More idle time during the pandemic seemed to be the catalyst for me jumping into some new pastimes. Instance # 1, I bought a tennis stringing machine to maintain my racquets (and help a few friends!). After mastering the knots, threading and pulling each string to my preferred 53 pounds of tension is kind of a Zen activity :). My vegetable garden grew to ridiculous new proportions... etc etc. Basically, some fresh distractions and other things born of necessity, as we have all done.

Telescope astrophotography has long been on my "someday" list. Actually, just owning a quality scope for visual use was a big wish and is very rewarding, and when you can attach a camera to something... I'm there! I acquired the gear sporadically through the end of 2020, and eventually grabbed this image of the Horsehead in Feb '21. Now, it should be immediately stated that this is not really photography, but more like "data acquisition that eventually results in an image." Even the camera utilized is dedicated to astrophotography, and comes with its own learning curve and quirks. I won't dwell too much on the gory details, but it is a deep rabbit hole of technical wizardry, and there are 5 devices being controlled by USB leading to a laptop-- all juggled with some very clever software that integrates each device in frankly remarkable fashion. Even the movement of the telescope mount is software-aided. As crazy as it looks when you see all the gizmos involved, it has really never been easier to accomplish astrophotography from one's own yard.

So my result here is many images stacked together, exposures ranging from 2 to 4 minutes, at an equivalent focal length just over 600mm. The most key element for the nebula detail are the shots acquired through a hydrogen-alpha filter (deep red part of the visible spectrum). This narrowband filter blocks every other wavelength of light, allowing high contrast details to emerge. In fact, these filters allow people living on the fringes of the largest, most light-polluted areas to image these types of Ha emission nebulae. Glad I don't live in such a place, but it's possible! There are award-winning amateur astrophotographers living in urban areas these days. (But please, can we truly TRY to reduce the levels of light pollution in modern society??)

A common critique of this hobby amounts to: well, why go to all the trouble when you can Google much better images in a matter of seconds?? True enough! You have to enjoy the technicality of it all-- I do. All I can tell you about the satisfaction of collecting your own photons... it's the anticipatory awe of sitting at your computer screen and waiting for that long exposure to pop up... seeing the far-reaching outer tendrils of something like the Orion Nebula. All the stuff your puny human eyes cannot see, capturing it in real time with your own telescope. It's amazingly cool, and it's also a unique challenge. Fun for some, definitely not for everybody. I am in the absolute infant stage of things... this is a highly amateurish first result, but it's WAY better than I honestly anticipated.

Tags:   Astro-Tech 115mm triplet ASI1600 monochrome camera EQ6-R Pro astrophotography

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Another of the beginner-friendly deep sky objects, the relatively bright Rosette in Monoceros (next door to Orion). A mere 5,000 light years away and home to over 2,000 "new born" stars.

If you could see this with your naked eye it would take up an apparent space 5 times wider than the full moon. Big object, and that's why it's rather stuffed into the frame here. My 644mm focal length can't squeeze in the whole region.

So this is done in a sort of Hubble Palette fashion where I've used two narrowband filters-- hydrogen alpha and oxygen. Ha is assigned a red coloration and oxygen is blue-- helps separate out different structures and provides some depth. Just a single frame of this nebula through the Ha filter is really stunning... stack up a couple hours worth and you have something pretty decent! Another entry in my "first draft" series as I get going in the hobby. Individual frames were 4 minute exposures.

Tags:   astrophotography AT115EDT triplet refractor William Optics Flat 6AIII 0.8X focal reducer Rosette nebula EQ6-R Pro Antlia 3.5nm filters

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Back to adventures in astrophotography. Found in the constellation Gemini, here is a supernova remnant at a distance of 5,000 light years from Earth. The span of the nebula is 70 light years-- must have been quite an explosion! Astronomers can only give a wide estimate of when the supernova event occurred: 8,000 - 30,000 years ago.

I wonder how bright it appeared from Earth...? The brightest supernova in recorded history was observed in 1066 AD. Roughly 16 times brighter than Venus and easily visible during daylight hours, it was written about in many corners of the world. It is said that some North American petroglyphs likely depict the 1066 supernova.

Image obtained after approx 2.5 hours each through Ha and OIII filters. Exposures of 5 minutes. It actually looks like a jellyfish, yes???

Tags:   AT 115EDT ASI1600MM EQ6-R Pro Jellyfish Nebula astrophotography

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After a relentless summer of cloud cover in western NC, I finally got back to the telescope. Amazing that all the gear still communicated properly... and more so that I remembered how to use it! This was taken through a monochrome astro camera, utilizing RGB and luminance filters. Over 7 hours combined for the full integration.

This is a reflection nebula illuminated mostly by a single star near the center of the glow, with darker surrounding dust. A bit more from NASA:

Reflection nebulae glow because they are made up of extremely tiny particles of solid matter, up to 10 or even 100 times smaller than dust particles on Earth. These particles diffuse the light around them, giving the nebula a second-hand glow that’s typically bluish (like our sky).

Tags:   Astro-Tech AT115EDT LRGB Iris Nebula EQ6-R Pro ASI 1600MM astrophotography

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.... and of course the Running Man nebula... don't you see him running? Just say yes and we'll move on :)

The core of this star-forming nebula is so bright that I took a series of separate 15 sec exposures to try to tame it. The main image is about 3 hours of data stacked from 2 minute individual exposures.

An interesting blurb from nasa.gov regarding the Mayans take on this naked eye nebula:

"The Mayan culture’s likening of the Orion Nebula to a cosmic fire of creation is very apt. The nebula is an enormous cloud of dust and gas where vast numbers of new stars are being forged. Its bright, central region is the home of four massive, young stars that shape the nebula."

For my astro friends:

AT115 EDT triplet refractor
William Optics 0.8x Flat 6AIII reducer
ASI 071MC color camera
EQ6R-Pro mount
Baader UV/IR filter

Tags:   astrophotography Orion Nebula M42 Running Man

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