Solar Eclipse Oct. 23 2014.

I took these images from my backyard in Sherkston.

      Using a solar filter on my 300mm Canon zoom,  I was able to capture the moon and giant sunspot AR2192. 

 The Eclipse sinking into the trees.  No filter was used for this shot.

The East, and Western Veil Nebula

This past September finally gave us some of the best skies all season.  This was the perfect opportunity to do some imaging.  With the Veil nebula at the meridian it was my last chance of the year.  These images where captured over 2 nights.  Using my NP101 and Moded Canon XSi, I captured 20, 420sec. images of each object @ 1600iso.  All processing was done using Photoshop CS6e.

The Western Veil..The Witches Broom.  NGC6960

The Eastern Veil.  NGC6992,6995

IC1396, The Elephant Trunk

 Finally a clear night for astrophotography.  I got to try out my new imaging scope, a Tele Vue NP101.  I captured a total of 72min. of IC1396, The Elephant Trunk.  I used my IR modded Canon XSi.  There where no Flat, Dark, or Bias frames used.  All processing was done using Photoshop CS6e with the Google NIC collection.  

 The Elephant's Trunk nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396 located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth.

The Crescent Nebula.  NGC6888... 

    Well this summer hasn't been very good for Adtrophotography.  To many cloudy, or hazy nights.  I did manage to capture this image in late July.  I used my modifies Canon XSi on my TV101.  I captured and stacked 8 x 300sec exposures @ 1600iso.  All processing was done using Photoshop CS6e.

Messier 27,  The Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Apple Core Nebula), It is a Planetary Nebula about 1,360 light years away in the constellation Vulpecula.

I captured this image on June 19th from my backyard.
     I used my Celestron C8 telescope @f6.3  and my moded Canon XSi (450D) Camera.  I stacked  10, 240sec. exposures and processed the results using Photoshop CS6e, I was able to get my best image yet of the Dumbbell.  :)
     Now if only the weather would co-operate I could get on with photographing the rest of what summer night skies have to offer.

My Observatory  BBO Canada (Blue Braille Observatory)

     The Observatory was built in 2011 with help from Friends, Family, and encouragement from my wife.  Most of the materials used was reclaimed lumber, and supplies from the local Re-Store.  The total cost was under $1500.00.  It is an 12 x 8 foot structure, with an 8' x 8' roll off roof  open observatory, and a 4' x 8'  ft. heated warm room.     

     The warm room is where all the work is done.  Here I can spend hours in comfort, controlling the telescope, and cameras.

Equipment from Left to Right
Lostmandy Gemini GoTo mount controller,  Samsung 19" LCD monitor,  LG 24" HD LED Monitor, Sony 14" Trinatron TV Monitor(old 1980s TV) below are 2 Moto Focus controllers, Moonlight, and JMI.
There is also a Windows 7 PC to run everything, and Altec Speakers, with Sub for some Kick Ass Sound.

 The open section of the Observatory holds the mount, and telescopes

The mount is a Losmandy G11 with Gemini I  GoTo Computer.

The telescopes
1 -My new Tele Vue NP101 f5.4 APO Refractor It is used for all my wide field photography.
2 - Celestron Ultima C8 f10 SCT.  using it with a f6.3 reducer,  It is perfect for imaging smaller objects like galaxies, and globular clusters.  It is also Fastar compatible which makes a very fast f2.0.
3 - Lunt Solar LS60T Ha.  It is a dedicated 60mm solar telescope.  Used only for viewing, and imaging the sun.

Other equipment includes a Celestron 70mm scope with an attached Orion Starshoot guide camera.  The auto guider enables me to take very long exposures with my camera by correcting the motion of the mount, keeping the target from drifting. 

    Here are a few shots of the moon I captured Tuesday evening.  There was a slight haze, but the seeing was steady.  These images where taken using my C8, Canon XSi, and BYEOS.  The avi's where stacked using Registax with final processing in Photoshop.  I love some of the long shadows.  Looks like I just missed the "Lunar X". 

The Whirlpool Galaxy is located 31 million light years away. It consists of two galaxies that accompany one another, the larger one being M51 (Messier 51) and the smaller one is NGC 5195.

This image was taken last week from my backyard Observatory.  I used my Celestron C8 telescope, with my Canon T3i (600D)

 

8 x 360sec. exp. at 1600iso

 

The RAW images where pre-processed in CS6, The TIFF files where stacked  using Deep Sky Stacker, then the combined image was further processed with Photoshop CS6e, using the NIC Collections "Detail Extractor".  These new tools have become my  favorite for image processing.

Messier 83 (also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, M83 or NGC 5236) is a barred spiral galaxy^[ proximately 15 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra. It is one of the closest and brightest barred spiral galaxies in the sky,

     I was out till 2:00am this morning capturing this image.  M83 is a very elusive object snag.  It is very low in the South.  At it's peak elevation  it is only 21deg. above the horizon, and is only visible above the trees for about 2 hours.
  
Camera:  Canon T3i
Telescope:  Celestron C8 @ f6.3
Mount:  Lostmandy G11 with Gemini GoTo
Guiding:  Orion StarShoot Auto-guider on a 70mm scope. and PHD2.
Image Capture:  BackYard EOS
Processing:  Photoshop CS6e, NIC Collection, and Boundry Noise reduction.

10 x 300sec. axposures @ 1600iso.

This image needs a bit more work, but not to bad for now. 

This image was captured April 20th.

Canon T3i (600D)

TV101 @ f5.4

12 x 300sec. @ 1600 iso.

Images where stacked, and processed using Photo Shop CS6 extended. 

The Leo Triplet (also known as the M66 Group) is a small group of galaxies about 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. This galaxy group consists of the spiral galaxies M65, M66, and NGC8.

The Sun  in Ha.  March 2014

I decided to post something closer to home,the Sun.  I captured this image on March 21st. using my Lunt 60mm Ha Solar scope.  I was broadcasting  on NSN (nightskiesnetwork.com) and I decided to capture some video using my new MallinCam Micro EX video camera.  Today I decided to process the video using a RegiStax.  I am quite happy with the results.

Who would have guessed, that March would end on a good note.  2 clear evenings in a row.  I spent both of them in the Observatory imaging Galaxy's.  I decided to dust off my C8 which will help with the small galaxies. 

M64  The Black Eye Galaxy

 Both Images where captured early March 31st.

Celestron C8 @f6.3
Canon T3i
8 x 300sec exposures @1600iso
All image stacking and processing was done using Adobe CS6 extended.

M104  The Sombrero Galaxy

Well the PNG images look much better than the JPEG images.  Now I will be able to post many more pictures.

Glen

I am testing the quality of posting PNG files.  I hope this looks better

• 
  

   I captured this image in early January 2014.  It is a supernova in the Cigar Galaxy (M82) " A Supernova is a star that suddenly increases greatly in brightness because of a catastrophic explosion that ejects most of its mass."  This is the 3rd supernova I have seen, and imaged in the past few years. 

One thing I have noticed when posting images on my blog,  The image quality seems to be degraded from the original.  The colour seems to be greatly exaggerated.  I don't know why, but it is something I will have to look into.   

I am working away on my blog, and trying to figure out how things work.  Today I am going to make an attempt to post an image.

 "The Heart Nebula, IC 1805"                                    This image was captured in late December 2013.

I used my newly IR modified Canon XSi (450D)
Tele Vue TV101 @ f5.4
IDAS LPS-P2 filter
8 x 300sec. images @ 1600iso
All image stacking and processing done using Photoshop CS6e.
This was used as a quick test to see how my modified camera performed.  I didn't get a chance to capture more images of the Heart nebula, because clear nights this winter have been scarce.
I am looking forward to getting a better image next fall.

Welcome to my Observatory Blog.
My name is Glen Pidsadnick.  I am an Amateur Astronomer from Sherkston Ontario Canada.  This is my first post, and I will be adding to this blog soon.