Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Sharpless 2-199 Soul Nebula

Soul Nebula (Sharpless 2-199) is emission nebulae in Cassiopeia som 7500 light years from Earth.

Below is my narrowband SII-Ha-OIII exposure of Soul Nebula represented with modified HST palette introduced by Bob Franke (http://bf-astro.com/hubbleP.htm) Click for larger image!



Details of imaging: total exposure 300min = 5h.

  • Ha: 8x20min (bin2x2)
  • OIII: 3x20min (bin3x3)
  • SII: 4x20min (bin3x3)
Equipment:
  • Imaging scope: Ikharos 102mm F7 ED doublet with 0.8x reducer / flattener
    • Focal length: 572mm, F/5.6
  • Camera: SBIG ST-8300M @ -20C
  • Filters: Baader 2 inch SII, Ha and OIII filters

NGC 6888 Crescent Nebula

Wikipedia describes this object as follows: "The Crescent Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, about 5000 light years away. It is formed by the fast stellar wind from the Wolf-Rayet star WR 136 (HD 192163) colliding with and energizing the slower moving wind ejected by the star when it became a red giant around 400,000 years ago. The result of the collision is a shell and two shock waves, one moving outward and one moving inward. The inward moving shock wave heats the stellar wind to X-ray-emitting temperatures."

Below is my narrowband exposure of Crescent Nebula represented in Ha:sG:OIII palette. Synthetic green channel sG was generated from Ha and OIII using Noel Carboni Astronomy Tools. Click for larger image!

 

Details of imaging: total exposure 260min = 4h 20min.
  • Ha: 9x20min (bin1x1)
  • OIII: 4x20min (bin 2x2)
Equipment:
  • Imaging scope: Ikharos 102mm F7 ED doublet with 0.8x reducer / flattener
    • Focal length: 572mm, F/5.6
  • Camera: SBIG ST-8300M @ -20C
  • Filters: Baader 2 inch SII, Ha and OIII filters

Sunday, October 16, 2011

NGC6995 Eastern Veil Nebula

 The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus. It is a large supernova remnant which was formed some 5000 to 8000 years ago. The distance from Earth to the nebula is roughly 1500 light years. NGC6995 denotes one of the Eastern parts of this large nebula.

Below is my narrowband SII-Ha-OIII exposure of NGC6995 represented with modified HST palette introduced by Bob Franke (http://bf-astro.com/hubbleP.htm) Click for larger image!


Details of imaging: total exposure 330min = 5h 30min.
  • Ha: 7x20min (bin1x1)
  • OIII: 7x20min (bin1x1)
  • SII: 5x10min (bin3x3)
Equipment:
  • Imaging scope: Ikharos 102mm F7 ED doublet with 0.8x reducer / flattener
    • Focal length: 572mm, F/5.6
  • Camera: SBIG ST-8300M @ -20C
  • Filters: Baader 2 inch SII, Ha and OIII filters

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

B33 Horsehead Nebula

This famous dark nebula is located in emission nebula IC 434 in the constellation Orion. Distance from earth to Horsehead Nebula is approcimately 1500 light years. Dark dust and gas forms horse-like shadow on emissive hydrogen background. This shape was first noticed by Williamina Fleming in 1888.

Below is my narrowband Ha exposure of  B33 in grayscale palette. This project has just started. More exposure and more channels will be added later. Click for larger image!
Full field

Horse only




Details of imaging: total exposure 140min = 2h 20min.

  • Ha: 7x20min (bin1x1)
Equipment:
  • Imaging scope: Ikharos 102mm F7 ED doublet with 0.8x reducer / flattener
    • Focal length: 572mm, F/5.6
  • Camera: SBIG ST-8300M @ -20C
  • Filters: Baader 2 inch SII, Ha and OIII filters

Friday, October 7, 2011

IC 1396 Elephant's Trunk Nebula

The Elephant's Trunk Nebula lies approximately 2400 light years away from Earth  in the constellation Cepheus. The famous trunk shape is pert of large gas and dust nebula IC1396. Try to find the head of an elephant with rolled trunk in my image :)


Below is my narrowband SII-Ha-OIII exposure of IC1396represented with modified HST palette introduced by Bob Franke (http://bf-astro.com/hubbleP.htm) Click for larger image!



Details of imaging: total exposure 230min = 3h 50min.

  • Ha: 6x20min (bin1x1)
  • OIII: 6x10min (bin3x3)
  • SII: 5x10min (bin3x3)
Equipment:
  • Imaging scope: Ikharos 102mm F7 ED doublet with 0.8x reducer / flattener
    • Focal length: 572mm, F/5.6
  • Camera: SBIG ST-8300M @ -20C
  • Filters: Baader 2 inch SII, Ha and OIII filters

IC 1805 Heart Nebula

 The Heart Nebula lies approximately 7500 light years away from Earth  in the constellation Cassiopeia. It is cataloged as IC 1805 or Sh2-190. This is a large emission nebula with dark dust lanes.

Below is my narrowband SII-Ha-OIII exposure of IC1805 represented with modified HST palette introduced by Bob Franke (http://bf-astro.com/hubbleP.htm) Click for larger image!



Details of imaging: total exposure 320min = 5 h 20min.

  • Ha: 10x20min (bin1x1)
  • OIII: 6x10min (bin3x3)
  • SII: 6x10min (bin3x3)
Equipment:
  • Imaging scope: Ikharos 102mm F7 ED doublet with 0.8x reducer / flattener
    • Focal length: 572mm, F/5.6
  • Camera: SBIG ST-8300M @ -20C
  • Filters: Baader 2 inch SII, Ha and OIII filters

M33 Triangulum Galaxy

My first deepsky target for this season was M33 Triangulum Galaxy which is located in constellation Triangulum. Distance to M33 for Earth is roughly 3 million light years.

Below is my L(Ha+R)GB exposure of M33. Click for larger image!


Details of imaging: total exposure 390min = 6.5 hours.
  • L: 9x20min (bin1x1)
  • R: 8x5min (bin3x3)
  • G: 7x5min (bin3x3)
  • B: 7x5min (bin3x3)
  • H-alpha: 10x10min (bin3x3)

Equipment:
  • Imaging scope: Ikharos 102mm F7 ED doublet with 0.8x reducer / flattener
    • Focal length: 572mm, F/5.6
  • Camera: SBIG ST-8300M @ -20C
  • Filters: Baader 2 inch LRGB and Ha filters