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 17 - The Omega Nebula - Victory After Heartbreak! (17 hours SHOrgb on M17!)
Messier 17, The Omega Nebula, is a bright and popular target in the summer constellation of Sagittarius.
This image is the result of 17 hours of SHOrgb exposure on my William Optics 132 LFT platform.
The narrowband view of this shows the target in a way that is not often seen.
Considering that this project started with three nights of exposure, where 2 of the nights had all of the frames out of focus, I am really happy with the final results.
Messier 16 - The Eagle Nebula/The Pillars of Creation, 4.75 hours in SHO (A Narrowband Test of the SCA260 Scope)
This was a quick test to see how the Sharpstar SCA260 V2 scope did with a narrowband target. Selected was Messier 16, centered on the Pilrs of Creation. This was the result of 4.75 hrs of data collected on a very hot night, with the camera only getting to -10C.
Processing was a challenge due to Star Removal blemishes and some optical artifacts on some bright stars.
See the full report for details.
Sh2-54 - The Serpent Nebula - 8.9 Hours of SHO
Sh2-54 is an interesting HII region with some dark dust located in the constellation Sperpens Cause (The Tail). Also seen is the open cluster NGC 6604. This image is a result of 8.9 hours of SHO Data.
The Coma Cluster of Galaxies (Abell 1566) - Zoom In! 1000 Galaxies, 320M Light-Years Away! (~8.2 Hours of LRGB)
This is not just some star cluster! This image shows an immense cluster of over 1000 galaxies that are on average 320 million light-years away!
This image was the result of 8.2 hours of LRGB exposure taken on my William Optics platform from data collection during the first light of my Whispering Skies Observatory!
The NGC 5364 Group in Virgo - 6.3 Hours of LRGB
The NGC 5364 Group is part of the vast Virgo Cluster of Galaxies and showcase a mix of galay morphologies in one frame.
This shot was the very first from my AP130 platform after it had been installed in my new observatory.
Markarian’s Chain - A Famous Galaxy Cluster with 4.6 hours LRGB
Markarian’s Chain is a group of galaxies 50M light-years away moving together through space.
This image results from 4.6 hours of LRGB exposure from my FRA400 scope. This is the first image from this scope since it was moved to the new observatory!
Messier 106 - First Light for The Sharpstar SCA260 V2! (10 hours in LHaRGB)
The first light for both my new Whispering Skies Observatory and my new Galaxy scope, the Sharpstar SCA260 V2!
This is M106 shot in HaLRGB with 10 hours and 7 minutes of integration!