Monday, August 18, 2008

NGC7380


NGC 7380 is the open cluster entwined in the emission nebula SH2-142. The very dim nebula in the lower left portion of the photo is cataloged as SH2-143.

Optics: Takahashi FSQ-106
Mount: Astro-Physics AP900GTO
Camera: SBIG ST200XM
Filters Astrodon S2, Ha & O3
Dates: July 12 through August 10, 2008
Location: Roswell, Georgia

Exposure Details
S2 = 480 Minutes
Ha = 420 Minutes
O3 = 555 Minutes

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

NGC6960

NGC6960 is a small part of the Veil Nebula, also known as the Witch's Broom Nebula, is a large, relatively faint supernova remnant in the constellation Cygnus.

Optics: Takahashi FSQ-106
Mount: Astro-Physics Ap900GTO
Camera: SBIG ST200XM
Filters Astrodon Ha & O3
Dates: August 6 through August 12, 2008
Location: Roswell, Georgia

Exposure Details
Ha = 465 Minutes
O3 = 270 Minutes
The Ha channel was assigned to red with the O3 used for both the blue and green.

Monday, July 28, 2008

M27


Revision#3 - Added a Shadow/Hightlight adjustment layer in PS to tone down the center and add more contrast.

The above photo was revised for color balance - hopefully to add a a greater blue teal contrast.






Optics: Takahashi FSQ-106
Mount: Astro-Physics Ap900GTO
Camera: SBIG ST200XM
Filters Astrodon Ha & O3
Dates: July 15 through July 28, 2008
Location: Roswell, Georgia

Exposure Details
Ha = 330 Minutes
O3 = 195 Minutes

The Ha channel was assigned to red with the O3 used for both the blue and green.

Friday, July 18, 2008

IC405 Flaming Star Nebula

Revised for color balance - Thanks for the great help John!


Technical Details
Optics: Takahashi FSQ-106N.
Mount: Astro-Physics AP900GTO.
Camera: SBIG ST2000XM.
Filters: Astrodon 5nm S2, Ha, O3.
Dates: February 2008.
Location: Roswell, Georgia.
Exposure Details:
Ha = 6.5 hours (15-minute individual exposures).
S2 = 4.5 hours (15-minute individual exposures).
O3 = 1.75 hours (15-minute individual exposures).


Saturday, July 12, 2008

Sharpless SH2-86


Sharpless SH2-86 is located in the constellation Vulpecula and contains the open star cluster NGC 6823 in the center of the frame.

Optics: Takahashi FSQ-106
Mount: Astro-Physics Ap900GTO
Camera: SBIG ST200XM
Filters Astrodon Ha
Dates: June 17 through July 12, 2008
Location: Roswell, Georgia

Exposure Details
S2 = 480 Minutes
Ha = 300 Minutes
O3 = 330 Minutes
Total exposure 18.5 hrs.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Markarian's Chain of Galaxies


Markarian's Chain of galaxies is a small portion of the Virgo Cluster. The lower right portion of the picture resembles a human face with Messier galaxies M86 and M87 as the eyes, NGC 4388 as the mouth and NGC 4387 in the middle as the nose.

Technical Details:

Optics: Takahashi FSQ-106
Mount: Astro-Physics Ap900GTO
Camera: SBIG ST200XM
Filters Astrodon Luminance
Dates: March 3, 2008
Location: Deerlick Astronomy Village

Exposure Details
L = 225 Minutes
(From APOD 2001 January 26):

Well over a thousand galaxies are known members of the Virgo Cluster, the closest large cluster of galaxies to our own local group. The galaxy cluster is difficult to see all at once because it covers such a large area on the sky. A close examination of the image will reveal that many of the "stars" are actually surrounded by a telltale fuzz, indicating that they are Virgo Cluster galaxies. On average, Virgo Cluster galaxies are measured to be about 48 million light-years away.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Elephant's Trunk Nebula

This one is a small part of SH2-131 that includes the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula IC 1396. The nebula is located in the Constellation Cepheus.
Technical Details:

Optics: Takahashi FSQ-106
Mount: Astro-Physics Ap900GTO
Camera: SBIG ST200XM
Filters Astrodon Ha
Dates: June 4 through July 3, 2008
Location: Deerlick Astronomy Village and Roswell, Georgia

Exposure Details
S2 = 630 Minutes
Ha = 315 Minutes
O3 = 765 Minutes