The Wall - Cygnus Wall That Is...

The Cygnus Wall is part of the more popular North America Nebula (NGC 7000) and is a massive star forming region approximately 20 light-years long.  The whole North America Nebula complex is about  1,500 light-years away in Cygnus an sits in the Milky Way plane.  I have imaged NGC 7000 a few times in the past but not with my AT115 refractor.  The whole region is very large so I decided to focus in on The Cygnus Wall portion.  I feel I am late to this party as most people have moved on but my FOV is always later.  I was done with this three weeks ago but I am extremely busy and have no time to process although I have been imaging as I have two more object in the Que. 

I am really  glad I did in SHO as I was going back and forth with HOO but went with the SHO anyway.  I was not going to use StarNet++ as the stars seemed small and nice to start but I began to process and they become a nuisance so I used it after all  - I was using it in PI but since I did the new PI upgrade it does not work so I do it in Windows.  There was a lot of faint nebulosity around the outside edges which was good and bad so the hard part for me was deciding on what to show and what not to show.  So I decided to use the histogram, I lowered the offset so the histogram went halfway between where I thought it was done and where it would start clipping signal. 

I am happy with how it turned out especially the yellow-gold detail of the Wall itself.  Also, in trying to be different, I decided to keep it flipped so Florida is on the bottom sticking up into the Gulf of Mexico. 

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

The Cygnus Wall (Part of the North America Nebula)
Home Monroe, CT
Date: 9-4-20, 9-5-20, 9-6-20, 9-7-20
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805
f/7
Focal Reducer: AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, OIII, SII
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: Ha 69 x 240s, OIII 54 x 240s, SII 53 x 240
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 15 C
Processing: APT, NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop.

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

Second Image of the Sun - Making some progress

So this is my second image of our sun with my new solar setup.  I believe the seeing conditions were much better than the previous day which made the flare appear sharper.  It is not as sharp as I had hoped but it is still better.  I am still playing around with various processing methods as well.  Also, When trying to get the Sun in the frame, make sure the lower cap is off the Quark.  I spent 20 minutes trying to find the Sun - thinking the Quark is broke - before I saw the somewhat melted plastic cover on the bottom of the Quark.   

I believe Earth would be about half the size of the flare, maybe smaller.  I will work on finding more exact references in the future.

Sun & Solar FlaresHome Monroe, CT
Date: 9-5-20
Camera: ZWO ASI178 MM
Telescope: Orion ED80 F7.5 Refractor
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter: Daystar Quark Chromosphere

Tilt Adjuster: Daystar Interference Eliminator
Exposure: 0.001752
Best 350 of 1000
Gain: 344
Processing: SharpCap, PixInsight, Photoshop.

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

First Image with Solar Setup

Well, at long last I finally got my first image with my new solar set up.  It is not great, looks slightly out of focus to me but that could be due to bad seeing, it was hot and humid and there were high clouds and I was imaging between waves of low clouds. But I am happy I got something.  This camera much faster than the QHY5-II that I was using.  I processed it combining methods described by Cuiv the Lazy Geek and Chuck's Astrophotography.

I was hoping to be much further a long at this point with solar imaging as I ordered this stuff at end of May in the hopes of imaging during the summer when I had time.  Covid19 delays no doubt, but it is finally here.  OPT is probably sick of me calling them, but then again I was rarely able to get anyone. Many people in this hobby are retired or semiretired and can spend a lot of time imaging and processing, I have a few more years before I can join the seasoned crowd.  With that said we started our school year on a hybrid model so I will be extremely busy at least for the next month or two so astrophotography will have to take a back seat for a while. I do have a couple other images in the Que but don't know when I will have time to process them. 

Solar Setup:
Telescope: Orion ED80 F7.5 Refractor
Camera: ZWO ASI178 MM

Filter: Daystar Quark Chromosphere

Tilt Adjuster: Daystar Interference Eliminator

Mount: Orion Sirius or Orion Atlas Pro

Sun & Solar FlaresHome Monroe, CT
Date: 9-4-20
Camera: ZWO ASI178 MM
Telescope: Orion ED80 F7.5 Refractor
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: Orion Sirius

Filter: Daystar Quark Chromosphere

Tilt Adjuster: Daystar Interference Eliminator

Exposure: 0.00145

Best 300 of 1000  

Gain: 369
Processing: SharpCap, PixInsight, Photoshop.

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

Sh2-132 - Lion Nebula (SHO with RGB stars)

Well this Nebula actually does resemble a Lion, who would have thought.  Sharpless-132 (Sh2-132), a.k.a. the Lion Nebula, is located approximately 10,000 light-years away in the constellation of Cepheus and about 250 LY across.  I have been doing a lot of Sharpless objects lately because they do seem less popular.  I haven't found much information about the nebula other than very hot stars are responsible for ionizing the gases that make it up, this includes two Wolf-Rayet stars.  Also located in this image are two dark nebula, LDN 1161 and LDN 1163 located above the Lion's back.  This object has not been imaged much in years past, however, it has become much more popular these days among amateur astrophotographers.  Cataloged as a Sharpless object hydrogen is dominate element but there is plenty of Oxygen and Sulfur.  I really like the HOO images of this and was planning on doing this with Ha and OIII but decided on SII at the last minute based on weather conditions and the moon.

Normally I would use a model someone's image as a model, however, this time I adjusted the colors to see what gave the most detail but looked cool to me.  The hard part of processing this object was the stars. I tried to keep the stars and process the nebula at the same time but eventually ended up going starless.  Of course StarNet did not work in PixInsight since the new update so I did it using the Windows version.  I actually combined a couple of different methods for adding the RGB stars.  I was not totally satisfied with the stars and after seeing an image from Rodd Dryfoos where he made an HaSHO version, I did that on this image in order to add back some more stars and soften them a bit.  I like the HaSHO a little better but some might prefer the SHO.  

Date: 8-22-20, , 8-23-20, 8-24-20, 8-25-20, 8-30-20

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1 

SHO

HaSHO

Sh2-132 - The Lion Nebula
Home Monroe, CT
Date: 8-22-20, , 8-23-20, 8-24-20, 8-25-20, 8-30-20

Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805
f/7
Focal Reducer: AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
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 130 x 240s, OIII 91 x 240s, SII 83 x 240, R 20 x 90s, G 16 x 90s, B 19 x 90s
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 22 C
Processing: APT, NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop.

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

Sh2-114 - Flying Dragon Nebula

Bilbo Baggins said something like there hasn't been a dragon around here for over 1000 years, that's because they went looking for swans.  The Flying Dragon Nebula or Sh2-114 is located in the constellation Cygnus (the Swan) at an unknown distance which is surprising to me.  It is a very faint nebula in an extremely rich star field which is probably why it is not imaged as much as other objects in the vicinity.  Similar regions typically are a result from a supernova, however, no remnants have been detected so the cause remains unclear.  

I first saw an image of this two years ago and loved the look but I wanted to wait until I had better equipment.  One of my favorite parts is the swirling filamentous clouds that make up the dragon.  The dragon sits in a surprisingly dense star field which is bittersweet as love stars, however, they make processing the nebula quite difficult.  I did a lot of star reduction in PI but did not use Starnet this time. The stars turned out nice and colorful after getting them to a manageable level. 

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

Sh2-114 - Flying Dragon Nebula
Home Monroe, CT
Date: 7-31-20, 8-4-20, 8-5-20, 8-18-20, 8-19-20, 8-20-20
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805
f/7
Focal Reducer: AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
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 158 x 240s, L 84 x 90s, R 43 x 90s, G 39 x 90s, B 42 x 90s 
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 22 C
Processing: APT, NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop.

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

Milky Way Vacation Shots 2020

This image is looking south on the Twin Beach dock at Lake George in the foothills of Adirondack Park.  The skies are bortle 4 here as opposed to 5 in Monroe so a little better.  There were some low lying clouds but I was still able to get an image.  Jupiter and Saturn are in the center left with Jupiter being the brightest.  This was captured with the cheapo standard 18-55mm lens that comes with Canon and Nikon cameras.  I can't speak for Nikon but the Canon lens is not bad for astrophotography.  I have to thank Trevor Jones from AstroBackyard for bringing Topaz DeNoise AI to my attention - it works well!

Milky Way
Location: Lake George, NY
Date: 8-12-20
Camera: Canon T3i/600D modified
Lens: Canon 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6
Focal Length: 18mm
f/4.0
Mount: iOptron SkyGuider Pro on a Manfrotto Tripod
Filter: none
Autoguiding: none
Exposure: 15 x 30s (7.5min)
ISO: 1600
Processing: PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoise AI

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1 

Addendum

This image from the same location as the previous image only two days later and with a different lens.  This time I used the the Opteka 6.5mm F3.5 Fisheye to capture the Milky Way.  This lens is a good price at just under $150 and other brands such as Samyang also sell a version of this for not much more money.  These lenses are well suited for astrophotography as well as other uses and are great additions especially if you are on a limited budget - compare this to normal wide angle lenses which cost $500 or more.  Although it is manual, focusing is easier because it has an infinity setting unlike automatic lenses which go beyond the infinity setting.  So what is the downfall of these lenses?  Because they give a distorted view around the edges, under close up view the stars show elongation and suffer more chromatic aberration.    

At first glance 6.5mm image may look like the image I took with the 18mm lens, however, it is a much larger FOV.  The bottom of 6.5mm image starts closer to the dock and passes Deneb (and the constellation of Cygnus) whereas the 18mm image starts farther from the dock and ends just after Altair.

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

Milky Way
Location: Lake George, NY
Date: 8-14-20
Camera: Canon T3i/600D modified
Lens: Opteka 6.5mm F/3.5
Focal Length: 6.5mm
f/5.6
Mount: iOptron SkyGuider Pro on a Manfrotto Tripod
Filter: none
Autoguiding: none
Exposure: 4 x 60s (4min)
ISO: 1600
Processing: PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoise AI

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1  

Sh2-155 - Cave Nebula SHO (RGB Stars)

This is Sharpless 155 (Sh2-155) located 2400 light-years away in constellation Cepheus.  It is listed as an ionized region of Ha gas where star-formation occurs and is located on the edge of the Cepheus Molecular Cloud.  The nebula is being illuminated by the nearby hot stars with the largest component coming from the large bright blue star in the upper center.  The name Cave Nebula came from Patrick Moore who likened the nebula to an opening of a cave.  There is another object in Cepheus, a small reflection nebula named Ced 201, also known as the Cave Nebula.  My favorite part of this object is the bright gold rim of the cave and the orange knot (HH object) on the lower right.  

This object did not want me to image it for some reason.  You will see the last time I published a DSS was July 5th and I actually started on this the end of June.  This has to be the worst July I remember for lack of clear nights.  I tried to image every night that there was a 'thought' of clear weather - most ended with clouds.  Also, I have been using using N.I.N.A. for auto-focusing but it seemed to not work for a couple of nights so I had to do it the old-fashioned way - the reason it stopped working was I uploaded a new version and it rest the gain to zero.  Finally, I ended up with condensation on camera sensor or glass plate (ASI1600) probably caused my trying to image on tremendously humid nights.  Whatever the case I had to learn how to take my camera apart and rejuvenate the desiccant tablets - it is actually quite simple in case you ever have to do it.

Overall I am happy that I even captured something, I was getting concerned I would never finish this thing.  I used StarNet++ in PI and did most of the color adjustments in PS.  I am happy with the how colors turned out, however, I was hoping for more nebulosity and detail. This is a dim object though so if you image it, prepare to be on it for a little while, hopefully you will have an easier time than had. 

Date: 7-4-20, 7-5-20, 7-13-20, 7-14-20, 7-18-20, 7-19-20, 7-20-20, 7-20-20, 7-21-20, 7-25-20, 7-27-20, 7-28-20, 7-29-20

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

Sh2 - Cave Nebula
Home Monroe, CT
Date: 7-4-20, 7-5-20, 7-13-20, 7-14-20, 7-18-20, 7-19-20, 7-20-20, 7-20-20, 7-21-20, 7-25-20, 7-27-20, 7-28-20, 7-29-20
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805
f/7
Focal Reducer: AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
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 128 x 240s, OIII 148 x 240s, SII 130 x 240s, R 32 x 60s, G 29 x 60s, B 31 x 60s (28.6 hrs)

Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 22 C
Processing: APT, NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop.

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1