Last Night's Astro Image

Amazing Neil! Keep em coming.

Phil

Thanks, with those four images I feel like I've made a big step forward - in my processing as much as my photography. The Ha filter only lets light through from a narrow bandwidth (7nm) so the results are very faint sdespite being 5-minute exposures - you can only see a handful of stars in the RAW images. Although the camera preview does an automatic stretch that works so well you end up wishing you could duplicate it on the computer!

All those four use guiding to keep the scope exactly aligned and are stacks of 20-30 pictures which has a dramatic effect on reducing noise and enhancing detail.

Neil

These are superb Neil. I used to grab images of the planets, with a ToUCam pro, and tried long exposure after doing a mod to it.... long time ago though. It's not even supported by Windows 10 now.

I gave up deep sky due to periodic error in the EQ5 mount. Sahme really, because I really did like the 8" Orion Newtonian on the top.

Cracking pictures though. Very well done

Super images, of the Fascinating Universe, Keep the images coming

Here’s an interesting one for consumers of Astro Images : **LINK**

https://news.sky.com/story/black-hole-swallowing-and-ripping-apart-star-captured-for-first-time-11820432

MichaelG.

Two images from this month, taken with a new filter that suppresses light pollution and enhances nebulosity. (Optolong L-Enhance) at the expense of natural colour, especially in the stars. Combined into a mosaic, the Heart and Soul Nebulas.

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 01/11/2019 16:10:48

Yes, interesting images - from a time when bony fish were just appearing on Earth...

I’ve just downloaded this from the iOS AppStore: **LINK**

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/orbit-satellite-tracking/id1141694548

It’s free, and appears to do what it should.

MichaelG.

Thanks for that Michael .... I'll give it a try.

(Looks like an orbital version of the app that I have for tracking local flights in an out of the airport in essentially real-time. It's particularly interesting since I live close to Toronto (Pearson) Airport).

Well last night was the first clear, moonless one for nearly eight weeks so we had about 25 people out at Rosliston Astronomy Group. Several of us imaging, I was using a dual band filter that brings out emission nebulas and handles light pollution, which was useful as there was a good deal of mist most of the night.

Incredibly cold, -2 air temperature, but the mounts, scopes, even my computer and its bag had a thick hoar frost.

Flaming star nebula, top right, and tadpole nebula (you can barely make out the tadpoles):

Flame and horsehead nebulas (it's impossible not to keep coming back to this one!):

.

... Which reminds me ... How’s that cooled camera project going ?

MichaelG.

Finished & working but not yet used!

I'll post an update soon.

Neil

Not in the same league, but I did wave to our brave astronauts and cosmonauts on the ISS as it went past tonight (about -3.5 mag). Visible even here in the cloudy Midlands suburbs.

Always good to see the ISS

Neil

From last night.

PacMan (!):

California:

Monkey Head:

Mono narrowband Ha image from a couple of nights ago.

Really pulling out some detail

Zoomable full size image here.

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 17/01/2020 15:41:54

Stunning Neil.

Thanks, it's getting there! Don't know if its the mono being more sensitive or that I was at a friend's place with possibly better skies, but lots more detail than my previous Rosettes.

Neil

Never mind the technicalities (which are truly outstanding!), looking at that image and realising what I am looking at blows a mental fuse! It is not possible to comprehend even a small part of that never mind the concept of a Universe! Astonishing - and unnerving!

rgds

Bill

I from earth it covers an area about nine times that of the full moon, despite being 5,000 light years away! The hole in the middle is blasted out by the cluster of bright young stars near the centre and is nearly 50 light years across, in other words it is HUGE.

The dark patches like ink dripped in water are 'bok globules' of dense dust where stars form.

It really is quite amazing what massive things are in the night sky but too faint to see with the naked eye.

Neil