Starship Asterisk*

Nebula of NGC 7822

https://www.flickr.com/photos/194543639@N07/
https://www.instagram.com/mark_hoffman_photography/

Copyright: Mark Hoffman

by mark h, on Flickr

"NGC 7822 is a young star forming complex in the constellation of Cepheus. The complex encompasses the emission region designated Sharpless 171, and the young cluster of stars named Berkeley 59. The complex is believed to be some 800–1000 pc distant, with the younger components aged no more than a few million years. The complex also includes one of the hottest stars discovered within 1 kpc of the Sun, namely BD+66 1673, which is an eclipsing binary system consisting of an O5V that exhibits a surface temperature of nearly 45,000 K and a luminosity about 100,000 times that of the Sun."

Equipment/Capture Details:
Williams Optics Z73
EQ35-Pro
ZWO ASI EAF
ZWO ASI 120MM
ZWO ASI 1600MM Pro
ZWO ASI 7 position EFW
Kendrick Dew Heater
Pegasus Pocket Powerbox Mini
36mm Astronomik 6nm Ha, O3, S2 filters
Total Integration Time = 29 hours
Ha Integration Time = 86 * 480sec
O3 Integration Time = 168 * 240sec
S2 Integration Time = 46 * 540sec
Virginia, USA
Bortle 7

Capture dates: 12/9/2022, 12/10/2022, 12/13/2022, 12/14/2022, 12/10/2022, 12/16/2022, 12/17/2022, 12/18/2022, 12/19/2022, 12/25/2022, 12/26/2022, 12/27/2022, 12/28/2022, 12/29/2022, 12/30/2022, 1/5/2022, 1/9/2022, 1/15/2022, 1/24/2022, 1/27/2022

RGB combo. Dynamic Crop. Dynamic Background Extraction. Image Solver. Spectrophotometric Color Calibration. Extract Luminance layer: Noise Xterminator, Blur Xterminator (Correct only), Star Xterminator (unscreen unchecked), Blur Xterminator: Nonstellar then Stellar Sharpen (Nonstellar 0.75), Stretch (STF/HST). Star Xterminator

Starless:
Stretch via unlinked STF to HST. Invert, SCNR Green 1.0, Invert back. Range Mask: Local Histogram Equalization. Range Mask: Local Histogram Equalization. Curves (saturation). Blur. Add Luminance layer. Range Selection Mask: Unsharp Mask. SCNR – Green (0.30/Preserve Lightness/Average Neutral). Yellow Mask (Mask blur x 5): Curves. Green Mask (Mask blur x 5): Curves. Cyan Mask (Mask blur x 5): Curves. Blue Mask (Mask blur x 5): Curves. Range Mask: Curves. Dark Structure Enhance (0.20). Photoshop: Clarity, Vibrance, Highlights, Whites, Contrast, Saturation layer, Selective color layer: Green Yellow, Red, Cyan. Pixel Math to add stars and starless. SCNR – Green (0.22/Preserve Lightness/Average Neutral).

Stars:
Histogram Transformation. Correct Magenta Stars. SCNR – Green 1.00. Curves (saturation, RGB)

Corona Australis: A cloud of cosmic dust taking its ease amidst a vast field of stars in this stunning image centered on the northern border of the Corona Australis constellation. There are so many incredible marvels in the field of view that it will take 4 pages to describe them all ! Let's keep it easy and simple for the time being.

Clear skies,
A.

Acquisition details:
Credit: @ae_astrophotography / Photos gathered remoteley thanks to @telescope.live
Scope: CDK 24"
Camera: FLI PRO 9000
Filters: LRGB
Integration time: 14H

https://www.flickr.com/photos/197387915 ... ed-public/

Mosaci Flaming star - Spaghetti nebula SH2-240 in HOO

Copyright: Martin Hochbruck Nikon 180mm - ASI 2600MM - Antlia 3nm - 50h total exposure
Astrobin: https://astrob.in/t3lsp2/0/
Location: Astro Finca Olivar - Gaucin / Andalucia
https://finca-olivar-gaucin.com/en/

Wider Field of Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF passing by Mars from Grand Mesa Observatory by Transient Astronomer, on Flickr


Image Credit and Copyright Grand Mesa Observatory, Tom Masterson, Kim Quick, Terry Hancock.

Lunar South Pole

Southern Terminator by Tom Glenn, on Flickr

I captured this image on February 1, 2023 that shows the lunar terminator in the vicinity of the South Pole. Interestingly, the most recently named lunar feature, Mons Mouton, is visible in the image (see cropped labeled image). This large mesa-like mountain (informally known as Leibnitz Beta) was named for NASA mathematician Melba Mouton. The NASA press release states that the feature rises 20,000 feet above its surroundings, although it is actually >10km (over 30,000ft) taller than the nearby crater floors as measured with Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data (credit "Lunar QuickMap"). Mons Mouton is one of several proposed landing sites for Artemis III.

The submitted image also includes the popular craters Tycho and Clavius, as well as the somewhat less well known yet impressive Moretus, which is over 5km deep with a central peak rising >2km.

Technical details:
February 1, 2023, 21:49 PST
San Diego, CA
C9.25 Edge HD telescope
ASI678mc camera
500 frames stacked

NGC 2170: The Angel Nebula by William Ostling, on Flickr

Full write-up here: https://theastroenthusiast.com/ngc-2170 ... el-nebula/
Is this a painting or a photograph? In this classic celestial still life composed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula NGC 2170, also known as the Angel Nebula, shines near the image center. Reflecting the light of nearby hot stars, NGC 2170 is joined by other bluish reflection nebulae, a red emission region, many dark absorption nebulae, and a backdrop of colorful stars. Like the common household items that still life painters often choose for their subjects, the clouds of gas, dust, and hot stars featured here are also commonly found in this setting — a massive, star-forming molecular cloud in the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros). The giant molecular cloud, Mon R2, is impressively close, estimated to be only 2,400 light-years or so away. At that distance, this canvas would be over 60 light-years across.

Given the amount of clouds that have been and will be plaguing my location in the coming months, I’ve decided to start experimenting the some telescope live data. It’s and interesting blend of high and low quality – the images are taken from extremely low bortle zones with amazing telescopes, but there are usually strange artifacts, gradients, and bad star quality.

Website: https://theastroenthusiast.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_astronomy_enthusiast/

"THE GLOWING MOON"
- Solar 2250mm IRRGB Mosaic
- Constellation Auriga



A little creative work on Sunday afternoon ^^
This is a composing of the crescent moon, whereby the shadow of the earth was put together using HDR from 2 independent mosaics from different nights. The star field shows a section of the constellation Aurige (Carrier), the glow was added with Photoshop. The moon is color enhanced, also called Mineral Moon. It is NOT a realistic representation of the moon!
(But I didn't intend to do that either ^^)

Have a nice Sunday evening everyone
You can see the full uncompressed resolution on Astrobin - and zoom in big!
(But it can take some time to load, it's a very large file!)
Astrobin: https: //astrob.in/full/wk63s4/0/

| Object : moon
| Equipment & recording dates:
| Skywatcher 150/750PDS Newtonian, ZWO-ASI290 Mono & ZWO-ASI462 Color
| Dürnig Barlow 2.7x, Pierro ADC MKIII.
| Mosaic 1 from 74 panels full disk, 3000 frames, top 50%
| Mosaic 1 of 39 Panels Crescent, 3000 Frames, Top 50%
| Color ZWO462: BLZ 1.5ms - Gain 280 - Gamma: off
| Mono ZWO290: BLZ: 1.0ms - Gain 280 - Gamma: off

Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF on February 19th, 2023

C/2022 E3 ZTF - February 19th, 2023 by Alessandro Carrozzi, su Flickr

Messier 104 - also known as the Sombrero Galaxy - is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo - 29 million light-years away from us - whose bright nucleus, unusually large central bulge, and prominent dust ring give it the appearance of a Mexican hat.

The Sombrero Galaxy lies within a cloud of galaxies that extends to the south of the Virgo Cluster. Previously accepted to be a member of the Virgo-Coma Cluster, it is currently unclear as to whether the Sombrero Galaxy is part of a formal galaxy group.

Enjoy !

Clea skies,
A.

Credit: @ae_astrophotography & @telescope.live
Total integration time : 7H45
Scope : CDK 24"
Camera : QHY 600
Filters : Astrodon LRGB

Close Up: https://www.flickr.com/photos/197387915 ... ed-public/ Big field of view: https://www.flickr.com/photos/197387915 ... ed-public/

Bode's (M81) and Holmberg IX galaxies:

Holmberg IX is a dwarf and satellite galaxy of M81.

SkyWatcher Esprit 100ed
ZWO ASI2600MCPRO
ZWO AM5
ZWO OAGL
ZWO EAF
ZWO ASI290MM Mini Guide
Bortle2: Lights 34×300"
Bortle8: Lights 250x120"
30 Darks, 60 flats, 60 dark flats each
Total Integration: 11hr10min
Jan 22, 2023, Feb 12, 2023
PixInsight, Photoshop
Higher resolution: https://astrob.in/tx49nr/0/

Link to flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/197387915 ... ool-apods/

This image features Orion the Hunter surrounded by an ocean of hydrogen-alpha. Special technique applied to pull out most of the nebulosity hidden and slight star reduction to make it overall better to contemplate.

Image acquired remotely thanks to @telescope.live network.

Credit : @ae_astrophotography / @telescope.live
Scope: Takahashi FSQ 106EDX 4
Camera : FLI PRO 16803
Filters : SHO
Integration : 7H

The Rising Trajectory of the Milky Way
Photo description: The Milky Way has recently risen in the east around 3am. This star trail of the rising Milky Way is like a beautiful pattern drawn on a loom. It is a superposition of 12 photos, each taken 10 minutes apart, for a total of 111 minutes. The recorded time is from 3:30 am to 5:21 am on February 18, 2023. The landscape is Taiwan's famous holy ridgeline, all of which are steep mountain ridgelines over 3,000 meters high. The light below is actually the waning crescent Moon just rising from the top of the mountain at 5:20 am.
The video link of the Milky Way rising from the east on the morning of February 18: https://youtu.be/fjAHLfpIuwM

Equipment Details: Canon 6D + 24mm Lens
Post-processing Details: The software Sequator156 is used to superimpose 12 photos at intervals of 10 minutes.
Location : Shei-Pa National Park, Hsinchu, Taiwan
Time: February 18, 2023
Photographer : Meiying Lee (李美英)

https://astrob.in/p1glyv/B/rawthumb/reg ... g?insecure

NGC 2451 and NGC 2477 in Puppis

Beautiful and not-so-often photographed targets. The H-alpha region we can see in this picture is part of Vela´s Supernova Remnant.
The targets that name this framing are in Puppis Constellation.

🗓 February, 18th to 19th. 2023
Giruá, RS, Brazil. Bortle 4.
Sharpstar 13028HNT (Newtonian, 130mm f2.8)
asi6200mc
🕹 ZWO AM5.
🕶 Built-in UV/IR and Idas NBZ
- 60 x 120s uv/ir
- 56 x 300s Duo Narroband Idas NBZ
TOTAL: ~6h45´
pixinsight, photoshop

Hi! I'm sharing my latest work of deepsky ojbects from the south!

NGC 4945 - Located in Centaurus constellation at 11 million Light years away from us, it's an object that we can see with small amateur telescopes in the southern hemisphere.


NGC 4945 - NGC 4976 y alrededores
by Maximiliano Falieres, en Flickr

NGC 2997 - It's an spiral galaxy similar like the Messier 83 object. It's located in Antlia constellation at 23 Million Light Years from us.


NGC 2997
by Maximiliano Falieres, en Flickr

Orion & Running Man Nebulae

Orion & Running Man Nebula by Ahmed Waddah, on Flickr

Nikon D5300 - Modified
Redcat 51
AM5
60×180"
60x30"
60x10"
TI: 3hr40min

https://www.astrobin.com/dkn7yu/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/waddah.photography
Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/WolfHeart/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/waddahphotography/

Crescent Moon - 2,7%
Copyright: Rafael Schmall
https://www.astrobin.com/users/Rafeee/

I had planned to photograph the sickle, but my evening turned out differently than it should have. I had so much presence of mind that I kept a whole system with me, so I managed to make this picture.

Image Details:
Equipment: Canon EOS6D, Canon 200mm f/2.8, Manfrotto XPROB
Exif data: 1x2,5sec, ISO1600, f4
Processing: Photoshop

Location: Hungary, Zselic Starry Sky Park, Zselic Park of Stars

Sh2-223, Sh2-224, Sh2-225, Sh2-227 widefield by William Ostling, on Flickr

Full write-up here: https://theastroenthusiast.com/sh2-223- ... widefield/
Sh2-224 is a supernova remnant visible in the constellation of Auriga. It is situated 3.5 ° to SSE of the bright star Capella, the dominant star of the constellation. It is formed by two soft nebulous filaments, the most conspicuous of which is that of the northwest and extends for 20 ‘x 30’ towards the center of the source of radio waves, which has dimensions of 70 ‘x 75’. The object has an unusual shape, with a shell structure with a radius of about 25 parsec, and is in interaction with a cavity of the interstellar medium at a higher temperature than the surrounding environment, located in the south-western part and of the arch. This conformation suggests that the rest of the supernova in the southwest direction has come into contact with the cavity, first deforming and entering into interaction with this structure, then expanding inside it and creating a wider propagation wave that has emerged from the opposite part, thus creating the arch structure visible in the westernmost part, ie beyond the cavity. The distance of the structure is estimated at about 14,700 light years from the solar system, in a peripheral region of the Arm of Perseus. The X-ray study determined an age of the structure between 13,000 and 24,000 years.

This is another image from telescope live. The Oiii data in particular was really hard to work with – There wasn’t much signal at all, and the star halos were very tricky to work around. However, the Ha data was incredibly good, so using some processing tricks I was able to make the whole image a lot better. Though there was Sii data included, I decided not to use it as it didn’t really add anything.


Website: https://theastroenthusiast.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_astronomy_enthusiast/

Venus, Jupiter and Moon over Gulang Island

This photo was taken on the other side of Gulang Island, a world heritage in Xiamen,China. The new moon falls to the horizon , with Venus beside it and Jupiter not far away from them.The building in the picture called Bagua Mansion, also known as Eight Diagrams Mansion.

Full size:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/527 ... 0c33_o.jpg

Copyright: Zhouyannan

My longest integration yet, beating the 61 hours I did on the Seagull and Thor Nebulae.

I captured this target throughout November, December, and January. It is NGC 2264, also known as the Christmas Tree cluster and Cone Nebula.

I spent close to 82 hours capturing this object, using SHO filters for the gas and RGB filters for the stars.

The details are very crisp, the noise is basically non-existent, and the colors came out vibrant! This was a fun project, and I was very surprised to see this range of colors pop up so easily even after a simple channel combination.

More info here: https://www.galactic-hunter.com/post/ngc2264

Credit:
Antoine Grelin
https://www.galactic-hunter.com/


NGC 2264 - Xmas Tree Narrowband

Jupiter-Moon-Venus conjuction
Copyright: Rafael Schmall
https://www.astrobin.com/users/Rafeee/

Probably millions of people could see perhaps one of the most beautiful combinations of the year. I chose a nice wooden foreground to record the event. While the cirrus clouds can be a big problem for astrophotos, it is just right for conjunctions because it highlights the celestial bodies.

Image Details:
Equipment: Canon EOS6D, Canon 50mm f/1.4, SkyWatcher Star-Adventurer
Exif data: 2,5sec, ISO1600, f5.6
Processing: Lightroom, Photoshop

Location: Hungary, Zselic Starry Sky Park, Zselic Park of Stars

Hi,

here is an image of a lesser known trio of galaxies in Leo, NGC 2964/2968/2970, approximately 80 million light-years away.
There is a a long tidal arm emanating from NGC2968 (the middle one) towards NGC2970 (the rightmost one), although I didn't find much information about it in the literature.

This tidal arm was a bit challenging to bring out from the background given my imaging conditions (Bortle 7/8 suburban backyard near Paris and hazy sky). However the seeing conditions were rather good (median FWHM 1.85" after stacking).

The Other Leo Trio
Copyright: Dan Israel Technical details
8" f/4 custom Newtonian astrograph with Romano Zen optics and carbon fiber tube
Astro-Physics AP900 mount
ZWO ASI183mm camera
Teleskop Service 2.5" Riccardi-Wynne corrector
ZWO LRGB filters
Guiding : ZWO OAG + ASI 220mm mini + Asiair
Luminance : 348 *60sec
Chrominance : 30*60sec for each R, V and B filter
Conditions : Bortle 7/8 skies in Paris' suburbs (20km from the Eiffel tower), good seeing, low transparency
Processing with Pixinsight

NGC 2634: The Calm before the Storm. KG Observatory, Julian, CA.

The winter months in Julian CA are a real challenge. I needed an object that would stay up most of the night. NGC 2634 was the choice. It would be above 30° between 7:30 PM and 4:30 AM (9 hours) with the sky between 21.0 and 21.3 SQM for the entire 9 hours.

For this I switched from the ASI6200 CMOS back to the FLI16803 CCD for a wider FOV. As I mentioned in prior posts, 15 minute exposures on the 16803 have nearly the same SNR as 5 minute exposures on the 6200. But it seems the 16803 might go deeper. Maybe the microlenses help in that regard.

Seeing is usually horrible during the winter months, and this year was no different with seeing (FWHM) near 5". I usually see < 2".

On February 15, I was able to capture 20 L subs (5 hours) between 3" and 3.3". Not too bad.

February 17 was too windy to shoot. The CDK24 moves noticeably in 5-10 MPH winds. This was 15 MPH+.

The wind died down on February 18 just enough to capture 2 hours of each RGB. But FWHM was near 5". This would cause halos around the bright stars that would be difficult to correct.

A very large storm was expected to arrive on the 21st (which it did and is still here). So this could be a bust.

THEN, February 20, the day before the storm, everything became eerily dark, quiet and STEADY. FMHW now between 2" and 3"!!! For 9 hours, I captured 5 hours of L and 1:45 of each RGB. I discarded the prior 5" RGB and added the new 2" L to the prior 3" L.

So 10 hours of L and 1:45 of each RGB for a total of 15:15 of subs with an average FWHM of 2.5" in a 21.0 to 21.3 SQM sky.

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM.

https://www.astrobin.com/muqdds/

The Wizard (NGC 7380):
SkyWatcher Esprit 100ed
ZWO ASI2600MCPRO
ZWO AM5
ZWO OAGL
ZWO EAF
ZWO EFW
ZWO ASI290MM Mini Guide
RGB 120×120"
Optolong L-Ultimate 140×600"
30 Darks, 60 flats, 60 dark flats each
Total Integration: 27hr20min
Dec 17, 18, 19, 20, 22 2022
PixInsight
Bortle 8
Higher resolution: https://astrob.in/tx811m/0/

Three Open Clusters in Gemini

From left to right are open star clusters IC 2157, NGC 2158, and NGC 2168 (Messier 35). Like many people, the first time I saw NGC 2158 in a telescope I thought it was a comet. I was looking at M35 and noticed a soft fuzzy patch to the southwest. Higher magnification revealed it to be a collection of stars. It looks magnificent in a large aperture scope, even more impressive to me than M35. NGC 2158 is about five times more distant and ten times older than M35. It not only appears smaller, but also reveals a population of older and yellower stars as compared to M35’s younger hot blue stars. IC 2157 is a sparse cluster of young stars at a distance roughly midway between NGC 2158 and M35.

Nick Pavelchak
https://www.astrobin.com/qav7y4/