Starship Asterisk*

Milky Way over Al Modawara Rock

Milky Way over Al Modawara Rock by Ahmed Waddah, on Flickr

Image is a composite of the Milky way over the Al Medawara Rock in Al Fayoum's Wady Al Rayan National Park. Sky was shot in the Valley of Whales on the night of the 12th of May and the foreground was shot 30 km away just after sunrise on the way back. Orientation of sky to foreground was established using Stellarium to match at the same time the sky was shot. I always wanted to spend the night in this Al Medawara spot but it's just by a lake "Wady El Rayan" and there are viper snakes and scorpions and. Also since I shoot DSO at the same spot I am doing wide Astro landscapes, my spot in Valley of Whales is a bortle 2 while this rock is a bortle 4. I even didn't process the sky heavily to match the foreground bortle

Sky: 20x 240" - Nikon Z6II (Stock) - Z 14-24mm f/2.8 @14mm - ISO 400 - F/2.8 - Sky Guider Pro
Foreground: Single Shot - Nikon Z6II (Stock) - Z 14-24mm f/2.8 @14mm - ISO 100 - F/8 - ISO 100

https://www.astrobin.com/6rru7f/

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

Milkyway over Magellan 2 (Clay) Telescope by Leo AsIan, on Flickr

A 3-panel mosaic of dust in the Chamaeleon region by William Ostling, on Flickr

This was one of the most difficult images that I’ve had the pleasure of processing, but I really think that the end result was worth all the trouble. Telescope live doesn’t really filter the data they publish, so most of the data I end up with is really hard to work with. This has an upside, though – I get a lot better at handling sub-optimal data! These datasets also weren’t meant to be a mosaic, so I had to do a lot of bludgeoning using photometric mosaic to create something that I could work with.

The way the dust and the reflection nebulae cover this entire region is just simply incredible – the sheer depth of nebulae in this region is amazing. I particuarly like the wispieness of the dust in the center of this image, and the way it’s lit by the stars around it.

The Chamaeleon complex is a large star forming region (SFR) at the surface of the Local Bubble that includes the Chamaeleon I, Chamaeleon II, and Chamaeleon III dark clouds. It occupies nearly all of the constellation Chamaeleon and overlaps into Apus, Musca, Carina and Octans. The Chamaeleon I (Cha I) cloud is one of the nearest active star formation regions at ~160 pc. It is relatively isolated from other star-forming clouds, so it is unlikely that older pre-main sequence (PMS) stars have drifted into the field. The Chamaeleon I (Cha I) cloud is one of the nearest active star formation regions at ~160 pc. It is relatively isolated from other star-forming clouds, so it is unlikely that older pre-main sequence (PMS) stars have drifted into the field. “Chamaeleon III appears to be devoid of current star-formation activity.” There are two particularly prominent nebulae associated with this area. The smaller is commonly known as the Thumbprint Nebula and the larger The Talon Nebula.

Details
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106ED
Camera: FLI PL16083
Filters: Astrodon LRGB 2GEN
Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Yass, NSW 2582, Australia
Date of Observations: 1/26/2022, 1/31/2022, 2/3/2022, 2/5/2022, 2/8/2022, 3/4/2022, 4/4/2022, 4/5/2022, 4/10/2022, 4/23/2022, 4/24/2022, 4/30/2022, 5/1/2022, 5/8/2022,
L: 48 x 600s (8h)
R: 48 x 600s (8h)
G: 49 x 600s (8h 10min)
B: 48 x 600s (8h)
Processing: Pixinsight
Credits: Data: Telescope Live; Processing: William Ostling

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

Shot this May 28th, 2023. 48 shots at 300 seconds each from my Bortle 4 backyard in Hartford Alabama with a ZWO ASI2600MC camera, William Optics GT81 telescope, and Losmandy GM811G equatorial mount.

HDR Crescent Moon by Mathew Browne, on Flickr

Probably the most challenging image I've ever created, depicting the crescent moon moving through space. Captured at 600mm on a mirrorless full frame camera.

Photographed from my garden here in south Wales. I've published a short article on my website describing exactly how this image was made: https://www.mathewbrowne.co.uk/how-to-c ... -photoshop

Cygnus Rising over Egyptian Sands

Cygnus Rising over Egyptian Sands by Ahmed Waddah, on Flickr

In this image the foreground was shot during blue hour and sky was shot as soon as upper region of Cygnus was above the horizon. Using my classic stock Nikon D810 with a L-pro clip-in filter to bring out the Ha.

Sky: Nikon D810 - Rokinon 135mm f/2 - SGP
40X180" - 2 Hrs - ISO400 - f2.8
Foreground: D810 - Rokinon 135mm f/2 - f8 - 1/13 - ISO 100

https://www.astrobin.com/v3zzw6/

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

M83 - The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy

http://www.deepskyobjects.com/Nebulae/G ... 3_LRGB.asp
May 2023

Copyright: Behyar Bakhshandeh, Carlsbad, CA

Strawberry Mineral Moon

equipment: Orion XT8 dobsonian, Nikon 1 J1 mirrorless
processing: PIPP, Autostakkert (top 30% of about 60 frames), Registax, Photoshop

location: Des Plaines, Illinois
date: May 28, 2023

NGC6188 The Rim Nebula SHO by Mathieu Guinot, sur Flickr

Here is NGC6188 The Dragons of Ara, also known as the Rim Nebula, which is an emission nebula located about 4,000 light years away in the constellation of Ara.
NGC 6188 is a star forming nebula, and is sculpted by the massive and young stars that have recently formed there.
The magnificent shapes and colors of this region make it a popular target for southern astrophotographers.

Processed with Telescope Live datas acquired from March 2021 to May 2022 at El Sauce Observatory, Chile.
Telescope CDK24
Camera FLI PL9000
16h40 exposures with SHO filters : 30/36/34 x600s
Processed with Pixinsight & Photoshop

Copyright : Mathieu Guinot & Telescope Live

SPIRAL GALAXY MESSIER 96 (also known as M96 or NGC 3368)

BEST DETAILS
https://www.astrobin.com/full/rjfe8k/0/

EQUIPMENT:
Esprit 150mm triplet
zwo asi 6200mc
Mount CEM120
Frames 168X300"

LOCATION: Munhoz - MG - Brazil
DATES: From 03/18/2023 to 05/25/2023

PROCESSING AND CAPTURE:
Adobe Photoshop, ASTAP, SGP, PHD2 and PixInsight

Author: Fernando Oliveira de Menezes
Email: Barretosmed@hotmail.com
(Organizing author of the book Amateur Astrophotography in Brazil)
https://clubedeautores.com.br/livro/ast ... -no-brasil

Sundog at sunset
A "sundog," is an atmospheric optical phenomenon where two bright spots form on either side of the sun, surrounded by a colorful ring. This is caused by the refraction of sunlight through ice crystals present in high-level clouds. A lesser-known fact is that the appearance and colors of the solar halo can vary depending on the shape of the ice crystals and atmospheric conditions, making each solar halo unique and spectacular.

Technical data: Nikon D800 + Tamron 100-400
Date: 2023-06-01
Location: Modica, Italy

Sundog at sunset by Salvatore Cerruto, su Flickr

Sundog at sunset by Salvatore Cerruto, su Flickr

CONJUNCTION BETWEEN THE PLANET MARS AND THE PRAESEPE CLUSTER (BEEHIVE CLUSTER, M44 OR MESSIER 44)


On this June 2, 2023, we had the honor of viewing this beautiful event.

BEST DETAILS
https://www.astrobin.com/full/xyo5re/0/

EQUIPMENT:
Esprit 150mm triplet
Zwo asi 6200mc
Mount CEM120
Frames 26x100"

LOCATION: Munhoz - MG - Brazil
DATE: 06/02/2023

PROCESSING AND CAPTURE:
Adobe Photoshop, ASTAP, SGP, PHD2 and PixInsight

Author: Fernando Oliveira de Menezes
Email: Barretosmed@hotmail.com
(Organizing author of the book Amateur Astrophotography in Brazil)
https://clubedeautores.com.br/livro/ast ... -no-brasil
Copyright: Your name

RCW 85 (The Devil's Tower) is a predominantly Ha/Sii region in the constellation Centaurus, between Hadar and Rigil Kentarurus. There is some very faint Oiii in the brightest part of the tower, but even with 8.5 hours just on Oiii, it is well and truly drowned out by the Ha and Siii signal, even though bands do not have very strong data themselves. There really isn't a lot of signal to work with on this target. Additional data in the Ha and Siii may help. I found this pushed my processing skills, particularly in stretching the data. GHS worked best, but it still took me a couple of attempts to get to a point where I was relatively happy with the image.

I spent 30 hours of imaging time on this target, but thanks to the odd cloud and the smoke from the burn-offs around Brisbane over the last week, I ended up with 21 1/2 hrs of usable data. 30 minutes each of RGB, 8.5 hours of Oiii, 6.5 hours of Sii, and 5 hours of Ha.

Scope: Bintel BT200 800mm F/4 Newtonian

Camera: ASI1600mm-pro

Filters: ZWO RGB and SHO

Mount: EQ6R-Pro

RCW85 by Chris Jensen, on Flickr

The Bird of Paradise

This image shows the dust around the constellation of Apus, The Bird Of Paradise. The term Apus is derived from the Greek word which means 'no feet'. The Bird of Paradise was believed to have no feet as it was always airborne.

Nestled in the southern celestial hemisphere, this avian constellation gracefully flutters near the South Celestial Pole, captivating observers from the Southern Hemisphere with its ethereal beauty.

While Apus may lack prominent deep-sky treasures like the famed Messier objects, it holds its own hidden gems. Among them lies the galaxies of IC 4633 and 4635.

Apus reveals its secrets best to those fortunate enough to reside between +15 and -90 degrees latitude. In the Southern Hemisphere, the constellation remains a faithful companion throughout the year, reaching its zenith during the balmy nights of the Southern Hemisphere summer. Take a moment to bask in its splendor, allowing the ethereal bird of paradise to inspire dreams of exploration and discovery.This image was taken from The Dark Sky Reserve at Swan Reach, South Australia in April 2023.

Acquisition Data:

Mount: Paramount Mx+
Lens: Askar ACL 200 @ F4
Camera: ZWO ASI 6200
RGB: 105 x 5 - 520 min - 8.75 hours
Temp:-15 degrees
Gain: 100
Offset: 50

High resolution: https://storage.googleapis.com/dso-brow ... iginal.jpg

The Bird Of Paradise
Copyright: Jarrod Koh

Supernova SN2023idj in the Butterfly Galaxies

Discovered May 14th I had been imaging the colliding galaxies in Virgo for 2 nights, on May 11 there is no supernova visible but by MAy 14th there is. It is a type II supernova and the galaziy pair are estimated to be 60 million light years awat
These images were taken form my backyard in Ottawa, Canada with a Celestron C11 telescope and 2600MM and MC camera.
Andrea Girones
https://www.flickr.com/photos/198200988 ... 947661768/

Here is a still image of the newly discovered Supernova in NGC4568

A glimpse into the distant past- Supernova SN2023ijd
These colliding galaxies in the constelation Virgo known as the Butterfly Galaxies are estimated to be about 60 million light years away. A recently discovered Supernova was spotted MAy 14th in the galaxy NGC4568 and as I was imging the galaxies over several night I was able to capeture the bright light of a dying and exploding star from deep in the past. This was a Type II supernova of a simlar type to the recent explosion in much closer M101
Imaged from the backyard in Ottawa Canada May 14th, 2023
https://www.flickr.com/photos/198200988 ... 947384714/

|The Dark Doodad |
Target: The Dark Doodad Nebula with NGC 4372
Copyright: Ethan Wong
Location: Western Australia

This deep space object had been on my imaging bucket list for quite some time, mainly due to its location in the southern hemisphere of the night sky. The dark nebulae seen here is not under any catalogue but it can be easily located with the star cluster seen at the right (NGC 4372). It was quite a challenge to process this especially when the luminance channel was chock full of interstellar dust, which drew the emphasis away from the main structure you see here !

More details can be found here: https://deep-space-project.com/darkdoodad
Hope you enjoyed this and Clear skies!

M31 and M33 - Andromeda and Triangulum Galaxies by Daniele Borsari, on Flickr

Strawberry Moon Rising by Mathew Browne, on Flickr

Tonight's Strawberry Moon rising behind Paxton's Tower in south Wales.

Photographed 2 miles away in Llanegwad village, with a 600mm lens.

Reflection and emission in the eye of the seagull by William Ostling, on Flickr

Details:
Telescope: Planewave CDK24
Camera: FLI PL 9000
Filters: Halpha, SII, OIII,
Location: El Sauce Observatory, Río Hurtado, Coquimbo Region, Chile
Date of Observations: 3/12/2022, 4/10/2021, 1/6/2022
L: 6 x 600s (1h)
R: 6 x 600s (1h)
G: 6 x 600s (1h)
B: 6 x 600s (1h)
Processing: Pixinsight
Credits: Data: Telescope Live; Processing: William Ostling

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

NGC 6334 and 6357 by Alessandro Carrozzi, su Flickr

NGC 6357 is an emission nebula also known as the Lobster Nebula due to its shape, extending about 400 light-years and located about 8,000 light-years away, toward the constellation Scorpio.
NGC 6334, known colloquially as the Cat's Paw Nebula is an emission nebula and is located at a distance of about 5500 light-years from the Sun, extending 320 light-years.
NGC 6334 is one of the most active areas of massive star formation in our galaxy. The nebula hides newly formed bright blue stars, each of which has a mass nearly ten times that of our Sun and was born within the last few million years.
While theoretically visible from Italy, these are a classic deep-sky pair in the southern hemisphere. In this shot, taken remotely from Chile, they were at zenith in the best possible conditions to capture their details and those of the Milky Way center clouds surrounding them.
Technical data: 24x120s L, 6x120s RGB with ZWO ASI 1600MM and Samyang 135mm f/3.5

Milky Way Over La Palma Observatory

Picture taken in April 2023 in La Palma island in Roque de los Muchachos observatory. Photography shows 5 the biggest telescopes in observatory: in the first row from the left site: Magic I; Magic II; LST telescope, last one with diameter of 23 meters. In the second row in the background from left site: National Galileo telescope and Grand Canarias Telescope. Above the telescopes we can admire the beautiful center of the milky way with lot's of clearly visible areas of hydrogen alfa nebulas along the entire milky way. On the right side from the milky way center we can observe one of the most colorfull area on the night sky which is Rho Ophiuchi nebula with majestatic Zeta Ophiuchi star in the middle of the red nebula above Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex.

Sky – 4x60s, ISO1600, f2.8, tracked.
Landscape – 1x60s ISO1600, f5.6

Canon 6D mod
Samyang 24 mm f1.4 (f2.8)/(f5.6)
SWSA
Pixinsights,Photoshop

Author: Marcin Rosadziński

Horsehead Nebula 8.7 Hours Extreme by Blake Estes, on Flickr

Technical details are as follows:
Paramount ME
Celestron C14 Edge HD
Starizona Hyperstar 14 V4
Optolong L-Pro Luminance filter
ZWO ASI 6200MC Color Camera
262x120sec exposures
Processed in APP and Lightroom
Blur XTerminator
Aurora HDR

Astrodude13 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2023 5:06 am Horsehead Nebula 8.7 Hours Extreme by Blake Estes, on Flickr

Technical details are as follows:
Paramount ME
Celestron C14 Edge HD
Starizona Hyperstar 14 V4
Optolong L-Pro Luminance filter
ZWO ASI 6200MC Color Camera
262x120sec exposures
Processed in APP and Lightroom
Blur XTerminator
Aurora HDR

Oh wow! This is like an explosion of color! Some people would disapprove, I'm sure, but I can't help it... I love it!!

Ann

Milkyway over Western Desert Revisited

Milkyway over Western Desert Revisited by Ahmed Waddah, on Flickr

Decided to reprocess my data from 2 years ago from a workshop with the great @samyolabi who actually helped me compose the frame. Image is an integration of several untracked images taken in the Western Desert of Al Farafra area in Egypt.

Nikon Z6II
Nikon 20mm f/1.8G ED
40x20" - f/2.5 - ISO 2500

https://www.astrobin.com/5ddw71/B/


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