The Suffolk Sky » orion

NGC2024 and M78 Images from 01/14/2012

Hersey — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:59:49 +0000

Here are my images from Saturday 01/14/2012. Started out really cloudy but then cleared for a bit. Clouds rolled back in again just after midnight.

My equipment was working great. I love it when everything gets set up and works just like it is suppose to with out having to spend tons of observing or imaging time to get things right. Tonight was one of those nights. Alignment was right on, GOTOs were perfect, and guiding was making the corrections as it should.

These images were taken with my Orion Star Shoot DSI II camera through my AT66 while guiding with Starshoot Autoguider on the Celestron C6.

This image is 15 x 2 minute exposures of the Flame Nebula (NGC2024) in Orion. Equipment was working well and guiding was right on. I think it turned out nice. Next time I will up the exposure time a bit more. There is still a lot of detail in there that can be brought out with more data.

Messier 78 (M78) in Orion was my second target of the night. Again this is 15 x 2 minute exposures. I would have taken more of this one but the clouds moved in and ended imaging for the night. I really need to revisit this one and get some longer exposures.

While I was taking the darks and before the clouds obscured everything but the rising moon I took a few minutes to check out Mars. Could not make out any details but the red planet is bright and easy to find. Will be focusing a camera on Mars soon.

Imaging/Observing Log – January 29, 2011 – IC434 (Horsehead Nebula) and M42 (Orion Nebula)

Hersey — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:27:59 +0000

I wanted to get these posted to share. I will update with details fore each before the end of the week. Enjoy…

The Orion Nebula (M42)

Flickr link for this image is http://www.flickr.com/photos/herseyc/5401039974/in/photostream/

Open Cluster – M37

Flickr link for this image is http://www.flickr.com/photos/herseyc/5401127642/in/photostream/

The Horsehead Nebula – IC434

Flickr link for this image is http://www.flickr.com/photos/herseyc/5400436753/in/photostream/

Imaging/Observation Log – 11/06/2010 – M33 Triangulum Galaxy

Hersey — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 13:33:15 +0000

This weekend was my first chance in several weeks to do some imaging. Things have been busy and when I have had down time either the clouds moved in or I just had time for a quick look. The weather report for the weekend was promising – mostly clear and cool. Friday night there were a few clouds moving through so I really did not do any imaging. I took the time to get the mount balanced and aligned and get the guiding working.

Saturday night was clear and cool (cold actually). The mount had a good polar alignment and was balanced well thanks to my efforts the night before. Seeing was pretty good – probably a 7 maybe even an 8, as was transparency at about 7-8. I decided to focus my imaging efforts on a single target – Messier 33 (M33) Triangulum Galaxy.

My guiding was working pretty well I was able to guide rock solid for 35 minutes then there were some issues, I think maybe there is a bad place in the mount since I have had this issue before. I need to take the time to look into this so I can get some longer exposures and sets, but it was cold and I was happy with what I had. I took a little over 30 minutes of 2 minute exposures of M33 and ended up with 13 very nice subs to stack. I also took 10 minutes of darks (5 x 120 seconds) to use.

Here is a quick shot I took of the laptop while imaging. You can see the PHD Guiding window to the left and the Maxim DL Essentials window (with M33) on the right.

The image of M33 is a stack of 13 120 second color images taken with the Orion Star Shoot DSI II attached to my Astro-Tech 66mm scope (400mm Focal length), no other filters, reducers or correctors were used. I used my Celestron C6 SCT (with f/6.3 focal reducer) and the Orion Star Shoot autoguider camera to guide.

This is just the stack and adjustment of the RGB, Luminance, and saturation in Deep Sky Stacker. I did not do any post processing clean up in gimp (except to convert it to jpeg).

I am really happy with this image and I learn a bit more each time I go out. This is definitely a nice target that I will revisit.

Flickr page for this image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/herseyc/5154280096/

I have some narrow-band filters on the way so I am looking forward to experimenting with them

Orion and M3

Hersey — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 11:17:20 +0000

Last night was the first clear sky in a while. It was good to get out and look around, even if it was only for a little while.

Set up early in the day on Saturday, but the clouds moved in. It looked like it would probably clear after midnight, but I did not stay up and wait.

Last night was cool and clear, but not cold. The temperature was actually warm enough that it was comfortable with just a light jacket. I love spring. Was only out for a couple hours after dark – from about 8:00 PM till 10:30 PM. It was a work night and 5:30 AM comes quick when you are up half the night. I hope to get out a couple more nights this week.

Checked out M81, M82, and a few other objects. I tried to locate the Crab Nebula, I think I found it but it appears a just a gray smudge. I am going to spend some more time on this another night.

Took some images of a couple of my favorites – The Orion Nebula and M3. I think they turned out pretty well.

Orion Nebula - 10 x 30 second ISO 1600

M3 - 4 x 30 seconds ISO 400

Looking forward to the next clear night.

Trying out some prime focus photos

Hersey — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:36:54 +0000

Tonight is the first night I have been able to try out the T-Connector and T-Ring that attaches my Nikon D60 to my Celestron C8 SCT scope.

It was a nice night early on, cold and fairly clear to the East and directly over head. By about 9:00 PM there were some clouds moving in from the Southwest. A thin layer of clouds covered the sky by 10:00 PM so I called it a night a little earlier than I wanted.

Orion Nebula | 01/03/09 19:10 EST - 6x30secs - Prime Focus

Moon 01/03/2009 - 1/200 exposure - Prime Focus

I need to practice focusing some as most of the shots I took were just a hair out of focus. I also took a few shots of the Andromeda Galaxy but they were just too out of focus.

When I set the scope up early in the afternoon, Venus was visible in full light. I wanted to try out the T-Connector and camera in the daylight to minimize the fumbling at night. I took a quick shot of Venus and here it is:

Venus - Early Afternoon - 01032009 - 1/200 exposure - Prime Focus

Kind of cool being able to see this planet well before dark. Looks like a miniature half Moon.

My first piggyback pics – M42, M31, and Pleiades

Hersey — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:08:17 +0000

Last night it was cold and a bit cloudy, but I really wanted to get out and try out my new piggy back mount with my Nikon D60. Neat stuff! It is really amazing how much the camera sees that you cannot see with your eye.

The frost got to the scope lens pretty quick – even with the dew shield, so everything was cloudy through the main scope not 45 minutes after I got started. I am working on a dew heater for it which should be finished by the time I am out next weekend.

I just did a few test shots of M42, M31, and Pleiades. Tried 30 second, 1 minute, and 2 minute exposures just to see what I could come up with. Below are a few that I think turned out really well. These are either 30 second or 1 minute single exposures with no stacking or other processing (besides cropping and resizing). I used my 55-200mm f/3.5 lens set at infinite focus, ISO800. Most of the shots were taken at 105mm except for the Orion’s belt one which is at 55mm.

Seeing conditions were not that great. A lot of light pollution and clouds but I did enjoy trying out the new mount and I am looking forward to practicing with it on a good clear night.

M42 - The Orion Nebula

Orion's Belt and M42

Pleiades

M31 - Andromeda Galaxy