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!

IC 1848 - The Soul Nebula - 6.8 hours in SHO (and a Change in Horses Mid-Stride!)
Patrick A. Cosgrove Patrick A. Cosgrove

IC 1848 - The Soul Nebula - 6.8 hours in SHO (and a Change in Horses Mid-Stride!)

IC 1848, Better known as The Soul Nebula, is an emission nebula located 6,500 light-years away in the cancellation of Cassiopeia.

This image results from 6.8 hours of narrowband data collected with my Askar FRA400 Astrograph and my ZWO classic ASI1600MM-Pro camera on the nights of Oct 20 and 22 and Nov 23 of 2022.

The first two nights were collected using the IOPtron CEM26 mount, and the third night was collected using a brand new ZWO AM5 Harmonic mount. This was the first time using the AM5, and it did an exceptional job with tracking errors reduced by 400%!

Read More
IC 4592 - The Blue Horsehead Nebula - 4.5 hours in LRGB
Patrick A. Cosgrove Patrick A. Cosgrove

IC 4592 - The Blue Horsehead Nebula - 4.5 hours in LRGB

IC 4592, The Blue Horsehead Nebula is a faint reflection nebula located 400 light-years away in the constellation of Scorpius. This target is very large, measuring 1.5 x 3 degrees across was difficult to fit into the frame of my Askar FRA400 Astrograph! This beautiful and seldom imaged target was a challenge for me as it was located very low in the southern sky in an area with the smallest gap between my tree lines. About one hour of data was collected each night over four nights to produce this image.

Read More