Astro-photography (open thread)

[MARRIEDGUY9]

Just playing around with star trails.  XT5, 12mm Samyang, stacked about an hour of 40 second exposures.  A campfire illuminated the canopy.

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[jerryy]

Milky Way in May...

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This is equivalent to a just-a-touch-over 15 minutes exposure.

Milky Way season is underway, and locally, the Milky Way is starting to rotate from landscape mode to portrait mode (it should be fully rotated to vertical in about a month, give or take a few days). On the right side, in this image, the Scorpius Constellation is rising. Antares is the big yellow-red star in Scorpius.

https://earthsky.org/constellations/scorpius-heres-your-constellation/

https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/scorpius-constellation/

I hope to be able to post a version that is more centered on the constellation.

[jerryy]

Scorpius with some Milk(y Way) on the side...

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This image is also the equivalent of just over 15 minutes exposure. A lot of passing clouds got into this one, but they opened up for the constellation. More Antares info:

https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/meet-antares-the-star-that-is-not-mars/

https://www.space.com/21905-antares.html

 

[MARRIEDGUY9]

awesome stuff!

[jerryy]

Full Moon Fever! It is that time again... June's full moon is strawberry flavored.

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https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/strawberry.html

July's full moon is perigee-syzygy, a supermoon.

[jerryy]

Milky Way in July...

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Smoke from various wildfires has cleared out a bit. Earth's trek around the Sun (an ellipse) has tilted a bit from earlier, making the Milky Way seem like it rises vertically, a disc in the night sky. This is equivalent to 2 and 1/2 minutes exposure time.

Edited July 12, 2023 by jerryy

[jerryy]

Guiding Lights...

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This is the equivalent of a 40 second exposure.

Knowing where you are while traveling in the Northern Hemisphere these days is fairly easy if you have the comforts modern technology offers. GPS based maps rendered in nice colors on tablets and phones or standalone devices give you your location almost instantaneously.

It used to be though, one used a compass based map (or some other vague directions) and at night, the North Star. But if you were traveling in southern directions, lining the North Star with your route could be troublesome. Not to worry, there is a star called Fomalhaut ("The Lonely Star") that does the job almost as well as Polaris (the North Star) does.

1) Neptune: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/neptune/overview/

2) Saturn: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/saturn/overview/

3) Fomalhaut: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/solitary-fomalhaut-guards-the-southern-sky/

[jerryy]

Messier and Messier and Messier...

Smoke from wildfires has cleared some more. Locally, it is getting late in the season for seeing these nebulas, they are dropping closer and closer to the horizon this time of year, but they should be visible for a while yet, especially in the more southern latitudes.

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This is the equivalent of just under 25 minutes of exposure.

The Lagoon Nebula, Messier Object M8: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/messier-8-the-lagoon-nebula

The Trifid Nebula, Messier Object M20: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/messier-20-the-trifid-nebula

Webb's Cross Star Cluster, Messier Object M21: https://www.messier-objects.com/messier-21/

 

 

 

[the_hefay]

The Milky Way as viewed looking south in Peru.

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[jerryy]

Summer Swan...

Starting in late summer, say late August or early September, the Cygnus Constellation is directly overhead ("Just Look Up") for folks in the Northern Hemisphere. As is usually the case with constellations, there are differing cultural views and fanciful tales about things going on in the skies.

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https://www.space.com/cygnus-constellation.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cygnus_(constellation)

https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/cygnus-constellation/

edit: This is the equivalent of 19 minutes of exposure.

Edited September 25, 2023 by jerryy

[jerryy]

North America ...

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NGC 7000 is the name / number / title given to a nebula in the Cygnus Constellation that actually does resemble most of North America, though I think the Canadian part gets short changed.

This nebula is pretty popular because it contains so many fascinating parts. Along the left side of "Mexico" is something called the Great Cygnus Wall, and over to the right of NGC 7000 is another popular nebula called the Pelican Nebula. Pelican Nebula is a little fainter, so it needs more exposure time to fill it in so it shows as much as the North America Nebula.

This is the equivalent of 80 minutes of exposure.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America_Nebula

https://skyandtelescope.org/online-gallery/ngc-7000-north-america-nebula-2/

https://www.constellation-guide.com/north-america-nebula/

https://www.constellation-guide.com/pelican-nebula/

 

Edited November 18, 2023 by jerryy

[jerryy]

Back on this thread's Page 1, the posting for Messier Object M31 (The Andromeda Galaxy) has a wider view added.

[jerryy]

Also, back on Page 1, the wide-field view of Messier Object M45 (the Pleiades) has been replaced with a new version. The new, completely different version was photographed from a different location using a different lens and camera body.

[MARRIEDGUY9]

Been a while, thought I'd check in.  First attempt at a Milky Way photo........when I could actually see it, lol.  

Assateague Island, MD in October.  Beautiful night on the bayside.

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[jerryy]

Back on Page 2 of this thread, there is a posting for NGC 896, the Fishhead Nebula, 'Ol Fishhead juts off from the beautiful Heart Nebula, IC 1805. On the other side of the Heart is IC 1831 (also attached to the Heart Nebula). IC 1831 is a faint Diffuse Nebula in Cassiopeia's Constellation. The brighter nebulas get more attention, but IC1831 has its own merits.

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This is the exposure equivalent of 80 minutes, 25 seconds. The nebula in the lower right hand side is the Soul Nebula, IC 1848.

Heart Nebula: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190911.html

Soul Nebula: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160228.html

Edited December 1, 2023 by jerryy

[jerryy]

That is Some Bull!

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The Hyades and More.

The Hyades Cluster are up in the Northern Hemisphere's night sky, this time of year. Their v-shape usually is easy enough to find, not just in binoculars, but by looking up in the night sky, not too far away from their sisters in the sky and mythology, the Pleiades. Greek mythology has different tales about the Hyades, one sad. one happy. Other cultures tell different tales.

The v-shape seen here is called the Face of the Bull, Taurus, the big yellow-orange-red star Aldebaran is the Eye of Taurus. Aldebaran, though, is not actually part of the Hyades, it is much closer to the Earth and just visually lines up in photos.

NGC 1647 is called the Pirates Moon Cluster.

The LdN- listings are from (Beverly) Lynds Catalog of Dark Nebulae. The Sh2- listings are from (Stewart) Sharpless' Catalog of Emission Nebulae. The nebulae shown here, are all part of the Taurus Molecular Cloud, the star forming region - a stellar nursery, that is closest to the Earth.

This is the exposure equivalent of 51 minutes, 15 seconds.

Taurus: https://www.space.com/17101-taurus-constellation.html

Aldebaran: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/aldebaran-is-taurus-bloodshot-eye/

https://earthsky.org/favorite-star-patterns/v-shaped-hyades-star-cluster-easy-to-find/

https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/happy-nights-with-the-hyades/

Edited December 26, 2023 by jerryy

[jerryy]

Eureka! The Golden State.

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NGC 1499 is called the California Nebula, it has roughly the same shape as does the (US) state California. (California's motto is "Eureka!", its nickname is 'The Golden State'.)

In spite of being listed as a 'bright' nebula, NGC 1499 can be tricky to see even in very dark skies. A type of filter called a Hb, or H-beta filter can be really helpful if you hold it up to your eye while observing the nebula. Of course, you have to look in the right space-region.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210310.html

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190823.html

https://www.constellation-guide.com/california-nebula/

This exposure equivalent times in at 69 minutes, 35 seconds.

[jerryy]

Two heads are better than one, or so says the saying.

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The Twins ... Castor and Pollux, the heads of the Gemini Constellation. These two are really active in mythologies, I guess being so easy to see in the night sky gave story tellers easily findable point-to visuals for their wild tales. Some tales have the two being called Hercules and Apollo, other tales have them helping Hercules. Some tales claim these two are Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome, while yet others claim these two are associated with the Chinese ideas of yin and yang. Some claim these two are responsible for a phenomenon called St. Elmos Fire, sailors tend to like it appearing during storms. Busy days indeed for a pair of pretty lights in the night sky.

These are the equivalent of 37.3 minutes of exposure.

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/meet-castor-six-stars-in-one/

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/meet-pollux-red-giant-exoplanet/

http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/gemini.html

https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/gemini-constellation/

[MARRIEDGUY9]

Here is the same image from above.  This was an edit of one photo using Capture One.  I was using the 12mm Samyang, I think my exposure was around 15 seconds.  My next post was a stacked image from this session, 20 images (including this one), stacked in Sequator and edited in Capture One.  The stacked image has a lot less noise, not sure if I like it better or not.  I want to get some other folk's opinions/critique.  What say you?

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[MARRIEDGUY9]

Here is the stacked image......two versions, one with more contrast.

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Edited January 16, 2024 by MARRIEDGUY9
added more contrast

[jerryy]

I think the first one is a different approach (of course) than the next two. The background city is much more actively participating. The next two show the effort you put into them rather nicely, picking between them comes down to taste preferences. It would be easy to choose one over the other from elements in each one appealing to those preferences. All three shots are 🤙.

[MARRIEDGUY9]

thanks Jerryy!!

[jerryy]

Still in the Gemini constellation, but moving to Castor’s ankle (the star Propus region)...

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(Screen capture from Stellarium*, with the added Propus — Eta Gem annotation)

This region has a lot to see, super nova remnants, star clusters and nebulas:

This is the equivalent of a little under 91 minutes exposure.

Messier Object M35: https://www.messier-objects.com/messier-35/

Super Nova Remnant IC 443 (Jellyfish Nebula):  https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/what-spawned-jellyfish-nebula/

NGC 2175 (Monkey Head Nebula): https://skyandtelescope.org/online-gallery/ngc-2175-the-monkey-head-nebula/

Stellarium (free, open source, cross platform planetarium software): https://stellarium.org/

 

Edited February 13, 2024 by jerryy

[MARRIEDGUY9]

very cool stuff!

[jerryy]

Orion's Head Is ... An Angelfish.

Meissa (lambda Orionis), the star named as Orion's head, is the least bright star in the constellation. but still easily visible as long as the light pollution does not overwhelm the night sky. Located above and to the left of Bellatrix, Orion's left shoulder, if you look at it using binoculars or telescopes, you can also see several other close-by stars.

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(Screen capture from KStars* with added annotation.)

Meissa also centers Sh2-264, the Angelfish Nebula.

Ehh, probably more of a freshwater angelfish than the saltwater version...🤔.

 

This is the equivalent of an 83 and 1/3 minutes exposure.

Meissa: https://www.star-facts.com/meissa/

Sh2-264 (Angelfish Nebula): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh2-264

KStars (free, cross platform planetarium program): https://kstars.kde.org/

 

Edited February 13, 2024 by jerryy