IC410 - The Tadpoles in Ha

18:10 17/3/2010 UTC

Spring sky is pretty much void in emission nebulae, but this nice complex in Auriga is still well visible. I started shooting a tricolor narrowband project, beginning with H-alfa. Temperature was dropping quite fast and eventually my tracking went bad due to stiffness of the cables in cold. I managed to get 3h worth of 15min subs which is quite a satisfying result given the conditions. So here is part 1/3 of this project. Hope I can get a one good moonless night for OIII before summer nights.

NGC/IC Object List:
IC410 open cluster RA:05h22m44.1 Dec:+33°24m'43" BMag: , NGC 1893

Camera: Atik Instruments 4000LE | Telescope: Skywatcher ED80 Pro 80mm f7.5 refractor, William Optics 0.8x focal reducer | Mount: Vixen GP-D2, Boxdoerfer PowerFlex MTS-3SLP drive controller | Filters: Baader H-alpha 7nm 2" | Guiding: The Imaging Source DMK 21AU04.AS CCD camera, Orion ShortTube 80mm f5 refractor, Stark-Labs PHD Guiding | Exposure: Ha 12x900s (3h) unbinned, CCD @ -25° f6 | Software: CCDWare CCDStack, Adobe Photoshop CS4, Stark-Labs Nebulosity 2 | Location: 60°31'N 26°52'E (Koivula/Kotka,FI) | Image Field: 1.802 x 1.802 degrees | Image Center: Ra 05h22m31s Dec +33°24'59" |

M81 Group and Integrated Flux Nebula

18:03 12/3/2010 UTC

Most of the Nebulae are illuminated by only one or just few stars. Integrated Flux Nebula is a large complex of dust in high galactic latitudes which is illuminanted by all the stars in our galaxy. This elusive nebula is very difficult target as its light is broad spectrum and needs to be shot with broadand filter like luminance. For that reason the darker the background sky the better the chances of success. I was in a star party in Artjärvi observatory where the sky is very dark. Luckily the sky was clear part of the night and I could collect three hours worth of data. IFN was barely there but I definitely caught it! This is a luminance only image, I will add color data later when I get my LRGB filter set.

Camera: Atik Instruments 4000LE | Telescope: Skywatcher ED80 Pro 80mm f7.5 refractor, William Optics 0.8x focal reducer | Mount: Vixen GP-D2, Boxdoerfer PowerFlex MTS-3SLP drive controller | Filters: Baader IR/UV block | Guiding: The Imaging Source DMK 21AU04.AS CCD camera, Orion ShortTube 80mm f5 refractor, Stark-Labs PHD Guiding | Exposure: L 18x600s (3h) unbinned, CCD @ -25° f6 | Software: CCDWare CCDStack, Adobe Photoshop CS4, Stark-Labs Nebulosity 2 | Location: 60°44'00"N 26°12'46"E (Tähtikallio Observatory/Artjärvi, FI) | Image Field: 1.809 x 1.808 degrees | Image Center: Ra 09h56m32s Dec +69°20'34" |

M42 - The Orion Nebula

17:32 7/3/2010 UTC

Long time no see - stars! It's been like four months since I've done imaging. Weather has been very effectively blocking all opportunities to do some astro work. So I don't have to mention I was completely lost with my gear this time. Success rate was 50% due to stumbling with new filter wheel, motor focuser, stiff cables and occasional trees blocking the view. This is a superquick processing of the small amount of good data.

NGC/IC Object List:
NGC1976 gaseous nebula RA:05h35m17.1 Dec:-05°23m'25" BMag: 4.0, M 42 Orion Nebula

Camera: Atik Instruments 4000LE | Telescope: Skywatcher ED80 Pro 80mm f7.5 refractor, William Optics 0.8x focal reducer | Mount: Vixen GP-D2, Boxdoerfer PowerFlex MTS-3SLP drive controller | Filters: Baader H-alpha 7nm 2", Baader OIII 8.5nm 2" | Guiding: The Imaging Source DMK 21AU04.AS CCD camera, Orion ShortTube 80mm f5 refractor, Stark-Labs PHD Guiding | Exposure: Ha 3x600s (30m) unbinned, CCD @ -20° f6, OIII 4x600s (40m) unbinned, CCD @ -20° f6 | Software: CCDWare CCDStack, Adobe Photoshop CS4, Stark-Labs Nebulosity 2 | Location: 60°31'N 26°52'E (Koivula/Kotka,FI) | Image Field: 1.797 x 1.8 degrees | Image Center: Ra 05h35m17s Dec -05°21'44" | Target altitude in the beginning of the exposure 24°

Filter automation

21:06 12/2/2010 UTC

Long cloudy period usually means shopping instead of imaging... I've used manual filter pocket for a while now and saw some real andvantages using an automated solution. Changing filters manually practically ment I had to shoot long series with one filter at a time. Using filter wheel I can sequence one shot per filter and loop the sequence throughout the night. My choice was Starlight Xpress USB Filter Wheel. It is an USB powered very nice piece of hardware, which works like a charm. Filter change is quiet, fast and seems to be quite accurate. I have to confirm the accuracy after shooting some flats. Only downsides are a bit thin software support and a little thick construction (29mm). There's no ASCOM drivers nor Nebulosity support, at least yet. MAC OS has already a Nebulosity support in place, so I hope it's just a matter of time when we see Windows support also. Thinkness prevents me from using this wheel with Canon EF lenses. Wheel and camera together (29+18mm) is more than the back focus requirement of Canon lenses. Now if the skies would clear up - and without -20C temperatures please...

The California Nebula project continues

17:36 22/11/2009 UTC

Finally after almost a month sky cleared again and what a night! SQM gave almost record readings for my site and sky was pitch black without moonlight. OIII is sensitive to moonlight, so this was the time to shoot it for my California Nebula project. There was quite a nice set of data and I managed to catch some of the elusive OIII emission and even hints of some features in it.

NGC/IC Object List:
NGC1499 gaseous nebula RA:04h03m14.4 Dec:+36°21m'33" BMag: 5.0, LBN 756 California Nebula

[High Resolution : 2004x1998 @ 3.18 arcsec/pixel]

Camera: Atik Instruments 4000LE | Telescope: Skywatcher ED80 Pro 80mm f7.5 refractor, William Optics 0.8x focal reducer | Mount: Vixen GP-D2, Boxdoerfer PowerFlex MTS-3SLP drive controller | Filters: Baader H-alpha 7nm 2", Baader OIII 8.5nm 2" | Guiding: The Imaging Source DMK 21AU04.AS CCD camera, Orion ShortTube 80mm f5 refractor, Stark-Labs PHD Guiding | Exposure: Ha 10x900s (2h30m) unbinned, CCD @ -30° f6, OIII 16x900s (4h) unbinned, CCD @ -30° f6 | Software: CCDWare CCDStack, Adobe Photoshop CS4, Stark-Labs Nebulosity 2 | Location: 60°31'N 26°52'E (Koivula/Kotka,FI) | Background sky brightness (SQM): 20.10 mag/arcsec² | Image Field: 1.772 x 1.767 degrees | Image Center: Ra 04h01m31s Dec +36°22'39" | Target altitude in the beginning of the exposure 41°

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