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!
SH2-73 - An Integrated Flux Nebula in Hercules - 9.8 hours in LRGB
SH2-73 was originally cataloged as an emission nebula. This was a mistake - it is actually a reflection nebula, illuminated by the light of the entire Milky Way Galaxy! This makes it an Integrated Flux Nebula, or IFN.
have tried and failed to capture IFN in the past so here is another effort. Just shy of 10 hours of integration - long for me with my tree situation, but still way too short for IFN. I have finally gotten an image of an IFN - even if it is not a very good one!
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.
Messier 13 - The Great Hercule Cluster - 8.5 hours in LRGB - Super Sharp!
Messier 13 - the Great Hercules Cluster - is one of the finest examples of a Globular Cluster that can be found in our skies. It consists of a giant ball of 100,000-500,00 stars packed into an area 145 light-years across. M13 can be found between 22,000 and 25,000 light-years away in the constellation of Hercules.
This is a 5.6 8.5 hour integration in LRGB using my Astro-Physics 130mm scope the ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro camera. This is the fourth time I have shot this target and this one is clearly my best - displaying a remarkable sharpness in detail.
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.