made a starless image out of the LRGB image and then blended the only the RGB stars back - thanks Rodd.  I also used my ZWO ASI1600MM and my new Opolong 2" LRGB filter set for this project.  

LBN 639

Dates: 10-31, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 800
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 2032mm (native)
F/10 (native) F/1.9 (Hyperstar)
Focal Reducer: Starizona Hyperstar
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: Starizona Filter Drawer
Filter: Optolong LRGB
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Helical Guidescope
Exposure: L 244 x 90s, R 34 x 90s, G 36 x 90s, B 42 x 90s
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Temp: 0 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoiseAI.

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Heart (IC 1805) & Soul (IC 1848) hanging in Cassiopeia

This is my version of the very popular pair of deep sky objects known as the Heart Nebula (IC 1805) and the Soul Nebula (IC 1848). They reside in the constellation of Cassiopeia approximately 6,000 light-years away. Both of these emission nebulae are relatively large in the night sky and together they are immense at more than 10 moons across which corresponds over 500 light-years. Although the size of these objects are well known I made a size calculator video based on a formula that Gary Imm gave me last year - it works really well as long as the distance is known.

To image this I used my Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Lens set at f4.0 with a ZWO ASI294MC Pro and an IDAS NBZ filter all set on an Atlas Pro (yes a little overkill). This is one of my favorite setups that I have grown to love for its wide field. I managed to capture 20 hours of usable data although I collected much more but I was imaging when the moon was out and that data was very poor quality so did not use it.

There was hardly any noise as a result of collecting so many frames. The time consuming part of processing was highlighting the OIII region and merging the starless image with the star mask. I am not a big fan of starless processing mainly because I am not good at bringing stars back really well but am happy with what I did this time so maybe I am getting better at it.

Dates: 10-12, 10-14, 10-18, 10-19, 10-21, 10-31, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8

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Heart Nebula (IC 1805) & Soul Nebula (IC 1848) 
Dates: 10-12, 10-14, 10-18, 10-19, 10-21, 10-31, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8
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 416 x 180
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Temp: -10 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoiseAI.

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NGC 7293 - Helix Nebula - Don't laugh - 14 minutes & 200mm lens?

NGC 7293 or commonly known as the Helix nebula is approximately 650 light-years away in the constellation of Aquarius.  It is a Planetary Nebula approximately 2.9 light-years which formed as the central dying star blew off its outer layers of gas leaving a small hot dense core.

So I have always wanted to image this but it is really low and we have high trees so I actually never though it was possible at all.  Just for giggles after finishing another object I pointed the mount and camera in the direction of the Helix and it was there just above the trees.  It soon disappeared however I did get 14 minutes on it before going away.  If it were visible for an hour it might be worth imaging with larger setup but for less than a half hour this will do.  Actually I was happy to get anything. 

I cropped it heavily and was very creative with new noise reduction as it was bad, not to mention the gradients.  Also, there were no support frames for this either - not even darks so I had to remove hot pixels by hand.  If you are a pixel peeper see how many you can find.  I decided to make a gif of the 14 subframes so you get an idea how close the trees are to it - the gif is my first ever attempt and is low quality.   

NGC 7293 - Helix Nebula - Don't laugh - 14 minutes & 200mm lens?
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 Sirius
Filter Adaptor: ZWO EOS Filter Drawer
Filter: IDAS NBZ (2-inch)
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to a ZWO Mini guidescope - None
Exposure: NBZ 14 x 60
Gain: 120
Offset 0
Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Gradient Exterminator, Topaz DeNoiseAI.

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