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 1931 (Sh2-237) in Bi-Color (Dec. 2019)

To the H-alpha, I added 6.5 hours of OIII, for a total of 13 hours.  This is a combination of those two stacks of data, with a synthetic green channel used to create a color image.  There is precious little OIII data in this object.  The stars there are too new to generate much loose oxygen that can be ionized.

NGC 1931 (Sh2-237) in H-alpha (December 2019)

This is the h-alpha stack, 6.5 hours worth.  The area is fun because it is actually covered with h-alpha, the glow of ionized hydrogen.  Studies of NGC 1931 suggest that two clouds of gas collide here, actually generating two swarms of stars.  You can see the bow shock of one of the clouds moving towards the other.

NGC 1491 (2018-19)

This is 21/9/6x1800" in Ha/O3/S2, for a total of 18 hours.  One version is processed to give something like natural colors in the nebula, and the other is processed in something like the Hubble palette.  Both are merely narrowband images.  Camera was the SXVF-H9.  Telescope was the Synta-ONTC Newtonian at f/4.95.  Mount: Takahashi NJP. Data was gathered in 2018 and 2019.

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 in H-a and O3 (Nov. 2019)

This is a two-color with a synthetic green channel added.  To the H-a below, I added 8x1800" in O3.  Telescope was the 203mm Synta-ONTC Newtonian at f/4.95.  Camera was the SXVF-H9.

Comet 2017T2 Panstarrs on 11-16-2019 from 9:22-9:46 UTC

This is 20 minutes through an Astronomik CLS filter on Comet 2017T2 Panstarrs early in the morning of 11-16-2019.  The comet appeared in the constellation Auriga.  The brighter stars in the upper left are from Collinder 62, an open cluster the comet appeared to be passing.  Frames were taken with the SXVF-H9 and the 203mm Synta-ONTC Newtonian telescope at f/4.95.  The movie shows the comet moving among the stars during the 20 minutes of filming.  The lower image shows the comet frozen with the stars moving as streaks.  The point of the lower image is to show the extent of the comet's tale, which is not as visible in the movie.