Future Observatory Site First Light – M8 The Lagoon Nebula (7/17/2015)

 Apogee A694, Astronomical, Canon 24-70 f/2.8L, Canon 6D, Emission Nebula, Nebula, Orion Atlas EQ-G, SVQ100, Widefield  No Responses »
Jul 182015
 
M8 - The Lagoon Atlas EQ-G Stellarvue SVQ100, Apogee Ascent A694 8x20min through a Baader Ha 7nm filter.

M8 – The Lagoon
Atlas EQ-G
Stellarvue SVQ100, Apogee Ascent A694
8x20min through a Baader Ha 7nm filter.

The Lagoon Nebula (catalogued as Messier 8 or M8, and as NGC 6523) is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. It is classified as an emission nebula and as a H II region.

The Lagoon Nebula was discovered by Giovanni Hodierna before 1654[4] and is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the naked eye from mid-northern latitudes. Seen with binoculars, it appears as a distinct oval cloudlike patch with a definite core. In the foreground is the open cluster NGC 6530.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Home Observatory Site looking South. The faint open cluster appearing on the left is M7 in Scorpius.

Future home observatory site looking south. The faint open cluster appearing on the left is M7 in Scorpius. Taken with a Canon 6D and 24-70mm f/2.8 at 24mm and f/4 for 20 sec at 1600 ISO.

 Conditions were decent up until some clouds rolled in around 3:00am.  There was a lot of lightning flashing to the north so I packed up a little early and headed back to the house.  SQM measurements started around 20.2 but improved to 20.4 with a max of 20.5 around 1:00am.

The light pollution domes seen in the image are Oak Ridge to the south west (right side) and Clinton to the east/south east (left side).

Cygnus Mosaic

 AP900GTO, Apogee U16, Astronomical, Emission Nebula, FSQ-106ED, Nebula, Widefield  No Responses »
May 312015
 

Last year (2014) I was conducting some mosaic tests for future projects.  I attempted a widefield 9 panel mosaic in Cygnus and processed the hydrogen alpha data but never got around to completing the tri-color Hubble Pallet image until now due to some difficult to process issues in the O[III] and S[II] channels.  Those difficulties, combined with the fact that I only gathered about one frame of each channel per panel in the mosaic (very thin data!), meant that I wasn’t exactly thrilled to process this one to completion.  Time away from the hobby due to the out of state relocation though has made me a little anxious to get back to imaging so I decided to revisit some of this forgotten data.

Cygnus Mosaic Cropped & Reduced to 50% Size. 9 Panels, 1x20min per Ha, O[III], S[II] Channel per panel. Total Time 9 hours. Taken with an Apogee U16M and Tak FSQ-106ED.

Cygnus Mosaic Cropped & Reduced to 50% Size. 9 Panels, 1x20min per Ha, O[III], S[II] Channel per panel. Total Time 9 hours. Taken with an Apogee U16M and Tak FSQ-106ED.

Norris Dam Star Party 1/24/2015 – Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2

 Astronomical, Canon 24-70 f/2.8L, Canon 6D, Comets, Star Parties, Widefield  No Responses »
Jan 252015
 
IMG_0196_ABE_Annotated

Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2 Annotated 1/24/2015 from Norris Lake, TN. Canon 6D, 70mm f/2.8, 6 seconds @ ISO 3200

 

IMG_0196_ABE

Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2, 1/24/2015 from Norris Lake, TN Canon 6D, 70mm f/2.8, 6 seconds @ ISO 3200

 

IMG_0193

Star Party with Knox Observers, ORION, and SMAS members. 1/24/2015, from Norris Lake, TN.  Looking towards Orion rising in the East.

 

Rosette Nebula Test Shot

 Apogee U8300, Astronomical, Emission Nebula, Nebula, Orion Atlas EQ-G, SVQ100  No Responses »
Jan 112015
 

I’ve temporarily pulled the portable (read small) rig out onto my back patio by the pool which has a narrow window allowing imaging of the southern sky.  Since the move to TN I haven’t had a lot of time to do any astronomical imaging but the bug to get out do some imaging finally got to me.

20150110-Rosette-Ha-6x20min

Rosette Nebula, Atlas EQ-G Mount, Stellarvue SVQ100 APO, Apogee U8300, 6x20min exposure with 3nm Astrodon Ha Filter.

C/2014 Q2 Comet Lovejoy – January 9th & January 10th 2015

 Apogee U8300, Astronomical, Canon 6D, Canon 70-200 f/2.8, Comets, Orion Atlas EQ-G, SVQ100, Widefield  No Responses »
Jan 102015
 
Comet-LovejoyIMG_9899_r

Animation of Comet Lovejoy over a span of about 60 minutes. Canon 6D, 70-200mm @ 200mm, 30sec exposures.

 

Luminance Animation of Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2

Luminance Animation of Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2

 

Comet Lovejoy 2014 Q2 – January 10th 2015, Atlas EQ-G Mount, Stellavue SVQ100 (100mm f/5.8 APO), Apogee U8300 CCD, 5x3min each L,R,G,B filters. (Clinton, TN)

 

 

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

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