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September 2011, old friends revisited: NGC 7293, M31, NGC 253, M33 taken in southern France with C11, Hyperstar 3 @ f/2, Starlight Xpress H18
NGC 7293 (Helix Nebula): Taken with C11, Hyperstar 3 @ f/2, Starlight Xpress H18, Astronomic Ha & S[II] filters & Sloan g-r-i photometric filters. Not the usual combination, but I was using the Sloan filters for other work and decided to continue with them. 5.5 hours & 68 images total. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
M31, Andromeda: Hadn't photographed this for a couple of years and wanted to try it with the H18 & Sloan g-r-i- filters. Taken with C11, Hyperstar 3 @ f/2, Starlight Xpress H18, Astronomic Ha filter & Astrodon Sloan g-r-i photometric filters. +/- 7 hours & 80 images total. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
NGC 253 (Sculptor Galaxy): Taken with C11, Hyperstar 3 @ f/2, Starlight Xpress H18, Astronomic Ha filter & Astrodon Sloan g-r-i photometric filters. +/- 4 hours & 50 images total. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
M33, the Triangulum Galaxy: Taken with C11, Hyperstar 3 @ f/2, Starlight Xpress H18, Astronomic Ha filter & Astrodon Sloan g-r-i photometric filters. +/- 6 hours & 80 images total. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
March - June 2011: Sh2-171, NGC7380, NGC 7023 & Markarian's Chain Celestron 11", Hyperstar 3 & Starlight Xpress H18
Sh2-171, 14 hours total exposure. This image was published in the September 2011 issue of Astronomy Now. Narrowband in Hubble palette with [SII] = red, Ha = green and [OIII] = blue, Astronomik 12nm filters. Taken with 11" Celestron Nexstar & Hyperstar 3, Starlight Xpress H18. Stacked in Maxim, finished in Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
NGC 7380, 10.6 hours total exposure. Narrowband in Hubble palette with [SII] = red, Ha = green and [OIII] = blue, Astronomik 12nm filters. Taken with 11" Celestron Nexstar & Hyperstar 3, Starlight Xpress H18. Captured & stacked with MaximDL, finished with Photoshop. This image appeared in the July 2011 issue of Astronomy Now. Click here for larger version.
NGC 7380, 10.6 hours total exposure. in this case with emissions balanced to reflect actual proportions. Narrowband with [SII] = red, Ha = green and [OIII] = blue, Astronomik 12nm filters. The greenish color reflects the predominance of Hydrogen alpha over [OIII] & [SII]. Taken with 11" Celestron Nexstar & Hyperstar 3, Starlight Xpress H18. Captured & stacked with MaximDL, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
NGC 7023, the Iris Nebula, 2.5 hours @ f/2 using Astrodon Sloan gri photometric filters. Taken with 11" Celestron Nexstar & Hyperstar 3, Starlight Xpress H18. Captured & stacked with MaximDL, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
Markarian's Chain in Virgo, a favorite subject of mine . Taken this time with 11" Celestron Nexstar & Hyperstar 3, Starlight Xpress H18, using Astrodon Sloan gri photometric filters (see also next page for comparison with image taken with OSC M25c). Captured & stacked with MaximDL, finished with Photoshop. Click hier for larger version.
These photos were taken in part in southern France and for a large part from my backyard in the Netherlands - in both cases, with the telescopes in the open field on a mobile tripod - which presents challenges of its own in terms of wind, vibration and tracking errors. Most images formed part of a project for my MSc (Astronomy) at Swinburne. My first experiences with narrowband and photometric imaging!
June 2011 : Supernova SN 2011dh in M51 & May 2011 : SN 2011by
This image is a composite of 40 images and 4 hours, taken during that period with an 8" Meade LC200-ACF, Starlight Xpress SXV-M25C and/or H18. Click here for larger version.
This image is a comparison of an image of M51 I took in 2010, with the images from June 3 & 4, 2011, before and after the supernova. Both taken with an 8" Meade LC200-ACF, Starlight Xpress SXV-M25C. Click here for larger version.
This gif animation shows the development of the supernova starting from June 3rd 2011 and continuing through 7 observations. Several measurements have been done since then, and once we have reached August, I will update the series. Click here for larger version.
This image, which appeared in the July issue of Astronomy Now, is a composite of 37 images and nearly 4 hours total of NGC 3972 and the surrounding field, showing SN 2011by. The insert is from the second Palomar Observatory Sky Survey, pre-supernova, for comparison. Taken with an 8" Meade LC200-ACF, Starlight Xpress SXV-M25C. Click here for larger version.
On June 3rd, 2011, I received an Atel on supernova SN 2011dh and was fortunate enough to have clear skies the same night, and several more during the next few weeks. My primary goal was to measure the apparent magnitude. The happy side effect was several hours imaging a target I would not normally have tried this time of year. Imaging was severely hindered by the lack of astronomical darkness here at 52N at that time of year, and the unhappy fact that M51 disappears behind a large tree around 01:00, just before the darkest time of the night.
SN 2011by was imaged in southern France at the end of April & beginning of May.
March - May 2011 : NGC 4565, NGC 4038 & the Eta Carina Nebula
NGC 4565, the Needle Galaxy, taken in southern France with an 8" Meade LC200-ACF, Starlight Xpress SXV-M25C, using a Starlight AO unit. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
NGC 4038, the Antennae Galaxies. This remains a challenging target with a small scope and in southern France where it is still close to the horizon. 1.5 hours, taken with an 8" Meade LC200-ACF, Starlight Xpress SXV-M25C, using a Starlight AO unit. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
A section of the Eta Carina nebula in Ha. Taken in SE Australia with an 8" Meade LC200-ACF, Starlight Xpress SXV-H18, using a Starlight AO unit and 12nm Ha Astronomik filter. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
The Keyhole section of the Eta Carina nebula.. Taken in SE Australia with an 8" Meade LC200-ACF, Starlight Xpress SXV-H18, using a Starlight AO unit and 12nm [SII], Ha & [OIII] Astronomik filters, Hubble palette. This one suffers from too little exposure time, 2.5 hours total, and literally a few minutes of [OIII] due to cloud cover during my stay. But I was determined to get at least a few minutes on this one! Click here for larger version.
The last two images of Eta Carina were taken in Australia, during my trip to pick up my MSc (Astronomy) degree at Swinburne in Melbourne. I had a wonderful, dark site - and nearly 9 days of solid cloud cover! The result was only two somewhat presentable images, but I had a great time photographing amazing wildlife and nature for compensation.
The first two images were taken in southern France where the weather was fortunately somewhat better, although even there, not what we are used to at that location.
