Starship Asterisk*

H-alpha sun - The Firebird
Copyright: Rafael Schmall
https://www.astrobin.com/users/Rafeee/

If it doesn't rain, then there are veil clouds. But even before they came... Now the color was not the traditional one, but I gave the whole thing a slightly deeper shade of red.

Two recordings were made. One for the protuberance and one for the surface of the disc. Combining this, the field of view became larger and the details of the protuberance are better.

Image Details:
Equipment: Lunt LS-100 H-alpha - B1800, Fornax 150/100 - ZWO ASI 290MM
Exif data: exp: 1,0ms, gain:50, 30sec 10%
Processing: PIPP, Autostakkert3, Photoshop

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

The galactic arch above Chenonceau by Joel Klinger, sur Flickr

Here is the very first picture featuring the castle of Chenonceau and the arch of the Milky Way - reflecting in the basin of Catherine de Medicis.

The large dust and star structures of the galactic disk stand clear here, surrounded by plenty of stars part of the Milky Way too - yet far closer from us than the disk of our galaxy.
A subtle red or green veil spreads everywhere. It is actually a faint airglow filling the whole sky that night.

The reflection in the basin of Catherine de Medicis is absolutely magical and full of details!
In the bottom left corner, you can notice a trail that is not visible in the sky. It is not a fake: this is the path of the ISS that occurred while I was capturing the bottom of the panorama and that was not yet here when I was shooting the top of the upper part.


Nikon D610 Astrodon + Sigma 35mm Art
Panorama of 3 rows of 13 shots each
Sky: 13 shots @ 8s, f/2, ISO3200
Foreground: 13 shots @ 15s, f/2, ISO3200 + 13 shots @ 25s, f/2, ISO3200
No composite | No AI

Title : Cygnus Rising Above Mono Lake California
Credit : Roi Levi
Website : https://www.instagram.com/astroi_levi
Date : 18/05/2023


Mono Lake is a saline soda lake situated in Mono County, Eastern California, near the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
It is one of the oldest lakes in North America, estimated to be over 1 million years old.
The lake has no outlet, which means it has high levels of dissolved salts and minerals, making it highly alkaline.
Mono Lake is renowned for its striking tufa towers. These peculiar limestone formations were created by the interaction of freshwater springs and the alkaline lake water, resulting in the deposition of calcium carbonate over time.
Bortle 1 Dark Skies:

The Bortle scale is a measure of sky darkness and the visibility of astronomical objects from a specific location. It ranges from 1 (excellent dark sky) to 9 (severely light-polluted sky).
Mono Lake has been classified as a Bortle 1 dark sky area, indicating that it offers exceptional conditions for stargazing and observing celestial objects.
With minimal light pollution, the night skies above Mono Lake provide a clear view of stars, galaxies, and other astronomical phenomena.
Such as Airglow.

Airglow refers to the faint glow of Earth's upper atmosphere caused by various chemical and physical processes.
It typically appears as a diffuse, greenish glow that blankets the sky, especially in dark sky areas.
Mono Lake's Bortle 1 designation ensures that the airglow effect is less obstructed, allowing for better visibility of celestial objects against this atmospheric phenomenon.
Celestial Wavelengths that can be seeing from mono lake is outstanding the Celestial objects emit light across a broad range of wavelengths, from radio waves to gamma rays.
The specific wavelengths of light emitted by celestial objects depend on their composition, temperature, and other factors.
In the context of stargazing at Mono Lake, the Bortle 1 dark sky designation ensures that various celestial wavelengths can be observed with greater clarity and less interference from artificial light sources.

M57 - The Ring Nebula
Ok, an old standard that we've all imaged a million times. But as I was working with this image I collected last week, in the usual way, quite zoomed in on the nebula itself, it suddenly became apparent just what a beautiful star field it lies in. Backing away from the nebula really seems to show how it is floating in deep space, with a few stars in front and thousands of them (and galaxies) in the background. I really like the 3D sense this viewpoint offers.

Details:
QSI 660 camera on 250mm RC, Astronomic RGB filters
RGB 40 minutes each
Processed with PixInsight and Photoshop
Final image resolution 0.93 arcsec/pixel, 21 arcminute wide field
_

Incredibly unique and colorful Trifid Nebula (Messier 20) in the center and an open star cluster (Messier 21) in top-left. In the sky, these objects are located in the Sagittarius constellation in the direction of the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

About 9000 light years away from Earth, the Trifid Nebula itself is made of three different types of nebulae. The pink portion is an emission nebula where ionized hydrogen is emitting pinkish-colored light and is a star-forming region. In the center of this pink portion is a recently formed group of intensely bright and very rare "O" type stars that emit ultraviolet radiation strong enough to blow any nearby gas.

The blue portion is a reflection nebula, which is basically interstellar dust scattering light from nearby stars.

And then there are the super dark streaks which are dust clouds so dense and cold that they absorb all the visible light (hence dark).

Lastly, at a distance of about 3900 light years from Earth, the open cluster Messier 21 is made of young stars that were born only about 6.6 million years ago (after all the dinosaurs died).

This picture was taken from a Bortle 2 site in Tonto National Forest near Mogollon Rim in Arizona.

Integration time: 15 exposures of 300 seconds. No darks.

Equipment: 115 mm triplet scope, EQ6-R Pro mount, Nikon D5300 (modded), 50 mm guide scope, ASI Air Plus, Pixinsight.

https://www.astrobin.com/b38a0b/

IC 3104 and the dust complex in Chamaleon
This captivating capture of IC 3104 seems as though it's being cradled by a celestial quilt of interstellar matter, serving as an enchanting backdrop to this underappreciated cosmic gem. The texture of this backdrop, a tapestry woven with strands of light and shadow, is dust-laden, whispering tales of distant stars and cosmic processes at play.

Location: Yalgoo, Western Australia
Copyright: Ethan Wong
Camera: ZWO ASI 2600MM Pro
Telescope: Stellamira 90mm CF Triplet
Filters: Antlia LRGB V-Pro 36mm filters

More details here: https://www.deep-space-project.com/ic3104

Waning Crescent Moon near Pleiades over Egyptian Desert

Waning Crescent Moon near Pleiades over Egyptian Desert by Ahmed Waddah, on Flickr

Waning Crescent Moon rising on the 16th of June near Pleiades in Al Fayoum Desert in Egypt. I always wanted to do this shot but it would always be at the end of an imaging night and I would be taking calibration frames for my setups. One image for the sky and one for the foreground for composition.

Nikon Z6II
Rokinon 135mm
Fornax Lightrack II

Sky: 1x30 sec - ISO 1600 - f/2.8

Foreground: 1x 25 sec - ISO 100 - f/2.8

https://www.astrobin.com/5avqxm/

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

IC 1396 & VdB 142, Elephant's Trunk Nebula | SII - Hα - OIII tri-colour
https://www.mauricetoet.nl/DeepSky/i-hpPcfZD/A
Copyright: Maurice Toet

Herbig–Haro objects in the Pelican.
Click on above for larger image

Full info & higher resolution @ https://www.kinchastro.com/pelican--cyg ... -2023.html

The Pelican & North America Nebulas
Click on above for larger image.

Full info and high resolution @ https://www.kinchastro.com/pelican--cyg ... -2023.html

RCW 98 - The Coffee Bean Nebula in Norma

RCW 98 is one of the southern 182 objects that astronomers Rogers, Campbell and Whiteoak placed in their RCW catalogue published in 1960.
In particular RCW 98 is an HII region with a ring type structure around a Wolf Rayet star. Strong radiation from nearby stars is causing star formation in each bright section of the nebula where proto-stars have been detected by radio telescopes. The nebula is 310 thousands years old and it is ionized by super giant CPD-54 6791. The ionised gas has strong electron densities which are significantly high and produces star formation.

more info at
http://www.baskies.com.ar/PHOTOS/RCW%2098%20LHARGB.htm

Best Regards
Sergio

Dance of Fireflies in the Core of the Milky Way

While visiting a dark sky park this weekend to see the Milky Way core rise in the summer night sky, I got a rare treat: an uncountable number of fireflies had recently emerged in the central Illinois forest preserve. The dance of the terrestrial and celestial bodies, captured by the light they emit, was remarkable to witness. To create this composite picture, I combined the blinking of fireflies as they danced over 30 minutes, and the Milky Way core as it rose over one hour.

Location: Middle Fork River Forest Preserve, Illinois
Date: June 17, 2023
Copyright: Imran Sultan

Messier 3 by Mathieu Guinot, sur Flickr

Messier 3 (NGC 5272) is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful Northern globular clusters. Located around 32,000 light-years away in Canes Venatici, it is estimated to be 11.4 billion years old and is one of the largest and brightest globular clusters in the Milky Way, made up of around 500,000 stars.
M3 is also renowned for containing the largest population of variable stars known to date in a globular cluster, as well as a relatively high number of blue stragglers. These stars are young, hotter and brighter than the others, in stark contrast to the old stars of a globular cluster. How they formed remains a subject of research.

Acquisitions: 13h04 from June 1 to 6, 2023 in Amiens (France) with :
TOA 130 - FL645 telescope
Eq6-R mount
ASI 2600mm camera & LRVB Antlia filters
Pixinsight & Photoshop processing

L: 261 x 120s
RGB: 40 /50 /41 x120s

The Sun-Station
Copyright: Rafael Schmall
https://www.astrobin.com/users/Rafeee/

My best ISS transit photo so far. I have not been able to achieve such detail so far. You can see the modules, the attached cargo spaceships, and even the iROSA solar panels, already when they are unfolded. The crossing lasted 0.59 seconds. I practiced the preparation earlier. It was spectacular how the turbulence tossed the space station and the sun in waves.

Image Details:
Equipment: ZWO ASI 290MM, SW BD 120/900 ED, SWEQ5, Baader Solar Continuum II, Baader PL
Exif data: exp: 0,1ms, gain: 0, 500frame
Processing: Firecapture, PIPP, Photoshop

Location: Hungary, Somogy, Mernye

Hello,

Here's my image of IC 4592, the Blue Horsehead in Scorpius. The image was acquired from my remote telescope hosted at Deep Sky West in Rowe, New Mexico. The telescope used was a 305mm Riccardi-Honders running at f/3.8. The mount was an AP1100GTO AE running unguided. The camera was a QHY600PH Monochrome using Chroma 50mm square RGB filters and cooled to -10*C. A total of 18 hours of integration time across three filters and eight panels (mosaic) binned 2x2 (45 minutes each panel and each filter). Data were acquired between June 13 and June 18th 2023.



My Astrobin gallery can be found here...
https://www.astrobin.com/users/jwillson/
Jared Willson

NGC4725
A curious galaxy in Coma Berenices. It sports a double bar, an active supermassive black hole, and a single spiral arm. It has a distinct ring of active star formation, and is warped and distorted by the gravitational interaction of a nearby smaller galaxy (which is just outside the frame of this image).

Details:
QSI 660 camera on 250mm RC, Astronomic LRGB filters
L (192 min), RGB (40 min each)
Processed with PixInsight and Photoshop
Final image resolution 0.46 arcsec/pixel, 21 arcminute wide field
_

NGC 5617 - THE OPEN CLUSTER IN THE CONSTELLATION CENTAURUS



BEST DETAILS:
https://www.astrobin.com/full/6rhkpg/0/

EQUIPMENT:
Esprit 150mm triplet
zwo asi 6200mc
Mount CEM120
Frames 128X100"

LOCATION: Munhoz - MG - Brazil
DATES: From 06/08/2023 to 06/10/2023

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 ... lCopyright: Your name

Below is my animation for a period of 31 minutes in June 20th 2023. This was taken during my lunch break. I used a Quark based setup with additional D-ERF to minimize any tube currents.

Some details:

• Location: Espoo, Finland

• Time: UTC 08:22-08:53 on June 20th 2023

• Processing: Autostakkert3!, ImPPG and Photoshop

• Imaging details: 44 videos (raw, 8bit), 20 sec capture at 164 fps and 20 sec break between captures. 6 ms exposure time with a gain of 125 in Firecapture.

• Equipment: Full size Baader D-ERF, Altair Astro Starwave 102 mm f/7 doublet, Daystar Quark chromosphere, Rowan astro tilt adapter, ZWO ASI174mm

What is seen from the material:

• This shows both movement in the chromosphere but also very distinct movement in the protuberances. One can see plasma flow in many directions in the protuberance area but also a large snake-like filament on the chromosphere arcing towards the protuberance. Lower part of the frame shows and active area / sunspot 3340. Inverted and normal processing highlight different features and movement in a bit different way which is the reason they are all shown here.

• Earth (free image from Apollo era) sets the scale in which to compare the movement of the hydrogen plasma during this half an hour timelapse.

Animation is behind this link:


Still image (one frame from the animation) can be seen here: https://www.astrobin.com/lvmdwp/B/#rB

Moon and Venus conjunction


picture --> http://vittoriopoli.altervista.org/cong ... 062023.jpg

The fascinating conjunction Moon-Venus taken in the mountains of the Dolomites (Italy). I had climbed to an altitude of 2300 m asl to photograph the sunset in the mountains of the Dolomites when the show in the sky was this conjunction.


EQUIPMENT: Nikon D610 + Nikkor 200-500

LOCATION: The Pala Group - Dolomites - Italy

DATE: 21 June 2023

AUTHOR: Vittorio Poli ( http://www.vittoriopoli.com/ )

Rho ophiuchi and IC 4592 mosaic (APOD Submission)

This is my submission for APOD (Instagram: AstraPharma_Q8).
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/529 ... 0748_k.jpg


Rho ophiuchi and IC 4592 mosaic by Ali Alobaidly, on Flickr

Description:
As summer starts revealing its deadly fangs in the deserts of Kuwait and the heat rises to unbearable temperatures, only one thing consoles those of us in love with the stars. The river of the galaxy, as we Arabs called it throughout our history, unfurls above us, carpeting the sky in its presence. Edging the great river are two celestial murals of extravagant beauty, rho ophiuchi and IC 4592 mosaic. I often wonder, what would my desert dwelling ancestors imagine in those clouds had they had the benefits of long exposure. For me, I see a wide bellied kink holding a giant staff, glowing blue at its tip.
Technical details:

This is a two panel mosaic:

Panel 1:
Date: June 10, 2023
Frames: 23×300" at f/2.8
Total integration:1h 55′
Avg. Moon age: 21.80 days
Avg. Moon phase: 53.70%
Locations: Al Salmy Desert, Al Jahra Governorate, Kuwait

Panel 2:
Dates: April 18, 2023
Frames: 87×120″ at f/2.8
Integration: 2h 54′
Avg. Moon age: 27.73 days
Avg. Moon phase: 3.62%
Locations: Al Salmy Desert, Al Jahra Governorate, Kuwait

Calibration:
Darks: 30
Flats: 30
Bias: 50

Equipment:
Lens: Rokinon 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC
Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Mount: ZWO AM5
Accessories: ZWO ASIAIR Plus · ZWO EAF

2023 E1 ATLAS by Blake Estes, on Flickr

Planewave CDK 24"
FLI PL09000
R 8x180"
G 8x180"
B 8x180"

The Milky Way Over Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum is a surreal panorama of rocks sculpted by wind and time that captivates you with its grandeur. The golden dunes stretch to the horizon, while the Milky Way illuminates the desert night with a cascade of stars, enchanting the eyes and soul of anyone privileged enough to admire it.

The allure of the desert and the warmth of the Bedouin people blend in a unique symphony. Every step among the ancient rocks is a journey through time and spirit, where ancient cultures and timeless humanity converge.

Wadi Rum is much more than a physical place; it is a dimension that nourishes our connection with the earth and with other human beings. It is where your heart opens up, where simplicity and essence prevail, and where you can experience a sense of peace and profound wonder.

_________________________________________________________________

June 15, 2023
Sony α7 III mod Super UV-IR cut - Sony FE 12-24mm F4 G
Omegon MiniTrack LX3
One photograph for the terrestrial and a tracking panorama of two shots for the sky.

Developed with PixInsight and Photoshop 2023
Copyright: Luca Fornaciari

https://www.flickr.com/photos/198200988 ... ed-public/

The giant solar prominence on the east limb of the sun June 21, 2023, A timelapse of 75 minutes on the sun imaged with a Quark solar filter, 102 ed refractor and the ASI174mm camera from the backyard in Ottawa Canada.

Milky Way Rises Behind the Ancient Bristlecone Pines 6/17/2023 by Transient Astronomer, on Flickr

Image credit and copyright Tom Masterson www.transientastronomer.com