Swansea Astronomical Society Blog

A Panasonic Lumix DMCFZ72, 60x optical zoom bridge camera fitted with an ICE ND100000 solar filter and mounted on a static tripod was used to capture 209 images of the Sun through high cloud. The images were precisely cropped in Nicola Mackin's AstroCrop before being Stacked in Siril, wavelet processed in waveSharp and post processed in Image Magick and Gimp 2.10

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Steve Wainwright

posted by astroimager  # 5:23 PM 0 Comments

3.2 hours worth of the Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635) comprising 20 Ha and 18 OIII 5 min subs. The image also includes NGC 7510, NGC 7538 and NGC 7654 (M 52). Data was taken with an ASI 533MM Pro camera attached to an Altair 60EDF fitted with a 0.8xFR. Data was acquired with NINA and integrated and processed in Pixinsight using the HOO palette.

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Chris Bowden

posted by astroimager  # 10:57 PM 0 Comments

 Owl nebula (M97) and M108 done in the SHO palette with OIII taken last evening and the Ha and SII from 2nd March. Total integration time was 4 hours (5 min subs). Data acquired with NINA using an ASI 533MM Pro camera attached to an Altair 60EDF fitted with a 0.8 x FR. Data was integrated and processed in Pixinsight.

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Chris Bowden

posted by astroimager  # 10:54 PM 0 Comments

Crescent Nebula. Settings were 2min exposure and 3200ISO using my 1300D DLSR Canon camera. The camera was mounted on an 80ED APO Refractor telescope with a filed flattener and a 2 inch Optolong L-eNhance filter. The telescope was mounted on an EQ5 GOTO mount. I used a Bahtinov mask to focus and an intervalometer to control the camera. The image is a stack of 105 images stacked in DSS, processed in Gimp 2.10 and Pt Photo Editor, Free Noise Reduction. 

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Chris Playle

posted by astroimager  # 10:52 PM 0 Comments

Wide field view including the Crescent nebulab and the Soap Bubble Nebula PN G75.5+1.7 in the centre of the image. Five and a half hours of H-alpha + OIII data captured with AstroDMx Capture through a William Optics 81mm APO refractor fitted with a ZWO EAF focuser, an 0.8 reducer/flattener, an Altair magnetic filter holder v2 containing either a 7nm  H-alpha filter or a 6nm OIII filter, a manual camera rotator and an SV605MC cooled monochrome, 14 bit CMOS camera. The equipment was mounted on a Celestron AVX mount. An SVBONY SV165 guide scope with a QHY-5II-M guide camera was used for guiding.

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The Crescent and Soap Bubble nebulae HOO palette

posted by astroimager  # 10:38 PM 0 Comments

AstroDMx Capture was used to capture a total of 5h 30m of data in H-alpha and OIII using a William Optics 81mm APO refractor fitted with a ZWO EAF focuser, an 0.8 reducer/flattener, an Altair magnetic filter holder v2 containing either a 7nm  H-alpha filter or a 6nm OIII filter, a manual camera rotator and an SV605MC cooled monochrome, 14 bit CMOS camera. The equipment was mounted on a Celestron AVX mount. An SVBONY SV165 guide scope with a QHY-5II-M guide camera was used for guiding.

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The Soap Bubble Nebula in the HOO palette

posted by astroimager  # 12:22 PM 0 Comments

Elephant's Trunk nebula (IC1396) edited in the HOO palette . This was 5 hours total integration of 5 min subs captured 50/50 with my ASI 533MM Pro on the Altair60 EDF with 0.8x FR. Data acquired with NINA and integrated/processed in Pixinsight.

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Elephant's Trunk nebula 

Chris Bowden

posted by astroimager  # 11:31 PM 0 Comments

When OIII deep sky imaging was completed due to the Moon rising high into the sky, The 81 mm APO refractor fitted with a ZWO EAF focuser, an 0.8 reducer/flattener, an Altair magnetic filter holder v2 containing a H-alpha filter, a manual camera rotator and an SV505MC cooler monochrome, 14 bit CMOS camera was sent by AstroDMx Capture to the 79% waning Moon.

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AstroDMx Capture was set to a region of interest around the Moon using the ROI drawing function. AstroDMx Capture acquired a 5000 frame SER file of the whole 79% lunar disk.

The best 30% of the frames in the SER file were stacked in Autostakkert!

The resulting image was wavelet processed in waveSharp and post processed in the Gimp 2.10 and Image Magick.

79% waning Moon in OIII light 

It was suitable to image the Moon at the wavelength of OIII as it produced a strong signal. The scope had previously been precisely focused on a star using a Bahtinov mask, so the image of the Moon was optimally focused.

Steve Wainwright and Nicola Mackin

posted by astroimager  # 2:19 PM 0 Comments

For each night's capture some 40 minutes of luminance data was captured in NINA with an ASI 533MM Pro camera using an Altair 60EDF doublet refractor fitted with a 0.8 x FR. The images were stacked and processed in Pixinsight with astrometric data annotated using Pixinsight to identify the faint dwarf planet in the frames. A gif was then made using the "Blink" function of Pixinsight to show the planets movement over time more clearly.

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August 20

September 3

Blink comparator image showing movement over the two week period

I managed to get the scope on the comet through a gap between our house and the adjacent block of flats this morning and took 7 x 2 min subs using the luminance filter of my mono imaging rig (an Altair 60EDF with 0.8 x FR) which I stacked to show the movement against a trailed star background. The comet had only just cleared a neighbour's Palm tree and part of this can be seen in the frame. There was also a bright meteor captured in one frame and this can be seen in the bottom left of the image. I had to use an occulting baffle to block out the light from a street light that was close to the comet and I attach some context shots of this which also show the planet Venus just above the roof of one of the houses.I took more shorter exposure images as it began to get light, but these were unable to be processed any better than the 7 longer exposure ones that made up this image, but I did make them into a gif.

I made up another comet animated gif - this time from the 7 x 2 min subs.

Chris Bowden

posted by astroimager  # 2:11 PM 0 Comments

A Panasonic Lumix DMCFZ72, 60x optical zoom bridge camera fitted with an ICE ND100000 solar filter and mounted on a static tripod was used to capture 195 images of the Sun. The images were precisely cropped in Nicola Mackin's AstroCrop, Stacked in Autostakkert!, wavelet processed in waveSharp and post processed in Image Magick and Gimp 2.10. 

Click on the image to get a closer view

Steve Wainwright

posted by astroimager  # 6:43 PM 0 Comments

Being unable to use a telescope from my back garden due to having an obstructed view, I went out along the coastal path to try to get a glimpse of the latest comet gracing our skies using just an ordinary wide field camera. Using an AstroTrac to drive a Sony A77 milc camera I was able to take some one minute time-lapse images of the comet, Praesepe and Venus rising. I only shot jpegs and the sky was a little too light at the time of imaging (05:14) but I was just able to detect the comet as a faint green fuzzy blob to the left of M44 with a hint of a tenuous tail. I ran one of the images through Astrometry,net to confirm that I had recorded the comet and by referring to the latest published comet ephemeris, I was able to identify it in my image mid way between Nu Cancri and the double star 79 Cancri. The settings were F3.2 at ISO 320 using a 35mm lens. The comet is reported to be almost naked eye visible now and it should be a much easier target in coming weeks before it gets too close to the Sun.

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Chris Bowden

posted by astroimager  # 5:31 PM 0 Comments

The Pelican nebula in SHO with 70 mins of SII, 80 mins of Ha and 25 mins of OIII taken with an ASI533MM Pro camera attached to an Altair 60EDF doublet refractor fitted with a 0.8 x FR. Data was acquired with NINA and integrated/processed in Pixinsight.

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The Pelican nebula in SHO palette

The Crescent nebula in HOO palette. The Ha data was taken at Fairwood on Saturday and the OIII from home last night before the moon came up. The total exposure was just 1.3 hours shot with an ASI 533MM Pro camera on an Altair 60EDF fitted with a 0.8 x FR. I took 10 x 4min subs of each channel in NINA and integrated and processed them in Pixinsight.

The Crescent nebula in HOO palette

Chris Bowden

posted by astroimager  # 5:22 PM 0 Comments

A Panasonic Lumix DMCFZ72, 60x optical zoom bridge camera  mounted on a static tripod was used to capture 195 images of the 78.8% waning Moon. The images were precisely cropped in Nicola Mackin's AstroCrop, Stacked in Autostakkert!, wavelet processed in waveSharp and post processed in the Gimp 2.10 and Image Magick.

Click on the image to get a closer view. 

Steve Wainwright

posted by astroimager  # 12:31 PM 0 Comments

When H-alpha deep sky imaging was completed due to the Moon rising high into the sky, The 81 mm APO refractor fitted with a ZWO EAF focuser, an 0.8 reducer/flattener, an Altair magnetic filter holder v2 containing a H-alpha filter, a manual camera rotator and an SV505MC cooler monochrome, 14 bit CMOS camera was sent by AstroDMx Capture to the Moon.

Click on an image to get a closer view

AstroDMx Capture was set to a region of interest around the Moon using the ROI drawing function. AstroDMx Capture acquired a 2000 frame SER file of the whole 87.6% lunar disk.

The best 75% of the frames in the SER file were stacked in Autostakkert!

The resulting image was wavelet processed in waveSharp and post processed in the Gimp 2.10 and Image Magick.

87.6% waning Moon in H-alpha light 

As we see the Moon in reflected sunlight which will contain high levels of H-alpha light, it was suitable to image the Moon at this wavelength. The scope had previously been precisely focused on a star using a Bahtinov mask, so the image of the Moon was optimally focused.

Steve Wainwright and Nicola Mackin

posted by astroimager  # 8:36 PM 0 Comments

The continuing search for the Soap Bubble nebula continued with testing the new occultation board that protects the scope from a very nearby streetlight and the improved cable management for the scope and attached equipment.

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The scope is a William Optics 81mm APO refractor fitted with a ZWO EAF focuser, an 0.8 reducer/flattener, an Altair magnetic filter holder v2 containing a H-alpha filter, a manual camera rotator and an SV505MC cooler monochrome, 14 bit CMOS camera. The equipment was mounted on a Celestron AVX mount.

AstroDMx Capture running on the imaging computer indoors sent the scope/mount, via an INDI server running on the same computer to the star Altair and AstroDMx Capture controlled the EAF and focused the star using a Bahtinov mask.

Focusing with a Bahtinov mask

AstroDMx Capture was used to send the mount to the star HD 228550 with repeated plate solves until an accuracy of 5 arc seconds. This star is immediately adjacent to the Soap Bubble nebula, so when the star is centred in the field of view, the nebula is virtually at the centre.

PHD2 was used for multi-star pulse auto-guiding and was controlled by a separate Linux computer indoors. An SVBONY SV165 guide scope with a QHY-5II-M guide camera was used for guiding.

Screenshot of the PHD2 auto-guiding computer

AstroDMx Capture was used to capture 70 minutes worth of 5 minute exposures east of the meridian, perform a meridian flip with plate solving and capture a further 60 minutes worth of 5 minute exposures west of the meridian.

Screenshot of AstroDMx Capture acquiring data 

posted by astroimager  # 7:17 PM 0 Comments