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<- Previous submissions

Smaug (aka nebula near LBN 325)
Direct link to full res image: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/541 ... 8a0c_o.jpg

This is 57h 40m of SHO+RGB exposure from a Bortle 9 zone. Captured using a 6" f/4 newtonian + ASI1600, on an Orion Sirius mount.

Full acquisition/processing info can be found in the photo description: https://www.flickr.com/photos/leftysast ... 4112719430

The Wizard Nebula - NGC 7380

An open cluster of stars and star factory.

Telescope: Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED
Imaging Camera: QHY 268M
Filters: Chroma ha, oiii & sii 3nm 36mm, Chroma RGB 36mm filters
Mount: Atlas EQ-G (modified)
Focuser: Moonlite NiteCrawler

Frames:
Chroma H-beta 3nm Bandpass 36 mm: 35×600″(5.5h)
Chroma oiii 3nm Bandpass 36 mm: 30×600″(5.0h)
Chroma sii 3nm Bandpass 36 mm: 30×300″(5.0h)
Chroma red 36 mm: 30×30″(.5h)
Chroma green 36 mm: 30×30″(.5h)
Chroma blue 36 mm: 30×30″(.5h)
Total Integration: 17h

Processing Software: Pixinsight, Photoshop

Hi everyone,

The Soul Nebula IC1848 ( Westerhout 5 )
The open cluster of stars, surrounded by cloud of dust and gas creating a beautiful Soul in the sky.
This iconic nebula located in Cassiopea, easier to photograph in narrowband.
6500 light years away, the Soul Nebula filled with several open clusters of stars and a large star forming region.
The colorful rendition when combined in SHO Hubble palette with the Oiii cores in blue and surrounded by stronger Ha/Sii.
Visible for most part of the year from the northern hemisphere, imaging the nebula is a bit challenging from the Equator since its quite low on the horizon.

LBN 673 Heart of the Soul Nebula

Deep inside the Soul Nebula is the star forming complex of IC 1871 & LBN 673. Rich with emission and dark nebula.

Image was taken with equipment below.
Mount: ZWO AM5
Camera: ZWO 2600MM Pro
OTA: Canon EF 600mm F4 L IS II
Antlia 3nm Narrowband filter
Processing: Pixinsight, Photoshop

Ha 32 x 300s
Oiii 48 x 300s
Sii 30 x 300s

Location: Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia
Bortle 4-5

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008528674754

IC348 and Barnard 3: An Angel vs Demon in HaLRGB

The following image of IC348 and Barnard 3 was taken from Rockwood Texas at Starfront Remote Observatories hosting my Epsilon 160ED and imaging equipment over multiple nights between 10/21/24 and 10/28/24.

IC 348 is an open cluster located in the constellation Perseus. It is a part of the larger Perseus molecular cloud complex and is about 3,200 light-years away from Earth. It is brightly illuminated and nearly obscured by Atik in this image. To the right of the field of view is Barnard 3, sitting beautifully against a background of red Ha emission that provides interesting contrast and detail to the foreground dark clouds.

Overall, the bright Atik with its bright halo and nearby IC348 mimic an Angelic structure against the demonic colors of the red / dark clouds of Barnard 3, hence the title. I will credit that comparison to my wife who thought of it when she saw it first and now I can't unsee it.

Imaging Telescopes Or Lenses
Takahashi Epsilon-160ED
Imaging Cameras
ZWO ASI6200MM Pro
Mounts
ZWO AM5
Filters
Chroma Blue 50 mm × · Chroma Green 50 mm × · Chroma H-alpha 8nm Bandpass 50 mm · Chroma Lum 50 mm × · Chroma Red 50 mm ×
Accessories
MeLE Quieter3 Mini PC · Optec TCF-Leo Low Profile Focuser · Pegasus Astro Indigo OAG · Takahashi Extender E-160ED 1.5X (TKA59595) · ZWO EFW 7 x 2″
Software
Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight LE
Guiding Cameras
ZWO ASI174MM Mini

Dates:
Oct. 21 - 28, 2024
Frames:
Chroma Blue 50 mm: 48×300″(4h)
Chroma Green 50 mm: 48×300″(4h)
Chroma H-alpha 8nm Bandpass 50 mm: 325×300″(27h 5′)
Chroma Lum 50 mm: 174×300″(14h 30′)
Chroma Red 50 mm: 50×300″(4h 10′)
Integration:
53h 45′

C/2023 A3 Approaching Milky Way by Michele Guzzini, su Flickr

I thought I had said goodbye to it, but here it is again! The comet C/2023 A3 is moving away from Earth and is "crossing," from our perspective, the Milky Way in the constellation Ophiuchus. It's not visible to the naked eye, but in photos, it's still a beautiful sight.

Nikon Z6a + Nikon Z 85mm F/1.8 S
37x60sec F/1.8 ISO 800
2024/11/02
Monti Sibillini National Park, Italy

NGC 7293 or God's Eye Nebula
144 frames of 300 seconds for 4 nights.
Sharpstar SCA 260 10" f5 telescope
ZWO ASI2600mcpro camera at -5°C
cgepro mount
ZWO ASI AIR PRO
ZWO EAF
ZWO EFW
ZWO 462 GUIDECAM
Optolong L extreme filter
Stacked in Astropixelprocessor processed in pixinsight
Jalisco México (bortle 7-8)
Photographer Emmanuel Delgadillo

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/541 ... 5979_o.jpg

Touching Antares in the south of Chile
Copyright: Marcelo Maturana Rodríguez (@matuutex)
Location: Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park, Lakes Region, Chile
Date: 16 June 2023
Instagram: @matuutex
Nikon d5600, Tokina lens 14/20mm f2
14mm f2 iso 2000 20 segs
180 degrees panorama

The Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park, from the Petrohué sector, was originally a cattle trail through which animals were moved between Lake Todos los Santos and Lake Llanquihue, via the Desolación pass. This route allows you to travel through dramatic changes in the landscape: from volcanic slag heaps to dense nothofagus forests, all nuanced by excellent views of the Tronador and Osorno volcanoes, La Picada hill and Todos Los Santos lake.

The place name desolation perhaps refers to the desert landscape of the portezuelo, which, devoid of all trees, has been covered by volcanic ash.

In the photograph we can see how this desolate tree seeks to reach the sky touching the constellation of Scorpio, specifically Antares, which in detail is the cloud formation of Rho Ophiuchi.

Touching Antares in south of Chile. by Marcelo Maturana, en Flickr

NGC 281 The Pacman Nebula
Telescope: Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED
Imaging Camera: QHY 268M
Filters: Chroma ha, oiii & sii 3nm 36mm, Chroma rgb 36mm filters
Mount: Atlas EQ-G (modified)
Focuser: Moonlite NiteCrawler

Frames:
Chroma h-beta 3nm Bandpass 36 mm: 35×600″(5.83h)
Chroma oIII 3nm Bandpass 36 mm: 35×600″(5.83h)
Chroma sii 3nm Bandpass 36 mm: 40×600″(6.66h)
Chroma red 36 mm: 30×30″(.25h)
Chroma green 36 mm: 30×30″(.25h)
Chroma blue 36 mm: 30×30″(.25h)

Total Integration: 19h 4m′

Processing Software: Pixinsight, Photoshop

From dusk to dawn
Copyright: Christos Doudoulakis.

Link to higher res. (4800x1569) Image at Flickr: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/541 ... 8a9_o.jpg

Info for the photos included: Canon 5DmkIV, Sigma Art 14 mm.
1st photo from right: f/2.2, 30’’, iso 800.
The other 4 photos: f/2.2, 30’’, iso 2500.

Location: Cape Sounion (37.66 N, 24.01 E), S. Attica, Greece.
Date/Time: Nov. 4 to Nov. 5, 2024. (from 1630 UT/1830 LT till 0350 UT/0550 LT, see under the photos for more info).

Copyright: Pál VÁRADI NAGY
Title: The Helium Sun
Exposure: stack of 40 scans, taken in roughly an hour, around 2024-11-06T11-00-00Z

I photographed the Sun, using a spectroheliograph, in the spectral line of Helium I D3. I applied quite some math to amplify the helium signal and render an image similar to what we are used to for hydrogen and/or calcium, instead of the delta shown often with data like ChroTel. An extra, the relatively bright triangle in the lower half is visible as a dark feature in the coronal image of AIA 211.

So this is the Sun, in the light of the death breath of main sequence stars.




Variants of the image in the Hungarian School of the hobby: https://www.asztrofoto.hu/galeria_image/1730910003

Ring of fire halo over Easter Island

Copyright: Ronald K. Ning
Instagram: @da_world_explorer

Easter Island / Rapa Nui, Chile
October 2, 2024
Nikon Z7ii (unmodified) + Tamron 35-150mm f2-2.8
ISO 50, f/2.2, 55mm, 1/100 s

This picture was photographed on the Oct 2024 annular solar eclipse at Easter Island. A few minutes after the "Ring of Fire" eclipse climax, I was able to move and get the composition of the sun over one of the Moai's.

The result was a 22 degree solar halo over the Moai's "Pukao", a topknot hat-like structure. It was amazing to experience, a rare astronomical and uncommon atmospheric optical event at one of the most enigmatic places in the world.

Whereas most of us seek to understand the bright lights of the Universe, American Astronomer E.E. Barnard sought out the darkness.

This image , shot over 9 hours one evening in November includes 5 dark nebulae know as Barnard 1, 2, 3 ,4 and 5. Barnard B1-B5 belong to the Perseus molecular cloud complex, which is located in a distance of 800 light-years from Earth. The Perseus molecular cloud contains several of the regions in the neighbourhood of the Sun that are most actively forming low- and intermediate-mass stars.
The reflection nebulae regions NGC 1333 (to the lower right in the image) and IC 348 (to the upper left in the image) are embedded in the Perseus molecular cloud.

Since clearly this was the part of space where the Barnard Catalogue of Dark Nebula all started, I wanted to know more about this “Barnard” person. Turns out he was pretty interesting ….

EE Barnard was an American astronomer who, along with Max Wolf, discovered that certain dark regions of the galaxy were actually clouds of gas and dust that obscured the more distant stars in the background. He was considered an “oberve-a-holic” and could be irritated and grumpy when it was cloudy ( hmmmmm…. sounds familiar….) He entered a comet hunting contest to earn money and ended up discovering 17 comets.
He was also a prolific astrophotographer, pioneering long exposures of the milky way as well as a devoted astronomer. His Barnard Catalogue lists a series of dark nebulae, known as Barnard objects, giving them numerical designations akin to the Messier catalog. They begin with Barnard 1 and end with Barnard 370. He published his initial list in a 1919 paper published in the Astrophysical Journal, titled "On the Dark Markings of the Sky with a Catalogue of 182 such Objects".

In 1916, Barnard discovered the second closest star system to the Sun. This star, which moves across our sky faster than any other, is now known as Barnard's Star. This is a departure from astronomical tradition, where most stars either have names from ancient mythology, or no names at all.
You may also be familiar with Barnards’ loop, located near the Orion Nebula.
It was fun to learn more about him.

The Absence of light- annotated by Andrea Girones, on Flickr
The Absence of light by Andrea Girones, on Flickr