See the full res on astrobin: https://app.astrobin.com/u/naztronomy?i=pi68zj
Also available on my website: https://www.naztronomy.com/gallery/image/935/whirling_dervish_banana_nebula
Acquisition details:
I know a few of you have figured out PIPP but I wanted to show it for those who aren't familiar with the software and also provide an alternative in Siril since PIPP is no longer maintained and can stop working at any time.
Technically in Cambridge but so close to Arlington! I live in East Arlington so it's a quick drive for me.
We're getting a 16% partial eclipse here in Eastern MA and I'm leading an event at the Cambridge Public Library, O'Neal branch tomorrow from 1-3pm with a few telescopes to observe the sun: https://www.cambridgema.gov/.../cambridg.../calendar/view...
We'll have eclipse glasses and I'll also have 3 telescopes available to observe the sun.
I'm hosting an event at a local library tomorrow to enjoy the whopping ~16% eclipse from the Boston/Cambridge area. I'll have three telescopes with me. A Lunt 40, a Seestar S30P with an iPad, and this 100mm frac with a DIY Sun Funnel.
Video on the sun funnel: https://youtu.be/eYQj2g1aOd4
If anyone wants to make their own, the AAS has a guide: https://aas.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/Build_a_Sun_Funnel_v3.4.pdf
I almost made it in 2024 but ran out of time. Glad to finally have one. I redid the sheet with th ehelp of my wife so it's much flatter without creases.
Full res on astrobin: https://app.astrobin.com/i/yhfd5o
HDR Composite done in Affinity using data from the 2024 eclipse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxYDrtFVtSg
I'm continuing to iterate on the method shown in the video to see how sharp I can make this. This is technically three iterations.
This was taken from the Kagga Kamma Remote Observatory in April and May over 25 sessions in 22 hours with LRGB filters. It's not really called the Cosmic Snake but I'm calling it that.
You can see the full res version of this on Astrobin: https://app.astrobin.com/?i=qbbxwm
And this was stacked and mosaiced automatically using my new Siril script: https://youtu.be/meX8yNV1rYc
Acquisition Details on my website: https://www.naztronomy.com/gallery/image/925/cosmic_snake_mandel-wilson-9_ic4635_lrgb
Total integration: 21h 42m
Integration per filter:
Equipment:
As you can see, there were some very heavy light leaks. Did my best to work around them and took me a while to get something I'm happy with. The jagged mosaic panels were also a mistake on my part, I forgot to reset the angles when creating the mosaic sequence in NINA but I think it looks kinda cool, it kinda goes with the body of the snake. We're reimaging this with another rig now with no light leaks. The Esprti's light leaks were also fixed but we were only testing that rig so I won't have access to it for too long and didn't want to start any long term projects there. I think that rig will be ready for rental soon!
This was taken from the Kagga Kamma Remote Observatory and is a small section of a larger 21-panel mosaic that I did in collaboration with my friends Dave and Chris. I recommend checking out the better resolution image on Astrobin: https://app.astrobin.com/i/pdxs0b
Some additional info on my website: https://www.naztronomy.com/gallery/image/900/vela_supernova_subsection_filaments
This is actually a mosaic itself, sections of 5 different panels totaling about 30 hours of data (if my math is correct). We wanted to get more data but due but Vela is setting faster and faster and the weather in the winter has been getting poorer. Hope to retry next year in mono!
Here is the equipment list:
- Telescope: Askar SQA85
- Camera: QHYCCD QHY268 Pro C
- Mount: Proxisky UMi 20S
- Filter: Antlia ALP-T Dual Band 5nm 2"
- Software: NINA, PixInsight, Siril (mosaic processed using my OSC PP script)
I've been going back and forth on the color, I think I want to do the whole 21 panel mosaic a little differently but wanted to show off this section of Vela.
If anyone's interested, I interviewed the observatory owners here: https://youtu.be/xgea5UQlhY4
This is 3 hours of the Dark Doodad Nebula and globular cluster NGC 4372 from the Kagga Kamma Remote Observatory in South Africa.
Equipment:
See full res on astrobin: https://app.astrobin.com/i/u5teqw
Also see it on my website: https://www.naztronomy.com/gallery/image/885/dark_doodad_nebula_sqa85
I am giving the data away for free with associated PixInsight and Siril tutorials soon. They're already available to my paid supporters on Patreon but it'll be made public in a few days on youTube: https://www.youtube.com/Naztronomy
I'm getting ready to send most of this this rig down to Death Valley Observatories in a few weeks. The only two things not going down are the SAL-33 mount and Gemini Focuser. They're both being replaced by ZWO AM5 and EAF.
I just posted a review of the SAL-33, took me about 5 months to get to this point because of issues (all of which have been resolved): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kopVCf5bVpo
This is from first light with the Askar 131F a few days ago. You can watch my first light video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDa8HpAc1nc
Acquisition Details:
Someone had delivery and first light with this beast within hours yesterday. Of course I took advantage and tested it at native focal length. Included a 2m exposure of M27 with just the UV/IR cut filter on the 2600MCP.
Full first light review video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDa8HpAc1nc
I plan to do a full in-depth video, including a test of the reducer next chance I get. Happy to take questions.
This is a giant 14 panel mosaic. We left it uncropped to give it the old Hubble image feeling (Dave's original idea). This was both easy and really hard to process. Star removal does not work well here. But stretching and getting things to look kinda nice was easy.
I highly recommend seeing this on Astrobin for full res goodness: https://app.astrobin.com/i/39ql34
Zoom in to 1x and scroll around!
Image uploaded to this post is at 20% resolution, because it gets too big/long.
Equipment:
Also see a slightly higher res on my website (but still much less res than astrobin): https://www.naztronomy.com/gallery/image/873/coalsack_region_14_panel_mosaic
Highest res version on Astrobin: https://app.astrobin.com/i/73x72v
This is a similar project to our last Carina Nebula project but also a bit different because we're using different panels. NGC 3324 (Gabriela Mistral/Cosmic Cliffs) is the centerpiece here and we hadded a panel on the right to show the Gem Cluster (NGC 3293) and associated nebulosity. There's also less of the Carina Nebula here.
Acquisition Details:
I also recently updated my website so I can highlight individual images a bit better: https://www.naztronomy.com/gallery/image/870/personal_pan_cosmic_cliffs_ngc33240-5x
We're learning we can process these a thousand different ways because we're mosaicing and adding panels as we go to get different perspectives. Our next large project is the Coalsack Nebula.
This was done in collaboration wtih my friends Dave and Chris at the Kagga Kamma Remote Observatory (KKRO).
I'll slowly be s haring some data and posting how-to process videos/challenges on my channel here: https://www.youtube.com/Naztronomy
I recommend seeing this on Astrobin for full resolution goodness: https://app.astrobin.com/i/n29lj8
The full image is much larger but due to missing frames, I had to crop in quite a bit. Hoping to finish it in the next month. Thage has part of the wishing wellc luster, the Carina Nebula (along with Eta Carinae/Keyhole nebula), and the Gabriela Mistral nebula (Cosmic Cliffs).
I just gave a talk at the Boston Museum of Science and this region of the sky was the centerpeice of it with some cool transitions which I'll turn into a short video on YouTube later tonight/tomorrow: https://www.youtube.com/naztronomy
Acquisition Details: