December 2023: Calhoun County Park

 AP900GTO, Astronomical, Calhoun County Park, Canon R6, Cluster, Dark Nebula, Emission Nebula, FSQ-106ED, Nebula, Open Cluster, Reflection Nebula, Rokinon 135mm f/2, Star Parties, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jan 212024
 

 

 

M78 / NGC 2068 Reflection nebula in Orion.  FSQ-106ED with QHY268C

 

NGC 1333 – A Reflection nebula in Perseus.  FSQ-106ED with QHY268C

 

NGC 2264 – The Christmas Tree / Cone Nebula in the constellation Monoceros.  FSQ-106ED with QHY268C

 

M45 aka The Pleiades, The Seven Sisters, Subaru (ever noticed the Subaru car logo?)  FSQ-106ED with QHY268C

 

Auriga: The Flaming Star, The Tadpoles, The Spider and Fly Nebula… Canon R6 with Rokinon 135mm

 

The Witches Head in Orion – Truly a difficult target and I pushed harder than the skies allowed.  Canon R6 with Rokinon 135mm

 

Best Meteor of the Night!

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
 
Hoping for Clear Skies
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
The Bubble Nebula region Annotated
Circumpolar Star Trails

IC 1805 / SH2-190 The Heart Nebula

 AP1200GTO, AP130GTX, Apogee U16, Astronomical, Cluster, Dark Nebula, Daysprings Observatory, Emission Nebula, Nebula, Open Cluster  2 Responses »
Dec 012019
 

IC 1805 / Sharpless 190, more commonly known as the Heart Nebula, lies approximately 7,500 light years from Earth. This data set was comprised of 43x20min Ha, 23x20min O[III], and 24x20min S[II] for a total exposure time of 30 hours over several nights in November 2019.

Melotte 15 – The open star cluster that lies at the center of IC 1805 and provides the radiation that gives the nebula it’s soft glow.
NGC 896 – The brightest part of the Heart Nebula; it was cataloged separately because it was the first part of the Heart Nebula to be discovered.
The Heart Nebula – This image spans almost 2.6 degrees x 2.6 degrees. For scale, it would take 27 full moons to fill this field of view.

Pickett State Park Dark Sky Celebration Weekend (8/30/2019)

 AP900GTO, Astronomical, Canon 6D, Cluster, Dark Nebula, Emission Nebula, FSQ-106ED, Nebula, Open Cluster, Star Parties, SX-46, Widefield  Comments Off on Pickett State Park Dark Sky Celebration Weekend (8/30/2019)
Sep 302019
 

We had some great weather for the annual star party at Pickett State Park, TN last new moon. This star party is still young and looking to grow. The park rangers are doing a great job, it’s a great venue for presentations and a great field for observing / photography. I’m not sure why it still remains a hidden gem of sorts.

Overall sky quality, other than some early clouds, was excellent. With SQM measurements around 21.77 mag/arcsec^2 this was the darkest I’ve seen Pickett. I would note too that of the other dark sky sites I routinely visit, this quality of night is nothing to complain about.

Presentation Space
Setup on the field
Dusk; waiting for the thin stuff to clear
Last few clouds clearing with the MW shinning through!
The rig is facing N,NE towards the Constellation Cepheus imaging Sharpless Object SH2-154
SH2-154: AP900GTO, FSQ-106ED with SX-46 CCD. Image scale of 2.33 arcsec/pixel. Exposure time ~13.5 hours. Also plainly visible on the right edge of the frame is SH2-155 The Cave Nebula. Sometimes the faint objects like 154 don’t get a lot of love because they’re not much to look at. At least it’s got a nice tight open cluster NGC 7419 nearby to draw some attention.
Annotated

Look Rock Star Party 7/29/2017

 AP130GTX, AP900GTO, Apogee U16, Astronomical, Cluster, Dark Nebula, Emission Nebula, Nebula, Open Cluster, Star Parties  1 Response »
Jul 302017
 

I was the first one to arrive for the star party on Saturday night at Look Rock South.  It’s a beautiful view to the south looking into the Smokies.

 

We definitely had some clouds for the beginning of the night with some sucker holes now and then.  I was never able to get off a 20 minute shot without the clouds rushing in within 10 minutes…

But things finally started to clear up and the Milky Way really started to pop out.

Emission Nebula NGC 6820 or Sharpless SH 2-86. AP130GTX with Field Flattener Custom 4″ OAG Apogee U16 CCD w/Baader Ha 7nm filter AP900GTO Mount 9x20min Exposures Image Scale 2.16 arcsec/pixel; reduced to 4.32 arcsec/pixel

Once it was cleared up I was off to take some test shots and validate the portable rig was ready for more serious projects.  NGC 6820 AKA Sharpless SH 2-86 and all the surrounding emission and dark nebula has always been a favorite of mine.  It’s located in Vulpecula not that far from M27, the Dumbbell Nebula.  It reminds me of a less popular M16 with it’s gas and dust pillars and dark globules.  Open cluster NGC 6823 resides in the midst of the nebula and is about 6,000 light years away.

 

Star Cloud NGC 206 in the Arms of the Andromeda Galaxy

 Apogee A694, Astronomical, Cluster, Galaxy, Open Cluster, Orion Atlas EQ-G, SVQ100  1 Response »
Apr 022017
 

 

NGC 206 is the brightest star cloud in the arms of the Andromeda Galaxy visible to us here on Earth.  You often see M31 imaged wide field but there is a wealth of detail to be found in the star clouds and dust lanes that start to pop out with a little more focal length.  Taken late last year from my back yard.

NGC 206 in Andromeda
SVQ100, Atlas EQ-G, Apogee A694 CCD

The Double Cluster – Widefield

 Astronomical, Canon 6D, Canon 70-200 f/2.8, Cluster, Open Cluster, Orion Atlas EQ-G, Widefield  No Responses »
Jan 032015
 

Double-Cluster_25P

The Double Cluster – Caldwell 14 Open Clusters NGC 869 & 884 Canon 6D, ISO 1600, 60 seconds Canon 70-200 f/2.8 @ f/2.8 Tracking on Atlas EQ-G Cherry Springs Dark Sky Park, PA

 

A widefield shot of the famous Double Cluster from Sept 17th 2014 at Cherry Springs State Park.  The Double Cluster is in Perseus but is in close proximity to Cassiopeia.

 

Double_Cluster_25P_Annotated

Annotated Double Cluster