Imaged at Perth Observatory location Note: The full 'running chicken' requires a bit more field to the upper right. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4 Stacked 75% of 20 Images ISO 800 @ 120 Sec, 47 DARK @ 120 Sec, 32 BIAS, 16 FLATS, Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with PowerNewt(ASA) f/2.84 Reducer/Coma Corrector, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 90' x 134' , Ambient 17-16C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.0.3 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Being in dark skies near Wagin and not having captured a decent stack for this object I had a go despite it being too late in the year with this only 20-15 degrees above the western horizon. Whilst there is not much depth and detail to the nebula, it is far better than I can achieve in the city light. The nebula is ~5200 LY away and ~130LY in diameter and a star cluster within it consists of stars formed from the nebula. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 100% of 6 Images ISO 800 300 Sec, 32 DARK, 0 BIAS, 31 FLATS, Post-processed by Photoshop CS5 Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA Field Flattener, no filters, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient 13C. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Imaged at Perth Observatory. Attempted 4 pane mosaic sequence centred on NGC3372 using EQmosaic with 33% overlap. 4 Individual pane stacks created with DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4 Stacked 80% (13) of 17 Images ISO 800 @ 120 Sec, 47 DARK @ 120 Sec, 32 BIAS, 18 FLATS Mosaic created in Microsoft Image Composite editor (ICE) and post processed with Adobe Photoshop 201. See also umerged and Adobe Photoshop Photomerge variants. Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with PowerNewt(ASA) f/2.84 Reducer/Coma Corrector, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 90' x 134' , Ambient 27-24C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
IC434 Horsehead Nebula and NGC2024 Flame Nebula near Star Alnitak
Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA Field Flattener, Hutech IDAS LPS-P2 filter, Canon 400D DSLR field 106' x 159' , Ambient 15C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS 2.09 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress Superstar (Monno) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
M16 NGC6611 Eagle Nebula and Cluster, M17 NGC6618 Eagle or Swan Nebula - 17/6/2017 (Processed Stack)
Imaged at Perth Observatory Second light in darker skies for 0.6x Long Perng Reducer with recently acquired Skywatcher ED80 reducing it to f/4.5 FL=360mm. The corners also show notable flare in the star mages, so whilst the extra field is appreciated from the 0.6X Focal reducer, flatness is lost compared to .85X or .8X options available. Telescope - Skywatcher ED80 80/600 with Long Perng 0.6x Reducer, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 141' x 212' , Ambient 10C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Caldwell C33 - NGC6992/6995 - IC1340 - Eastern Veil Nebula (Supernova Remnant)
Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with PowerNewt(ASA) f/2.84 Reducer/Coma Corrector,No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 90' x 134' , Ambient 13C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.2 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Caldwell 92 Eta Carinae Neblua - 19/2/2017 - 9 panel mosaic test
Attempted 9 pane mosaic sequence centred on NGC3372 using EQmosaic with 25% overlap - one image at each position, the last one of which was missed due to cloud. Testing done at home in the suburbs. The 8 indivudual panes processed with DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4 Stacked 100% (1) of 1 Images ISO 800 @ 30 Sec, 51 DARK @ 120 Sec, 32 BIAS, 18 FLATS. Mosaic created using Microsoft Image Composite Editor (ICE) and Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2016 Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with PowerNewt(ASA) f/2.84 Reducer/Coma Corrector, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 90' x 134' , Ambient 22C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software. Whilst the single images are showing some patchwork pattern in the final image, this test proved the EQmosaic capture process and that 25% overlap might need to be extended to 30 or 33% to make merging easier. It also showed that Microsoft ICE is worth considering alongside Adobe Photoshop CC Photomerge for semi-automated merging as apart from image ordering, this was automatically aligned.
Imaged at Perth Observatory. Attempted 4 pane mosaic sequence centred on NGC3372 using EQmosaic with 33% overlap. 4 Individual pane stacks created with DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4 Stacked 80% (13) of 17 Images ISO 800 @ 120 Sec, 47 DARK @ 120 Sec, 32 BIAS, 18 FLATS Adobe Photoshop 2016 processed to show as unmerged. See two merged variants, one each with Microsoft ICE and Adobe Photoshop Photomerge. Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with PowerNewt(ASA) f/2.84 Reducer/Coma Corrector, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 90' x 134' , Ambient 27-24C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
M8 NGC6523 Lagoon Nebula and Cluster, M20 NGC6514 Trifid Nebula - 3/6/2017 (Processed stack w/FLATS)
First light for 0.6x Long Perng Reducer with recently acquired Skywatcher ED80 reducing it to f/4.5 FL=360mm. With FLATs applied to resole edge/corner drop-off. Compare to version without FLATs. The corners also show notable flare in the star mages, so whilst the extra field is appreciated from the 0.6X Focal reducer, flatness is lost compared to .85X or .8X options available. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4 Stacked 80% (13) of 17 Images ISO 800 @ 30 Sec, 25 DARK @ 120 Sec, 32 BIAS, 17 FLATS, Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 Telescope - Skywatcher ED80 80/600 with Long Perng 0.6x Reducer, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 141' x 212' , Ambient 15C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
NGC6357 - Gum 66 - War and Peace Nebula in Scorpius
Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with PowerNewt(ASA) f/2.84 Reducer/Coma Corrector, No filters, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 90' x 134' , Ambient 6C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.0.3 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Caldwell C33 - NGC6992/6995 - IC1340 - Eastern Veil Nebula (Supernova Remnant)
Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with PowerNewt(ASA) f/2.84 Reducer/Coma Corrector,No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 90' x 134' , Ambient 13C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.2 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Caldwell 92 Eta Carinae Nebula - 24/2/2017 - Unmerged 4 panel mosaic test
Attempted 4 pane mosaic sequence centred on NGC3372 using EQmosaic with 33% overlap. Testing done at home in the suburbs. I think that 33% overlap has made merging alignment easier for automation in both MS-ICE and Adobe Photoshop Photomerge, however this is intneded to show the images before merge. 4 Individual pane stacks created with DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4 Stacked 90% (4) of 5 Images ISO 800 @ 30 Sec, 51 DARK @ 120 Sec, 32 BIAS, 18 FLATS Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with PowerNewt(ASA) f/2.84 Reducer/Coma Corrector, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 90' x 134' , Ambient 22C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Imaged at Perth Observatory. Monochrome vresion of this image published p2 - "Telescopes, Timekeeping & Teabag Jigglers - The Oral History of Perth Observatory" by Dr Janet Baldwin. Attempted 4 pane mosaic sequence centred on NGC3372 using EQmosaic with 33% overlap. 4 Individual pane stacks created with DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4 Stacked 80% (13) of 17 Images ISO 800 @ 120 Sec, 47 DARK @ 120 Sec, 32 BIAS, 18 FLATS Mosaic created in Adobe Photoshop 2016 Photomerge and post processed. See also umerged and Microsoft ICE variants. Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with PowerNewt(ASA) f/2.84 Reducer/Coma Corrector, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 90' x 134' , Ambient 27-24C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
First light for 0.6x Long Perng Reducer with recently acquired Skywatcher ED80 reducing it to f/4.5 FL=360mm. No FLATs applied to show edge/corner drop-off. Compare to version with FLATs. The corners also show notable flare in the star mages, so whilst the extra field is appreciated from the 0.6X Focal reducer, flatness is lost compared to .85X or .8X options available. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4 Stacked 80% (13) of 17 Images ISO 800 @ 30 Sec, 25 DARK @ 120 Sec, 32 BIAS, 17 FLATS, Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 Telescope - Skywatcher ED80 80/600 with Long Perng 0.6x Reducer, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 141' x 212' , Ambient 15C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
IC4604 + IC4603 Rho Ophiuchi Complex - 25/2/2017 (3 panel Mosaic)
Imaged at Perth Observatory. EQmosaic of 3 panels with 33% overlap to attempt Mosaic stitch of the wider area Individual panels stacked in DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4 Stacked 80% (4) of 6 Images ISO 800 @ 120 Sec, 72 DARK @ 120 Sec, 32 BIAS, 18 FLATS, Microsoft Image Composite Editor (ICE) used to merge them and Adobe Photoshop 2016 to post-process. Not enough light gathering time for this faint object. Could not get a clean merge. The trail in the bottom left is probably a high jet vapour trail as it is in each image of the sequence. Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with PowerNewt(ASA) f/2.84 Reducer/Coma Corrector, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 90' x 134' , Ambient 25-23C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
IC4604 + IC4603 Rho Ophiuchi Complex
Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with PowerNewt(ASA) f/2.84 Reducer/Coma Corrector, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 90' x 134' , Ambient 9-5C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.2 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Caldwell 92 Eta Carinae Nebula - 24/2/2017 - 4 panel mosaic test
Attempted 4 pane mosaic sequence centred on NGC3372 using EQmosaic with 33% overlap. Testing done at home in the suburbs. I think that 33% overlap has made merging alignment easier for automation (this one using MS-ICE for comparison to Adobe PS version). 4 Individual pane stacks created with DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4 Stacked 90% (4) of 5 Images ISO 800 @ 30 Sec, 51 DARK @ 120 Sec, 32 BIAS, 18 FLATS Mosaic created in Microsoft ICE and post processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2016 Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with PowerNewt(ASA) f/2.84 Reducer/Coma Corrector, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 90' x 134' , Ambient 22C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Imaged at Perth Observatory Second light in darker skies for 0.6x Long Perng Reducer with recently acquired Skywatcher ED80 reducing it to f/4.5 FL=360mm. The corners also show notable flare in the star mages, so whilst the extra field is appreciated from the 0.6X Focal reducer, flatness is lost compared to .85X or .8X options available. Compare to 3/6/2017 'flat' version from suburban skies. Also see uncropped version of this image. Telescope - Skywatcher ED80 80/600 with Long Perng 0.6x Reducer, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 141' x 212' , Ambient 11C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Imaged at Perth Observatory. Another very pretty and busy H-II region of the Milky Way in Carina. This could do with longer exposure in darker skies to capture further detail, however comes up quite well in semi-dark skies. See also uncropped version. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4 Stacked 80% (17) of 22 Images ISO 800 @ 240 Sec, 47 DARK @ 120 Sec, 32 BIAS, 17 FLATS, Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2016 Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with Baader MPCC Coma Corrector, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 64' x 95', Ambient 19-18C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Imaged at Perth Observatory. Just near the 'kink at the base of the tail' of Scorpius is a lovely run of objects starting the Zeta 1 and 2 Scorpius, the 'False Comet Cluster' , the 'Prawn Nebula' and another small open star cluster as we move right as shown. EQmosaic of 3 panels with 33% overlap to attempt Mosaic stitch of the wider area Individual panels stacked in DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4 Stacked 80% (4) of 6 Images ISO 800 @ 120 Sec, 54 DARK @ 120 Sec, 32 BIAS, 18 FLATS Microsoft Image Composte Editor (ICE) used to merge them and Adobe Photoshop 2016 to post-process. See also unmerged triptych version. Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with PowerNewt(ASA) f/2.84 Reducer/Coma Corrector, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 90' x 134' , Ambient 23C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Caldwell 92 Eta Carinae Neblua
Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with PowerNewt(ASA) f/2.84 Reducer/Coma Corrector, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 90' x 134' , Ambient 13-12C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.0.3 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Caldwell 92 Eta Carinae Nebula - 24/2/2017 - 4 panel mosaic test
Attempted 4 pane mosaic sequence centred on NGC3372 using EQmosaic with 33% overlap. Testing done at home in the suburbs. I think that 33% overlap has made merging alignment easier for automation (this one using Adobe Photoshop for comparison to MS-ICE version) 4 Individual pane stacks created with DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4 Stacked 90% (4) of 5 Images ISO 800 @ 30 Sec, 51 DARK @ 120 Sec, 32 BIAS, 18 FLATS Mosaic created in Adobe Photoshop 2016 Photomerge and post processed Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with PowerNewt(ASA) f/2.84 Reducer/Coma Corrector, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 90' x 134' , Ambient 22C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Imaged at Perth Observatory Second light in darker skies for 0.6x Long Perng Reducer with recently acquired Skywatcher ED80 reducing it to f/4.5 FL=360mm. The corners also show notable flare in the star mages, so whilst the extra field is appreciated from the 0.6X Focal reducer, flatness is lost compared to .85X or .8X options available. Compare to 3/6/2017 'flat' version from suburban skies. Also see cropped version of this image. Telescope - Skywatcher ED80 80/600 with Long Perng 0.6x Reducer, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 141' x 212' , Ambient 11C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
NGC3576 - Gum38a Nebula and NGC3603 - Gum38b Open Cluster in Carinae - 3/2/2017 (Processed stack)
Imaged at Perth Observatory. Another very pretty and busy H-II region of the Milky Way in Carina. This could do with longer exposure in darker skies to capture further detail, however comes up quite well in semi-dark skies. See also cropped version. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.4 Stacked 80% (17) of 22 Images ISO 800 @ 240 Sec, 47 DARK @ 120 Sec, 32 BIAS, 17 FLATS, Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2016 Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with Baader MPCC Coma Corrector, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 64' x 95', Ambient 19-18C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.8 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
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