Submissions: 2024 November

[max.nti]

Annual Lupine Bloom in New Zealand
https://www.instagram.com/max.nti/
Copyright: Max Inwood
Date: 5 Dec 2024
Location: Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

Every year in early summer, New Zealand's South Island explodes into color with blooming lupine flowers. Often, these flowers are photographed during daylight hours, but rarely seen at night. I decided to travel to Lake Tekapo to capture this composition, with the beautiful Orion arm of the Milky Way (joined by Jupiter and Mars), running over the colorful field of flowers. A strong display of green and yellow airglow arrived on this night as well, adding even more color into the scene.

Click to view full size image

[Aleix_Roig]

"Chamaeleon III Dark Cloud"

Dear APOD editors,

I would like to share with you this December 2024 work of a rarely photographed region close to the South Celestial Pole as an APOD candidate.



The object is called Chamaeleon III Dark Cloud. I have found no other references of this nebula in the APOD page (excuse me if I missed it). I did found images of Chamaeleon I DC the https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220217.html and Chamaeleon II DC https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190802.html

I find this object of interest as it appears to be devoid of current star-formation activity. That's interesting because the nearby Chamaeleon I and II Dark Clouds are active in star formation rates (as we can read in the APOD pages above). Why does this opposite event take place here? I don't have the answer... but it would be of interest to know it. With the little research I've done I've found no clue yet.

About the image:

The image was captured last July 2024 during my last trip to the Kalahari desert (Tivoli Astrofarm, Namibia), and processed this December 2024. The Namibian Bortle 1 dark sky it's a really great place to capture images of these faint molecular clouds. I used my small 300mm focal length refractor to capture 8h of Luminance data that has given all the image details to the resulting work. I also gathered more than 2h in each of the R, G, B filters (8h 10') in order to get a good natural color mapping. Short 30" R,G,B images have been captured to preserve the star colors (not saturated in its cores). The 300" R,G,B images were only used to give the natural color to the dark cloud and also a distant galaxy (IC 3104) that can be found in the upper left part of the image.

The full image shown above covers an area of 4º26' x 2º57' at a resolution of 2.59"/pixel (several full moons in diameter).

Link to my webpage with the full image details:

https://astrocat.info/chamaeleon-iii-dark-cloud/


Thanks so much for your work and dedication. Regards,

Aleix Roig
@astrocatinfo

[cappellettiariel]

Dear editors,
good morning, I hope you are doing well and safe. I would like to share with you this image of M8 The Lagoon Nebula in Hubble Palette (SHO) to be considered for APOD.
It was acquired at my backyard in Córdoba, Argentina in a sky Bortle 9 with a Newtonian reflector 200mm telescope, EQ6R-Pro mount, ZWO ASI 1600mm pro camera, and Optolong SHO filters.
Total integration Time: 9.65 h
I will be very glad if you like it and if you consider it for APOD publication.

Technical Data:
Main Equipment: SW Explorer 200p + SW Coma Corrector 0.9x + ZWO ASI 1600 mm-pro + ZWO EAF + ZWO 7x2" EFW + SW EQ6-R-Pro
Guiding Equipment: ZWO M68 OAG + camara guia ZWO ASI 120mm mini
Lights:
*Gain 139, -20 º C, Ha 7nm 2" Optolong, 93x180"
*Gain 139, -20 º C, Oiii-CCD 6.5 nm 2" Optolong, 50x180"
*Gain 139, -20 º C, Sii-CCD 6.5 nm 2" Optolong, 50x180"
Calibration: 100 Darks/ 55 Flats per filter / 100 Dark-Flats per filter
Polar Align: SharpCap 4
Acquisition: SGP 3.1
Processing: Pixinsight 1.8.9, PS

Thank you in advance, clear skies!!





M8 Lagoon Nebula in Hubble Palette Revisited(SHO) by Ariel Cappelletti, en Flickr

[Efrain Morales]

Jupiter - GRS at the limb and opposition to the Sun on December 8th.
Júpiter - GTR en el borde del disco y oposición al Sol el 8 de diciembre.

[abariltur]

Click to view full size image

NGC 1514, also known as the Crystal Ball Nebula, is a planetary nebula in Taurus, a double-shell nebula, bright, roundish and amorphous, with a faint halo. It has an outer shell, an inner shell, and bright blobs. The inner shell appears to be distorted, but was likely originally spherical.

The nebula originated from a binary star system designed as HD 281679.

40×300″ (3h 20′) bin 2×2, Optolong L-Pro filter.
Main equipment: Camera Asi 2600 MC Pro, Scope Meade LX850 12", EQ8-RH Pro.
Guide equipment: TSOAG 9mm + Asi 174 MM mini.
Sitges (Spain), November 27-28 of 2024.

Best wishes.

[Richardwhitehead]

This image of the Cocoon Nebula, Barnard 168 and surrounding area has about 43 hours integration using a Takahashi FSQ106 EDX4. It was all shot in the new Mexico desert ( Animas , NM)in November,
The Image shows also the H2 clouds that are everywhere around in the background.

[the_world_explorer]

Sunbow / solar halo reflection over water

Copyright: Ronald K. Ning
Instagram: @da_world_explorer

Seattle, Washington, USA
December 10, 2024
Nikon Z50 + Nikkor Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR
28mm, f4.5, ISO 100, 1/4000s

A "sunbow," also called a solar halo, is formed when sunlight refracts through tiny ice crystals present in high, thin cirrus clouds, creating a ring of light around the sun; this phenomenon is considered relatively rare because the specific alignment of the ice crystals and the angle of sunlight needed to produce a visible halo must be just right.

Click to view full size image

[Lucadinoi]

NGC 2264 Cone Nebula

Acquisition Telescope
Tecnosky APO Triplet 115/800

Acquisition Chambers
Omegon veTec 571 M

Mount
iOptron CEM70G

Filters
Optolong Blue 2" Optolong Green 2" Optolong H-Alpha 3nm 2" Optolong Luminance 2" Optolong OIII 3nm 2" Optolong Red 2" Optolong SII 3nm 2"

Accessories
Primaluce Lab SESTO SENSO 2 WandererAstro WandererBox Ultimate V2 WandererAstro WandererCover V3 WandererAstro WandererRotator Mini

Software
Adobe Photoshop Han K. Astrometric STAcking Program (ASTAP) iOptron ASCOM Driver and Commander Planewave Platesolve2 Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight Stark Labs PHD
Guiding Stefan Berg Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy (N.I.N.A. / NINA)

Guide Telescopes
Omega 90/500

Guide Chambers
Omegon veLOX 224 C

poses:
Optolong Blue 2": 19×300″(1h 35′) (gain: 100.00) f/7 -10°C bin 1×1
Optolong Green 2": 19×300″(1h 35′) (gain: 100.00) f/7 -10°C bin 1×1
Optolong H-Alpha 3nm 2": 21×600″(3h 30′) (gain: 100.00) f/7 -10°C bin 1×1
Optolong Luminance 2": 30×300″(2h 30′) (gain: 100.00) f/7 -10°C bin 1×1
Optolong OIII 3nm 2": 25×600″(4h 10′) (gain: 100.00) f/7 -10°C bin 1×1
Optolong Red 2": 19×300″(1h 35′) (gain: 100.00) f/7 -10°C bin 1×1

Credit: Luca Dinoi
Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/0zvmqe/
Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/2opJcCN

[aqalaf]

The Taurus Cloud
Also known as the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC), is a nearby star-forming region located in the constellation Taurus. It is a large molecular cloud complex approximately 430 light-years away from Earth and is known for its rich content of gas and dust. The cloud is an active site of star formation, hosting numerous young stellar objects (YSOs), protostars, and low-mass stars in their early stages of development. It is an extensively studied region in astronomy due to its proximity and relatively low density, providing clear views of the star formation process.

Taurus cloud by Ahmed Alqallaf, on Flickr


219 x 300” (18hr 15min)

Gears:
M: AM5
T: RedCat51
C: ZWO ASI 2600MC Pro

instagram
Astrobin

[Mike Siniscalchi]

Kemble’s Cascade

https://www.astrobin.com/jys7iv/

This colorful asterism was taken Dec. 3, 2024, from my backyard using an Askar SQA55 refractor and PlayerOne Poseidon-C camera.
Processed using APP and Photoshop
Total exposure is 2 hours (40 x 180")

Thanks for looking!
Michael Siniscalchi

[Kinch]

SH2-216

SH2-216 is a beautiful but extremely faint planetary nebula found very close to the bright star Capella. Estimated to be ~500,000 years old, it has spread out and diffused over a very large area to become the second largest known planetary nebula. Only Hewett-1 discovered in the early 2000's is known to be larger. The estimated distance from Earth is ~390 light years making Sh2-216 the closest known to Earth as well.

Click on above to enlarge.

Higher resolution and full info @ https://www.astrokin.com/sh2-216.html

[astroimagery]

The Western Veil Nebula is often referred to as the Witch's Broom Nebula because of its filamentary structure and appearance. It is the westernmost part of the Veil Nebula, which also includes the Eastern Veil Nebula (NGC 6992) and Pickering's Triangle. The nebula is composed of glowing ionized gas and interstellar dust, which are remnants of the supernova explosion.

I collected data over many nights to compose this three panel mosaic image.

Imaging details: 60 x 3 minutes x 3 panels with ZWO Duoband 15nm filter
OTA was Celestron 130slt.
Ioptron CEM26 mount
60mm guidescope SVbony
SVbony SV401 guide camera
Bortle 5 sky.

Link to Image: https://astroimagery.com/techniques/mosaic-images/

[peterJaroslav]

Six Panel Mosaic SNR G082.2 North Western region of Cygnus

I managed this just as our summer objects are disappearing. This mosaic spans almost 3degrees has been a huge task to produce a seamless stich, those who have created big mosaics will possibly share a little of my pain!!

Taken in OSC and Dual Band Ha/O3, imaged remotely from Spain with the FSQ 106ed
Exposure times were 60x 180s in OSC and 100x 180s in Ha/O3. Channels were split, stitched and processed separately.

I started the project back in July and have only recently found some time to get to the data after it completed late August. I possibly could have have a little less of an overlap and widened the field a little more. However wanted to play safe and allowed a 25% to soak up of any potential pointing errors etc. Using photometric correction was the only way I could get a seamless stich. It took care of effects caused by varying sky conditions.
Although the area is abundant in Ha I still used the usual continuum subtraction techniques on both Ha and O3so not to contaminate the RGB. It really helped to stop those lovely pink tones not to become overwhelmed with red from the Hydrogen.

The region includes SNR G082.2, The Propeller Nebula and IRAS 20088+4402 Planetary Nebula Candidate which isn't shown on the plate solution amongst a plethora of LDN and LBN objects .....
The full-res is a large file but worth taking a close look around.
https://www.astrobin.com/full/avyrr5/0/?real=

Thanks for looking
Peter Shah

[Laurent André]

This is my first submission, so i hope i do it right, don’t hesitate to tell me otherwise

Flickr:
NGC6888 - The Crescent Nebula

Astrobin:


Time and location :
From July to November 2024, from southern Spain (my setup it hosted by EEye extremadura)

The project
Trying to build a high resolution, deep image of this beautiful and peculiar nebula
I managed to get close to 80H of exposure, with my 2800mm focal length setup, using narrow-band & broadband filters

The image
I opted for an HOO + RGB stars combination, at full camera resolution (60 MPix @ Bin1)
Blue: 30×60″(30′), Green: 30×60″(30′), Red : 30×60″(30′) for the stars, and for RVB color calibration
H-alpha 6nm: 114×1800″(57h)
OIII 6nm: 44×1800″(22h)

The HOO approach allowed me to match the natural RGB natural color of the nebula
To showcase the magnificent Ha & OIII rich details of the nebula, you can find the integrated Ha and OIII monochrome images in the video linked below

The setup :
ZWO ASI6200MM on a Celestron C11edgeHD on a 10Micron GM1000Mount.
Using Astronomik LRGB and 6nm narrowband filters

A few links :
I created a 5min video presentation of the nebula based on these data & images on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Q7zb-CsgO-0
Link on Astrobin to the 8K+ image: https://www.astrobin.com/2s6j55/

Best regards,
Laurent André

[deepskyjourney]

Cosmic Symphony: RCW 38 and the Vela SNR

Welcome to the constellation Vela, where the cosmos tells a story of creation and destruction. At the center of this image lies RCW 38, a stellar nursery where young stars are born amidst glowing gas and dust, lighting up their surroundings.

In the bottom-right, the striking Pencil Nebula (NGC 2736) is a glowing filament of the Vela Supernova Remnant, a structure formed by a massive stellar explosion thousands of years ago. Next to it, the blue filaments - highlighted using an OIII filter - trace ionized oxygen gas, part of the same remnant. Nearby stars like c Vel, f Vel, and g Vel shine brightly within this tapestry of light.

In contrast, the serene NGC 2670 star cluster in the top-left adds a sense of calm to this dynamic scene.

This image was processed in the HOO palette, combining hydrogen and oxygen emissions to create the vibrant reds and blues. It represents over 14h of imaging time and careful post-processing to bring out these intricate details.

Details:
• Antlia 3nm H-alpha: 39×600″ (6h 30′)
• Antlia 3nm OIII: 47×600″ (7h 50′)
• Integration Time: 14h 20′
• Telescope: William Optics RedCat 51 II
• Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
• Mount: Sky-Watcher NEQ6-Pro

The universe is a story of beginnings and endings, with regions like RCW 38 and the Vela Nebula serving as stunning chapters. Follow for more journeys through the stars!

Acquisition, processing and copyright: Rod Prazeres Astrophotography
IG: @deepskyjourney
FB: Rod Prazeres Astrophotography
All other Socials: https://linktr.ee/deepskyjourney

High def image can be provided on request.

[Lefty's Astrophotography]

The Core of the Heart Nebula

Click to view full size image

Direct link to full res image: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/542 ... aebd_o.jpg

This is 29h 50m of SHO exposure from a Bortle 9 zone. Captured using a 6" f/4 newtonian + ASI1600, on an Orion Sirius mount.

Full acquisition/processing info can be found in the photo description: https://www.flickr.com/photos/leftysast ... 206844390/

[deepskyjourney]

It’s that time of the year again! Presenting the Christmas Tree and Cone Nebula wide view, but with twist! A custom color palette.

The iconic NGC 2264, featuring the Christmas Tree Cluster and the Cone Nebula. The dense star cluster, shaped like a festive tree, is surrounded by wisps of gas and dust, creating a stunning contrast. The Cone Nebula, a dark, pillar-like formation, adds an element of mystery as it juts out from the surrounding clouds.

Acquisition and processing: Rod Prazeres
All my socials here: linktr.ee/deepskyjourney.

Integration time: 18h 20m

Equipment Used:

Telescope: RedCat 51 II
Camera: ZWO Astrophotography ASI2600MM Pro
Mount: Sky-Watcher NEQ6-Pro
Antlia 3nm 36mm SHO filters

Thanks.

[conemmil]

Orion's Nebulous Belt!

We are all so familiar with the Horsehead Nebula but there is so much more stardust in the area that creates this beautiful image if made with a wide-field telescope. The one used for this image is a Takahashi Epsilon 160ED and an ASI2400MC full-frame CMOS colour camera. The image exposure time is a sum of 33 images with 300secs each.

It's made in Halkdiki Greece and to me it's an inspiration to visit this part of the sky since for most amateur astronomers, Orion is the first constellation they will probably recognise in the night sky (I surely did!).

[Kinch]

Star Clusters in Cassiopeia

Click on above to enlarge.

larger image and lots of info available @ my website: https://www.astrokin.com/star-clusters- ... opeia.html

[HellaScope]

Andromeda Galaxy and the Oxygen III Arc
www.hellascope.space
Copyright: Adam Wong-Brooks

https://i.imgur.com/mVQ6ZUV.jpeg

A project nearly two years in the making! When I first saw images of the newly-discovered Oxygen III arc structure in Andromeda Galaxy's field of view at the beginning of 2023, I knew I wanted to photograph it.
For many of us, it represented the idea that there are still undiscovered objects in the universe-- gigantic, often hiding openly in the most observed regions-- and that we can discover them!

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is our nearest neighboring major galaxy. It is anticipated to collide with the Milky Way in 4-5 billion years.
Strottner-Dreschler-Sainty Object 1 is a filamentary emission nebula made up of ionized oxygen that can be found just 1-2 degrees within the field of view of M31. The massive structure of gas and star radiation went undetected until several astrophotographers put in the 100+ hours needed to reveal its signal in 2022.

I spent 300+ hours over 53 different nights capturing data from Starfront Observatories in Texas to create this image.
Divided between two mosaic panels, it represents a total of 153 hours of data integration.

[Lucadinoi]

M 106 (also known as NGC 4258) is a spiral galaxy visible in the constellation Canis Venatici; its interior appears to host a supermassive black hole.
M106 is an example of a Seyfert galaxy; the detection of unusual radio and X-ray emissions observed by the Very Large Baseline Array radio telescope indicates that it is probably part of.


12 "Truss RC telescope reduced to 1790

Moravian off-axis guider and Moravian G0300 guide camera

Celestron 80/600 guide tube with Asi Zwo 224

Moravian G2 8300 camera with internal wheel

Ioptron Cem120 mount

Moonlite focuser and 3.5 "electronic rotator

Electronic temperature control and anti-condensation bands

Cls ccd, R, G, B, Ha 6nm filters, all Astronomik

Shooting data:
61x240s Cls CCD
25x600s Ha
19x240s R
19x240s G
19x240s B

Processing: Pixinsight, Photoshop, star spikes, astronomy tools

Image High quality : https://flic.kr/p/2qALjxd

[Groovynight]

Interstellar shells in Cassiopeia (Sh2-181, GSH 122+02-77, Sh2-175)


(Thumb only)

>>>High Resolution: https://astrophoto-hannover.de/download ... s_Horn.jpg

For quite some time, I had the desire to photograph a truly rare, faint object that hasn’t been extensively captured. I am therefore very proud to present the second image in which these interstellar shells can be seen at all, and at the same time, it is the first photo to show the shells so clearly thanks to the long exposure time.

Thanks to several clear nights in the fall, I was able to collect nearly 39.5 hours of narrowband data with the RASA at f/2, along with an additional hour of RGB for the stars. The processing was certainly challenging, but I managed to bring out many details in the OIII structures and the surrounding H-alpha clouds.

A few details about the objects in the image:
The bluish filaments in the center are listed in Simbad as “interstellar shells” with the designation GSH 122+02-77. These are not direct supernova remnants but rather part of the interstellar medium (ISM)—low-density material (mostly gas) that exists between stars. Stellar winds and nearby supernovae can interact with this material, forming irregular shells. The neighboring Wolf-Rayet star HD 4004 (WR1) could possibly be responsible, although there are no definitive research results on this yet.

In the upper left, you can see Sh2-181 with a pronounced OIII shell, while Sh2-175, a small emission nebula, is located on the right.



Celestron RASA 8 400mm f/2
Celestron Motorfocus
EQ6-R Pro
Camera 1 (OSC): ZWO ASI 2600 MC Pro (Gain 100, Offset 18, -10°)
RGB (Stars): 65 × 60″ (1h 5′)
Camera 2 (Mono): TS 2600 MP (Gain 100, Offset 200, -10°)
Baader H-alpha Highspeed Ultra-Narrowband 3.5nm Filter): 700 × 120″ (23h 20‘)
Baader OIII Highspeed Ultra-Narrowband 4nm Filter): 483 × 120″ (16h 6‘)
Total: 40h 31‘
Bortle 5 (19.50 SQM)
N.I.N.A., Guiding: ASI 120MM & PHD2
Astropixelprocessor, Photoshop, Pixinsight
Date: September 22, October 24-26, November 3-4 & November 30, 2024

Location: Hannover, Germany (Bortle 5-6)

Contact:
Website: www.astrophoto-hannover.de
Instagram: @astrophoto_hannover
Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Groovynight/
E-Mail: info@astrophoto-hannover.de

[z0472]

Sivan 2 in narrowband
Hello, I would like to present you a picture of the not so often photographed nebula Sivan 2. Since the object is very faint, it required 60 hours of exposure time.
Precisely the data collection was carried out:
Astrodon H-alpha 3nm 50 mm: 483×300″(40h 15′)
Astrodon OIII 3nm 50 mm: 244×300″(20h 20′)
telescope: APO 150/F5.25
camera: ASI 6200mm
location: Hradec u Homol, Czech Republic

Click to view full size image

contact:
www.elara.cz
spolekaa.hradce@elara.cz

Best regards
Zdenek

[deepskyjourney]

"A Supernova’s Legacy": The Vela SNR

Welcome to this MASSIVE supernova remnant! I was pleasantly surprised to see just how much of this incredible structure fits into my frame. So far, I’ve captured around 7 hours of H-alpha data and 3 hours of OIII, totalling 10 hours of integration time. While the SNR isn’t quite where I want it yet (I probably need another 20 hours of Oiii minimum), I couldn’t help but start processing the data I’ve got so far to get a glimpse of what’s in store. This version is processed in HOO with narrowband stars. There’s still a lot of work to be done for the final image, but it’s already exciting to see the details emerging. As always, I’m open to tips and feedback!

Thanks for checking it out.

Clear skies,

Rod Prazeres Astrophotography.