Submissions: 2020 January

[Ann]

NGC 1499 - California in colors


A known nebula but nevertheless rather difficult to photograph, all in nuances, volumes, and "blur / sharp" effect.

Located in the constellation of Perseus, 70 light years long and +/- 1500 light years away from us, it is a very beautiful veil of interstellar gas which emits light in the near infrared. This large "cloud" is illuminated (or in gravitational interaction) by / with the blue star Menkib, in the top center of the image, and "above" the nebula.

Picture processing was very sensitive to treat. It may be possible to give it a lot of different shades and gradations, the whole thing is to remain consistent with the original colors.

Here, I wanted to emphasize its richness of nuances, especially on the "lower part" which has more yellow hues, rather than staying on a gradient of red and magenta only. The clouds around the nebulae are also present.

1st ever HaRGB image I was able to take, at the end of 2019.

Exifs & gear :

Nikon D750 Astrodon
TS Optics Imaging Star 71/347 f/4.9
Baader Ha 7nm 2" and Astronomik CLS 2" filters
Astrotrac TT320X AG
Berlebach UNI Astro 4 Custom

Ha : 175x240s - good sky conditions
RVB : 65x180s - average sky conditions
+DOF

Pre-processing and stacking : Siril 0.9.12
Processing : Photoshop CC 2017


High resolution (recommended) :
https://www.astrobin.com/pvdnpy/


Copyright: Maxime Oudoux
https://maximeoudouxphotographie.fr


NGC1499-HaRVB.jpg

Beautiful, Maxime! As a color commentator, I really applaud your efforts to bring out all the hues and nuances of the California Nebula. The full size image is so beautiful!

An aside: Menkib is an O-type star, and its torrential output of ultraviolet photons is kicking electrons from their usual shells in hydrogen atoms (i.e., the hydrogen is ionized). When an electron "falls back" to its normal shell, the excess energy that kicked the electron out of its normal position in the first place is radiated back into space as a photon of red light. So it is Menkib that is ionizing the California Nebula and making it glow red. Menkib is also a runaway star, heading directly for the California Nebula, and I guess its high speed and very strong stellar winds act like a plow and give the California Nebula its arc-like shape.

Ann

[Ann]

Between the constellations of Monoceros and Orion
Cámara; Canon 6D Modified
Pentax67SMC 90mm
300" ISO 1600
December 26, 2019
Procesed with PixInsight
https://cms.e.jimdo.com/app/cms/preview ... e-caballo/
www.freddyuniverse.com
Between the constellations of Monoceros and Orion, a region full of Emission Nebulae, Dark Nebulae and interesting stars. At the top in the constellation of Monoceros, Cone Nebulae, La Rosette and R1 Dark Nebula Complex. In the middle of the photo, the red supergiant star, Betelgeuse, the second brightest star in the constellation Orion, just now in December 2019 has declined dramatically for two months, calling the attention of astronomers and fans who they debated and speculate if it could be the next supernova. Below, The Barnard Loop, surrounding the Orion Belt and The Horsehead Nebula.Copyright: © Freddyuniverse, Alfredo Sayalero
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/493 ... 7d93_b.jpg
09012020-RossetaCabezaResam by Freddy S., en Flickr

Stunning, Freddy! Your image packs a ton of information and looks amazing!

I love the colors, of course, but I also love all the subtle details. See, for example, how Barnard's Arc seems to cut a light brown "dust curtain" in half. There is no dust "below Barnard's Arc" on the right side, but there is all this light brown dust on the left side.

Note how the region around Orion's Belt sparkles with blue stars like fireworks! There is no such display of "stellar prickling of the sky" anywhere else in the picture. I love the diffraction spikes around Alnilam, the middle Belt star, which makes it glitter like a diamond.

Betelgeuse sure looks lonely in the sky. There are no stars around it, although the brown nebulosity in the lower left part of the image appears to point a stubby finger in the direction of Betelgeuse. The red supergiant is a runaway star, moving in such a way that the brown dust could just possibly be a trail left in its wake.

And I didn't even comment on your portrait of the Rosette Nebula, the Cone Nebula and friends. But they look lovely too. Note the very dark dust snaking around the Cone Nebula region, dropping a "blue egg" in the form of reflection nebula IC 447. Also note the dark dust surrounding the Rosette Nebula, especially on the left side.

It is so fascinating to see Orion and the nebulosities of Monoceros in this "sideways view". You really made me look at Orion (and Monoceros) with a whole new approach of attention and fascination!

Ann

[Freddyuniverse]

Between the constellations of Monoceros and Orion
Cámara; Canon 6D Modified
Pentax67SMC 90mm
300" ISO 1600
December 26, 2019
Procesed with PixInsight
https://cms.e.jimdo.com/app/cms/preview ... e-caballo/
www.freddyuniverse.com
Between the constellations of Monoceros and Orion, a region full of Emission Nebulae, Dark Nebulae and interesting stars. At the top in the constellation of Monoceros, Cone Nebulae, La Rosette and R1 Dark Nebula Complex. In the middle of the photo, the red supergiant star, Betelgeuse, the second brightest star in the constellation Orion, just now in December 2019 has declined dramatically for two months, calling the attention of astronomers and fans who they debated and speculate if it could be the next supernova. Below, The Barnard Loop, surrounding the Orion Belt and The Horsehead Nebula.Copyright: © Freddyuniverse, Alfredo Sayalero
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/493 ... 7d93_b.jpg
09012020-RossetaCabezaResam by Freddy S., en Flickr

Stunning, Freddy! Your image packs a ton of information and looks amazing!

I love the colors, of course, but I also love all the subtle details. See, for example, how Barnard's Arc seems to cut a light brown "dust curtain" in half. There is no dust "below Barnard's Arc" on the right side, but there is all this light brown dust on the left side.

Note how the region around Orion's Belt sparkles with blue stars like fireworks! There is no such display of "stellar prickling of the sky" anywhere else in the picture. I love the diffraction spikes around Alnilam, the middle Belt star, which makes it glitter like a diamond.

Betelgeuse sure looks lonely in the sky. There are no stars around it, although the brown nebulosity in the lower left part of the image appears to point a stubby finger in the direction of Betelgeuse. The red supergiant is a runaway star, moving in such a way that the brown dust could just possibly be a trail left in its wake.

And I didn't even comment on your portrait of the Rosette Nebula, the Cone Nebula and friends. But they look lovely too. Note the very dark dust snaking around the Cone Nebula region, dropping a "blue egg" in the form of reflection nebula IC 447. Also note the dark dust surrounding the Rosette Nebula, especially on the left side.

It is so fascinating to see Orion and the nebulosities of Monoceros in this "sideways view". You really made me look at Orion (and Monoceros) with a whole new approach of attention and fascination!

Ann

Hello Ann, the picture is really spectacular and has a different frame but with your explanation I see it much more interesting! and that I've been watching for many hours while the process !!!! Is that light brown powder really the trail left by Betelgeuse? We will have to investigate it, it would be incredible. Thank you very much for commenting on the photo Ann, you made me look at her with different eyes!

Freddy

[ac4lt]

M33 by Linda Thomas-Fowler, on Flickr

14.7 hours from Bortle 7 sky in Northern Virginia. In the fall, M33 was my secondary target. When the primary target for the night went behind the neighbor's tree I would switch to M33 which, by then, was high in the sky. I finally processed what I had collected in early January and was amazed at the detail my small 80mm refractor was able to pick up. Drizzle integration and deconvolution amaze me with their nearly magical ability to get more detail out of an image than I ever thought possible

Thanks for looking!

[Lighty]

NGC 1499 - California in colors


A known nebula but nevertheless rather difficult to photograph, all in nuances, volumes, and "blur / sharp" effect.

Located in the constellation of Perseus, 70 light years long and +/- 1500 light years away from us, it is a very beautiful veil of interstellar gas which emits light in the near infrared. This large "cloud" is illuminated (or in gravitational interaction) by / with the blue star Menkib, in the top center of the image, and "above" the nebula.

Picture processing was very sensitive to treat. It may be possible to give it a lot of different shades and gradations, the whole thing is to remain consistent with the original colors.

Here, I wanted to emphasize its richness of nuances, especially on the "lower part" which has more yellow hues, rather than staying on a gradient of red and magenta only. The clouds around the nebulae are also present.

1st ever HaRGB image I was able to take, at the end of 2019.

Exifs & gear :

Nikon D750 Astrodon
TS Optics Imaging Star 71/347 f/4.9
Baader Ha 7nm 2" and Astronomik CLS 2" filters
Astrotrac TT320X AG
Berlebach UNI Astro 4 Custom

Ha : 175x240s - good sky conditions
RVB : 65x180s - average sky conditions
+DOF

Pre-processing and stacking : Siril 0.9.12
Processing : Photoshop CC 2017


High resolution (recommended) :
https://www.astrobin.com/pvdnpy/


Copyright: Maxime Oudoux
https://maximeoudouxphotographie.fr


NGC1499-HaRVB.jpg

Beautiful, Maxime! As a color commentator, I really applaud your efforts to bring out all the hues and nuances of the California Nebula. The full size image is so beautiful!

An aside: Menkib is an O-type star, and its torrential output of ultraviolet photons is kicking electrons from their usual shells in hydrogen atoms (i.e., the hydrogen is ionized). When an electron "falls back" to its normal shell, the excess energy that kicked the electron out of its normal position in the first place is radiated back into space as a photon of red light. So it is Menkib that is ionizing the California Nebula and making it glow red. Menkib is also a runaway star, heading directly for the California Nebula, and I guess its high speed and very strong stellar winds act like a plow and give the California Nebula its arc-like shape.

Ann

Thanks a lot for all your explanations, very helpful et fascinating !

[Ann]

M33 by Linda Thomas-Fowler, on Flickr

14.7 hours from Bortle 7 sky in Northern Virginia. In the fall, M33 was my secondary target. When the primary target for the night went behind the neighbor's tree I would switch to M33 which, by then, was high in the sky. I finally processed what I had collected in early January and was amazed at the detail my small 80mm refractor was able to pick up. Drizzle integration and deconvolution amaze me with their nearly magical ability to get more detail out of an image than I ever thought possible

Thanks for looking!

Welcome, Linda! I can see that this is your first post here. Your portrait of M33 looks very nice indeed, particularly at full size.

Do come back here and post more pictures!

Ann

[ac4lt]

Welcome, Linda! I can see that this is your first post here. Your portrait of M33 looks very nice indeed, particularly at full size.

Do come back here and post more pictures!

Ann

Thanks, Ann!

[dvd007]

Éclipse pénombrale lunaire by David Duarte, sur Flickr

[Ayiomamitis]

It has been a very difficult two weeks with the weather and thanks to many weather fronts which have hit Greece from Russia. However, the conditions this evening were PRISTINE with clear skies, great transparency, slight humidity (vis a vis good seeing) and slightly elevated temperatures which made the imaging of this evening's deep penumbral lunar eclipse possible.

Deep Penumbral Maximum I
http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Eclipses-20 ... 0-Max.html
Copyright: Anthony Ayiomamitis

Penumbral Maximum I

Deep Penumbral Maximum II
http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Eclipses-20 ... Seq-1.html
Copyright: Anthony Ayiomamitis

Penumbral Maximum II

Deep Penumbral Maximum III
http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Eclipses-20 ... Seq-2.html
Copyright: Anthony Ayiomamitis

Penumbral Maximum III

Deep Penumbral Maximum IV
http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Eclipses-20 ... Seq-3.html
Copyright: Anthony Ayiomamitis

Penumbral Maximum III

[Ayiomamitis]

Last result not loaded in the original message for some reason. Please see attachment:

[vanamonde81]

Lunar Eclipse Variations
Copyright: György Soponyai

Within one year I was able to capture all three types of Lunar eclipses with the same equipment. Thus the appearance of the events can be compared.



Details:
2019.01.21. total eclipse (Mogyoród, Hungary)
2019.07.16. partial eclipse (Budapest, Hungary)
2020.01.10. penumbral eclipse (Mogyoród, Hungary)

Canon EOS 5D Mark II + Tamron EF 150-600 @600mm

[delberson]

Andromeda Galaxy (starless) by Delberson Tiago de Souza, no Flickr

[delberson]

The Dolphin Nebula - SH2-308 (starless) by Delberson Tiago de Souza, no Flickr

[barretosmed]

HORSEHEAD NEBULA AND FLAME NEBULA


It is approximately 1500 light years from Earth.
The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most famous nebulae in the sky. It is visible as the dark indentation of the red emission nebula in the center of the photograph above. The horse head feature is dark because it is actually a cloud of opaque dust that stands in front of the bright red emission nebula. Like clouds in Earth's atmosphere, this cosmic cloud took on a form recognizable by chance. After many thousands of years, the cloud's internal movements will change its appearance.

BEST DETAILS:
https://www.astrobin.com/full/4vrikm/C/?nc=user

EQUIPMENT:
APO TS 80MM
ASI 1600mm cooled
ASIAIR
10 X 200 BIN2 G
4 X 200 BIN2 B
15 X 200 BIN2 R
20 X 300 BIN1 L

GUIDER: asi 120mm mini and ZWO oag

LOCATION: JALES - SP - Brazil
DATES: DECEMBER 26 TO 28, 2019

Processing and Capture:
Software: @PIxinsigh, Adobe Photoshop, APT, PHD, Polemaster, SharpCap

Copyright: Fernando Oliveira de Menezes
Email: Barretosmed@hotmail.com

Click to view full size image

[pepe30]

I attach my HST object IC1871



more details here:
http://astrofotky.cz/gallery.php?show=P ... 591958.jpg

[Carballada]

The heart of the Heart (Melotte-15) by Jose Carballada, on Flickr

This is the core part of the Heart Nebula (IC 1805, Sharpless 2-190).

The clearest part of the picture is called Melotte-15. It's an open cluster of stars, contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun, and many more dim stars that are only a fraction of our Sun's mass. The complete nebula is driven by the radiation emanating from this small group of stars.

I've always been overwhelmed by these dust pillars with their energetic light and winds eroding form the open star cluster Melotte 15.

The Heart Nebula is located about 7,500 light years away.

In my opinion it's incredible how is possible to obtain this amazing results with a modest amateur equipment.
This picture has a total integration time of 57 hours acquired with narrow band and rgb filters (SHOrgb).
The Hubble narrow band palette was used with the nebula and the stars are captured in natural rgb broadband.

Also I leave the link to my blog and astrobin where you could find all data of the picture
https://astro.carballada.com/the-heart- ... elotte-15/
https://www.astrobin.com/hey40g

[conemmil]

Wolf Moon and Penumbral Lunar Eclipse at Parthenon Athens Greece.

The first full moon and so many things happening in one observation! I and my friend Giannis Rozakis went to view the eclipse and the full moon rising behind the temple of Parthenon last Friday night. We had great skies and under quite cold conditions we imaged the scenery while sharing old observational stories of us being alone in the dark setting up telescopes since when combined we have more than 40 years of experiences and what a better way to forget about the cold and humid weather.

We were imaging for a full 6.5 hours session and shared our stories and experience with a lot of visitors that were passing by at the moment and they all stayed in awe when they viewed the Moon rising from behind the temple!

Enjoy
Constantine Emmanouilidi
www.facebook.com/infectionphoto

[mdieterich]

Chilean Night Sky
www.mdieterichphoto.com
Copyright: Matt Dieterich

Click to view full size image

[Kinch]

LBN 973 or SH2-280

Not often imaged:

Full capture details @ http://www.kinchastro.com/sh2-280-or-lbn-973.html

[pablo22]

Antares Region
http://blog.astrofotky.cz/pavelpech
Copyright: Pavel Pech

[vanamonde81]

Shadow of the Earth
Copyright: György Soponyai

Three eclipses that draw the form of the shadow of the Earth.
The middle of the penumbral photo squence is quite blurry due to the thin cloud layer.
In the partial photo sequence the change of Lunar disk color and brightness is caused by the different amount of Saharan dust in the atmosphere.
During the time of the total eclipse, our Moon was ~ 30.000 kilometers further off: the Earth's shadow is evidently smaller here.



2019.01.21. total (mg = 1.19) Mogyoród, Hungary
2019.07.16. partial (mg = 0.65) Budapest, Hungary
2020.01.10. penumbral (mg = -0.12) Mogyoród, Hungary

Canon EOS 5D Mark II + Tamron EF 150-600 @600mm

[szalaipeter]

ISS Lunar transit
On 10th of January, 2020 all circumstances were perfect for a good ISS lunar transit, I didn’t even had to travel at all and ISS were only 465km away from my location. I got my transit predictions from Calsky, charged the batteries on the night before and I was ready for the challenge. The sky was clearing nicely after sunset despite the cloudy forecast, so I hoped this might be my night. I used a Skywatcher 150/750 newtonian telescope on EQ3 mount and a Canon 1200D in prime focus.I took a few test shot on the 99% illuminated Moon, expo time at 1/1250 and ISO 400. I was considering video over single shot, eventually choose the latter. Then hesitating between shooting in raw format, but due data jamming I didn’t want to risk missing it so I went for jpeg format.I started taking photos in continuous mode 2-3 seconds before the predicted transit and when I found two of my shots had ISS on it I was very happy.

Click to view full size image

[Ann]

Chilean Night Sky
www.mdieterichphoto.com
Copyright: Matt Dieterich

Click to view full size image

Matt Dieterich, I love your picture, particularly the out-of-focus and beautifully colored stars. It's like seeing stars pop like tecknicolor popcorn or multihued fireflies flitting across the sky.

I love it!

Ann

[Arcturus]

Melotte 15 - From the botton of the heart
http://jcanive.blogspot.com/2020/01/mel ... razon.html
Copyright: Jesus Canive
Melotte 15 by Jesus Canive, en Flickr

[Paulee97]

In the end of November 2019 we had an opportunity to see one beautiful date of Moon, Venus and Jupiter. This photos describe beautiful atmosphere we had in Prague.
Copyright: Pavel Váňa
Canon EOS 6D, Canon 70-200 mm f/4 L

Moon dating with Venus and Jupiter at Prague castle

Beautiful meeting in Prague