Monday, May 22, 2023

Barnard's Star

 Here is a 2 frame .GIF showing the proper motion of Barnard's Star over 16 years.

I have been taking images of Barnard's Star every year since 07' and will at some point make a comparison with even more references.

The 2007 version was one of the first images taken when I got my Starlight Xpress SXVF-H9 camera.

This version was only a stack of (3) 30 second subs through a Celestron C11 with an Optec F5 focal reducer. A Focal length of 1400mm and no filters used. The original subs had quite a strong optical vignette that I was able to correct with Astroart's gradient filters.

The 2023 version was with my current setup, AT10RC @F8 2000mm, SX-694 & LPS-D3 filter. A stack of (39) 20 second exposures.

The SNR was higher in the 2007 image since it was taken @F5 on a 280mm SCT and I needed to adjust the histogram quite a bit to closely match the 2023 version in both background and star intensity. Light pollution levels were also much lower for me back in 07'. Since that time, LED street lights have been installed all over the area including my street along with most of my neighbors having security lights with no shielding.

Barnard's Star (Tycho 425-2502-1) has the largest known proper motion of a star across our sky 10.39" arc per year. It's also the 4th nearest star to our Solar System (5.96 ly.) after the Alpha Centauri system. For me it's the closest visible star (with optical aid) from my latitude.






Monday, April 24, 2023

Planetary Nebula NGC 2392

NGC 2392 in Gemini

Type: Planetary Nebula
Magnitude: 10.1
Apparent Size: 54" (as measured in AA)
Distance: 880 pc
Physical size: ~.62 ly

Dates acquired: April 10 & 12, 2023
Camera: Starlight Xpress SX-694 (1x1 binning)
Guider: Starlight Xpress Lodestar off-axis.
Scope: Astrotech AT10RC @F/7.8 (1987mm)
Mount: Losmandy Titan w/Gemini-2
Filters: Astronomik Ha 6nm ,OIII 12nm, Idas LPS-D3
Exposures: Ha= 92 min. OIII= 92 min both 60" & 120"
Cropped F.O.V. = 8.55' x 8.55' @.47" arc/pixel
Acquired, calibrated, stacked (avg) in Astroart 8

Processing Notes:
Calibrated with Bias & Defect Map only.
Log stretch
Ha:OIII:OIII color combine.


























Below are 2 comparison images of NGC 2392 superimposed onto the Moon for scale reference.
It was tricky getting the nebulas colors & brightness to be visible compared to the Moon as both original .FIT images (64bit) have different histogram shapes.




Saturday, April 22, 2023

NGC 2683 in Lynx

NGC 2683 in Lynx

Dates acquired: April 10 & 12, 2023
Camera: Starlight Xpress SX-694 (2x2 binning)
Guider: Starlight Xpress Lodestar off-axis.
Scope: Astrotech AT10RC @F/7.8 (1987mm)
Mount: Losmandy Titan w/Gemini-2
Filters: Astronomik L Type 2c & Idas LPS-D3
Exposures: L= 66 min. total, avg. over 2 nights
F.O.V. = 21.53' x 17.24' @.94" arc/pixel
Acquired, calibrated, stacked (avg) in Astroart 8

Processing Notes:
Calibrated with Bias, Flats & Defect Map.
Log stretch
Linear gradient correction

The seeing on 4/10/2023 was better than on 4/12 as can be seen between the 2 images.
I wish I could have gotten at least 2hrs. on the first night. Bortle 7 Skies.

66 minutes FWHM 3.7 pixel


18 minutes FWHM 2.9 pixel


NGC 2683
Magnitude: 10.6
Spiral classification: SA
Apparent Size: 9.3' x 2.2'
Distance: 9.4 Mpc
Physical size: ~37.5 kpc

Saturday, May 7, 2022

M105, NGC 3384 & NGC 3389

M105, NGC 3384 & NGC 3389 in Leo

Date acquired: April 24, 2022
Camera: Starlight Xpress SX-694 (2x2 binning)
Guider: Starlight Xpress Lodestar off-axis.
Scope: Astrotech AT10RC @F/7.8 (1987mm)
Mount: Losmandy Titan w/Gemini-2
Filters: Astronomik LRGB Type 2c
Exposures: L= 74 min. R,G&B= 14min each (all 2 minute sub-exposures)
F.O.V. = 21.53' x 17.24' @.94" arc/pixel
Acquired, calibrated, stacked (avg) & LRGB in Astroart 8

Processing Notes:
Log stretch on Luminance.
Adaptive gradient correction on RGB

































NGC 2419


NGC 2419 Globular Cluster in Lynx
Magnitude: 10v
Apparent Size: 5' (~2' in H9 image)
Distance:~ 275,000 ly
Physical size: ~520 ly.

Date acquired: April 22, 2020
Camera: Starlight Xpress SXVF-H9
Guider: Starlight Xpress Exview
Scope: Celestron C8 @ F6.2 (1257mm)
Mount: Ioptron iEQ45 w/belt mod.
Filters: None
Exposures: 19 x 1 min. unbinned
Acquired, stacked (avg.) in Astroart 7
F.O.V. = 24.5' x 18.3' @ 1.06 arc"/Pixel

Processing Notes:
Log stretch only.



Saturday, May 30, 2020

NGC 6656 (M22)

NGC 6656 (M22) Globular Cluster in Sagittarius
Date acquired:  July 27, 2019
Camera: Starlight Xpress SX-694 (2x2 binning)
Guider: Starlight Xpress Lodestar off-axis.
Scope: Astrotech AT10RC @F/7.8 (1987mm)
Mount: Losmandy Titan
Filter: Astronomik L Type 2c
Exposure 20x60" (20 minutes)
F.O.V. = 21.58' x 17.29' @.94" arc/pixel
Acquired, calibrated, stacked (avg) in Astroart 7
Altitude Mid-Exposure 22deg
Moon Age: 25 days (not in sky)

























NGC 6656 (M22)
Magnitude: 5.1
Object Type: Class VII Globular
Apparent Size: 32'
Distance: 10.6K ly
Physical size: ~100 ly

I don't have any info. on the weather conditions when the images were acquired but the following pics show the location of M22 from my backyard location along with the amount of light pollution I image through.

1/4" exposure




8" exposure




Wednesday, May 6, 2020

NGC 3115

NGC 3115 "The Spindle Galaxy" in Sextans Date acquired:  May 4, 2020
Camera: Starlight Xpress SXVF-H9
Guider: Starlight Xpress Ex-View off-axis.
Scope: Celestron C8 @ F5.5 (1113mm)
Mount: Ioptron iEQ45
Filter: Idas-P2 light pollution suppression.
L= 60x30"
F.O.V. = 27.75' x 20.74' @1.20" arc/pixel
Acquired, calibrated, stacked (avg) in Astroart 7
12 day old moon 42 deg. away in Virgo


NGC 3115 (Caldwell 53)
Magnitude: 9.1
Spiral classification: S0 (Lenticular)
Apparent Size: 8.3' x 3.2'
Distance: 9.7 Mpc
Physical size: ~80 Kly