NGC 7331 & NGC 7331 Galaxy Group (2022)

The showcase galaxy in this image is NGC 7331 or Caldwell 30. It is a large unbarred spiral galaxy approximately 40 million light-years away in the constellation Pegasus. Four other galaxies, NGC 7335, 7336, 7337, and 7340 along with NGC 7331 make up what is known as the NGC 7331 Galaxy Group, however, these other galaxies are not interacting with NGC 7331 as they are much more distant at 300-350 million LY away. Its size is similar to the Milky Way but it is not considered to be a true twin since it is unbarred unlike the Milky Way. Also interesting is that the central bulge rotates in the opposite direction as the rest of the disk.

I have imaged this in the past with my smaller AT115 refractor and this is a much better version as I was able to get more detail. There are much better versions of this out there and I was hoping this would be better but given my equipment and conditions this is it. It turned out to be a processing marathon mainly due to the stars. It is well known the SCT stars, all things being equal, are not as good as refractor stars and if something is not quite right the issue is magnified. A couple of nights the seeing and transparency were subpar and focusing was fair at best. I believe the collimation is good but I am not convinced my corrector plate is perfectly aligned with the primary mirror as my stars have never been really good. In addition, I cropped this down about two-thirds so the stars were highly bloated and misshapen. I did my normal star reduction but did not want to do any more since it removes stars altogether.

I tried fixing them using various methods PI and PS that I found on the web but none of them worked so this led to me inventing a new method. In a nutshell I did the following:

1) used the 'Select Bright Stars' from the Astronomy Tools PS Plugin and then expanded the pixels to 2 and feathered it by 2 (these were round).

2) copied the stars as a layer to a starless version (made in PixInsight).

3) merged this new version with the original version and then carefully erased the 'bad' stars which were replaced by the new 'good' stars.

-This method is very tedious and time-consuming and is probably considered cheating but it worked.

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NGC 7331 & NGC 7331 Galaxy Group (2022)
Dates: 10-27, 10-29, 11-1
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-Pro
Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 800
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 2032mm (native), 1400mm
F/10 (native), F/7
Focal Reducer: Celestron 0.7 Reducer Lens
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: ZWO Filter Drawer
Filter: Baader UV-IR
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Orion ST80
Exposure: Baader UV-IR 292 x 90
Gain: 139
Offset 0
Temp: -10 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, StarXTerminator, Topaz DeNoiseAI, NoiseXTerminator.

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LBN644 - Dusty Region in Pisces

The dusty nebula, LBN644, is near another dusty nebula I did last year, in fact, Göran Nilsson did an excellent job capturing both nebulae in the same FOV with his wider field dual RASA set up. This object 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. This is sort of a debut as Goran's widefield shot is the only other image of LBN644 currently on Astrobin.

I really love capturing these types of dark nebulae but the Bortle 5.5 skies of southern Connecticut are not ideal for this. One thing you can do to lessen the effect is take a lot of exposure which is what I did here. The stars came out really sharp and colorful which I am happy with. There is a lot of other 'stuff' in this field such as galaxies and what looks like a planetary nebula almost in the center of the image. You have to look closely to see some of these - not that I am advocating you to pixel peep.

Dates: 10-14, 10-15, 10-18, 10-19, 10-20, 10-21

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LBN644 - Dusty Region in Pisces (2022)
Dates: 10-14, 10-15, 10-18, 10-19, 10-20, 10-21
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
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:
Plane1 - L 348 x 90, R 105 x 90, G 77 x 90, B 78 x 90
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: -10 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoiseAI, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator.

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LBN 437 portion of SH2-126

LBN 437 is a nebula complex located approximately 1200 light-years away in the constellation Lacerta. I call it a complex because it consists of two different types of nebulae, one being a molecular cloud of dust and the second being hydrogen gas. The molecular cloud is actually LBN 437 and the hydrogen gas is part of a much larger emission nebula (approximately 7 degrees) designated as SH2-126.

My FOV was only a couple of hours per night so I imaged every opportunity I had in October which worked out to 14 nights.

I have looked at several versions that other people have taken of this nebula and noticed there is quite a variation in how they look, much more than in other objects. I believe the reason for this is because they are completely different types of nebulae and require different methods for enhancing them which often interfere with each other. Try to bring out the Ha and the masks of the molecular dust and visa versa. Because of this it wound up being one of the most difficult objects I have had to process. I did a bit of star reduction but kept it at a minimum because I really like the star field.

LBN 437 portion of SH2-126 (2022)

Dates: 10-8, 10-9, 10-11, 10-14, 10-15, 10-16, 10-18, 10-19, 10-20, 10-21, 10-27, 10-27, 10-29, 11-1
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
f/7
Focal Reducer: 0.8x AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure:
Plane1 - Ha 99 x 300, R 75 x 90, G 74 x 90, B 64 x 90
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: -10 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoiseAI, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator.

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Sh2-157 Lobster Claw Region - Includes NGC 7538, NGC 7635, M52, and Sh2-155 to name a few!

The Lobster Claw (Sh2-152), Cave (Sh2-152), Northern Lagoon (NGC 7538), Bubble (7635), and M52 all in the same field of view. How cool is that! This region of space on the border of Cassiopeia and Cepheus is loaded with gas dust and stars. I have listed the popular deep sky objects but many more small bright emission nebulae and dark nebulae are found in this image. I have imaged some of these such as M52, the Bubble Nebula, and the Cave Nebula individually before but this is the first for the Lobster Claw and Northern Lagoon. The Lobster Claw is a bright emission nebula located about ~11,000 light-years away in Cassiopeia where as the Bubble and Cave are closer at ~7100 and ~2400 ly away respectively.

All in all, I am quite pleased with the result and it took forever to process as I did a few new processing techniques which I will start incorporating into my routine, hopefully it will speed up. Although the processed image here was made from 15.9 hrs. of total exposure with the NBZ filter, I actually captured ~37 hours (449 x 300s) of data. You might think I am depressed about trashing ~20 hrs., but I began capturing this when the moon was out and was prepared to make an image with just that data. However, after I finished the first ~20 hrs. with the moon out, the clear weather returned when the moon went away so I started collecting again and the raw exposures looked noticeably better. The average ADU (brightness) was much lower without the moon. When I used the subframe selector in PI it was clear that frames without the moon were much superior. For example, the maximum number of stars detected was 2000 when the moon was out, meanwhile without the moon 5000 - 9000 stars were detected. One of the reasons for collecting so much data is so you can select the best that is possible so by that standard, not using the inferior data was a success.

So the new processing stuff was thanks to Mike Cranfield and Jerryyyyy, Bill Blanshan, Russell Croman. First I used Generalised Hyperbolic Stretch (GHS) which is a PixInsight script by Mike Cranfield which among other things can bring out faint detail much better than other methods I have used before. I also used Bill Blashan's Star Reduction and Color Masks Processes for PI. Lastly, I used NoiseXTerminator from Russall Cromin. I have been using Topaz Denoise but this seems to give a better reduction across the entire image. Topaz still works wonders though so I may use it as a secondary reduction in Photoshop.

  

Sh2-157 Lobster Claw Region - Includes NGC 7538, NGC 7635, M52, and Sh2-155!

Dates: 10-9-22, 10-10-22, 10-11-22, 10-12-22, 10-15-22, 10-16-22, 10-17-22, 10-19-22, 10-20-22, 10-21-22
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC-Pro
Telescope: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Lens
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 200mm
f/4 with stepdown rings
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Wheel/Drawer: ZWO EOS Filter Drawer
Filter: IDAS Nebula Booster NBZ Filter
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to a ZWO Mini 30/120mm Guidescope
Exposure: 191 x 300
Gain: 100
Sensor Temp: -10 C
Processing: ASIAIR Pro, PixInsight, Photoshop, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GHS.
Power: BINZET AC to DC 12V 10A 120W Power Supply

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Sh2-94 - Part of a Large Supernova Remnant (2022)

Sh2-94 - Part of a Large Supernova Remnant (2022) Sharpless 94 (Sh2-94) is a part of a very faint supernova remnant (SNR) which includes Sh2-91 and SH2-96. This nebula has quite a bit of oxygen as well as hydrogen which are producing the ropy red and blue strands. I have already imaged Sh2-91 as a mosaic and planned to do Sh2-94 as another mosaic but the second panel did not come out well (the moon was out most of the time and is now out of my reach). Too bad as I imaged it over several nights but that is the breaks - so this is only the first panel. The red and blue strands are all filaments of the SNR with a diameter of about 230 light-years (70 parsecs) and an age approximately 30,000 years. It is located in Cygnus very close to the Veil Nebula but further away at 2500 light-years (Ly) as opposed to 1500 Ly for the Veil and it is four times older.

I like how this came out even though it is framed kind of weird due to my failed attempt at a mosaic. I will plan to do this whole thing next year when it becomes visible again and I have time to properly plan the mosaic. I used some new methods of color masks thanks to Bill Blanshan (and thanks to Cuiv the Lazy Geek for making the video). Bill's color masks worked incredibly well at making the red and blue nebulosity so I could then make adjustments to them. In addition, I have been using StarXTerminator by Russell Croman for quite a while but I just purchased his NoiseXTerminator and was most pleased with that as well. I did my standard reduction and probably could have done more, however, the starfield was very rich and colorful so I did not go further.

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Sh2-94 - Part of a Large Supernova Remnant (2022)

Dates: 9-13, 9-14, 9-15, 9-17, 9-22, 9-23, 9-24
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
f/7
Focal Reducer: 0.8x AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, OIII, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure:
Plane1 - Ha 67 x 300, OIII 59 x 300, R 46 x 60, G 37 x 60, B 36 x 60
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: -10 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoiseAI, StarXTerminator.

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Quick M31 from a Public Observing Session!

I decided to collect some data on M31 while doing a public observing session for Boothe Memorial Astronomical Society the other night. I had my portable setup which consists of the ASIAIR, Atlas Mount, ASI2600MC, and Canon 200mm Lens and was bouncing around to various objects when I stopped here for a bit. Boothe Park is located in Stratford which is not known for astronomical imaging given its Bortle 7 skies but I imaged anyway. I think it came out pretty well using what had. I collected 40 minutes using the UV-IR filter and 30 minutes using the NBZ filter in an effort to get some Ha but probably would have been better just collecting more regular data. 

M31, M32, and M110
Dates: 10-21-22
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC-Pro
Telescope: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Lens
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 200mm
f/4 with stepdown rings
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Wheel/Drawer: ZWO EOS Filter Drawer
Filter: Baader UV-IR, IDAS Nebula Booster NBZ Filter
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to a ZWO Mini 30/120mm Guidescope
Exposure: UV-IR 27 x 90s, NBZ 20 x 90s
Gain: 100
Sensor Temp: -10 C
Processing: ASIAIR Pro, PixInsight, Photoshop, StarXTerminator.
Power: BINZET AC to DC 12V 10A 120W Power Supply

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The Cosmic Question Mark? - NGC 7822 & SH2-170

Located approximately 3300 light-years (ly) away in the constellation of Cepheus is a large emission nebula known as NGC 7822. The object also goes by SH2-171 and is less commonly referred to as Cederblad 214 (Ced 214). The nebular complex is 65- light-years across and consists of many smaller bright nebulae, dark nebula, and a young star cluster designated as Berkeley 59. The dark 'pillars' in the center of the nebula are filled with cold dust and gas. Interaction between these regions and the bright areas of gas and dust are responsible for creating the Berkeley 59 cluster - the small grouping of stars in the blue-white region of the central portion of the NGC7822. Powerful winds and radiation from the star cluster further sculpt these pillars much like the more famous 'Pillars of Creation' in the Eagle Nebula.

SH2-170 or the Little Rosette Nebula makes up the small period underneath the main portion of the question mark. This nebula only appears small because it is much further away at 7500 light-years. I imaged this last year with my much larger focal length Celestron EdgeHD 800 (https://www.astrobin.com/fcjeyt/?nc=collection&nce=712). For comparison, SH2-170 is about 45 light-years across compared to NGC 7822 at 65 light-years across.

Overall I am pretty happy with the outcome especially with 30.5 hours of total exposure. I wish that faint nebulosity at and below SH2-170 came out better but I did what I could. I imaged over numerous nights and had to trash a lot of subpar exposures so really there was more than 40 hours. The Canon 200mm Lens - ZWO ASI2600MC makes for a really good widefield setup if you already have the camera lens or prefer camera lens setups, however, a true small focal length astrograph would be better in my opinion. I am planning to do one more project with the Canon 200mm Lens/ZWO ASI2600MC on the Orion Atlas Pro mount before reattaching the Edge to the mount.

Dates: 9-13-22, 9-14-22, 9-15-22, 9-17-22, 9-20-22, 9-23-22, 9-24-22, 9-27-22, 9-28-22

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The Cosmic Question Mark? - NGC 7822 & SH2-170 
Dates: 9-13-22, 9-14-22, 9-15-22, 9-17-22, 9-20-22, 9-23-22, 9-24-22, 9-27-22, 9-28-22
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC-Pro
Telescope: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Lens
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 200mm
f/4 with stepdown rings
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Wheel/Drawer: ZWO EOS Filter Drawer
Filter: IDAS Nebula Booster NBZ Filter
Focuser: None
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to a ZWO Mini 30/120mm Guidescope
Exposure: 366 x 300
Gain: 100
Sensor Temp: 0 C
Processing: ASIAIR Pro, PixInsight, Photoshop, StarXTerminator.
Power: BINZET AC to DC 12V 10A 120W Power Supply

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