Starship Asterisk*

An interesting section of the Cepheus Molecular Cloud complex, LBN552 containing the reflection nebula GN 21.00.4.  Imaged remotely from Spain with the Epsilon 160ED and Player One Poseidon M-pro. Exposure times were 120 x 120s in Each RGB.

Thanks for looking
Peter Shah

Links to my starless and full res rendition https://www.astrobin.com/54bclq/

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) rising above the Red Sea

Copyright: Mohammed Abdallah
Location: Ain Sokhna, Suez, Egypt
Date: 10/4/2024
Time: 6.00 am

I traveled more than 50 Km to take this shot, to capture the beauty of this comet rising above the Red Sea. I stayed all night with a couple of my friends and waited until 6.00 am till it became visible, and I wanted to share the result with you guys.

Camera: Nikon D3500
Mount: Skywatcher Star-Adventurer Mini
Lens: Nikon 80-200 F2.8

Settings:
80mm F4 iso 1600, 38x3s Subs
Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker
Processed in Adobe Photoshop

Lupus III Dark nebula complex - and a new amateur discovery?

Attached is a 2 panel mozaic of the Lupus III dark nebula complex. The contrast between the dark molecular cloud and the blue reflection nebula in the center makes it a striking and very interesting area.

The image contains a couple more reflection nebulae, but to my surprise, the nebula bordering to the NW of the Streicher 83 asterism (the 4 bright stars toward the top right) remains undesignated.

This could very well be a new discovery.


The image is a 2 panel mozaic, made of 208 5-minute subs.
Shot in Heaven’s Mirror Remote observatory, Yass, Australia.
Sharpstar 140 and asi 6200 camera.


Note to editors: larger quality image available upon request.

This is my submission of the the The Cocoon Nebula IC5146 captured in the Al salmi desert in Kuwait.

Cocoon Nebula (IC 5146) DescriptionThe Cocoon Nebula, also known as IC 5146, is a stunning emission and reflection nebula located in the constellation Cygnus. It lies about 3,300 light-years from Earth and spans approximately 15 light-years across. This celestial object is a striking example of star formation and interstellar medium dynamics.
The nebula displays both emission and reflection characteristics. The emission nebula is created by ionized hydrogen gas that emits light as it reverts to a lower energy state. The reflection nebula occurs where the dust scatters the light from the central stars, giving it a bluish hue.
Surrounding the bright nebula is a dark molecular cloud known as Barnard 168, which obscures the background stars and creates a striking contrast with the glowing central region.

Ha 22 x 600” (3hr 40min)
Ha 57 x 300” (4hr 45min)
L 188 x 180” (9hr 24min)
R 40 x 180” (2hr 00min)
G 45 x 180” (2hr 15min)
B 45 x 180” (2hr 15min)
R 25 x 300” (2hr 05min)
G 25 x 300” (2hr 05min)
B 25 x 300” (2hr 05min)
L 66 x 300” (5hr 30min)

Total integration time - (36hr 04min)

Gears:
M: CQ350
T: Sharpstar 15028HNT
C: ZWO ASI 2600MM Pro
F: Antlia

Cocoon nebula by Ahmed Alqallaf, on Flickr

Astrobin:
https://www.astrobin.com/be6mvd/

26,000 years is how long it took the photons of light coming from this remote area of ​​the Milky Way, located in the central-southern part of the Cygnus constellation, to reach us. A great galactic chaos is what is around the object SH2-99. This portion of the sky is located in one of the most important arms of our galaxy and is in the conjunction between the stars Sadr and Albireo. It is a chaotic region with young and hot stars full of clouds of hydrogen ionized by ultraviolet radiation emitted by young stars. The blue and orange filaments are intertwined and ionized clouds of sulfur and oxygen gas that create sinuous geometric figures similar to clouds while the darker parts are formed by interstellar dust that blocks the photons of light coming from the depths of the cosmos. All around is dense with stellar incubation activity as can be seen in the three brightest points of the photo, approximately in the middle, within which stars are currently being born.
The photo is a sum of about 77 hours of exposure . The picture was elaborated in SHO for the nebula and RGB for the stars.

Imaging Telescope: Tecnosky 300 F3.4 Fast Newton
Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI6200MM Pro
Mount: iOptron CEM120
Filters:
Chroma Blue 50 mm: 12×600″(2h)
Chroma Green 50 mm: 12×600″(2h)
Chroma H-alpha 3nm Bandpass 50 mm: 93×900″(23h 15′)
Chroma OIII 3nm Bandpass 50 mm: 98×900″(24h 30′)
Chroma Red 50 mm: 16×600″(2h 40′)
Chroma SII 3nm Bandpass 50 mm: 89×900″(22h 15′)

Location: Castillejar, Andalusia, Spain.

Copyrights: Alex Battù and Luca Barcaro
SH2_99-100. SHORGB by Astro Divers, su Flickr

A lovely pair in the southern sky ... by Herbert Walter, auf Flickr

One of about 150 - Messier 22 by Herbert Walter, auf Flickr

Moon and Venus Conjunction

Evening of Oct 5th, 2024

https://deepskyobjects.com/moon_venus_2024/
Copyright: Behyar Bakhshandeh, Carlsbad, CA

Hi,

My submission is The Soul Nebula - IC 1848

Copyright: Andrew Weller The Soul Nebula, or IC 1848, is a stunning emission nebula located about 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. This celestial wonder is a vibrant star-forming region, often paired with its neighbor, the Heart Nebula, to form the famous “Heart and Soul” duo. The Soul Nebula spans roughly 100 light-years and is home to several young star clusters and massive bubbles carved out by stellar winds

It was taken at my first-ever dark sky party.

Location: Kelling Heath - Norfolk, England.

Bortle 4.

Coordinates - 52.926535061208966, 1.1316055507311833

Date 03.10.2024 - Time: 21:00 - 04:00

Equipment: Telescope: Williams Optics GT81 IV, ASI1600MM Pro,

6hrs of SHO 6nm Filters

Hi,

My Submission for APOD, the "Tadpoles Swimming through the Cosmos (NGC1893)

Located in Auriga at 12,000 light years away from us, the Tadpoles nebula is called so for its dust and gas at its center that resembles little tadpoles. This cloud of glowing gas is over 100 light-years across. One light-year is equivalent to 6 trillion miles.
High res images at https://www.flickr.com/photos/devesh_pa ... ool-apods/ or https://www.astrobin.com/jdyrik/. Also on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/p/DAtNSkzJuUU/

Thanks,
Devesh Pande
AstroDarks

A solar maximum sunspot, AR3848

A deep deep look into one of the many glorious sunspots on the active Sun on October 5th 2024. Solar maximum refers to the peak of the Sun's 11 year cycle of activity. The burst of active regions and X-class flares this week remind us that, well, it doesn't really get busier than this. AR 3848 is a magnetically complex beta-delta-gamma sunspot large enough to be spotted from Earth with eclipse glasses. Imaged with a monochrome camera, Quark Chromosphere Solar filter and 2.5x Televue Powermate. False colour added in Photoshop. Imaged from the Ottawa Backyard.
Active Region3848 mono Oct 5 by Andrea Girones, on Flickr
AR3848 A Solar Maximum sunspot by Andrea Girones, on Flickr

Welcome to Solar Maximum in the Calcium K line

A deep deep look into one of the many glorious sunspots on the active Sun on October 5th 2024, this time in the Calcium K line located deep in the ultraviolet spectrum. Solar maximum refers to the peak of the Sun's 11 year cycle of activity. The burst of active regions and X-class flares this week remind us that, well, it doesn't really get busier than this.
In addition, the sunspots in the northern and southern areas are getting closer and closer to the equator, another indicator of the Solar Maximum.
AR 3842 in the southwest quadrant is a magnetically complex region had several X-class flares last week and launched a solar storm towards Earth causing aurora the night of October 6th 2024. You can also see a small calcium prominence along the edge.
Imaged with a monochrome camera, and a Lunt Calcium K 1200 Solar filter. False colour added with the Solar toolbox in Pixinsight ( violet for the ultraviolet
wavelengths) From the Ottawa Backyard

Solar Maximum Sun in Calcium K by Andrea Girones, on Flickr
Solar Maximum Sun in Calcium K by Andrea Girones, on Flickr

with a 2.5 x POwermate
Sunspoit 3842 in Caclium K ( with a little prom) by Andrea Girones, on Flickr
Sunspot AR3848 in Calcium K by Andrea Girones, on Flickr

Comet Tail of C/2023 A3 and Zodiacal Light
Photo description: Recently, friends from all over the world, especially in the southern hemisphere, have been sending beautiful photos of C/2023 A3’s long tail. Taiwan, however, was ravaged by typhoons and northeast monsoons. It was finally clear yesterday (October 7), but the comet's nucleus was too close to the sun, making it difficult to observe. So I chose to observe the tail of the comet's nucleus before it rose. At 4:35 in the morning, the comet's core was still 7 degrees below the horizon, but its long tail shot into the sky from the eastern mountaintop like a powerful searchlight, with a length estimated to be about 20 degrees! At this time, there happens to be a very clear zodiacal light in the eastern sky, and the comet's tail is like a branch of the zodiacal light, forming a very special phenomenon. The ground-based observation of C/2023 A3 before sunrise has come to an end, and we are looking forward to its beautiful figure after sunset in mid-October.
Equipment Details: Canon EOS R6 with Tamron SP 24-70mm F2.8 Lens(24mm)
Post-processing Details: Use Sequator156 to superimpose 21 consecutive photos, with a single exposure of 5 seconds.
Location : Hsinchu, Taiwan
Time: October 7, 2024 4:35 am
Photographer : Meiying Lee (李美英)

Moon phases over the sun in Chile.
Copyright: Marcelo Maturana Rodríguez (@matuutex)
Location: Los Muermos, Quillahua, Lakes Region, Chile
Coordinates: 41°24′00″S 73°29′00″O
Date: 02 October 2024
Instagram: @matuutex
Nikon d5600
Foreground: Tokina lens 14/20mm f2 (14mm f6.3 expo:1/3200 iso:100) HDR
Sun eclipse phases: Nikkor lens 70-300mm f4.5-6.3 (300mm f6.3 expo:1/160 iso:100) with solar filter

Anxious wait and high expectations that this beautiful spectacle and event of nature brings with it, the sun and the moon performed their celestial dance, in an encounter that we were lucky enough to see in Chile and South America.

But there was a problem and that is that in Puerto Montt, the city where I live, the area would be flooded with dense cloud cover that did not even give way to an iota of sunlight, having to move towards the beautiful glanders coast, specifically Quillahua.

Moon phases over the sun in Chile by Marcelo Maturana, en Flickr

Paschen series from flash spectrum
The Paschen series is clearly visible in this spectrum taken at C3 during the total solar eclipse of 8 April 2024, from Arkansas. Lines from P9 to P25 are visible. Paschen series is a series similar to the well known Balmer series (with main line H-alpha=B3), with the only difference of starting orbit #3 instead of #2.

More images and details:
https://comolli.astrosurf.com/ecl24a.htm (scroll down to flash spectrum images)

Copyright Lorenzo Comolli, Emmanuele Sordini, Alessandro Gambaro, Paolo Berardi

Good Day,

I hope this message finds you well! Attached below is my image and supporting information for your kind consideration of a NASA APOD.

Image Title: Rippling Clouds

Explanation: This snapshot features a dynamic sky where the clouds resemble rippling waves of water, creating a textured backdrop. The sun peeks through the undulating clouds, illuminating them with a golden glow and adding depth to the scene.

Details Regarding Data Acquisition:
Photographed by: Amaar Amir
Social Media: @_amaar_amir
Date: 02/10/2024
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Camera: Samsung Z Fold 5 (3x optical zoom lens)
Software: Lightroom (mild contrast and saturation boost)

Kindest Regards,
Amaar Amir

Rippling Clouds by Amaar Amir, on Flickr

In the heart of the Dragon, The Laughing Skull Nebula - LBN 406



In the heart of the Dragon, The Laughing Skull Nebula - LBN 406 by
.zombi., on Flickr

Imaging telescopes: Takahashi FSQ-106EDXIII
Imaging cameras: Moravian G3-16200EC
Accessories: Reducer-QE 0.73X
Mounts: Sky-Watcher NEQ6-Pro
Software: N.I.N.A. · PixInsight · Adobe Photoshop

Frames:
Blue: 10×300″(50′)
Green: 10×300″(50′)
Red: 10×300″(50′)
UV/IR Cut / Luminance: 276×300″(23h)

Photographic technique: LRGB

Integration: 25h 30′
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 3/4.5

Location: Masłomiąca
Dates: 03.2024 - 05.2024

Description:
Most of the L frames were made under a Bortle 4.5, SQM 20.31 suburban sky, and 12 L frames and all RGB frames were collected under a Bortle 3, SQM 21.55 sky

Image Credit & Copyright: Przemysław Ząbczyk

Links:
http://www.astrobin.com/users/zombi/
https://www.astropolis.pl/tags/zombi/

The Helix Nebula in RGB H-alpha and O3. Imaged remotely from Spain with the Epsilon 130ED. Exposure times were 60x 60s in each RGB 120x 180s in Ha and 170x 180s in O3. Processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop

Additional information
This really isn't the ideal focal length for this object but at the time the pier wasn't busy and the Helix doesn't get particularly high in the sky peaking around the 30º mark, so would probably be wasted using one of the longer focal length piers. Despite this I think the Epsilon hasn't done too bad a job for a 130mm/430mm FL scope.

The animation
I thought it would be interesting to put an animation together to see how the Helix changes in appearance by using different combinations of filters. What I really liked was how the addition of the O3 data brought out some really beautiful pink tones, even after using continuum subtraction techniques to avoid contaminating the RGB layer.

https://cdn.astrobin.com/images/25750/2 ... e09115.gif
please click the link to watch the video

The image 2 compares the how the available signal influences the final result. What surprised me the most was the O3 shows so much more detail in its raw form but when added quite a lot seems to be somewhat subdued in the final image. However the H-alpha was a different story, it seemed overwhelm it.



Image 3
During any of my more involved processing sessions my aim is to push the process as deep as possible to show as much as I can. Sometimes I like to take the data beyond to reveal anything that I've not seen before. In this case I noticed this arc extending from the shell. Now I know that we have to be very careful, especially when we are working so close to the noise floor, not to confuse what is real to any artefacts that can manifest themselves through the natural progression of the process. In this case I think this could be a real feature and possibly even an extension of the outer shell.


The fact that the feature shows itself convincingly enough and arcs coherently to the profile of what we know to be the shell........or it could just be nothing!!......but either way I think its worth some extra imaging time in the future to see it is actually a "real thing". I simply ran out of time to verify this detail as it sits so low from our location in Spain.



Perhaps someone else might be able to grab some deeper data from a more suitable location where it reaches a higher altitude!
The approximate J2000 coordinates for centre of the 'T' as marked on the image are Ra: 22 28 11.6 Dec: -20 57 33


.....and if you made it all the way to bottom of this page you can give yourself a gold star * Thank you for taking the time to read my waffle

Peter Shah

Aurora over Manhattan

Taken from Williamsburg. Brooklyn, NY. Looking north west.
Apple iPhone 13 pro
Adobe Lightroom

Aurora flaring over the Empire State Building on the night of October 10th, around 11:00pm EST.

Aurora @ Ancona by Andrea Amici - Andrystix

Last night's aurora in the sky of Ancona, Italy
Panorama 3 raw:
sky & aurora: 20x 15sec f/4 ISO1000
city: 0.5sec f/4.5 ISO 1000

Social: @andrystix on FB, IG & Flickr

Title : Northern Lights, STEVE Arc in France

copyright : Julien Looten (https://linktr.ee/julienlootenphotographie)


A second night of madness…
Five months to the day after the intense geomagnetic storm that left such a mark on us—and that some had the misfortune to miss—here we go again... It all started two days ago when a massive X-class solar flare propelled a gigantic coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth. This hit our planet yesterday afternoon, generating polar auroras that have been illuminating the sky ever since. Our American friends, by the way, are still busy photographing them…

However, the observation was much more challenging than last May, mainly due to erratic and even catastrophic weather conditions over much of France. We had to be patient and dodge clouds and showers. But what a thrill… Seeing the Northern Lights in France, at such low latitudes, and with such intensity, is truly a grand spectacle! Many photos were taken last night, but here is the most striking one…

I am at Fort d'Ambleteuse on the Opal Coast, in northern France. It is a stone construction, built under Louis XIV, meant to prevent English invasions. This fort is constantly battered by storm surges from the sea, but this was surely one of the most intense geomagnetic storms it has ever faced. While the auroras danced above the fort, even reflecting in the water surrounded by pebbles, a rare phenomenon occurred: the SAR arc suddenly changed shape, becoming whiter and moving much faster. This is known as a STEVE arc, which can be seen on the far left of the image.

I had never seen one before, and I wasn’t expecting it to be so fast, with white flashes of light at the zenith that lasted only a few minutes. Fortunately, the camera’s exposure time was short—just a few seconds. You can see red (SAR), white, and even blue in this STEVE. Later, the classic SAR arc reformed. The origin of this STEVE is still relatively unknown to scientists. We can also spot the Andromeda galaxy at the top right…

A crazy night that definitely calls for some rest! I’ll do more research once I’ve recharged my batteries…

Exif: Panorama of 8 photos taken with the Sigma Fp L2-astronomik and Sigma 14mm f1.8 – 2.5s – 2000iso – 10:56 PM in France.

thanks in advance, cleart sky

The Cats Eye Nebula in RGB Ha and O3. Imaged remotely from Spain with the 16in Dall-Kirkham and the Player One Poseidon M-pro...I am really liking this new camera so much cleaner than the previous ZWO with far superior cooling.
Exposure times were 60x 60s in each RGB filters, 240x 60s each in O3 and H-alpha.
Imaged at 1x1 then software binned to 2x2 Processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop.
Thanks for looking
Peter Shah



Additional Info
Anyone who has imaged this one knows how difficult it is to pull out the core detail. Looking the stunning high res-HST image was very useful for reference making it easier to see similarities in the core structure.... I wanted to see if I was able to pull out those beautiful spokes, but honestly I think I was kidding myself to think I could do it with a modest 16in ground based scope. However If I squint my eyes to the point where they are virtually closed and believe like a kid at Christmas sometimes I think there is evidence of them being there!!!
The concentric rings or shells and the knotted jets however are a different story they are quite clearly shown, more visible in the O3 data, virtually nothing in the Ha and only a hint in the RGB. I did take some Helium data but it really didn't bring much to the party so I excluded it from the final image. You have to roll the dice once in a while!




The He2 data...not showing a huge amount relatively speaking.



The animation shows various stages and components from RGB through to the O3 and Ha that I used to create the final image.

Reflection on the Aurora- Timelapse
Wait for it.... see how fast the aurora can brighten and grow. Especially during a G4 level geomagnetic storm as we experienced on Earth October 10, 2024. T

This was a mere 30 minutes next to a beautiful creek in Kinburn Ontario on the fantastic night of October 10th 2024.

Taken on October 11, 2024

Aurora reflection October by Andrea Girones, on Flickr

Aurora All around.....
About last night.....you may have heard, we had a G4 level geomagnetic storm last night and KP8 level Aurora. This was an extreme event with aurora seen as far south as Florida and Mexico. A solar storm was launched towards Earth from the sun a day or so ago and arrived with great speed and density, and impacting the Earth's magnetosphere in a very significant way. This intense auroral storm will be studied by scientists for decades.
I hope you got a chance to see it if not, enjoy this pretty picture of the auroral display over a creek in Kinburn Ontario.

Its Raining Aurora by Andrea Girones, on Flickr