Category Archives: Astroimaging

    The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula

    Elephant's Trunk Nebula

    The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula

    • Telescope: Stellarvue SVA130T-IS
    • Mount: Losmandy G-11 with Gemini 2 controller
    • Autoguiding: Yes
    • Optical Configuration: 0.72x field flattener & reducer (f/5)
    • Filter(s): S-II (Baader 8.0-nm); H-alpha (Baader 7-nm); O-III (Baader 8.5-nm)
    • Camera: ZWO ASI1600-MM Cool
    • Light Frames: 115 S-II subs, 113 H-alpha subs, 124 O-III subs
    • Calibration Frames: 50 darks, 100 biases, 30 flats per filter
    • Total Exposure Time: 1,408 min. [(115 + 113 + 124) x 4 min.] = 23 h 28 min.
    • Gain: 75
    • Sensor Temperature: -10° C
    • Pre-Processing: PixInsight, DeepSkyStacker
    • Color Mapping: Red Channel = 100% S-II; Green Channel = 100% H-alpha; Blue Channel = 100% O-III
    • Processing: Photoshop CC
    • Imaging Location: Los Angeles, Calif.

    The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula (IC 1396A) can be found within a much larger expanse of dust and gas (IC 1396) in the constellation Cepheus. This deep-sky object lies about 2,400 lightyears from Earth and features a majestic columnar cloud of compressed gases backlit by several newly formed stars, offering a spectacular look into the inner workings of a stellar nursery.

    This image of Elephant’s Trunk was shot in the Hubble Palette, made famous by photos from the Hubble Space Telescope. It consists of three sets of 4-min. exposures (subframes) taken through narrowband optical filters designed to pass the light from singly ionized sulfur (S-II), hydrogen (H-alpha), and doubly ionized oxygen (O-III). The total exposure time through all three filters totals 23 hours and 28 minutes. It took almost two months to shoot all of the subframes for this image. The result is a very low-noise, high-signal depiction of the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula in all of its glory.

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    Comet NEOWISE on July 16

    Comet NEWOWISE, July 16

    Comet NEOWISE on July 16

    • Telescope: None
    • Mount: Standard camera tripod
    • Autoguiding: No
    • Optical Configuration: 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens @ 28mm
    • Filter: None
    • Camera: Canon 60Da
    • Light Frames: Single frame
    • Calibration: N/A
    • Exposure Time: 8s
    • ISO: 2000
    • Pre-Processing: None
    • Processing: Photoshop CC
    • Imaging Location: One hour north of Los Angeles, Calif.

    Comet NEOWISE has moved from the morning to the evening and now sets after the sun here in Southern California. However, it has become increasingly harder to spot from light-polluted Los Angeles, so this image was grabbed about an hour north of the city at 9:23 p.m. on July 16, 2020.

    [This one’s also for Phil and for all the great moments we shared over the years. Like comets, memories may fade with time, but you, my friend, will always be remembered.]

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    Comet NEOWISE

    Comet Neowise

    Comet NEOWISE from Los Angeles on July 11, 2020

    • Telescope: N/A
    • Mount: Standard camera tripod
    • Autoguiding: No
    • Optical Configuration: 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens
    • Filter: None
    • Camera: Canon 60Da
    • Light Frames: Single frame
    • Calibration: N/A
    • Exposure Time: 8s
    • ISO: 800
    • Pre-Processing: None
    • Processing: Photoshop CC
    • Imaging Location: Los Angeles, Calif.

    Not since Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997 has a really bright comet graced our northern skies. That has all changed with the latest interloper to our neck of the solar system. Comet C/2020 F3, as it is known to astronomers, was discovered on March 27 by the NEOWISE space telescope. By tradition, comets are named after their discoverers, so this one is known to the rest of us as Comet NEOWISE.

    As Comet NEOWISE approached the Sun, its orbital period was calculated to be about 4,500 years. But its encounter with the Sun’s massive gravitational field has now boosted its speed and increased its orbital period to about 6,700 years.

    This photograph was shot from my back yard about an hour before sunrise at 4:49 a.m. on the morning of July 11. The comet is fading now as it moves away from the Sun, but it will always be remembered for brightening up an otherwise difficult year.

    [This one’s for Phil and for all the great moments we shared. Like comets, memories may fade with time, but you, my friend, will always be remembered.]

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    The Rosette in Black & White

    The Rosette Nebula

    The Rosette Nebula in Black and White

    • Telescope: Stellarvue SVA130T-IS
    • Mount: Losmandy G-11 with Gemini 2 controller
    • Autoguiding: Yes
    • Optical Configuration: 0.72x field flattener & reducer (f/5)
    • Filter(s): H-alpha narrowband (Baader 7-nm); O-III narrowband (Baader 8.5-nm)
    • Camera: ZWO ASI1600-MM Cool
    • Light Frames: 70, 2-min. O-III subs; 50, 2-min. H-alpha subs
    • Calibration Frames: 50 darks, 100 biases, 30 flats per filter
    • Total Exposure Time: 240 min. [(70 + 50) x 2 min.]
    • Gain: 75
    • Sensor Temperature: -10° C
    • Pre-Processing: PixInsight, DeepSkyStacker
    • Color Mapping: Luminance Channel = 80% H-alpha; Red Channel = 100% H-alpha; Green Channel = 40% O-III; Blue Channel = 40% O-III
    • Processing: Photoshop CC
    • Imaging Location: Los Angeles, Calif.

    This black-and-white image of the Rosette Nebula has been processed from the color-mapped version originally shot in H-alpha and O-III light.

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    The Rosette Nebula

    Rosette Nebula

    The Rosette Nebula imaged with H-alpha and O-III filters.

    Click for High-Quality Prints

    • Telescope: Stellarvue SVA130T-IS
    • Mount: Losmandy G-11 with Gemini 2 controller
    • Autoguiding: Yes
    • Optical Configuration: 0.72x field flattener & reducer (f/5)
    • Filter(s): H-alpha narrowband (Baader 7-nm); O-III narrowband (Baader 8.5-nm)
    • Camera: ZWO ASI1600-MM Cool
    • Light Frames: 70, 2-min. O-III subs; 50, 2-min. H-alpha subs
    • Calibration Frames: 50 darks, 100 biases, 30 flats per filter
    • Total Exposure Time: 240 min. [(70 + 50) x 2 min.]
    • Gain: 75
    • Sensor Temperature: -10° C
    • Pre-Processing: PixInsight, DeepSkyStacker
    • Color Mapping: Luminance Channel = 80% H-alpha; Red Channel = 100% H-alpha; Green Channel = 40% O-III; Blue Channel = 40% O-III
    • Processing: Photoshop CC
    • Imaging Location: Los Angeles, Calif.

    The Rosette Nebula represents one of the finest specimens of a stellar nursery and also makes a perfect deep-sky object to photograph with my newly upgraded imaging system. The new system is now fully automated using Sequence Generator Pro software and includes a Peltier-cooled ZWO ASI1600-MM camera, filter wheel, and auto-focuser. A new computer running Windows 10 helps coordinate the command and control of all hardware. The mount and optics remain the same.

    This photo of the Rosette is the product of twelve nights of imaging through H-alpha and O-III narrowband filters under less-than-ideal weather conditions from the light-polluted suburbs of Los Angeles. It is a color-mapped image in which the H-alpha data is mapped to the red and luminance channels and the O-III data is mapped to the green and blue channels. The resulting colors are technically “false,” yet they still create a realistic simulation of natural hues.

    The nebula itself consists of a gigantic ball of gas and dust about 130 lightyears wide and 5,000 lightyears from Earth. Intense ultraviolet radiation emitted from a cluster of supergiant stars near its center causes the gas to glow at different colors. The predominant red color comes from the H-alpha emission of hydrogen gas. Winds created by superheated plasma escaping from the supergiant stars have carved out a huge bubble 50 lightyears wide at the nebula’s center. Dark rivers, islands, and clouds of light-absorbing dust also can be seen throughout the nebula.

    This vast cosmic accumulation of dust and gas in the constellation Monoceros provides the ideal environment for the formation of new stars and offers an outstanding example of the breathtaking beauty of our universe.

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