Sharpless 2-228 in Auriga (Dec. 2019)

This splash of glowing hydrogen is a sign of greater things to come.  Barely visible to the eye through large telescopes, this nebula is spawning stars.  Hidden in its dusty glow is a cluster of new stars waiting to be seen!

This image shows (i) the glowing gas of ionized hydrogen (6.5 hours of exposure) and (ii) stars and a little gas shining at the wavelength of ionized oxygen (5 hours of exposure).  But professional astronomers with access to infrared telescopes that peer through the dust and gas have taken images of the cluster of stars glowing within the cloud.  Here is a link to the infrared image of the hidden cluster.  Here is the study that produced the infrared image of the hidden cluster.

My image was taken with the Synta-ONTC 203mm Newtonian telescope at f/4.95 and the SXVF-H9 camera.  What amazing things we can see from our own backyards!

NGC 896 Hubble Palette (Nov. & Dec. 2019)

I was able to collect SII, so here is a version in Hubble palette.  This is now 11/8/10x1800" in Ha/O3/S2, for a total of 14.5 hours of exposure.  Taken with the SXVF-H9 through Astronomik filters through a Baader MPCC Mk II and Synta-ONTC Newtonian telescope, guided on a Takahashi NJP.

NGC 896, the Fishhead Nebula (also IC 1795) (Nov. 2019)

11x1800" with the SXVF-H9 through the Synta-ONTC Newtonian telescope at f/4.95, Astronomik 6nm Ha filter, Baader MPCC (II). 

Cave Nebula, Hubble Palette (Oct.-Nov. 2019)

With the S2, we are now at 8, 9, 9 x 1800" for Ha, O3, S2, so 13 hours total.  Taken with the SXVF-H9 through the Synta-ONTC Newtonian telescope at f/4.95.

Cave Nebula Bi-color (Oct. 2019)

I was able to add 9x1800" in O3 to the 8x1800" I have in H-alpha.  The two were combined to create a synthetic green channel, then O3 was assigned to B and H-alpha to R.  The subframes were taken with the SXVF-H9 through my Synta-ONTC Newtonian telescope.

Sh 2-132 Hubble Palette (Sept.-Oct. 2019)

This is 16.5 hours of narrowband in equal amounts taken with the SXVF-H9 through the 203mm Synta-ONTC Newtonian at f/4.95.

Sh 2-132 Bi-Color (September 2019)

This image is 11x1800" in H-alpha and 11x1800" in OIII, taken with the SXVF-H9 and the Synta-ONTC 203mm f/4.95 Newtonian.

SH2-132 (Sept. 2019)

Honestly, I did not know this existed till I went looking for a target.  I noticed  some nebulosity on some pictures here: https://www.mdwskysurvey.org/.  I found the spot in SkySafari, determined there was something bright enough to catch in a night, and aimed the camera there.  There is quite a lot to see!  This is 11x1800" in H-alpha with the SXVF-H9 through the Synta-ONTC 203mm f/4.95 Newtonian.

IC 63 (Sept. 2019)

This is 11x1800" in H-alpha with the SXVF-H9 and the Synta-ONTC 203mm f/4.95.

Tulip Nebula, Sharpless 2-101 (June 2019)

The Tulip Nebula is an area of gas excited by a type O6.5 star, HD 227018, and some other type O stars nearby.  HD 227018 is the blue-white star just right of the nebula's center, the one that shows a bow-shock.  It's not the brightest star visually, but it's the hottest star, and its UV light ionizes the local hydrogen, making it glow.  It's the instigator of most of the glow you see here.

Notice that the blue star at the upper left has two sets of horizontal diffraction spikes.  It's a double star!  That's why.

This is two-color image, H-alpha (9x1800") and O-III (7x1800"), with a synthetic green channel constructed of the two colors.  I plan to collect SII when I can, to make a Hubble palette version.  The telescope was the Synta-ONTC 203mm f/4.95 Newtonian with Baader MPCC and the SXVF-H9 through Astronomik filters.

Hercules Cluster of Galaxies (well, part of it) (April 2019)

This cluster of galaxies is >500 million light years away in Hercules.  I count four Arp galaxies in this frame alone.  It's like a managerie of galactic curiosities.  This was a lot of fun to shoot.

I confess to not knowing this was here or that I could even image such a distant cluster.  I was looking for an interesting target in Hercules, or at least eastern Bootes.  I saw a galaxy in SkySafari, NGC 6045A, that had an interesting description and figured, why not?  Hmm.  I should have shifted the scene slightly south.  Oh, well.  The subs for this image were taken in the dead of night, from 1 am to around 4.  The air was super-still the first night.  We have some good depth. The deepest stars here are dimmer than mag 18.  This is 41x600" with the SXVF-H9 and Astronomik CLS filter through the Synta-ONTC 203mm f/4.95 Newt.

NGC 4395 from the Suburbs (April 2019)

This image is 58x600" with the SXVF-H9C through the 203mm f/4.95 Synta-ONTC Newtonian. Notwithstanding the long exposure, the galaxy is dim, difficult to see against the background. That is because this galaxy is, in fact, very dim. The skyglow in my backyard is actually about the same brightness level as the galaxy's dimmer extensions, so this is probably the best I can do from the 'burbs. The image would be much better from a dark sky site. I've always wanted an image of this galaxy. Now I want a better one.

Lunar Eclipse - First Light (Jan. 2019)

Here is a preliminary of the lunar eclipse last night.  It was a stunning show! This is just a few seconds with the Canon T3i through a Baader MPCC and my Synta-ONTC 203mm Newtonian at f/4.95.  Through the telescope, we could see stars all around the copper moon.

NGC 1491 (Dec. 2018)

This is 21x1800" with the SXVF-H9 through the 6nm Astronomik H-alpha filter and Synta-ONTC 8" f/4.95 Newt. The brighter star in the center driving the hydrogen emission is 11.2-magnitude BD +50 886, classified as O5 or O4.  Source.  The nebula is probably over 10,000 light years away. I was able to catch two nights on this nebula.  The first night was somewhat less transparent, but the data seemed good.  The second night had excellent transparency.

Goosehead Nebula in IC 1848 (Fall 2018)

Here's a Hubble palette Goosehead Nebula from IC 1848. Data for this image includes, for H-alpha, 20x1200"; for OIII, 16x1200"; and for SII, 17x1200". Camera was the SXVF-H9, telescope the Synta-ONTC f/4.95 Newtonian. Some of the Ha and SII were taken with the moon at >60%. Below is a more natural color version crafted from the same narrowband data.