INTERSTELLAR
CLOUDS
Bodes and Cigar Galaxies
By Seeta Persaud | July 11, 2021
After much handwringing and cold nights configuring my telescope to get all components of the hardware and software working together, I was finally able to capture data on the Bodes and Cigar galaxies in June. I spent most of time doing a lot of field testing to get APT, PHD2, Stellarium, and SharpCap to work in unison during image acquisition. In fact, I spent a lot of time getting PHD2 to successfully calibrate. Once I did, my workflow was seamless.
During June there isn’t much to photograph except for many of the galaxies near the Big Dipper. The Bodes and Cigar galaxies were my best target since the Pinwheel and Whirlpool galaxies were too close to the Meridian.
In any event, my first image acquisition, stacking, and processing of Bodes and Cigar were not bad but there is much room for improvement. My biggest mistake was setting the gain too high (300, yikes). In the future I will keep the gain low at 100 and take more and longer exposures.
This image reflects a total integration time of 40 minutes with 2 minute subexposures and calibration frames using a cooled camera. Photos stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and processed in Photoshop.
We haven’t had a decent clear night in a month. My next targets will be Jupiter, Saturn, and the Eagle Nebula.
“The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us—there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, or falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.”
– Carl Sagan
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.
M16 Eagle Nebula – Pillars of Creation
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.
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.
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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