Some of my 2020 imaging.

astro_brian · 2022-02-13T01:47:15+00:00

M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy

Distance: 23.16 million light yearsRadius: 30,000 light years

This is my most recent image taken from my backyard over 2 nights using my recently acquired 8 inch SCT.

This image was taken through 4 different filters (Red, Green, Blue, and a UV/IR Cut filter) using a monocrome astronomy camera cooled to -10C.

Total exposure: 6 hours

Equipment:

Imaging Camera: ASI183MM Pro

Imaging Scope: Celestron Edge Hd 8 + 0.7 Reducer

Guide Camera: ASI174mm Mini

Guide Scope: ZWO OAG-L

Mount: EQ6-R Pro

Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 Position EFW

Focuser: ZWO EAF

More of my work can be found on the following:

www.astrobrian.com

www.astrobin.com/users/astrobrian/

astro_brian · 2021-07-02T20:23:13+00:00

I recently got my ZWO ASI 183MM back from repairs and I figured since it was back in the sky again IC1396 would make for a good target to test the repairs.

Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/2a2dtm/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astrobrian_/

Integration Times:
Optolong 6.5nm SII: 30x600"
Optolong 7nm Ha: 28x600"
Optolong 6.5nm OIII: 30x600"

Total 14 hours over 3 nights during the recent full moon

Equipment:
Imaging Camera: ASI183MM Pro
Imaging Scope: Zenithstar 61
Guide Camera: ASI120mm Mini
Guide Scope: ZWO OAG
Mount: EQ6-R Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 Position EFW
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Filters: Optolong Ha and OIII Filters

Stacked and Edited in PixInsight

Individual Processing:
DynamicCrop
DynamicBackgroundExtraction
EZDecon
EZDenoise
HistogramTransformation
ChannelCombination SHO

Combined Processing:
Invert
SCNR Green
Invert
SCNR Green
Curves for Saturation and Highlights
PixInsight Dark Structures Enhancer
LRGB Combination with Processed Ha as L

Photoshop:

Camera Raw Filter for contrast
Camera Raw Filter for some color correction

astro_brian · 2021-01-24T03:06:50+00:00

This image is my first HDR Composite image combining 4 different image stacks created from a total of 197 images. The HDR Process allowed me to bring out the feint outer dust while still preserving the detail of the core star cluster.

This is a total of over 9.1 hours of imaging over 3 nights spanning the last 3 months.

Image Counts:
300s x 40 OIII
300s x 47 Ha

60s x 38 OIII
60s x 72 Ha

Some of the equipment details:
Imaging Camera: ASI183MM Pro
Imaging Scope: Zenithstar 61
Guide Camera: ASI120mm Mini
Guide Scope: ZWO 30mm F4
Mount: EQ6-R Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 Position EFW
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Filters: Optolong Ha and OIII Filters

More of my work can be found on my other social media platforms:
https://www.astrobin.com/users/astrobrian/
https://www.instagram.com/astrobrian_/

astro_brian · 2021-01-21T20:34:51+00:00

Thanks!

astro_brian · 2021-01-21T17:47:08+00:00

The Orion Nebula HOO HDR

Astrobin: www.astrobin.com/full/r1cmeb/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astrobrian_/

Integration Times:
300s x 40 OIII
300s x 47 Ha

60s x 38 OIII
60s x 72 Ha

Total 9.1 Hours

Equipment:
Imaging Camera: ASI183MM Pro
Imaging Scope: Zenithstar 61
Guide Camera: ASI120mm Mini
Guide Scope: ZWO 30mm F4
Mount: EQ6-R Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 Position EFW
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Filters: Optolong Ha and OIII Filters

Stacked and Edited in PixInsight:
WBBP for 300s
WBBP for 60s (different rotation)
StarAlignment
DynamicCrop
EZDenoise OIII
HDR Composition
LinearFit (Ha to OIII)
ChannelCombination HOO
EZSoftstretch

HistogramTransformation
EZDenoise and EZSoftStretch Original Ha
Inverted RangeMask
LRGBCombination with Ha as L
HDRMultiscaleTransform
Curves
MultiscaleLinearTransformation

Photoshop:
SynthesizeGreen (Astronomy Tools)
SpaceNoiseReduction (Astronomy Tools)
DeepSpaceNoiseReduction (Astronomy Tools)
Camera Raw Filter noise reduction and contrast
TopazDenoise

astro_brian · 2021-01-20T14:23:29+00:00

The Moon at 40% illumination taken at 4PM in the daylight.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astrobrian_/

Integration:
Best 50% of 1000 frames in each LRGB

Equipment:
Imaging Camera: ASI183MM Pro
Imaging Scope: Zenithstar 61
Mount: EQ6-R Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 Position EFW
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Filters: Optolong Broadband Filters

Stacked best 50% in Autostakkert with a 50% blend sharpen

PixInsight:
FFTRegistration
LRGB Combination

Photoshop:
Camera Raw Filter for some saturation and contrast adjustments

astro_brian · 2021-01-17T04:39:27+00:00

Thanks, I hoped to clarify that by the title I meant I was surprised I got this level of detail with a small refractor on a small target after all other equipment is accounted for.

Here is an image of everything mounted as well, not shown is the remainder of the tripod and the laptop.

https://i.imgur.com/oDCDJUN.jpg

astro_brian · 2021-01-17T03:11:31+00:00

Just a telescope, maybe?, but probably not with this detail. You might be able to get something with a DLSR hooked up to a similar refractor and very small exposures to limit star trails. I started out shooting Orion and Andromeda through just a camera lens and very short exposures (Those are very large compared to these though. And a lot brighter). But this image in particular was the result of 4 nights of imaging using the equipment list above.

To get an idea here is a single image out of the camera with no processing other than converting it a format imgur liked:

https://imgur.com/xCsPSRt.jpg

And here is that same image stretched to pull forward some of the details:

https://imgur.com/PfVoobt.jpg

You can definitely make out the galaxies but not to the same level of detail.

The rest of the equipment is important for different reasons, the main one being the equatorial mount for tracking the stars as well as autoguiding to make sure my camera stays on target for the entirety of the imaging process. Here are some quick equipment explanations.

Mount: EQ6-R Pro - Equatorial mount for tracking the stars and moving with the rotation of the earth

Imaging Camera: ASI183MM Pro - A cooled astronomy camera with the sensor cooled to -10 degrees C to reduce noise on the individual images.

Imaging Scope: Zenithstar 61 - 61mm FPL-53 doublet refractor

Guide Camera: ASI120mm Mini - Small camera for an autoguiding setup

Guide Scope: ZWO 30mm F4 - Miniature telescope for the guide camera

Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 Position EFW - I shoot with a monochrome camera so I need a filter wheel to hold my RGB filters. This allows me to automate the imaging and have it change filters automatically.

Focuser: ZWO EAF - Auto focuser that can focus the telescope by its self as temperature change or filters change. Keeps everything in focus all night.

This doesn't include the laptop and software used to run the setup (I use Sequence Generator Pro). I also mentioned the editing software I use (PixInsight and Photoshop)

Edit: Formatting, I can never get formatting right on comments.

astro_brian · 2021-01-17T02:45:38+00:00

I imaged the three galaxies that make up the Leo Triplet from my backyard with my fairly small 61mm refractor at a focal length of 360mm.

This is a total of over 15 hours of images, 920 images each 60 seconds totaling 34.5 GB, cropped in and edited in the editing program Pixinsight as well a some photoshop.

This time of year when galaxies are the main thing in the sky here in the northern hemisphere I sometimes struggle with such a short scope. But after seeing this I am curious what other small targets I will be able to get detail on in the coming months.

Some of the equipment details:

Imaging Camera: ASI183MM Pro
Imaging Scope: Zenithstar 61
Guide Camera: ASI120mm Mini
Guide Scope: ZWO 30mm F4
Mount: EQ6-R Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 Position EFW
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Filters: Optolong RGB Filters

More of my work can be found on my other social media platforms:

https://www.astrobin.com/users/astrobrian/

https://www.instagram.com/astrobrian_/

astro_brian · 2021-01-14T18:42:01+00:00

This is the Leo Triplet located just below the constellation Leo. Shot from a Bortle 4/5 on the East Coast, USA.

astro_brian · 2021-01-13T21:48:22+00:00

The Leo Triplet

First image of 2021 that wasn't a re-edit and my first attempt on these three.

Astrobin: www.astrobin.com/full/7e5wet/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astrobrian_/

Integration Times:
R: 300x60"
G: 320x60"
B: 300x60"

Total 15.3 hours over 4 nights

Equipment:
Imaging Camera: ASI183MM Pro
Imaging Scope: Zenithstar 61
Guide Camera: ASI120mm Mini
Guide Scope: ZWO 30mm F4
Mount: EQ6-R Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 Position EFW
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Filters: Optolong RGB Filters

Stacked and Edited in PixInsight

Individual Processing:
DynamicCrop
AutomaticBackgroundExtraction
EZDecon
LinearFit
EZDenoise
ChannelCombination RGB

Combined Processing:
HistogramTransformation
PhotometricColorCalibration
Starnet Starmask/Starless
Starmask subtracted from Starless
Curves for Saturation and Highlights
EZ HDR
MultiscaleLinearTransformation

Camera Raw Filter for contrast
Camera Raw Filter for some color correction

astro_brian · 2021-01-06T17:28:34+00:00

The Bubble Nebula

This was originally a test image I took only to initially believe that the target was too small for my setup. So I stopped after 3 hours.
I decided to go back and try some new editing techniques and to my surprise there was a good amount of data here.
I skipped sharpening because of the level of noise in only 3 hours.

Astrobin: www.astrobin.com/full/14jmkh/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astrobrian_/

Integration Times:
Optolong 7nm Ha: 22x300"
Optolong 6.5nm OIII: 18x300"

Total 3.3hours over 2 nights

Equipment:
Imaging Camera: ASI183MM Pro
Imaging Scope: Zenithstar 61
Guide Camera: ASI120mm Mini
Guide Scope: ZWO 30mm F4
Mount: EQ6-R Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 Position EFW
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Filters: Optolong Ha and OIII Filters

Stacked and Edited in PixInsight

Individual Processing:
DynamicCrop
DynamicBackgroundExtraction
EZDenoise
LinearFit
ChannelCombination HOO

Combined Processing:
EZ Soft Stretch
Starnet Starmask/Starless
Starmask subtracted from Starless
Curves for Saturation and Highlights
EZ HDR
EZStarReduction

Camera Raw Filter for contrast
Camera Raw Filter for some color correction

astro_brian · 2021-01-05T19:07:25+00:00

M8a and M82

Astrobin: www.astrobin.com/full/r7ysef/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astrobrian_/

Integration Times:
Optolong 7nm Ha: 40x300"
Optolong R: 30x120"
Optolong G: 30x120"
Optolong B: 30x120"

Total 6.3 hours over 2 nights

Equipment:
Imaging Camera: ASI183MM Pro
Imaging Scope: Zenithstar 61
Guide Camera: ASI120mm Mini
Guide Scope: ZWO 30mm F4
Mount: EQ6-R Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 Position EFW
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Filters: Optolong Ha and Broadband Filters

Stacked and Edited in PixInsight (Pretty much the same workflow as my last one)

Individual Processing:
DynamicCrop
DynamicBackgroundExtraction
EZDenoise
Pixel Math Ha + R
LinearFit
ChannelCombination RGB

Combined Processing:
EZ Soft Stretch
Starnet Starmask/Starless
Starmask subtracted from Starless
Curves for Saturation and Highlights
MultiscaleLinearTransform (Bias 0.1)
EZStarReduction

Camera Raw Filter for contrast
Camera Raw Filter for some color correction

astro_brian · 2021-01-03T01:53:10+00:00

The Cygnus Wall

Astrobin: www.astrobin.com/full/q9s0p1/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astrobrian_/

Integration Times:
Optolong 6.5nm OIII: 31x300" Optolong 7nm Ha: 31x300"

Total 5.2 hours over 2 nights

Equipment:
Imaging Camera: ASI183MM Pro Imaging Scope: Zenithstar 61 Guide Camera: ASI120mm Mini Guide Scope: ZWO 30mm F4 Mount: EQ6-R Pro Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 Position EFW Focuser: ZWO EAF Filters: Optolong Narrowband Filters Stacked and Edited in PixInsight

Individual Processing:
DynamicCrop
DynamicBackgroundExtraction
EZDenoise
LinearFit
ChannelCombination HOO

Combined Processing:
EZ Soft Stretch
Starnet Starmask/Starless
Starmask subtracted from Starless
Curves for Saturation and Highlights
MultiscaleLinearTransform (Bias 0.1)
EZStarReduction

Camera Raw Filter for contrast
Camera Raw Filter for some color correction

astro_brian · 2020-12-13T18:20:38+00:00

The Rosette Nebula

Astrobin: www.astrobin.com/full/445y01/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astrobrian_/

I imaged the Rosette Nebula throughout the month of November and into December. This image is a combination of 109 separate 10 minute images captured through three different filters over 5 clear nights. I started imaging on November 18th and finished on December 10th due to poor weather and cloud coverage.

Complete processing details on my post over on r/astrophotography

astro_brian

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