Sh2-232 sits in a neglected region of Auriga, not far from the commonly imaged IC410 and IC405. In order from left to right, they are Sh2-232, 235, 231, and 233. I think they look like a giant eyeball and two kidneys, so maybe that’s why they are rarely imaged. (It could also be that they … More Sh2-232 and friends
Sh2-173 is a moderately faint HII region in Cassiopeia. I actually took this image while waiting for my main target for the night, Simeis 147, to rise. But I’m pleased with the way that it turned out. Shooting at f/3.7 helps. Most images show only the central area, but there is a lot of interesting … More Sh2-173, The Phantom of the Opera Nebula
Sh2-174 is a challenging object to image due to its faintness, but very pretty once you have captured it. This is a 17-hout HOO palette image. I took 3 hours of SII data, but because the SII signal is in the same places as the H-alpha (but fainter), the typical SHO palette isn’t as colorful. … More Sh2-174, Valentine’s Rose Nebula
This guy has been on my list for a long time, so I’m glad I’m finally able to shoot it. It is so faint that only a hint of it appears on each H-alpha sub, and it was not visible at all on the individual OIII subs. Only once you integrate the subexposures does it … More CTB1/Abell 85 “The Garlic Nebula”
Sh2-119 sits right next to the North America Nebula, and it’s almost as large, though fainter. I think it looks like a clamshell with a pearl (68 Cygni) in the middle. This is 10 hours 50 minutes of narrowband data. Exposures (-10ºC, gain=100): H-alpha: 34×300s OIII: 56×300s SII: 40 x 200s Total exposure time: 10 hours … More Sh2-119, The Clamshell Nebula?
The Crescent Nebula is an object worth coming back to year after year, and I’m much happier with this year’s version than any other. The improvement is due to better collimation of my AstroTech AT8RC, thanks to TS Optics TSRCKOLLI (review soon), as well as dedicating a lot of time to the OIII channel. I … More NGC6888, The Crescent Nebula
Late clouds have rolled in for most of the past few nights, but there was still an opportunity to get some imaging done. Over four nights, I managed to get just under 19 hours of narrowband data on IC410. I think the result goes to show that it’s worth imaging, even when you don’t always … More IC410 and “The Tadpoles”
By calling the Samyang 135 mm f/2 lens an astrograph in the title, I’m giving away a bit of the conclusion, so let me just state the conclusions up front: I found this lens to be sharp from corner to corner with a reasonably flat field across a full-frame sensor. This is better performance than … More Review: Samyang 135 mm f/2 Astrograph
Somehow, I’ve never really captured an image of The Pleiades (M45). Such a bright target directly overhead, but I was mostly looking for narrowband objects instead, I suppose. This image was processed entirely in PixInsight, except for the final rescaling and jpeg conversion. I’m moving more in that direction. Frustrating and unforgiving it is, but … More The Pleiades (M45)
The Astrophotography Sky Atlas is now available at Amazon! I spent two years coding, researching, and writing this book with a simple goal: to create a compact, reasonably-priced atlas designed for the imager. Over 2000 deep-sky objects are plotted in their correct size and shape, including many faint nebulae not shown in other atlases. Stars … More The Astrophotography Sky Atlas
Deep-sky Imaging 