Location: San Bruno, CA

Telescope: Orion Astrograph 8″  on Takahashi NJP-Z Mount

Camera: Qhy9 CCD with Astronomik H-Alpha 12nm Filter

Another series of H-Alpha images this time with the 8″ Orion Newtonian Astrograph.

Once the telescope is well collimated, it produces good images along with the Baader MPCC coma reducer.

The B33 / Horsehead image is  a composite of 14 exposures of 390 seconds, processed with Maxim DL v5 and Photoshop CS4.

B33 / Horsehead on 2/10/2011 with 8″ Newtonian telescope

The next picture is the more challenging Medusa nebula (planetary nebula).

This nebula was discovered in 1955. It has a very low surface brightness.

The technology to record Hydrogen Alpha images became after World War II (source: galaxymap.org).

I assume this combined with the very low brightness of this nebula is one of the reason why it was discovered relatively recently.

By comparison, it is quite easy to see the shape of the Nebula with one sub-exposure of 6min done with my 8″ telescope in 390sec amidst the City light!

The image is a composite of 15 exposures of 390sec, combined with Maxim DL 5 and processed with Photoshop CS4.

Sharpless 2-274 / Medusa Nebula on 2/9/2011  with 8″ Newtonian

Date: 01.23.2011 (last quarter moon)

Location: San Bruno, CA

Telescope: Stellarvue SVR 90T with Televue x0.8 reducer on Takahashi NJP-Z Mount

Camera: Qhy9 CCD with Astronomik HAlpha 12nm Filter

This is a stacking of 11 exposures of 8minutes.  Even with the short focal ration (f/d 5.6) obtained with the televue reducer, I had to apply 2×2 Binning and take a fair amount of exposure to get details in the Nebula.

The H-Alpha filter does wonder to combat light pollution, even though the FWHM of this filter is not very narrow (12 nanometers).

To capture this picture, I used the software Logme in to monitor the imaging session from the comfort of my living room…

Configuration:

• Imaging setting outside, connected to my Toshiba Netbook, accessing the Network from a Wireless connexion. The Netbook controls the Qhy9 camera, the Orion autoguider, and the Takahashi NJP-Z mount (Ascom driver).
• My Laptop, in the living room, allowing remote access to the Netbook using the LogmeIn software.

With long imaging session, getting remote access allows me to check if nothing goes wrong [ issue with tracking, clouds, etc] – without having to check every 20 minutes outside!

Here is a screenshot of the log me in screen with remote access to the Netbook controlling the imaging set up:

Location: San Bruno, CA

Telescope: Celestron 9.25 with F/d 6.3 reducer on Takahashi NJP-Z Mount

Camera: Qhy8 CCD with Astronomik CLS CCD Filter

This is the result of 16 exposures of 330 sec. The Celestron C9.25 is really a good choice for planetary nebula given its relatively long focal length, and its large aperture.

I find also that many planetary nebula are a nice target when on a light polluted site, since they have a relatively high surface brightness.

What is more important here is to have a night with good seeing conditions,  very good tracking, take multiple shots, and stack!

Software: Maxim DL5, Photoshop CS4, Nik Sharpener

This is a crop of the previous image, showing more details in the Nebula dendrils.

Just created this blog. Obviously it is about Astronomy. I have an Orion 102ED  scope and a Celestron 9″1/4 scope. I am new in Astrophotography and trying out different techniques … I’ll post what I am trying and what works / what does not work…