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!
A Reprocess of SH2-157, The Lobster Claw Nebula - 4.25 hours in SHO.
SH2-157, The Lobster Claw Nebula, is located 11,000 light-years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia. This is a Reprocess Project - working with data in 2024 that was captured in 2021. I wanted to see if I could improve on this image. I think I did!
WR 134 - A Wolf-Rayet Star Region In Cygnus- 15.5 Hours in SHO
This is the third and final Imaging Project resulting from data collected during a recent - and very rare for this year - clear string of nights!
This is WR134 - a Variable Wolf-Rayet Star located 6,000 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. This is a very interesting and rich area of the sky with a lot of objects in view. This includes WR134, WR135, and WR137 - the very first Wolf-Rayet stars ever found. These stars stood out as they had broad emission lines in their spectra instead of just absorption lines typically seen in stars.. These stares are massive and hot and have short lives.
NGC 6914 - The Spider Nebula (my name!) - 14.5 Hours in SHOrgb
This is the second Imaging Project resulting from data collected during a recent - and very rare this year - clear string of nights!
This is NGC 6914 - a rich HII region located 6,000 light-years away in Cygnus. Typically shot in broadband RGB, decided to go after a narrowband version. This one resulted from 14.5 hours of SHOrgb data. The stars are broadband RGB, and the nebula is SHO Narrowband.
This object has no common name and I am proposing that we call it “The Spider Nebula!”
SH2-112 - A Diffuse Emission Nebula in Cygnus - 15.7 Hours in SHOrgb
Finally! Some clear nights and some new fresh from the universe photon data! This imaging project covers SH2-112 - A diffuse emission nebula located about 5,600 light-years away in Cygnus. This is the result of 15.6 hours of SHOrgb data. Not of lot of info is available about this beautiful object, but I find it fascinating to study!
SH2-132 - A Reprocess of The Lion Nebula in SHO (8.33 hours)
This is an Image Reprocessing Project for SH2-132, also known as The Lion Nebula - whose data was originally collected in September of 2021.
The Lion Nebula is a rich HII region with star clusters, emission nebulae, and dark dust regions. Located in the southern portion of the constellation Cepheus, the Lion Nebula is roughly 10,00 light-years away in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. This is a very faint and challenging target.
This image was taken on the Askar FRA400 Platform with 8.33 hours of exposure in narrowband.
DWB 111/119 - A Reprocess of The Propeller Nebula - in SHO ~ 10 hours
This is a Reprocessing Project for data collected for DWB 111/119 in Sept of 2021.
I was never happy with the initial image. I wanted to see if I could make it better. I had a really hard time figuring out where I wanted this image to go - I think the final version is better than the original but I am not sure. You judge!
SH2-101 - A Reprocess of The Tulip Nebula - 12.8 Hours in SHOrgb
This is a REPROCESSING PROJECT for Sharpless 101 (specifically Sh2-101) also known as the Tulip Nebula. This object is located approximately 6000 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus (The Swan). This was a 12.8-hour integration with the AP130 platform using the ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro Camera.
I was able to significantly improve the image and am quite pleased with the improvement I was able to produce - but you be your own judge of this!
NGC 6888 - A Reprocess of The Crescent Nebula ~11 hours in HOOrgb
NGC 6888 - The Crescent Nebula is a famous emission nebula located in the constellation of Cygnus. This is a reprocessing project using image data first captured in September 2022.
SInce. I have no new data to process due to the wildfire smoke, I decided to use some new tools and processes to see if i could pull more details out from the O3 shell that surrounds the nebula.
THe resulting image show much more O3 detail - including some interesting convection cells towards the bottom of the nebula
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 27 - A Reprocess of My Dumbbell Nebula Data in SHO - (10.25 Hours)
This imaging project is not a recapture of data for M27 - the Dumbell Nebula. Rather it is an effort to reprocess old data using new tools and new processing methods to address some concerns I had about the original image - where I thought that the stars were bloated and unsharp, and that I thought I should be able to bring out more detail in the amazing outer gas shells that narrowband imaging shows for this target.
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%!
NGC 281 - The Pacman Nebula - 8 hours in SHO (Fighting a Strange Artifact!)
NGC 281, better known as the “Pacman” Nebula, is located 9,500 light-years away in the constellation of Cassiopea.
This was the second time I shot this target. This image is the result of 8 hours of narrowband data rendered in the Hubble SHO palette.
This data was collected on my Astro-Physics 130mm f/8.35 APO refractor, and a ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro camera - all mounted on my IOptron CEM 60 Mount.
This image suffered from a strange circular artifact that took the form of nested rings in the corner of the image. Dealing with this caused me to make my background sky a bit darker than I would have preferred, but I think the image has a certain amount of drama and pop because of it!
Melotte 15 - The Heart of the Heart Nebula (IC 1805) - 5.5 hours of SHO
Melotte 15, better known as the “Heart of the Heart,” is an open cluster with emission and reflection nebulae that creates an interesting structure that can be found in the center of IC 1805 - the Heart Nebula.
This rich region is located about 7,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cassiopea.
This is image is the result of 5.5 hours of narrowband data collected on my William Optics 132mm FLT platform using a ZWO ASI1600MM-Prop camera.
NGC 7635 - The Bubble Nebula w/M52 - 8.25 hours in SHO - Not Sure I Love it.
NGC 7635 - The Bubble Nebula with M52. 8.25 hours in SHO.
This image was shot on my William Optics 132mm FLT APO platform, using a ASI1600MM-Pro Camera and the IOptron CEM60 mount.
The original goal was to do a deeper integration of at least 15 hours - and while the weather would have supported this, I missed two clear nights due to illness.
This image has a very high color and contrast position - almost too high for me, but I disliked the lower contrast and saturation versions more - so this is it. I am not sure I love this image….
IC 1396A - The Elephant’s Trunk - 7.3 hrs in SHO (a Case of Virus Interuptus)
IC 1396A - The Elephants Trunk Nebula is located 2400 light-years away in the constellation of Cepheus. This is my fourth project involving this target - but the first where I used the newer generation ZWO ASI26MM-Pro camera and full narrowband data set at this image scale. My goal here was to collect about 15 hours on target. I only ended up getting 7.3 hours. My usual reason for missing my integration target is weather. Not this time. This time I was hit with a nasty virus and the worst cold of my life! I had to watch two precious clear nights slip away whilst I coughed and hacked away inside in misery….
NGC 6888 - The Crescent Nebula - 12.9 hours in HOOrgb
NGC 6888 - The Crescent Nebula is a famous emission nebula located in the constellation of Cygnus. This is my third time imaging this target, and this is clearly my best take on it yet! This image is the result of 12.9 hours of narrowband and broadband integration - all shot on my Astro-Physics 130mm EDT and a ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro camera, I shot this as a bi-color HOO image an dused RGB data stars in it. Extensive use of starless processing was used to get this result. See more details in the posting.
NGC 6979: Pickering’s Triangle ~ 12 hours in SHO
Pickering’s Triangle is a smaller and fainter section of the Cygnus Loop. While most portions of this supernova remnant have NGC catalog designations, Pickering's Triangle does not. It was discovered after the New General Catalog was published and thus missed out! Often NGC 6979 is used for this object but that is not technically correct. This image is the result of ~12 hours of narrowband exposure taken with my William Optics 132mm FLT APO Platform and rendered using the Hubble SHO palette.
SH2-114 -The Flying Dragon Nebula - a VERY Faint Challenge Target - 17.5 hours HSSrgb
SH2-114 - The Flying Dragon Nebula - is an extremely faint emission nebula found in Cygnus. This has proven to be a challenging target. Primarily shot as a Bi-Color Narrowband Ha/S2 image, I found it was very hard to see the nebula in a single 5-minute sub! I ended up going back to capture more data over 8 nights in total spanning two moonless cycles. I also collects RBG data so that I could replace the stars with natural color RGB stars. two moonless cycles of the moon to capture data over 8 nights. I ended up with a total of 17.5 hours - my longest integration to date! And still it was a challenge to process this image!
Messier 8, 20, and 21: A Rich Region in Sagittarius - 3.9 hours in HaRGB
This imaging project is a group photo taken in a rich portion of the constellation Sagittarius. It is the result of just 4 hours of LHaRGB integration. In this group, you can see Messier 8 (The Lagoon Nebula), Messier 20 (The Trifid Nebula), and Messier 21 ( Webb’s Cross). Also seen is the “Fist” shaped nebula on the upper left that is most strongly associated with IC 4685. This was taken with my Askar FRA400 widefield scope platform.