Messier 42 (Orion nebula)

Messier 42 (Orion nebula) is difficult to image and process due to it's bright intensity.  Three different imaging sequences were combined to produce this image in Pixinsight.  Again the Takahashi 85 FSQ telescope was used with the Astrophysics Mach 1 GTO mount.  The imaging was performed in the Shenandoah National Park dark site.

NGC 2239 (Rosette nebula)

NGC 2239 (Rosette nebula)  5,000 light-years from Earth and is 130 light years in diameter.   This image was obtained in Shenandoah National Park over three nights using a Takahashi 85 FSQ telescope and  Astrophysics Mach 1 GTO mount. Over 100 stacked images were processed in Pixinsight.

Messier 33 - Triangulum galaxy

Messier 33 (Triangulum galaxy) is 2.4 - 3.1  million light years away from earth and contains contains about 40 billion stars, which is significantly less than the Milky Way (400 billion) and Andromeda Galaxy (1 trillion).  This image was obtained in the dark zone of Shenandoah National Park over three nights and consists of 6 hours of imaging using Mach 1 GTO mount and Takahashi FSQ 85 ED telescope. The data was processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop Elements.

M45 Pleiades

M45 Pleiades

The imaging data for M45 Pleiades was captured in the Shenandoah National Park on September 24, 2017. The telescope was a Takahashi FSQ 85ED and the mount was an Astrophysics Mach 1 GTO with guiding provided by Borg 50 mm guidescope and phd2 software. Imaging camera was a Nikon d750 full frame. The photo consists of 11 images of 600 seconds each (1.83 hours of acquisition) which were stacked in Deep Sky Stacker (DSS).  This raw image was then processed in Pixinsight to obtain the final image.

Milky Way Timelapse Augusta, MT

Click this line to watch the Milky Way Time lapse. 




400 20 second images were obtained over 2.8 hours with Nikon d750 full frame camera using Nikon 18 mm prime lens at f 2.8.  The data was processed in LRTimelapse.

Augusta, Montana Milky Way Panorama

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Montana Milky Way panorama composed of 21 images using Nikon D750 camera and 50mm 1.4 @ 2.0.

Processed in Adobe Lightroom 6.

Deep Sky Imaging

The rain and moon have been difficult for the past few weeks since the new telescope and mount have arrived.  The learning curve has also been steep.  Here is the first acquisition obtained in Shenandoah National Park over two nights, 138 minutes of imaging.

Technical card:

        Telescope:  Takahashi 85ED FSQ
        Mount:         Astrophysics Mach 1 GTO with CP4
        Imaging Camera:  Nikon D750 (unmodded)
        Mounting Rings:    95mm Prima Luce
        Guiding Camera:   Unguided
        Software:    Cartes du Ciel
                           Astrotortilla
                           Backyard Nikon
                           Deep Sky Stacker
                           Pixinsight
                           Adobe Lightroom
        Dates:      May 16, 2017 and May 18, 2017
        Frames:   23 @ 6minutes (2.3 hours)
       
        Location:  Shenandoah National Park, VA  USA