The Andromeda Galaxy in HALRGB - a sea of one trillion stars, and our closest major galatic neighbor. 

I took this image with the 2nd telescope I ever purchased (all the way back in 2020) - the William Optics Z61, which has sat on a shelf for many years collecting dust (and not the good kind of space dust - just regular dust). I spent the last 6 months working on upgrading the scope to get it functional/automated. Its wide field-of-view is perfect for capturing objects as large as Andromeda. I'm excited to have it added back in my arsenal!

Acquisition Details:

Light Frames (~12 hours): 

• HA: 25 * 5.5 Mins
• L: 25 * 5.5 Mins
• R: 25 * 5.5 Mins
• G: 25 * 5.5 Mins
• B: 25 * 5.5 Mins
• Dark Frames: 50
• Bias Frames: 100
• Flat Frames: 20

Gear:

• ASIAIR
• ZWO ASI2600-MM Pro
• 360mm William Optics Z61 + 1x Flattener
• SkyWatcher EQ-6 R Pro
• ZWO EAF
• ZWO ASI290MM Mini Guide Camera
• Optolong 36mm Filters
• SVBONY 30mm Guide Scope
• Bortle Class 5 Sky (New Jersey)

Editing (Pixinsight):

• WBPP (with 2x Drizzle)
• ChannelCombination (RGB)
• Graxpert
• Auto Color
• BlurX
• StarX
• Add HA (RGB HA Combination Script) (HA - Graxpert, BlurX, StarX, MAS, NoiseX)
• MultiScaleAdaptiveStretch
• NoiseX
• CurvesTransformation
• LocalHistoryEqualization
• DarkStructureEnhance
• LRGB Combination (LUM - Graxpert, BlurX, StarX, MAS, NoiseX)
• Add and Stetch RGB Stars Script
• LocalHistoryEqualization
• Final Camera Raw Pass in Photoshop

The Heart Nebula (IC 1805) and its beautiful core Melotte 15 in the Hubble Palette, which is an open cluster of stars with some being nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun.

Last night, the clouds parted briefly for a few hours so I setup my telescope. I am so glad that I have the Apertura CarbonStar 200. Even with such little time, I was able to capture tremendous details of the Heart Nebula. Living in northeast, having a fast scope is invaluable when time itself is the most precious gift.

Acquisition Details

• Light Frames (~6hours)
  • HA: 20 * 5.5 Mins
  • Oiii: 20 * 5.5 Mins
  • Sii: 30 * 5.5 Mins
• Dark Frames: 50
• Bias Frames: 100
• Flat Frames: 20
• ASIAIR
• Pixinsight

Gear

• ZWO ASI2600-MM Pro
• 800mm Apertura CarbonStar 200 w/ 1.x Coma Corrector
• SkyWatcher EQ-6 R Pro
• ZWO EAF
• ZWO ASI290MM Mini Guide Camera
• Optolong 36mm Filters
• SVBONY 30mm Guide Scope
• Bortle Class 5 Sky (New Jersey)

Processing:

• WBPP
• ChannelCombination (RGB)
• Gradient Correction
• Auto Linear Fit (lowest mean)
• Narrowband Normalization
• BlurX
• StarX
• Invert and SCNR the starts
• Multistage Adaptive Stretch
• NoiseX
• Curves Adjustment
• LRGB Combination (HA as L - same editing steps as above)
• StretchAndCombineRBGStars

The Cygnus Wall - a beautiful star-forming region in the North America Nebula.

This is my second image with the Apertura CarbonStar 200. I am still in awe over the details this thing captures.

Acquisition Details:

Light Frames (~11 hours): 

HA: 37 * 5.5 Mins

Oiii: 39  * 5.5 Mins

Sii: 40 * 5.5 Mins

Dark Frames: 50

Bias Frames: 100

Flat Frames: 20

ASIAIR

Pixinsight

Gear:

ZWO ASI2600-MM Pro

800mm Apertura CarbonStar 200 w/ 1.x Coma Corrector

SkyWatcher EQ-6 R Pro

ZWO EAF

ZWO ASI290MM Mini Guide Camera

Optolong 36mm Filters

SVBONY 30mm Guide Scope

Bortle Class 5 Sky (New Jersey)

Editing:

- WBPP

- ChannelCombination (RGB)

- Gradient Correction

- SPCC (Photon Flux)

- Auto Linear Fit

- Narrowband Normalization

- BlurX

- StarX

- Invert and SCNR the starts

- Multistage Adaptive Stretch

- Curves Adjustment

- LRGB Combination (HA as L)

- StretchAndCombineRBGStars