M78, M48, and Jupiter

Imaging M78 proved to be much more challenging than I than anticipated.  Winter in New England always makes it difficult, however, there were some additional issues.  M78 is a reflection nebula in the constellation of Orion some 1600 light years from us.  This object (magnitude 8.3) is not visible with the naked eye and certainly not under the light polluted sky of southern Connecticut.  Even with my telescope, the Orion ED 80, I could not see it which made it especially difficult. It did not become visible until I set the time exposure to 30 seconds using a light pollution filter (Astronomik CLS).

M78 - Diffuse Nebula
Difficulties:
Day1 - I hoped to get 2.5 hrs, manged to get 1.25 hrs!
1) Could not find nebula as the goto was not dead on.  Tried to locate for 15 minutes and I actually gave up.
2) Tried to locate other objects like the Horsehead nebula when I realized the goto was not tracking well and the stars were streaking a bit.
3) Realigned the mount and went back to M78.  I was about to give up again as I saw nothing with the finderscope but took a 30 s exposure anyway.  At first I did not see anything but kept looking and saw a faint white spot in the center.  I was dead on. YAY!
4) Tried to use PHD2 for autoguiding but once again it gave me an error.  Something about not finding the declination...Thank goodness for PHD the original.

Day2 - I hoped to get 1.5 hr, managed to get 30 min of usable images!
1) Was able to locate the nebula, however, it was a little breezy and the stars were streaking too much.
2) Got everything re-aligned, perfect tracking tripped over the power cord and did not think anything was wrong as it appeared to be plugged in.  Connected the autoguider and noticed stars moving through the view.  I was scared as I thought my mount was broke. The problem was the cigarette connection came loose when I tripped over it.
3) Re-aligned again (I'm getting good at this)and was dead on.  FINALLY!

Results:

Image 1 - DSS_PS_LR_neutralized_cropped

Image 2 - DSS_PS_LR_neutralized

Image 3 - DSS_PS_LR

Image 4 - DSS_PS

M78
Location: Monroe, CT
Date/Time: Day 1: 2/28/16 10:17 pm, Day 2: 2/29/16 10:17 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i
Filter: Astronomik CLS 2"
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5

Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount

Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm

Exposure: Day 1: 16-300s,1-163s (`1 hr 22 min), Day 2: 4-300s, 3-180s, 1-45, 1-30s (`30 min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: Photoshop, Lightroom, DSS, Backyard EOS

The images do show the central core well but not the entire complex seen on other images. You can there is a slight haze around the image but I could bring it out with anymore processing.  The long and short of it is, I need more data for a better image, however, I am happy with what I got and this will have to do for now.

M48 - Open Cluster
After M78 set behind the trees, I moved to the open cluster M48 1,500 light years away in the Hydra constellation.  M48 was much easier to image compared to M78.  For one, you can see this with a pair of binoculars and with the telescope so you know when your on it. Also, you don't need a filter for star clusters and shorter sub exposures are fine, in fact you autoguiding is not necessary if the alignment is good.  I thought I was done at this point, however, then Jupiter came up.

Image 1 - DSS_PS_LR

Image 2 - DSS_PS_crop_LR

Image 3 - DSS_PS_crop_LR_crop

M48
Location: Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 2/28/16 11:25 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i
Filter: none
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5

Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount

Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm

Exposure: 21-90s
ISO: 800
Post Processing: Photoshop, DSS, Backyard EOS

Jupiter and Moons
After the session and partially breaking down I noticed Jupiter rising over the trees of my backyard so I went ahead and took some quick photos.  I already put my computer and camera away but went back for the camera.  The image is actually a combination of a short exposure (1/500s) image for Jupiter and a longer exposure (1/10s) image for the moons.  This turned out to be really neat as all of the moons are on one side which is not that common...

Jupiter

Location: Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 2/29/16 0:38 am
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i
Filter: none
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: none

Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Exposure: 1-1/500s, 1-1/10s
ISO: 800
Post Processing: Photoshop, Lightroom, Backyard EOS, Google Drawing (Labels)

Braved the Cold to Image Comet Catalina

Braved the cold to image this Comet (Comet Catalina C/2013 US10). It is a 20 km diameter piece of rock and ice originating from the Oort Cloud that has been traveling towards sun for approximately 1 million years. It is now moving away from the sun and will probably never return (telescopes.com). The green color comes from cyanogen (CN: a poisonous gas) and diatomic carbon (C2). I love astronomy and astrophotography but I can't stand being out when it is below 40 degrees and breezy. At 4:00 am on Jan 2nd in Monroe CT, it was 26 degrees with a wind chill factor of 19 degrees. I have never imaged a comet before and probably won't again unless it comes when it's warmer out. There are few different methods for doing this: 1) single frame, 2) autoguiding on a background star, 3) autoguiding on the comet, 4) autoguiding on a background star and single point stacking on the comet. For a good summary of these methods visit Astrokev.com, Karlsson's Homepage, Soggy Astronomer, Bernhard Hubl Astrophotography.

Method three (3) is the best and I tried to do this but had a couple of issues. I have always used PHD autoguiding program but figured since PHD2 had a comet setting, I would try it. Unfortunately, the program never calibrated, so I wasted a half hour getting frustrated with that (in the cold). I connected it to PHD and had no problems. The problem was that the autoguider could not see the comet so I could not lock onto it. My guide scope (Orion ST80) is connected to the imaging scope with mounting rings so there is no moving it around, it has some pluses and minuses - this being a minus. I do have guide rings and if I had more time and it was warmer out might have changed it out. Oh well, I was relegated to the second best method, that being method four (4).

Note: It is possible to merge the best comet image from method four with the background stars from method two using photoshop. I tried this but I was unable to do this do to my lack experience with photoshop. Image 2 was using Deep Sky Stacker's Comet stacking function with star background calibration. Image 3 was using Deep Sky Stacker's Comet stacking function without the star background calibration. Image 4 was Deep Sky Stacker's Comet stacking function with additional unguided comet sub exposures.

Image 1 - Guiding on the Background Stars - Method 2


Comet Catalina C/2013 US10
Location: Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 1/2/16 5:00 am
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm

f/7.5
Exposure: 14-60s, (total exposure, 14 min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: DSS, PS

Image 2 - Guiding on the Background Stars, Stacking on the Comet - Method 4


Comet Catalina C/2013 US10
Location: Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 1/2/16 5:30 am
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm

f/7.5
Exposure: 14-60s, (total exposure, 14 min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: DSS, PS

Image 3 - Guiding on the Background Stars, Stacking on the Comet - Method 4


Comet Catalina C/2013 US10
Location: Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 1/2/16 5:30 am
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm

f/7.5
Exposure: 14-60s, (total exposure, 14 min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: DSS, PS

Image 4 - Guiding on the Background Stars, Stacking on the Comet - Method 4


Comet Catalina C/2013 US10
Location: Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 1/2/16 5:30 am
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm

f/7.5
Exposure: 30-60s, (total exposure, 30 min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: DSS, PS