Starship Asterisk*

skogaFossEagle Shape Aurora

Location - Iceland Skogafoss
Credit - Roi Levi
Date - september 15 2023


Explnation -The aurora, also known as the Northern Lights in the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Lights in the Southern Hemisphere, can appear in a variety of shapes and forms. Here are some of the common shapes of auroras:

Curtains: This is one of the most common shapes of auroras. Curtains appear as long, vertical bands of light that dance and sway across the sky. They often have a rippled or wavy appearance.
Arcs: Arcs are large, sweeping bands of light that stretch across the horizon. They can be either stationary or slowly move across the sky.
Rays: Auroral rays are narrow beams of light that shoot upwards from the horizon, resembling columns or pillars of light. They can extend from the horizon to high in the sky.
Coronas: As previously mentioned, corona-like auroras resemble the corona of the Sun. They appear as diffuse, circular shapes that spread out across the sky, sometimes surrounding a darker area near the zenith.
Bands: Bands are broad, flat regions of diffuse auroral light that cover a large portion of the sky. They often have a faint glow and lack the distinct structure seen in curtains or arcs.
Patches: Auroral patches are irregularly shaped areas of light that appear scattered across the sky. They can vary in size and brightness and often lack well-defined borders.
Discrete features: These include various shapes such as spirals, swirls, and loops that form within the aurora. These features can be more intricate and dynamic, often changing rapidly over short periods of time.


SOCIAL
https://www.instagram.com/astroi_levi/

I'm pleased to submit to you for your consideration my latest work on the Witch Head nebula, IC 2118. It's a 102h LRGBHa image captured from my backyard observatory that aims to show not only the popular reflection nebula but all the galactic cirrus (Ha data) surrounding the scene.

Thanks for all your work. Best wishes,

Aleix Roig
@astrocatinfo

Full image details (HD view):



https://astrocat.info/the-witch-head-nebula-ic-2118/


Full image details:

In the Eridanus constellation, and close to the Orion constellation, we find a very interesting and pretty faint reflection nebula, IC 2118. Also known as the Witch Head nebula, IC 2118 is believed to be made of gas, and dust and is about 50 light-years across. Located around 900 light-years away from Earth, the Witch Head Nebula is illuminated by Rigel, the bright blue supergiant star in the constellation Orion. The blue color of the Witch Head nebula contrasts beautifully with the dusty red clouds around the nebula, creating a striking visual spectacle. These red clouds are galactic cirrus, galactic filamentary structures that surround our galaxy.

This 102h 25' image was acquired from my backyard observatory during several winter nights this 2024. I used my dual Takahashi FSQ setup in order to get double the data. One telescope, the FSQ85, was focused solely on Ha data in order to capture the faint galactic cirrus. More than 50 hours were needed to show the final detail. I find interesting trying to push the limits of my own amateur astrophotography work with such deep exposures that allows me to show several interesting details. If you look carefully, in the bottom right of the image a galactic cirrus reveals the shape of a a bat, just below the "mouth" of the witch. We called it pareidolia, but it's also a nice view of the deep universe. The other telescope, FSQ106, was used to capture the Luminance data along with the RGB.

Image details:

FSQ106:
L: 486 x 300" (40h 30')
RGB: (35,28,50 x 300") (9h 25')

FSQ85:
Ha: 630 x 300" (52h 30')

Calibrated with darks, flats and dark-flats.
Total exposure: 102h 25'

Moon at 30% (on average)
Image resolution: 1.46”/pixel
FOV (full image): 2º 31' x 1º 41'

Equipment:

FSQ106 EDX4 + ASI2600MM + LRGB Astrodon filters + Ha3nm Antlia - with ZWO EFW 7 pos
FSQ85 + ASI294MM + SHO LRGB Baader filters - with ZWO EFW 8 pos
Mesu200 mount
Guiding with ASI120MM and ZWO Mini Guide Scope

Aleix Roig, April 2024
Prades (Tarragona, Catalonia - Spain).

I'm pleased to submit to you for your consideration a deep image of the Triangulum galaxy, M33. It's a 153h image that includes a discovery of a new nebula.


https://astrocat.info/a-deep-triangulum-galaxy/



Last fall I captured several tens of hours of images of the Triangulum galaxy, Messier 33. I used the popular broadband approach (LRGB), but also gathered more than 100 hours in narrow band filters in order to see the star forming regions and rich nebulae in this neighbouring galaxy. The image also showed some IFN around M33 (you can also see the starless version in my website that highlights this IFN).

The resulting image has more than 150 hours of exposure captured from my backyard observatory, located in the village of Prades, a Bortle 4 dark sky in the south of Barcelona (Spain).

I highlighted a faint nebula detected in the [OIII] and Ha channels that has been finally published as a new discovery:

It was published as a Research Note of the American Astronomical Society.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10. ... 172/ad12d1
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2312.05292.pdf

Thanks so much for all your work,

Aleix Roig
@astrocatinfo

M81, Bode’s Galaxy.

It took the light from this galaxy 12 million years to reach us, and I welcomed it with an open telescope. I gave it a full day — 24 hours — of exposure over three nights in March (15th, 16th, and 17th.

For this feat, I employed the Edge HD 8, 0.7x Reducer, ASI533MC Pro, Antlia Quadband Filter, ZWO AM5, and dedicated a total of 23.7 Hours. All this, in the challenging Bortle 9 conditions of Vancouver, Canada.