Starship Asterisk*

Sh2-263 & vdB 38
http://www.distant-lights.at/sh2-263-2020_01_01.htm
Copyright: Thomas Henne

The Spaghetti Nebula and the Star Alnath



The Star Alnath (or Elnath), prominent in the bottom left, is the point of the right horn of the constellation Taurus and also a part of the Auriga Constellation. It is one of only two known stars to reside as principle stars in there respective constellations. Technically a binary star, Alnath is a mercury-manganese star with large signatures of other elements present. It is the 27th brightest star in our night sky and is 700 times the luminosity of our Sun.

Also known as Simeis 147, The Spaghetti Nebula is a beautiful mixture of colors highlighting the expanding shockwave of material ejected from this stellar explosion. This leftover supernova remnant occupies the space between Taurus and Auriga and spans 3 degrees of the night sky. The nebula stands out against a velvety, jewel encrusted swath of sky that is just above the ecliptic reaching out far beyond our Galactic borders.

Astrobin for larger version, plate Solve and more details: https://www.astrobin.com/livpeg/#c715196

The Spaghetti Nebula & The Star Alnath
Sharpless 2-240/Simeis 147
Mosaic of 1.2 Panels to include Elnath
Captured from The Marathon Sky Park, Marathon Texas

ACQUISITION:
February 6th-April 12th, 2021
Integration:
35 x 1800s Hydrogen
35 x 1800s Oxygen
180 x 60s Luminance
180 x 60s Red
180 x 60s Green
180 x 60s Blue
49.4 Total Hours

EQUIPMENT:
Takahashi FSQ106 w/Takahashi 645 Reducer @ f3.6, 380mm
QHY600m + QHY7CFW
Antlia LRGB Pro 50mm filters & Baader 50 Ha, O3
WO Guide scope
QHY5lii Guide Camera
Astro-Physics Mach 1

ImNewHere wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 12:53 am NGC 6729 (also known as Caldwell 68) is a reflection/emission nebula in the constellation Corona Australis. It was discovered by Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt in 1861. This image also contain NGC 6726, NGC 6727, IC 4812, and the globular cluster NGC 6723. located to the upper left of IC 4812 and a planetary nebula shown as a red circle can also be seen in this image locate to the right of IC 4812. Part of the Corona Australis molecular complex is also shown in this image.

NGC6723_NGC6729_LRGBv3 by Scotty Bishop, on Flickr

Details

Fixed a slight defect in this one with this.

I have no idea why it wouldn't let me edit my original post though.

NGC6723_NGC6729_LRGBv4 by Scotty Bishop, on Flickr

ImNewHere wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 11:53 pm
I have no idea why it wouldn't let me edit my original post though.

It had been too long since you made the OP.

The Statue of Liberty Nebula

9,000 light years away is this spectacular scene. NGC 3576 - a statue rising out of dense clouds with filaments looping overhead shaped by powerful stellar winds. Next to it is NGC 3603 - a glowing cloud of gas, dust and stars some 11,000 light years further on, which at its center you can see a Wolf–Rayet multiple star system, known as HD 97950.

Copyright: Matthew Sole


https://cdn.astrobin.com/solutions/imag ... 120536.png

Astrobin link: https://www.astrobin.com/rcn19u

Acquisition details:
SII: 28 x 600s
Ha: 34 x 600s
OIII: 31 x 600s

Total: 15.5 hours

Gear:⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
Scope: #skywatcheraustralia Esprit 100ED
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R PRO⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
Imaging camera: ZWO ASI294MM & ZWO 36mm narrowband filter set
Guiding: Sky-Watcher Evoguide ED50 with an ASI290mm⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
Location: Wellington, New Zealand - Bortle 4 skies.⁣⁣

"M63 - Au Naturale and Deep Version". A simpler re-process of my prior version. KG Observatory, Julian, CA.

https://www.astrobin.com/x8gn7t/

"UFO Galaxy" NGC2683

Nick Pavelchak
https://www.astrobin.com/7i1uau/

Iron Sky (UHD) by Andrystix - Andrea Amici

Ancona, Italy. 14th April 7.30 - 9.30 PM
I've taken this panorama on Wednesday during the evening.
The Orion Complex and the waxing Moon with a stunning sunset.
It was a tiny breath of fresh air, because of covid fault in Italy we're still forced to stay home.
The image is the result of 3 tracked frames for the sky (30 pictures for 15 min signal) plus other 3 frames untracked for the ground put together in PS.
Nikon D750 (modded), AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II, iOptron Skyguider Pro, Nisi Filter Soft ND4 (to reduce light pollution).
Sky 70mm, 30 seconds @ f/4, ISO 400
Ground 70mm, 30 seconds @ f/7.1, ISO 100
Social andrystix on Instagram, Facebook and Flickr (available in UHD).

SUPERNOVAE IN VIRGO [INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION]

This time around it was the curfew that blocked me from shooting it myself. So, my partner in crime from California, Tara Mostofi, saved me once again, shooting the target on 16th of April. Supernovae are much more rare than novae and can outshine at their peak an entire galaxy. These events are extremely violent and... useful! The supernovae of class Ia all share the same brightness, which means they can be used as a ruler for the distances in the universe, a property which is impossible to underestimate. The galaxy in which this specific supernovae exploded is known as IC 3322A and is situated in a galaxy-rich region of the night sky - you can see how many of them have been detected by the tool I used for the annotation (though it "skipped" the most interesting one - the galaxy in which SN2021hiz supernovae exploded).

Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer mount + Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED (72/420mm) + Sky-Watcher generic flattener + Canon 80D (120s, ISO800). Pre-processed using bias, darks and flats (Siril). Stacked 98 frames (Siril). Initial post-processing in Siril, sent through starfixer and final touches in RawTherapee. Annotation done with astrometry.net and Gimp

Interactions in Sextans

Copyright: Jonathan Talbot

A favorite galaxy pair of mine, NGC 3169 and 3166. NGC 3169 has a very disrupted outer halo and several tidal tails due to gravitational interactions with NGC 3166.

Full res and un-cropped 60mp image here: http://www.starscapeimaging.com/NGC%203 ... _3166.html

An Early Giant

Hi folks! First post here. I wanted to share with you what was an early image of Saturn, my first one of the year. Although we are still far away from the gas giants oppositions, on Tuesday 04/13 around 09:50 UTC incredible atmospheric conditions were seen for what are the usual skies of Buenos Aires, Argentina and luckily despite the relative low altitude of Saturn, it was reflected in the image. This one was the result of stacking several videos taken with a simple (14") Dobsonian telescope, a design created by the late John Dobson.

This year it's noticeable how Saturn appears less tipped, making the task of photographing the polar hexagon difficult. Too bad I didn't have enough time to take an IR capture to see it better, the clarity of dawn was gaining altitude (it was a race against the clock). I don't see any storms in sight but a few nice superficial details are present. Also, Dione and Tethys are lurking around Saturn.

More information can be found here:

https://www.espacioprofundo.com/topic/3 ... e-europa/ (Spanish)

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/7664 ... year-post/ (English)

April 2018 - March 2021
Location: San Romualdo - Ravenna (italy)
Meade LX200 GPS 12" with Starizona reducer/coma corrector F/7.1
Autoguide with Asi120mm on Meade ETX105
CCD QSI 540ws cooled -20
Baader RGB CCD, H-alpha 7nm and OIII 8.5nm filters
HA-OIII-RGB: HA 41x6min, OIII 38x6min, R 40x3min, G 45x3min, B 36x3min.
Acquired with: MaximDL5 - Calibrata con Dark, Bias and Flat
Processed with: MaximDL5, Astroart6, AstraImage5, Startools 1.6, Paint Shop Pro2021, plug-in Topaz, Nik and StarSpike Pro3

Cristina Cellini

Vela Supernova Remnant

https://www.astrobin.com/users/YovinRY/
Copyright: Yovin Yahathugoda
Full quality version here: https://cdn.astrobin.com/images/86236/2 ... eea595.jpg

The image was processed by combining RGB data with narrowband data in the HOO palette. The SII data was used with Halpha and OIII to create a synthetic luminance layer.

Telescope - Takahashi FSQ-106ED
Camera: FLI PL16803
Filters: Astrodon Ha 3nm, Astrodon OIII 3nm, Astrodon SII 3nm & Astrodon E-series RGB
Software: Photoshop 2020 & PixInsight
Location - Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Australia
Dates - December 2020 - February 2021

Lum - Synthetic Luminance
Halpha - 4x300s, 15x450s
OIII - 4x300s, 14x450s
SII - 4x300s, 5x450s
RGB - 5x240s per channel
Total Exposure time - 6.2 hours

Full acquisition details at https://www.astrobin.com/ubrs5j/0/

Messier 63 by David Duarte, sur Flickr
I captured this Galaxy over a period of 6 consecutive nights with a total of 12h30 of exposure, in my self-made observatory in south west of France Saint Paul Lès Dax.
This is the photo that required the most exposure time because I wanted to highlight the huge dust cloud that surrounds it.
https://www.facebook.com/davidduarteastrophotographie/

Technique :
>Telescope Type Newton 200/1000
> Camera ZWO ASi 1600 mmc Pro
> Capture Sequence generator pro
>Luminance filter = 86 x 300 seconds = 7h
>Luminance filter = 28 x 600 seconds = 4h
>Red filter = 30 x 60 seconds 30 min
>Green Filter = 30 x 60 seconds 30 min
>Blue filter = 30 x 60 seconds 30 min
> 12h30 of total exposure time
> No Offset, Darks, Flats
> Pixinsight processing
> Photoshop finishing

David Duarte Astrophotographie
https://www.facebook.com/davidduarteastrophotographie/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/david-dua ... tographie/

The Devourer of Worlds (Cometary Globule 4)

Copyrights: Nicolas Rolland & Martin Pugh
Full resolution: https://www.astrobin.com/oa9ky4/?nc=user


The Devourer of Worlds by Nicolas Rolland, sur Flickr

This picture is a composite between data acquired by two telescopes in 2018 & 2021:
- Riccardi Honders 305mm f3.8 for the wide field (17.3 hours)
- Planewave 17“ CDK @ F6.8 for the high res of CG 4 (21 hours)

RA: 07h 34m 22.7s
DEC: -46° 54’ 06.7“
Size: 70 x 48.8 arcmin
Orientation: Up is 0.6 degrees E of N
Location: Puppis
Distance: 1.3 kly

Acquisition December 2018 & February 2021
Total acquisition time of 38.3 hours.

In spring there is a big competition with two colossal galaxy: M101 and M51. When you take a low focal range, we have access of all little NGC objects around M101. Some islands in this vast ocean.
52 pictures 210 seconds each subs
Canon 6D modded with Telescope service 130 apo
Pixinsight and PS6

13-04-2021
Copyright: Raphaël Dubuc

Image Credit & Copyright: Yangshik Kong (https://www.instagram.com/kongyangshik/)


M82 <Cigar Galaxy >
Jan. 19, 2021 ~ April 8, 2021
telescope : GSO RC 10", ADT Korecton 58RC (x 0.8)
Imaging camera : ZWO ASI 294MM Pro (ASI 290mm Mini OAG)
Mount : RainbowAstro RST-300
Accessory: Rainbow Astro RSF10 secondary focuser · ZWO ASIAIR
Integration : 44.3 hours (LRGB add Ha)

Full Resolution
https://www.astrobin.com/full/8mqh4d/B/ ... real=&mod=

NGC 3610, NGC 3613, NGC 3619 & NGC 3642
http://www.distant-lights.at/ngc3610-2020_03_13.htm
Copyright: Thomas Henne

Hello folks here the Dark Doodad Nebula.
Telescope: SharpStar 150 f2,8
Guide Scope:Evoguide
Mount : Skywatcher HEQ5
Imaging camera: ZWO 2600MC
Guiding camera: ZWO 290 MC
Filters: Lpro
Plate solving: SGpro
Imaging software: Sgpro
Guiding software: PHD2
Processing software: Pixinsight
Lpro 90x120s exposure@100 Gain
Integration: 3 hrs

Davide Mancini,Perth,Australia,20_04_21
Copyright: Davide Mancini

Elephants trunk

1 hour of Ha and 1 hour of Oiii data

Combined in PixInsight with PixelMath

Shot from Churchville, PA

http://instagram.com/aignerastro

Eagle Nebula in Hydrogen Alpha

Colorized in PixInsight with PixelMath

~2 hours of integration shot from Churchville, PA in mid-April

http://instagram.com/aignerastro

https://cdn.astrobin.com/thumbs/EYQ0QKK ... v0RB4y.jpg
Copyright: Davide Mancini

Hello folks here Centaurus A
Telescope: SharpStar 150 f2,8
Guide Scope:Evoguide
Mount : Skywatcher HEQ5
Imaging camera: ZWO 2600MC
Guiding camera: ZWO 290 MC
Filters: Lpro
Plate solving: SGpro
Imaging software: Sgpro
Guiding software: PHD2
Processing software: Pixinsight
Lpro 90x120s exposure@100 Gain
Integration: 3 hrs

Messier 51 taken from by backyard in Pakesburg, Pennsylvania, USA.
Bortle: 5
Celestron Edge HD11
0.7x Focal Reducer (1960mm)
ZWO ASI294MC -15C
Celestron OAG with ASI174MM guide cam
Skywatcher EQ8R-PRO
6hr 24 min integration time (4 min subs)

Processing:
PIX: ABE, Background neutralization, Color Calibration, Mask Stretch, Luminace Extract and LRGB Combination.
Photoshop: Topaz Sharpening - improve focus, camera raw (clarity boost +15, dehaze -22) Topaz Denoise

Edit: fixed to link to 500k version of image. Apologies...

NGC 4565 "Needle" Galaxy as well as NGC 4562 and several IC galaxies in the background.
Image taken from Mayhill NM
LRGB 6,6,5,6 hours respectively

Details and full resolution image can be seen here: https://astrob.in/vgbv1c/0/
Thanks for looking!
Dave Doctor

M 104

LRhaGB : Crope:
full size&info : http://www.cielaustral.com/galerie/photo132.html

16 Hrs total frames
done with CDK 1000, Moravian C4-16000 on PW1000 near Actacama Desert in Chile, El Sauce Observatory

http://www.cielaustral.com
Copyright: Team CielAustral with J.C CANONNE, M. SELBY, G.CHASSAIGNE, N.OUTTERS, P. BERNHARD, D. CHAPLAIN & L. BOURGON