Imaging M42 under a bright moon

     Winter is moving along quickly, and taking Orion along with it.   We have had some cloud free skies,  but still quite hazy.  I have been anxious to try out  my new AstroTech AT8IN f4 astrograph.   The first opportunity was last Tuesday, Jan 27th.  The skies where quite clear, but the moon was bright so I was only able to take 180sec. exposures.  This image of the Orion Nebula and the Running Man was a result of 6, 180sec. exposures taken with my Canon XSi with an IDAS LPS-P2 filter.  All image stacking, and processing was done using Photoshop CS6e.  I am looking forward of imaging this again under darker skies,  Lets hope February brings better skies.

Friday Night LOVEJOY

      It was another sorta clear night.  I wish the skies where darker, but I will take what I can get.  This is the result of 6,  300sec. exposures @ 1600iso taken with my T3i and  NP101.  I guided on the comet so the stars have trails.  That's about as much tali as I can get.  Processed and stacked in Photoshop CS6e.

Clear Skies:  Glen

This is more like it

     I just finished processing more images from last night.  These where the first set of images  I took when the skies where darker, and I hadn't rotated the camera.  I had set PHD to guide on the comet.  Clearly looking at my other images I now see with them I had done something wrong.  This is the image I was hoping to get.  Far better structure in the tale.

I wanna get back out there

Comet Lovejoy (C/2014 Q2)

     After a long drought of not being out in the Observatory, we finally got some clear skies.  Not perfect skies, but I will take what I can get.  My goal was to get an image of the comet.  I took 4 x  300sec. images @1600iso.   Using my Canon XSi, and Tele Vue NP101 @f5.4 refractor.  I used PHD guiding to track the comet.  That is why the stars look a little odd.  The images where stacked and processed using Photoshop CS6e.  I am hoping to get out again to get more images before the comet fades.

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.