Spring Moon (OAG Test1?)

I was using the moon to set the focus of my new Askar Off Axis Guider (OAG) for the Edge800 setup. I was happy with the Orion ST 80 system I was using, however, I wanted to use it for other things such as the 2024 Eclipse so decided to get an OAG. It was a success as I set focus of the ZWO ASI120 guide camera to the main camera focus. Before I go any further, this guide camera will not work well or at all with the OAG and have a better matched camera on order - the ASI220. Although it did not detect any stars while on M43, I did manage to guide on some other targets but more about that in another post.

After three years I finally imaged the moon with this telescope. While doing the test I decided to play here for a bit with the ASIAIR. Typically when doing high resolution work on the moon it is best to make a short video and then stack it to make the image. While I did find and use the video function on the ASIAIR, the videos I thought I made were not saved - Oh Well! When all else fails, read the directions.

I did manage to collect some test images. This particular image was a 500us (0.500ms), Gain 0, shot taken with the ASI294MC Pro and about 15 minutes of processing.

Spring Moon (OAG Test1?) 
Date: 3-19-24
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: Camera UV-IR
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ZWO ASI120 & Askar OAG
Exposure: UV-IR 1 x 500ux
Gain: 0
Offset 0
Temp: -20 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXT, NoiseXT, Bill's Stretching

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SH2-230 & Friends (IC410, IC405, IC417, NGC1931)

SH2-230 is located in Auriga is very rich in gas and dust. It is very large and includes a number of other objects. These include IC405, IC410, IC417, and NGC 1931.  SH2-232 is reported to be part of this object but is out of the frame to the Northwest. IC405 (a.k.a. the Flaming Star Nebula - SH2-229) is a very large emission nebula located approximately 1500 light-years away. There is a blue reflection nebula that resembles smoke located in the central portion. It gets its name because the rippling ribbon-like structure of the gas almost looks like burning flames.

The next headliner in this field is the large emission nebula IC410 (SH2-236). This nebula has more oxygen than IC405 giving it its bluish color in the central portion. It is also much further at an estimated distance of 10,000 LY. The ionizing source of this nebula is a 4 million year old cluster of stars, NGC 1893, whose stellar winds have sculpted two tadpole-like structures 10 LY long.

The other highlights include IC417 (SH2-234) - Spider Nebula and NGC 1931 (SH2-237) - Fly Nebula. I am not quite sure if I see a spider or a fly but nevertheless, they are gorgeous. The IC417 contains an open cluster consisting of hot young stars and is about 100 LY across and 10,000 LY away and NGC 1931 is both an emission and reflection nebula but only about 10 LY across.

This may be my first image that was completely from this year as I began on January 16. The plan was to collect a whole bunch of data which I did but I had to ditch almost a third of it as some of the nights I collected on were questionable, i.e. transparency was below average. Otherwise it was smooth sailing. Processing went well but I did make a couple of blue masks from the RGB data in order to enhance the reflection in the Flame which was obscured by the Hydrogen (This idea came from Christoph Lichtblau @christoph, link to his image of the Flame https://www.astrobin.com/h6db6d/). I did a lot of tweaking with the star sizes in order to show them off but not have them overpower the nebulae - still not sure I am happy but satisfied. One of the benefits of collecting a lot of data is the background noise decreases which makes processing much easier.

Dates: 1-16-24, 1-17, 2-3, 2-4, 2-6, 2-7, 2-13, 2-14, 2-25, 2-29, 3-3

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SH2-230 & Friends (IC410, IC405, IC417, NGC1931) 

Dates: 1-16-24, 1-17, 2-3, 2-4, 2-6, 2-7, 2-13, 2-14, 2-25, 2-29, 3-3
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Telescope: Askar FRA300 Pro
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 300mm
F/5
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: ZWO Filter Drawer
Filter: IDAS NBZ, Camera UV-IR
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to a ZWO Mini guidescope
Exposure: UV-IR 58 x 90, NBZ 236 x 300
Gain: 100
Offset 0
Temp: -20 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXT, NoiseXT, StarX, Bill's Color Masks, Bill's Star Reduction, Bill's Stretching, Topaz Denoise, GraXpert

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Messier 38 & NGC 1907 plus Nebulosity

Messier 38 (M38) also known as NGC 1912 or Starfish Cluster is an open cluster located approximately 3800 light-years away in the constellation Auriga. The cluster contains some 100 stars, mainly bright blue stars but some orange-yellow giants as well. It is estimated to be 220 million years old and is about 25 LY across. Just to the lower left of M38 is a smaller star cluster around 5000 LY away, NGC 1907, which by coincidence seems to be passing by M38.

The really cool thing that makes this Double Cluster doppelganger is all of the hydrogen gas (Ha) in the region which I wanted to highlight. Most of the hydrogen is very faint and requires lots of exposure except the dense region on the lower portion of my image. I really like how the structure of the Ha gas came out, especially since my original image of this from several years ago only showed it as an undefined red blob. Another added bonus is the suspected Planetary Nebula, PK 172+00.1. It is the small bright red donut shaped object located in the upper right portion of M38.

Processing went pretty well with all the tools we have available but one thing I might have done differently was to capture more RGB data and not capture the luminosity since I wanted to showcase the nebulosity in addition to the cluster.  I did use the Luminosity since I did capture it and it reduced the background noise but at a reduced blending mode in PI.

Dates: 12-20-23, 12-21, 1-1-24, 1-2, 1-4, 1-5

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Messier 38 & NGC 1907 plus Nebulosity
Dates: 12-20-23, 12-21, 1-1-24, 1-2, 1-4, 1-5 
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: Antlia Ha; ZWO L, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: L 129 x 60, Ha 49 x 300, R 52 x 90, G 46 x 90, B 55 x 90 (Total 10h 3' 30")  
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: -20 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GraXpert, Bill Blanshan Color Masks, Bill Blanshan Stretching, Topaz Denoise.

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NGC1491 - Fossil Footprint (Maybe?)

NGC 1491 or Fossil Footprint Nebula (a.k.a. SH2-206 and LBN 704) is listed as a bright emission nebula and HII region on Stellarium. It is located about 10,700 light-years away in a gaseous region in the constellation Perseus on the edge of the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way. In recent times, this has become a popular object to image but it is not easy due to its variable brightness. The central portion is plenty bright, however, the outer regions get quite dim.

The massive star within the gaseous region, 11th magnitude star BD +50 ° 886, produces radiation which inturn ionizes the hydrogen gas that makes up the nebula. The bright pillar to the left of the star points to it and if you look closely you may notice a bubble or cavity surrounding the star.

There is some amount of oxygen and sulfur as well but I used the ZWO ASI294MC Pro (one shot color camera) with the IDAS NBZ dual band filter which only picks up hydrogen and oxygen. I am not sure I see the 'Fossil Footprint' in this nebula but I am sure someone with a better imagination than I can.

Dates: 12-12-23, 12-13, 12-15, 1-2-24, 1-4

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NGC1491 - Fossil Footprint (Maybe?)
Dates: 12-12-23, 12-13, 12-15, 1-2-24, 1-4
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: Optolong Luminosity, IDAS NBZ
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Orion ST80
Exposure: Lum 112 x 60, NBZ 160 x 180
Gain: 139
Offset 0
Temp: -20 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXT, NoiseXT, StarX, Bill's Colormasks, Bill's Stretching, Bill's Star Reduction, GraXpert

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NGC 281 (a.k.a. Sh2-184)

NGC 281 is a large emission nebula approximately 9200 light-years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia. Located in its bounds is open cluster IC 1590 and several Bok globules - dark nebulae containing dense cosmic dust and gas where star formation may occur. Other names for this nebula is IC 11, Sh2-184, and informally known as the Pacman Nebula due to its resemblance to the video game character.


I have imaged this object a couple of other times, most recently a month ago but was never happy never with my results so I decided to give it a try with more Focal Length while also priming my Edge setup for galaxy season. I used the dual band IDAS NBZ filter for the nebulosity and the Optolong Luminosity filter for stars. I separated the colors and recombined using PixelMath to make an approximate HOO combination and this is the resulting palette.


The Bok globules really pop out well throughout the nebula and the edges of the nebula seem to cut through the darkness especially on the left side. Normally I am not overly joyed with the stars from the SCT but this time they came out better than expected. In part this is due to Russell Cromin and BlurXTerminator, in particular the new version and method discussed in an Adam Block video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLyZGzT8T5c&t=738s).

Dates: 12-12-23, 12-13, 12-15, 1-2-24, 1-4 

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NGC 281 (a.k.a. Sh2-184)
Dates: 12-12-23, 12-13, 12-15, 1-2-24, 1-4 

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: Optolong Luminosity, IDAS NBZ
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Orion ST80
Exposure: Lum 141 x 60, NBZ 157 x 180
Gain: 139
Offset 0
Temp: -20 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXT, NoiseXT, StarX, Bill's Colormasks, Dill's Stretching, Bill's Star Reduction, GraXpert

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IC 348, NGC 1333, & the Dust in Between

The highlights of this image are IC 348 and NGC 1333, are located in the constellation Perseus and are within the Perseus molecular cloud. Located on the top of the image, NGC 1333 (LBN741) is approximately 1100 light-years away and is associated with dark nebula LBN1450 (Barnard 205). Not every object needs a nickname and I mention that because this has one of the stupidest nicknames out there which I shall not mention here (Gary Imm is rubbing off on me). IC 348 on the bottom of the image is a 2-million year old open star cluster surrounded by a reflection nebula, vdB 19, located about 1000 ly away from Earth. The cluster contains hundreds of stars, however, most of them are hidden because of the intervening dust. IC 348 and NGC 1333 also have the distinction of being associated with star formation as many Herbig-Haro objects have been identified.

Numerous other objects such as dark nebulae, reflection nebulae, and emission nebulae are located between the two. I really like the dark regions (Barnard 3) to the right of IC 348 as they show some interesting structure. The high amount of dust is the source for most of these other objects which is what I also wanted to showcase. Be careful of what you wish for because it might come true. I got all the dust but now how to process it? That is to highlight it but make it look natural. I used the ASI2600MC color camera with no filter as we were lucky to have somewhat clear skies with no moon. Of course my skies are not exactly pristine being in the suburbs and not ideal for capturing dark reflection nebulae. Lots of integration time makes up a little bit for poor sky conditions. I decided to go with what was coming through and the dust did have more of a brownish cast rather than a gray cast as some dusty regions have so I went with that. I did some star reduction but a lot since I love stars and think they add to the image.

IC 348, NGC 1333, & the Dust in Between
Dates: 11-12, 11-14, 11-16, 11-17, 11-18
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Telescope: Askar FRA300 Pro
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 300mm
F/5
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: ZWO AM3
Filter Adaptor: ZWO Filter Drawer
Filter: Camera UV-IR
Focuser: none
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to a ZWO Mini guidescope
Exposure: UV-IR 356 x 120 (11h 52m)

Gain: 100
Offset 0
Temp: -20 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXT, NoiseXT, StarX, Bill's Color Masks, Bill's Stretching, GraXpert

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M81 & M82 plus Integrated Flux!

I have been wanting to capture the Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN) around the M81, Bode's Galaxy, and M82, Cigar Galaxy, for a very long time but thought it would be a hopeless enterprise. However, last year our neighbors cut down some large trees in this direction so I finally had a view from the Happy Frog Astroshed. IFN is dust that lies outside the Milky Way's galactic plane but is illuminated from the entire galaxy rather than a one nearby star or stars. IFN is much further than dust inside the galaxy so it is very faint, thus requires dark skies and long integration. I was still unsure that the IFN would show up as the skies in southern Connecticut are not exactly dark - at my house it is Bortle 5-6. In order to make up for the lack of dark skies, I collected over 45 hours worth of data - a record for me.

The M81 and M82 are very popular galaxies and are often imaged together because of their close proximity to each other. M81 is a spiral galaxy approximately 12 million light-years away and a little over 96,000 LY across. M82 is a heavy star-forming galaxy and is therefore classified as a starburst galaxy. It is also located approximately 12 Million LY away but is only 150,000 LY from M81. It is only about 30,000 LY across but its past close encounter with M81 is believed to have caused the intense star formation. Other items of note are the irregular dwarf galaxy PGC28757 located just below M81 and the small spiral galaxy PGC28225 located in the upper left side of the image. The spiral nature of PGC28225 can be discerned if you look closely.

Processing this image took a great deal of time and patience. I started with the RGB then Ha so I could blend it into the red channel. I did my normal way, however, after watching a PixInsight video on Ha blending using Spectral Photometric Color Calibration (SPCC) I decided to give it a try. The results were better! After a couple of days playing around the HaRGB combo, the Luminosity was the next step. Although none of the IFN were in any of the subs it was quite evident in the stacked image although it took a lot of tweaking to bring it out. The hardest part was blending the luminosity into the HaRGB. This took lots of crazy processing gymnastics and I am not even sure I know what I did but I am happy with the result.

M81 & M82 plus Integrated Flux!
Dates: 12-20-22, 2-1-23, 10-13, 11-10, 11-11, 11-12, 11-13, 11-14, 11-16, 11-18, 11-19, 12-11, 12-12, 12-13, 12-15, 12-20
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: Antlia Ha, OIII; ZWO R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: L 536 x 120, Ha 90 x 300, R 234 x 120, G 228 x 120, B 217 x 120
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: -20 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GraXpert, Bill Blanchan Color Masks.

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