INTERSTELLAR
CLOUDS
M16 Eagle Nebula – Pillars of Creation
By Seeta Persaud | August 7, 2022
After a half dozen attempts, I finally captured a successful image of the Eagle Nebula from my Bortle 6 backyard.
This image reflects a total integration time of 54 minutes with 3 minute subexposures, dark frames, flat frames and dark flat frames. Gain was set at 100. Photos stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and processed in Photoshop.
Image information: M16 captured with Skywatcher 80ED, HEQ 5 mount, .85 focal reducer, L-extreme filter, and 533MC. Total integration time: 54 minutes, 18 X 180s. (calibration frames: 15 darks, 15 flats, 15 dark flats).
The Eagle Nebula and the hauntingly beautiful Pillars of Creation are approximately 7000 light-years away from Earth. The Eagle Nebula lives in the southern night sky during the summer months in the northern hemisphere. It is a large interstellar cloud of gas and dust where new stars are born.
While ghostly, mystical, and seemingly infinite, infrared images taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope, and released in 2007, appeared to show the demise of the godly Pillars. Based on the blast wave’s speed, it crashed into the Pillars, perhaps toppling them, around 6,000 years ago. The Pillars of Creation, which we continue to captivate us, might not even exist anymore. Such is the ephemeral and transient nature of life and the cosmos.
“Learn from yesterday. Live for today. Hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.”
– Albert Einstein
Monochrome LRGB and Narrowband (SHO)
Last year I had the chance to enter the world of monochrome imaging with LRGB for broadband targets and SHO (Sulfur II, Hydrogen-alpha, and Oxygen III) filters for narrowband targets. I also finally dove right into the world of Pixinsight in order to process my astro-images.
Galaxy Season 2023
Integration time of 52 minutes comprised of 2 min subexposures with calibration frames. Data captured on 4/13/2022. Second attempt, this time with an autofocuser and processed in Pixinsight.
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
The last time comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) approached the Earth was 50,000 years ago – back then, the Neanderthals were still walking our planet. Unfortunately, the comet was very difficult to spot in binoculars in light-polluted skies. I was able to view the comet with the Skywatcher 80ED and a cooled ASI 533MC camera.
Eye of God, Orion, Horsehead, Pleiades
Between the end of October 2022 and mid-January 2023, I captured six winter targets that have eluded me due to cloudy skies and other winter weather since 2021: the Eye of God or Helix nebula, the Orion nebula, Horsehead nebula, the Pleiades star cluster, Triangulum galaxy, and Stephan’s Quintet.
Andromeda Galaxy First Attempt
I captured my first successful image of the Andromeda Galaxy from my Bortle 6 backyard sky on October 19 (likely the last warmish night we’ll have for a few months) under a very full moon in the eastern sky.
Eagle Nebula First Attempt
While I am excited by my first capture of the Eagle Nebula and the very visible Pillars of Creation, the image is soft-focused and needs far more focusing fine tuning. I am currently still focusing manually.
Bodes and Cigar Galaxies
First attempt at Bodes and Cigar galaxies during the Spring while configuring the telescope. Total integration time of 40 minutes with 2 min subexposures and calibration frames.
Welcome
My love of astronomy began over 25 years ago when the first images from the Hubble Space Telescope were released. I’ll never forget the first time I saw Pillars of Creation. It still haunts and captivates the imagination. I bought my first telescope 6 years ago, learned the night sky, and began dabbling in wide-angle and planetary DSLR astrophotography only last year.
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