SH2-261 (Nov. 3, 2011)

This nebula in Orion is also called Lower's Nebula.  Apparently Lower was a father-son team who recorded the nebula on photographic plates in 1939.  See here.  The two were accomplished amateur astronomers and innovative astrophotographers.

This is just the H-alpha data.  I'd like to gather other colors as well.  For now, though, it's interesting to see.  The Nebula covers an area larger than the apparent size of the full moon.

Telescope: Orion 120ST f/5 Achromat w/WO ff/fr 0.8 II (so effectively at f/4)
Camera & Exposure: Atik 16, 14x15'
Filter: Astronomik 12nm H-alpha
Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

IC 1795 (Nov. 3, 2011)

This striking cloud of hydrogen lies in the eastern part of the constellation Cassiopeia and is part of a much larger nebula also known as IC 1805 or the Heart Nebula. This image is primarily glowing hydrogen and perhaps nitrogen.  It was taken through a filter that records only those wavelengths.  I hope to back for the glowing oxygen next week.

Telescope: Orion 120ST f/5 Achromat w/WO ff/fr 0.8 II (so effectively at f/4)
Camera & Exposure: Atik 16, 14x15'
Filter: Astronomik 12nm H-alpha
Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

IC1318B, near Sadr (7-1-2011)

This is another section of the nebula near Gamma Cygni, or Sadr.  I was looking for a last target before sunrise and was able to collect 72 minutes of decent data.

Telescope: Orion 120ST f/5 Achromat w/WO ff/fr 0.8 II (so effectively at f/4)
Camera & Exposure: Atik 16, 9x8'
Filter: Astronomik Profi 6nm H-alpha
Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

NGC 6559, the other end of the Lagoon (7-1-2011)

Visually, this nebula does not appear to be linked to the Lagoon, but in deeper images the connection is pretty obvious.  This is more or less the other end of the same cloud.  Anyway, I like it for the nobbiness, the brighter slice of glowing gas at left, and the prominent dark river.

Telescope: Orion 120ST f/5 Achromat w/WO ff/fr 0.8 II (so effectively at f/4)
Camera & Exposure: Atik 16, 10x8'
Filter: Astronomik Profi 6nm H-alpha
Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

M8, the Lagoon, in H-alpha

This popular target in Sagittarius shines primarily in the glow of ionized hydrogen.  I've seen many versions of this nebula with similar filters and always wanted to try it.  Compare it to my first M8, here, four years ago.  M8 is nearly in our line of sight as we look at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

Telescope: Orion 120ST f/5 Achromat w/WO ff/fr 0.8 II (so effectively at f/4)
Camera & Exposure: Atik 16, 10x8'
Filter: Astronomik Profi 6nm H-alpha
Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

M27, Why the Dumbbell Nebula Is Partly Red (6-30-2011)

Of course, M27 is also blue, but that wouldn't show up through this H-alpha filter.  H-alpha radiation, which falls in the red part of the spectrum, shines very brightly from this planetary nebula.  This image is only 16 minutes of exposure, just two subframes.  Note the spikes coming from the lemon.  Longer exposures show more structure outside of what is here.  I was testing, however.  I'd like to return to this object with the 10" Newt.


Telescope: Orion 120ST f/5 Achromat w/WO ff/fr 0.8 II (so effectively at f/4)
Camera & Exposure: Atik 16, 2x8'
Filter: Astronomik Profi 6nm H-alpha
Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

The Eastern Veil, NGC 6992/95, 6-30-2011

The Veil Nebula complex in Cygnus is so large that I can only get a part of a segment in the field of view of the Atik 16. But this is one of the better parts!

Telescope: Orion 120ST f/5 Achromat w/WO ff/fr 0.8 II (so effectively at f/4)
Camera & Exposure: Atik 16, 20x8'
Filter: Astronomik Profi 6nm H-alpha
Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

IC1318A, near Sadr (6-30-2011)

This brighter part of the emission nebula surrounding the star Sadr in Cygnus is a new one for me.

Telescope: Orion 120ST f/5 Achromat w/WO ff/fr 0.8 II (so effectively at f/4)

Camera & Exposure: Atik 16, 16x8'

Filter: Astronomik Profi 6nm H-alpha

Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD

Mount: Takahashi NJP

Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3

Location: The Woodlands, TX

Tulip Nebula, Sh2-101 (6-1-2011)

This nebula is a brighter part of a larger field of glowing gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus.  I was able to catch this nebula as it came out of the neighbor's pine tree and take exposures until around 5 am.  The NJP tracked right through the meridian.  The cloud of which this nebula is part contains a great deal more interesting material, as any wide field image will show.  I would like to go back for more.  My favorite version of the Tulip Nebula is from Neil Fleming.


Telescope: Orion 120ST f/5 Achromat w/WO ff/fr 0.8 II (so effectively at f/4)
Camera & Exposure: Atik 16, 31x8'
Filter: Astronomik Profi 6nm H-alpha
Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

Trifid Nebula, M20 (6-3-2011)

In order to obtain an image of this nebula, which sits in the southern part of the sky near the center of the Milky Way, I have to begin exposures just as the nebula emerges from one neighbor's pine tree and continue until the nebula falls into another neighbor's palm tree.  That's what I did last night.  I literally saw the last pine bough disappear from the "frame and focus" shot a few minutes before beginning actual exposures.  This was really fun, actually.

Telescope: Orion 120ST f/5 Achromat w/WO ff/fr 0.8 II (so effectively at f/4)
Camera & Exposure: Atik 16, 16x8'
Filter: Astronomik Profi 6nm H-alpha
Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

The Cocoon Nebula, IC 5146/Sh2-125 (6-3-2011)

This nebula was just in the right place this morning for the two hours of darkness I had left.  This narrowband H-alpha image shows the emission part of the nebula.  Though the image is monochrome, this part of the spectrum is visible as red light.  In full spectrum images, reflected starlight also shows in blue on the dust and gas of this stellar nursery.

Telescope: Orion 120ST f/5 Achromat w/WO ff/fr 0.8x II (so effectively at f/4)
Camera & Exposure: Atik 16, 15x8'
Filter: Astronomik Profi 6nm H-alpha
Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

IC 2162 (2-11-2011) (with a defect)

This nebula in the constellation Orion is one of those places in our galaxy where stars are forming from gas and dust clouds. Energy from those young stars is caught up by gas molecules in the clouds and then is released in the form of light. The gas around the stars literally glows. Much of the gas is hydrogen.

Light at a wavelength of 656.28 nm is emitted by a hydrogen atom when the electron in the atom moves from one energy level (the third) down one (to the second). This kind of radiation is called H-alpha. What we call an H-alpha filter is a piece of glass with coatings on it that let just a few wavelengths of light through. In daylight, the filter looks like a mirror. The swath of spectrum the H-alpha filter lets through is just a few nanometers wide and is centered on the 656.28nm wavelength, to the exclusion of all others. Nearly all light pollution is excluded, as a result. So the filter allows one to take fairly detailed images of objects deep in space even from suburban backyards. This image is 12x10' through the 10" newt, Baader MPCC, and 12nm Astronomik H-alpha filter, with the Atik 16.

After looking at this image for some time, and examining others' images of this object, I've concluded that the red on the right side of the image is spurious, a system artifact. The off-axis guider had loosened slightly, so that side of the camera was slightly further away from the primary mirror than the rest of the system. The effect was to introduce noise in that half of the image. I have noticed this also in another image I took later that session. I may be able to extract the noise through processing, but I haven't had time to work on it yet. I'm keeping the image up, either way, but please note that fact.

Horsehead Nebula (2-11-2011) & the 10" Newt

This image is the product of everything working right for an hour before the nebula ducked behind my neighbor's tree. This is 6x10' through the 10" Newt, with the Atik 16 through a Baader MPCC and Astronomik 12nm Ha [+NII] filter. The scope was autoguided off-axis.

The scope was working here the way I hope it will always work. The off-axis mirror is in front of the Ha filter but behind the Baader MPCC. The scope was collimated well. I think I have the scope balanced well on the mount. The FT focuser works like a charm. Everything was operated from inside the house using a long USB extender and wireless controls for the focuser.

Abell 21 or PK 205+14.1 or Sharpless 2-274 or the Medusa Nebula (2-7-2011)

This planetary nebula is about 1,500 light years away in the constellation Gemini. It's older than many planetaries and is colliding with interstellar matter. That gives it the dramatic look. My favorite image of this critter is Bob Franke's.

This image is 36x7' (4.2 hours) through an Astronomik 12nm Ha [+NII] filter with the Atik 16 and Orion 120mm + WO 0.8x II ff/fr = f/4 achromat.

Here's a colorized version.

Abell 31 or PK219+31.1, OIII Added

With OIII added, Abell 31 looks something like this. The OIII is very faint. Even with 18x7' (126 minutes) of exposure through the Atik 16, stacked, the OIII was very dim. I stretched the data as much as I could. The Atik 16 is not nearly as sensitive to OIII as it is to Ha. Here is a version with less brightness:

IC 443, the Jellyfish Nebula (2-4-2011)

This nebula is the remnant of a supernova. The nebula and the neutron star that is left after the supernova occurred (neutron star not pictured here) are located about 5,000 light years away in the constellation Gemini. The nebula is well-studied, and some facts about it are reported here with a nice image of the area. The Wikipedia entry for IC 443 is interesting and appears (as of this posting) to be well-documented. This image is 23x7' with the Atik 16.

Abell 13 or PK 204-8.1 (2-4-2011)

This interesting planetary nebula in Orion shines brightest by far in Ha [or NII]. This is 10x7' through an Astronomik Ha [+NII] filter.

Abell 33 or PK 238+34.1 (2-4-2011)

Abell 33 is a fine planetary nebula in the constellation Hydra. This is just 9x7' through an Astronomik 12nm OIII filter with the Atik 16 and 120mm achromat + WO 0.8x II ff/fr = astrograph.

NGC 2174, the Monkey Head Nebula (1-2011)

I was able to take OIII subs this week. Combined with the Ha and mapped to more or less natural color, the nebula now looks like this. The OIII subs were 24x7' taken with the Atik 16 through the 120mm + WO 0.8x II ff/fr = f/4 achromat and Astronomik Ha [+NII] and OIII filters. Here is the OIII data:

NGC 3193, 3190, and 3187 (1-1-2011)

This is (at least) three of the galaxies in Hickson 44, a galaxy group in Leo (from the Hickson catalog). I have always thought this trio intriguing because of the different shapes shown (and also because it would fit in my small camera field). NGC 3193, upper left, is an elliptical galaxy that is nearly featureless. NGC 3190, by contrast, is a spiral galaxy that we see almost edge-on. It sports a prominent dust lane and smaller dust lanes branching off on the left. To the right of NGC 3190 is NGC 3187, also a spiral galaxy whose shape has been disrupted by other galaxies in the group, probably including NGC 3185, not pictured here. Most recent estimates put this group of galaxies about 80 million light years from us. Cite. My favorite image of the group is here.

This image was taken on my first night out with the Orion 10" newt. Camera was the Atik 16. An IDAS LPS2 filter was also used. The image is just 22x2'. The background is bright because I did not have enough signal yet (in just 44 minutes of exposure) from the galaxies to cut out skyglow noise.