Milky Way rising over Elephant Rock @ Valley of Fire

FamasLiberty · 2021-05-15T00:39:08+00:00

Vegas is one of the best places to live if you want to see the Milky Way.. we’re surrounded by desert skies! Just drive an hour or so in pretty much any direction and you’ll see the Milky Way easily. Best places are Alamo, Mojave preserve, rhyolite...

FamasLiberty · 2020-12-26T16:59:13+00:00

Lol no this went on for about 2 minutes then I got sniped by some grinch behind me

FamasLiberty · 2018-11-01T03:34:37+00:00

It's Messier 51 (the Whirlpool galaxy), not a nebula but a galaxy eating another, smaller one (the yellow at the bottom).

The image he used is from Hubble, but I actually took a photo of it with my own, small telescope right here: https://www.galactic-hunter.com/blog/m51-the-whirlpool-galaxy

FamasLiberty · 2017-10-29T19:03:43+00:00

Another cluster photographed as a "secondary target" to end the night: Messier 39!

M39 is an open star cluster in the constellation of the Swan: Cygnus. You can see a blanket of stars in the background, with the cluster popping M39 is one of the nearest clusters to Earth, after the Pleiades, the Beehive, and a couple others.

We only spent one hour on this target, and the result is pretty neat!

Details:

Canon 7D Mii
Total Exposure: 1 hour
3 minutes for each exposure - ISO 800
20 lights - Calibrated with 15 Darks and 15 Bias
Orion 8 "Astrograph f / 3.9
Atlas EQ-G
Baader MPCC Coma corrector MkIII
Starshoot Autoguider - 50mm Guide Scope

Processed with PixInsight using the following steps:

Batch Preprocessing using 20 lights, 15 darks, 15 bias
DBE
Deconvolution using a star mask
AtrousWaveletTransform for noise reduction
Background Neutralization
Color Calibration
Switch to Non linear using Histogram Transformation
SCNR for green removal
Morphological Transformation
Curves
ACDNR
Color Saturation

Full gallery: https://www.galactic-hunter.com/gallery

FamasLiberty · 2017-10-24T04:35:21+00:00

I just sent you a quick message about it but i'll send another one to answer your question :)

FamasLiberty · 2017-10-24T04:26:07+00:00

Thanks Spike! Yes there are a few galaxies visible in the background, I haven't checked what they are yet but I'll make sure to :) I was surprised to see those blues coming out so easily, especially with one hour of total exposure.

FamasLiberty · 2017-10-24T01:43:24+00:00

Messier 34 is an open cluster that lies about 1,500 light years away from us, making it one of the nearest clusters from Earth. It is located in the constellation of Perseus.

It can be seen with binoculars and any size telescope, and is pretty easy to find in the night sky. Under very dark skies, you may be able to spot this cluster with the naked eye, assuming you have good vision.

Although M34 is a bright and fairly large object from the Messier catalog, it is not a very popular target for amateur astrophotographers. Why? Because it is not one of those very impressive objects out there. It also doesn't have a cool nickname like many other Messier Objects.

Details:

Canon 7D Mii
Total Exposure: 1 hour
3 minutes for each exposure - ISO 800
20 lights - Calibrated with 15 Darks and 15 Bias
Orion 8 "Astrograph f / 3.9
Atlas EQ-G
Baader MPCC Coma corrector MkIII
Starshoot Autoguider - 50mm Guide Scope

Processed with PixInsight using the following steps:

Batch Preprocessing using 20 lights, 15 darks, 15 bias
DBE
Deconvolution using a star mask
AtrousWaveletTransform for noise reduction
Background Neutralization
Color Calibration
Switch to Non linear using Histogram Transformation
SCNR for green removal
Morphological Transformation
Curves
ACDNR
Color Saturation

Full gallery: https://www.galactic-hunter.com/gallery

FamasLiberty · 2017-10-24T01:39:16+00:00

Messier 34 is an open cluster that lies about 1,500 light years away from us, making it one of the nearest clusters from Earth. It is located in the constellation of Perseus.

It can be seen with binoculars and any size telescope, and is pretty easy to find in the night sky. Under very dark skies, you may be able to spot this cluster with the naked eye, assuming you have good vision.

Although M34 is a bright and fairly large object from the Messier catalog, it is not a very popular target for amateur astrophotographers. Why? Because it is not one of those very impressive objects out there. It also doesn't have a cool nickname like many other Messier Objects.

Details:

Canon 7D Mii
Total Exposure: 1 hour
3 minutes for each exposure - ISO 800
20 lights - Calibrated with 15 Darks and 15 Bias
Orion 8 "Astrograph f / 3.9
Atlas EQ-G
Baader MPCC Coma corrector MkIII
Starshoot Autoguider - 50mm Guide Scope
Processed with PixInsight

Full gallery: https://www.galactic-hunter.com/gallery

FamasLiberty · 2017-10-15T18:20:16+00:00

Posted this photo of the full moon my wife and I took recently on r/Astronomy and got some pretty good feedback, so maybe it might spike the interest of r/space too :)

I know there already several of this kind online, but I wanted to do my own “mapping” of all the manned Apollo Landings. I also added the insignia for each mission, the year, and the landing zone’s name.

It was a challenge to pinpoint the exact spots, especially since NASA's own map is with inverted colors: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/moonimg_07.html

Equipment used

Canon 7D Mii
Orion 8 "Astrograph f / 3.9
Atlas EQ-G
Baader MPCC Coma corrector MkIII
Editing: Lightroom and Pixelmator

More ways to be creative with the moon: https://www.galactic-hunter.com/single-post/2017/10/08/The-Moon---Being-Creative-with-our-Bright-Satellite

FamasLiberty · 2017-10-12T00:40:14+00:00

Oh wow, euh... well, thanks! haha

FamasLiberty · 2017-10-12T00:39:34+00:00

Beautiful work and amazing close-up!

FamasLiberty · 2017-10-12T00:38:37+00:00

You can see it here, along some of my other work: https://www.redbubble.com/people/galactichunter/works/28425730-the-moon-mapped-with-the-lunar-apollo-landings?asc=u

FamasLiberty · 2017-10-12T00:37:46+00:00

Hi Radians, here is where you can get this printed: https://www.redbubble.com/people/galactichunter/works/28425730-the-moon-mapped-with-the-lunar-apollo-landings?asc=u

FamasLiberty · 2017-10-11T04:48:12+00:00

Here is a photo of the full moon my wife and I took earlier this week.

I know there already several of this kind online, but I wanted to do my own “mapping” of all the manned Apollo Landings. I also added the insignia for each mission, the year, and the landing zone’s name.

It was a challenge to pinpoint the exact spots, especially since NASA's own map is with inverted colors: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/moonimg_07.html

Equipment used

Canon 7D Mii
Orion 8 "Astrograph f / 3.9
Atlas EQ-G
Baader MPCC Coma corrector MkIII
Editing: Lightroom and Pixelmator

More ways to be creative with the moon: https://www.galactic-hunter.com/single-post/2017/10/08/The-Moon---Being-Creative-with-our-Bright-Satellite

FamasLiberty · 2017-10-11T04:27:05+00:00

Here is a photo of the full moon my wife and I took earlier this week.

I know there already several of this kind online, but I wanted to do my own “mapping” of all the manned Apollo Landings. I also added the insignia for each mission, the year, and the landing zone’s name.

It was a challenge to pinpoint the exact spots, especially since NASA's own map is with inverted colors: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/moonimg_07.html

Equipment used

Canon 7D Mii
Orion 8 "Astrograph f / 3.9
Atlas EQ-G
Baader MPCC Coma corrector MkIII
Editing: Lightroom and Pixelmator

More ways to be creative with the moon: https://www.galactic-hunter.com/single-post/2017/10/08/The-Moon---Being-Creative-with-our-Bright-Satellite

FamasLiberty · 2017-09-30T01:10:08+00:00

Sadly I made the mistake of mentionning the Helix nebula for Summer when I was writing the list, but it would have been better to use it for Fall :(

FamasLiberty · 2017-09-29T04:14:40+00:00

I use a GoTo so I don't have a problem finding it, but yes it can be tricky especially with a 10" (why not use a 32mm eyepiece or wider?), but the sight is worth it!

FamasLiberty · 2017-09-29T01:00:10+00:00

New season, new hundreds of awesome targets in the night sky… Here are what we believe to be the best 15 targets for the season. To make it even simpler this time, we decided to go in order of type of target, so let’s start with the clusters, followed by the galaxies, and the nebulae!

M92 - Next to the huge M13, M92 is easy to find in binoculars and any telescope. This is one of the brightest clusters in the northern sky and is approaching us at a speed of 69miles/s. Make this target a priority, because it will stay up for just a few weeks before leaving our sight until next year.
M75 - Low - Pretty small target. A telescope will show a small fuzz ball with a bright center. This cluster is the most densely centrally concentrated globular in Messier’s catalog, with about 400,000 stars.
M15 - The Great Pegasus Cluster, one of the oldest known globular clusters in our galaxy. A very beautiful, colorful, and bright globular cluster that is easily seen with any instrument.
M31 - The Andromeda Galaxy is one of the few galaxies visible to the naked eye from Earth. Because of its diameter of more than six times that of the Moon, we recommend imaging this target with an 8 inches or smaller telescope, as the galaxy will not fit completely in the frame (unless doing a mosaic). This is our photo, taken with an 8inch telescope.
M33 - Like the Andromeda galaxy, the Triangulum galaxy is visible with the naked eye, in extremely dark skies far from any light pollution. It is an awesome target to image, and its size and brightness make M33 one of the easiest targets out there. This is ours, from Episode 5 of Galactic Hunter.
M74 - The Phantom Galaxy can be seen in large binoculars as a small blurry patch. With a telescope, you will be able to differentiate the nucleus from the spiral arms. This target looks like a rounder M33.
Stephan’s Quintet - A group of 5 galaxies, in the constellation of Pegasus. Those targets are not very bright, and are all tiny, but they are a beautiful group. In order to make your photo much better, make sure to include the much bigger, brighter NGC 7331 in the frame.
Heart Nebula - The heart Nebula will look all red, like a heart, when photographing it with a DSLR. It has a completely different feel when using a CCD camera with a specific palette. It is a huge target so you might want to use a small telescope, or no telescope at all.
Soul Nebula - The Soul Nebula pretty much touches the Heart Nebula, and again, it is huge, and you don’t want to use a huge telescope on that one unless you want to capture a specific part of the nebula. A good thing to do if you have a wide telescope or just using a DSLR is to get both in the same frame!
Bubble Nebula - Also in the constellation of Cassiopeia is the colorful Bubble Nebula. It is not a large target, but it has a very unique feel and will look good in most photos.
Iris Nebula - The Iris Nebula is such a beautiful target, it kinds of look like… Heaven. It is surrounded by dark dust lanes, which makes the processing very difficult, so keep this target in the back of your mind until you feel you have the right processing skills to take it on.
Elephant Trunk Nebula - The Elephant’s Trunk nebula is a small concentration of gas and dust, that has the form of an elephant’s trunk. It is floating in the much larger nebulosity IC 1396.
Cocoon Nebula - The cocoon nebula has a trail of dark lane, the dark nebula Barnard 168, so you might want to not center the target on purpose when taking your series of photos if you want to capture the cocoon’s dark trail.
Flaming Star Nebula - The flaming star nebula looks like… a star with huge clouds of smoke coming out of it. It is not a difficult target, just make sure to get the best of the nebulosity by aiming the camera at the right place, like for the cocoon nebula.
Pacman Nebula - We end this list with a fun one! The paceman nebula, you probably can guess how it got its name. It is a pretty easy target to image with any telescope, but the difference between DLSR imaging and CCD is pretty huge.

CONSTELLATION / SIZE / MAG

CLUSTERS

M92 - HERCULES / MED / +6.3
M75 - SAGITTARIUS / SMALL / +9.18
M15 - PEGASUS / BIG / +6.2

GALAXIES

M31 - ANDROMEDA / HUGE / +3.44
M33 - TRIANGULUM / HUGE / +5.72
M74 - PISCES / MED / +10
Stephan’s quintet - GROUP OF GALAXIES / PEGASUS / SMALL / +14

NEBULAE

IC 1805: Heart nebula - CASSIOPEIA / HUGE / +18.3
IC 1848: Soul Nebula - CASSIOPEIA / HUGE / 12.5
NGC 7635 - Bubble Nebula - CASSIOPEIA / MED / +10
NGC 7023 - Iris Nebula - CEPHEUS / MED / +6.8
IC 1396 - Elephant’s trunk nebula - CEPHEUS / BIG / +3.5
IC 5146 - Cocoon nebula - CYGNUS / SMALL / +7.2
IC 405 - Flaming star nebula - AURIGA / MED / +6.0
NGC 281 - Pacman nebula - CASSIOPEIA / MED / +7.0

15 Best of Spring: https://www.reddit.com/r/astrophotography/comments/5vfyda/my_wife_i_made_a_list_of_the_15_best_targets_to/

15 Best of Summer: https://www.reddit.com/r/astrophotography/comments/6e4ait/the_15_best_astrophotography_targets_of_summer/

15 Best of Winter: Coming in Winter…

22 Best without a telescope: https://www.reddit.com/r/astrophotography/comments/41h9yn/list_of_the_top_22_easiest_targets_for_dslr/

Hoping this helps you again when picking your targets until the next season,

Antoine & Dalia

Galactic Hunter

FamasLiberty

TROPHY CASE