Imaging Projects
In this blog, I will share the results of all of my imaging projects. The newest will be at the top and the oldest will be further down the stack. Going back in time here is interesting - some of my early stuff was pretty rough - but I did not see it that way at the time - I was thrilled to get anything back that looked like an image! Hopefully, you will see how my work has progressed with time!
Messier 101 Supernova SN2023ixf ~3 Hrs in LRGB - Yet Another Supernova Shot - But This One Is Mine!
With the recent discovery of a bright supernova in the well-known Messier 101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy - a lot of astrophotographers have been going out of their way to grab an image of this galaxy during this event.
As a result, there are many - probably TOO many - images of this going around.
So why take an image myself? Is it because I think I can do better? NOPE! After all, I shot this on a widefield scope not suitable for galaxies, and I ended up shooting through smoke and with too little integration. So why do it?
Well - I wanted my own image of this event- and I wanted an excuse to explore what supernovae really are - after all - here I am looking at one!
So this posting will delve into this topic….
Messier 102 - The Spindle Galaxy - 2.0 Hrs in LRGB - Still Shooting Through the Smoke…
Messier 102, also known as NGC 5866 and the Spindle Galaxy, is located 50 Million light-years away in the constellation of Draco. Its diameter is 60,000 light-years, making it 2/3rds the size of our Milkyway even though it has about the same mass.
NGC 5866 is one of the two galaxies known as the Spindle Galaxy. The other, NGC 3115, is an edge-on lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Serpens.
This was another image from the lul in the smoke plumes from Alberta. Because of this, this image was starved for integration time and shot through some smoke still in the sky - so this image is not as good as I would like it to be. But - if you zoom in, you can see a lot of detail in the galaxy's dust lane!
Messier 104 - The Sombrero Galaxy - 1.7 Hrs in LRGB - Too Little Time, Too Low in the Sky, Too Much Smoke…
Messier 104, also known as the Sombrero Galaxy, is a stunning sight in the night sky. Located in the constellation Virgo, this galaxy stands out due to its unique shape. With a bright central bulge surrounded by a flat disk of stars, it resembles a sombrero hat. It is estimated to be approximately 28 million light-years away from Earth and spans about 94,000 light-years across.
I have always wanted to shoot this target, but this project produced a result far below what I was shooting for as conditions were poor (smoke plumes), and integration ended up being a ridiculous 1.7 hours!
Surprisingly the resulting image is not that bad. It's not good, either.
It did better than expected because of its capable Camera. But at least I have a baseline for when I shoot this target again n the future!
Messier 97 - The Owl Nebula and Messier 108 - The Surfboard Galaxy - 4 hours LRGB
This imaging project captures two messier objects in the same field of view!
Messier 97 is a planetary nebula better known as the Owl Nebula.
Messier 108 is better known as the Surfboard Galaxy.
This image resulted from just under 4 hours of LRGB exposure. It was shot on my William Optics 132mm Plaform after being upgraded with a flattened/0.8X Reducer and a new ZWO ASI12600MM-Pro camera.
This image was the first project I have been able to do in 2023 and was taken on two nights when the Jet Stream pushed the Smoke Plume from the Alberta Wildfires to the south of us. But this image still suffered from smoke effects!
Messier 57 - A Reprocess of The Ring Nebula - 14.7 hours in LHaRGB!
Messier 57, the Ring Nebula has long been a visual favorite of mine. This was a reprocess of data that was collected in 2022. Based on 14.7 hours of HaLRGB, this data showed the rarely seen outer shell. I wanted to see if I could improve on that image with advanced tools and techniques. Since the original image was published, I created a new imaging project for posting to contain both the old and the new versions in the collection.
Messier 57 - The Ring Nebula - 14.7 hours in LHaRGB - Capturing the Outer Ring!
Messier 57, the Ring Nebula has long been a visual favorite of mine. It is also a target that I have shot two times before with poor results due to its small size. This time I wanted to try to do the best job I could, given the limitations of my current gear. I also wanted to get a really long integration. Finally, I wanted to add Ha data in an attempt to capture the red outer gas rings that are not seen visually and often not seen in the typical amateur images. While I ran into problems on the way, did pretty well in meeting my goals. See the full post for the entire story!
Messier 106 Region - 5.7 hours LRGB
Messier 106 is a galaxy in Canes Venatici, located 20-25 million light-years away.
Galaxy Season is challenging time to find targets when you are dealing with a widefield telescope. I finally decided to image the region around M106 as it contains a host smaller galaxies.
This is a 5.6 hour integration in LRGB using my Askar FRA400 Astrograph and the ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro camera.
Messier 64 - The Black Eye Galaxy - 2.6 hrs in LRGB
Messier 64 - The Black Eye Galaxy is the result of 2.6 hours of LRGB data taken with my William Optics 132 mm platform and the ASI1600MM-Pro mono camera. This famous galaxy is located 17 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. This is my second attempt with this target - the first being taken two years ago. I am pretty happy with the new results!
NGC 5907/5906 - The Splinter Galaxy - 8 hrs in LRGB
NGC 5907 -The Splinter Galaxy - is another example of an edge-on Spiral galaxy that displays significant dust lane detail across its middle. Its located 54.5 million Light years away in the constellation of Draco. This was shot with my Astro-Physics 130mm with the ASI2600MM-Pro camera. 8 hours of integration in LRGB. It was a real challenge to pull out the details from this very small galaxy.
Messier 81/82 Wide Field: 3.5 hours LRGB - A Failed Quest for IFN!
I decided to try using my widefield Askar FRA400 platform to image the region around M81 & M82 to try and capture IFN (integrated Flux Nebula). This effort failed miserably! The resulting image was not too bad, but I was not able to get the kind of integration needed to capture this elusive feature! While this was a major disappointment, the resulting image shows M81, M82, and a third small galaxy NGC 3077 in a very nice part of the sky.
NGC 4565 - The Needle Galaxy - 11.5 hours in LRGB
NGC 4565, The “Needle Galaxy” is a classic example of an edge-on spiral galaxy. This is one of my favorite galaxies and I was very happy to finally have the chance to shoot this target! This was the result of 11.5 hours of LRGB data integration taken with the Williams Optics 132mm FLT APO scope, the CEM60 mount, and the ASI1600MM-Pro camera.
M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy in LHaRGB (11 hours)- a third attempt!
My third attempt shooting Messier 101 - the Pinwheel Galaxy. My first was in 2020 using an OSC camera and a two-hour exposure. Not bad for a first attempt. My second was in 2021 using an ASI1600MM-Prop mono camera. 15-hour integration! However many data problems and a very poor final results. This time around I am using my Astro-Physics 130mm with the ASI2600MM-Pro camera. 11 hours of integration in LHaRGB.
Messier 31 - The Andromeda Galaxy in LHaRGB - 6 hours
This is my third attempt at M31. This time with a widefield system that can fit the entire galaxy into the field of view., and a mono camera that allowed me to collect Ha as well as LRGB data. A total of 6 hours of data integration.
Messier 31 is also known as NGC 224 and the Andromeda Galaxy, or as the Andromeda Nebula before we knew what galaxies were. It can be seen by the naked eye in the constellation Andromeda (how appropriate!) and is our closest galactic neighbor located 2.5 Million light-years away. It is estimated that it contains about one trillion stars - twice that of our own Milky Way.
Revisiting the Draco Triplet: NGC 5981, NGC 5982, & NGC 5985
The Draco Trio consists of a close grouping of three very different looking galaxies, found in the constellation Draco. These are small targets for my scope so I needed to carefully process the images to get the most detail possible. See how I did it!
Messier 94 - The Croc’s Eye Galaxy in LRGB
Messier 94 is also known as NGC 4736 and has at least two common names: "The Cat' Eye Galaxy" and "The Croc's Eye Galaxy", with the later of which seems more popular this days. This galaxy is located 16 Million Light Years away in the Constellation Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs). Shot over two evenings in last June of 2021 using my William Optics 132 FLT Plafrform and the ASI1600M-Pro Mono Camera.
NGC 3718 /ARP 214 - The Twisted Galaxy
NGC 3718, also know as ARP 214, is a distorted spiral galaxy in the Constellation Ursa Major and is located about 59 Million Light Years away. Its distorted form is thought to be gravitational interaction with the other galaxy seen in this image - NGC 3729 - at some point in the distant past. These are all part of a group of galaxies known as the Ursa Major Cluster.
Messier 51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy in HaLRGB
Messier 51, also know as NGC 5194 is more famously known as the Whirlpool Galaxy. It can be found in the constellation Canes Venatici and is estimated to be about 31 Million Light Years from Earth. M51 was the first galaxy to be classified as having a Spiral and is know o have a Seyfert 2 active galactic core.
M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy: Things don't always work out!
I first shot the Pinwheel Galaxy last year using my One-Shot-Color Camera. I wanted to try it again and see what I could get using a mono camera and L,R,G,B & Ha filters with a longer set of exposures.
So I recently imaged this target over the span of 5 nights, starting on May13. I collected the normal LRGB filter data and I also collected some narrowband images through my Hydrogen-Alpha Filter. The equipment is pretty automated now so I could get things running and then try to sleep on the sofa - still keeping a general eye on things during the night…..
Messier 63 - The Sunflower Galaxy in HaLRGB (First Light on My New ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro Camera!)
Messier 63, The Sunflower Galaxy in LRGB. First image using the new ZWO ASI2600mm-Pro Camera!
NGC 4631 - The Whale and the Hockey Stick (NGC 4656) - A second attempt, this time in LRGB-Ha…
The Whale and the Hockeystick are two galaxies are found in the constellation Canes Venatici, about 30 Million Light years away. This is my second time shooting this target and the first where I used a mono camera and captured LRGB along with some Ha subs folded in for good measure. As it worked out, I captured a possible supernova that was recently discovered as well.