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Cherry Springs – July 2022

AP900GTO, Astronomical, Canon 6D, Cherry Springs, Dark Nebula, Emission Nebula, Equipment, FSQ-106ED, Location, Nebula, Orion Atlas EQ-G, QHY268C, Reflection Nebula, Rokinon 135mm f/2, Star Parties, Widefield, ZWO ASI533MC No Responses »

Jul 122022

We had four relatively clear nights in a row. Some didn’t start great but all four produced usable imaging time even if the nights aren’t much more than 4 hours of astronomical darkness this time of year.

A couple shots with the Canon 6D DSLR and a Rokinon 135mm wide open at f/2.

vdB 123 – Taken with FSQ-106ED and QHY268C OSC CMOS Camera on an AP900GTO Mount, 58 x 5min exposures totaling 4.8 Hours Exposure across two nights.

Sh2-136 Taken with FSQ-106ED and QHY268C OSC CMOS Camera on AP900GTO Mount, 79 x 5 minute exposures totaling ~6.6 Hours Exposure time across two nights.

M20 – The Trifid Nebula: ZWO 533C OSC CMOS Camera with AP92 Refractor on Atlas EQ-G Mount. 57 x 5min exposures for a total of 4.75 hours captured across two nights.

2021 December – IC 417 The Spider Nebula

AP1200GTO, AP130GTX, Astronomical, Daysprings Observatory, Emission Nebula, Nebula, Observatory, QHY268M No Responses »

May 082022

Image Acquisition Location: Clinton, TN; Home Observatory
Scope: AP130GTX
Mount: AP1200GTO
Camera: QHY268M
Image Scale: ~0.92 arcsec/pixel
Integration Time: ~15.8 Hours

November 2021 – IC410 The Tadpole Nebula

AP1200GTO, AP130GTX, Astronomical, Daysprings Observatory, Emission Nebula, Nebula, Observatory, QHY268M, Uncategorized 1 Response »

May 082022

Image Acquisition Location: Clinton, TN; Home Observatory
Scope: AP130GTX
Mount: AP1200GTO
Camera: QHY268M
Image Scale: ~0.92 arcsec/pixel
Integration Time: ~12.7 Hours

November 2021 – IC 1848 The Soul Nebula

AP1200GTO, AP130GTX, Astronomical, Daysprings Observatory, Emission Nebula, Nebula, Observatory, QHY268M No Responses »

May 082022

Image Acquisition Location: Clinton, TN; Home Observatory
Scope: AP130GTX
Mount: AP1200GTO
Camera: QHY268M
Image Scale: ~0.92 arcsec/pixel
Integration Time: ~15.3 Hours

October 2021 – The Pelican Nebula (IC5070)

AP1200GTO, AP130GTX, Astronomical, Dark Nebula, Daysprings Observatory, Emission Nebula, Nebula, Observatory, QHY268M, Uncategorized 1 Response »

May 072022

Image Acquisition Location: Clinton, TN; Home Observatory
Scope: AP130GTX
Mount: AP1200GTO
Camera: QHY268M
Image Scale: ~0.92 arcsec/pixel

Calhoun County Park Sept 2021

AP900GTO, Astronomical, Calhoun County Park, Emission Nebula, FSQ-106ED, Nebula, QHY268C, Star Parties, Uncategorized No Responses »

Sep 262021

Star Trails over our campsite on the ridge

IC 59 & IC 63 eroding away under the radiation from the bright star Gamma Cas

A couple of the cars; I missed a few of them unfortunately.

Calhoun County Park August 2021

AP900GTO, Astronomical, Calhoun County Park, Canon 6D, Cluster, Dark Nebula, Emission Nebula, FSQ-106ED, Nebula, Open Cluster, Orion Atlas EQ-G, QHY268C, Star Parties, Uncategorized, Widefield, ZWO ASI533MC No Responses »

Sep 262021

Frank caught red handed covering up evidence of proprietary Rubbermaid Astro-technology theft 🙂

The Bubble Nebula (AKA NGC 7635, Sharpless 162, Caldwell 11) is seen here next to Open Cluster Messier 52

Cherry Springs – June 2021

AP900GTO, Astronomical, Cherry Springs, Dark Nebula, FSQ-106ED, Nebula, QHY268C, Star Parties, Widefield Comments Off

Jul 042021

First light test of the QHY268C CMOS camera on the Tak FSQ-106ED. For a very short total exposure time and a low southern target results were better than expected.

Spring 2021 – Daysprings Observatory

AP1200GTO, AP130GTX, Astronomical, Cluster, Daysprings Observatory, Galaxy, Globular Cluster, Observatory, QHY268M Comments Off

Jul 042021

I put a QHY268M CMOS camera into the Observatory to replace the significantly larger pixel sized Apogee U8300 that has been hanging around since the very early days and is starting to hiccup. These were all test images with 3 minute exposures from my fairly light polluted suburban back yard observatory. (SQM is 20.0 to 20.4 depending on season and quality of the night.) Most images are 2-3 hours total exposure in LRGB. Some images were a total loss due to filter wheel problems and filter shift causing incompatible flat frame corrections. Corrective actions have been taken to secure the filters and ensure proper indexing. As it is, none of these images are great but I can’t bring myself to throw them out so think of this as a first light post of sorts for the QHY268M.

M95

A barred spiral galaxy approximately 33 million light years away.

M108

M108 is a barred spiral in Ursa Major and contains about 125 billion solar masses.

M13

M13 is a globular cluster of several hundred thousand stars in the constellation Hercules.

M106

M106 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici with a detected supermassive black hole at it’s core. It resides approximately 22-25 million light years away. It’s one of the largest and brightest nearby galaxies.

The Leo Triplet

The Leo Triplet, also known as the M66 group, contains M65, M66, and NGC 3628 commonly called the Hamburger Galaxy. The galaxy group resides approximately 35 million light years away.