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!
NGC 6543 - The Cat’s Eye Nebula w/ NGC 6522 (14.6 hours in LRGB)
This image of NGC 6543 - The Cat’s Eye - is the result of 14.6 hours of LRGB data captured with my Sharpstar SCA260V2 Platform. It was a faint and challenging object that also had very bright portions. This made it one of the most challenging targets I have processed yet. I must have reprocessed that data 8 or 9 times before I ended where I did. Was this the best image I could get from that data? I don’t think so. In the end, the effort exhausted me and I was ready to move on!!
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 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.
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!
NGC 2359 - Thor’s Helmet in SHO ~only 2.5 hours!
NGC 2359 - Thor’s Helmet - is my first image of 2022. This image is the result of 2.5 hours of narrowband data - limited by weather and the fact that this target is very low in the sky for me and access is very limited each night due to trees on my property. I had hoped to gather more data but at this point, it is now too late in the year. So my challenge was to see what I could do with such limited data. detailed processing strategy and log provided!
SH2-115 and Abell 71 - 4.0 hours in SHO
This is the 10th and final image to come from a capture season that occurred this past November. SH2-115 is a large emission nebula located in Cygnus. This was the result of 4 hours of narrowband data integration taken with the Williams Optics 132mm FLT APO scope, the CEM60 mount, and the ASI1600MM-Pro camera.
NGC 7293, The Helix Nebula ~4.5 hours of LHaRGB: Dealing with “Bad Data”
This was my second attempt to capture NGC 7293 - the Helix Nebula - located in the constellation of Aquarius. This time I had high expectations as I was using longer integration times, a longer focal length scope, and a new generation ASI2600MMPro camera. However - LOTS of things went wrong with this capture and its data came out pretty compromised! Some intense image processing minimized the impact of these problems - but the final image falls far short of my expectations. A good example of what can go wrong!
Messier 27 - The Dumbbell Nebula in Narrowband - 10.25 Hours
Messier 27 is the well know and often photographed Dumbbell Nebula located about 1200 light-years away in the constellation Vulpecula. This is the third time that I have imaged this object - and this one stands out because it was taken in narrowband with over 10.25 hours of integration! It reveals details that I have rarely seen associated with M27.
This was shot with the AP130 platform using the ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro Camera.
Messier 27 - The Dumbell Nebula
Messier 27 is a planetary nebula in the Constellation Vulpecula and is located about 1200 light-years away. M27 is also known as the “Apple Core” nebula and NGC 6853. It's basically a star the blew up between 10,000 and 14,000 years ago, and we get to see its expanding gas cloud. While this object is small, it is twice the size of the Messier 57 (The Ring Nebula) and allows for a bit more detail to be imaged. This was my second attempt at M27, the first being 2019 when I was first starting. See the comparison between the two.
Messier 57 - The Ring Nebula
Messier 57, also known as NGC 6720, and the “Ring Nebula” is located about 2400 light-years away in the constellation Lyra. M57 is a planetary nebula - an expanding shell of gas and dust expelled by its star in the last stages of its life. The outer shell is expanding at a rate of ~one arcsecond per century. The blue-green color of the central area is due to doubly ionized oxygen. This was my second attempt at M57, the first being 2019 when I was just starting. See the comparison between the two.
Messier 27 - The Dumbell Nebula - 2019 Version
Messier 27 - the "Dumbbell Nebula". This is a planetary nebula - basically a star that has thrown off its outer shell and we are seeing that gas still expanding around the remaining star. Located in the constellation Vulpecula, M27 is 1360 light-years from Earth.
One of my very first images.
Messier 57 - The Ring Nebula - First Version (2019)
M57 - The Ring Nebula. This is a tiny planetary nebula in Lyra. Probably too small for my imager scope and image scale. Not all that impressive, but I wanted to put it here to document progress later on...
Very first attempt on M57.