The Running Man Nebula...

Object: NGC 1977
Type: Emission and Reflection Nebula
Distance: 1500 light years
Constellation: Orion
Date: 07 January 2008
Equipment: SXV-H9, Vixen ED114 refractor (f.l. 600mm)
Subframes: 50 x 60 second 2x2 binned subframes, 16 darks, 16 flats/flat darks, calibrated and stacked in AIP4Win.

Original image above, with a false colour image prepared in PSP7 below. North is up. Click on either to enlarge.


Rob Gendler gives us a breathtaking image of this object, with the adjacent Orion Nebula in the same field.

The Pac-man Nebula...

Object: NGC 281
Type: Bright Nebula
Distance: 9400 light years
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Date: 12 November 2007
Equipment: SXV-H9, Vixen ED114 refractor (f.l. 600mm)
Subframes: 25 x 120 second 2x2 binned subframes in H alpha, 16 darks, 16 flats/flat darks, calibrated and stacked in AIP4Win.

A moon-free evening and excellent seeing conditions allowed trouble-free imaging of this well-known imaging target in Cassiopeia. The principle features of this nebula are clearly seen, including the striking dark dust lane and dust globule that form the "mouth" and "eye" of the Pacman that lends its name to the nebula's popular moniker.

Below is a false colour version of the above monochrome image, just because I can. Click on either for a larger view.

Johannes Schedler gives us a deeper image of this object and some more information here.

Comet 17P Holmes...

I imaged this remarkable exploding comet on October 29th. last year (above, 60 x 15 sec subs - click to enlarge). It was clearly visible to the naked eye in Perseus as a bright fuzzball, about a quarter of the Moon's diameter in binoculars. The "double nucleus" was very apparent and shows up quite well above.

Two weeks later on November 12th. (above, 60 x 45 sec subs - click to enlarge), the comet was still just visible to the naked eye as a faint disc, slightly brighter towards its centre, and whose full extent had now expanded to about three-quarters the size of a full Moon. Both images have been processed in a similar way, but the lower one is the product of longer exposures, which is why it appears to be of comparative brightness

Both images are composites of full frames from the SXV-H9 and 600mm f5.3 refractor.

Lunar occultation of Saturn

Date: 22 May 2007, (time 21:18:45 local time)
Equipment: Phillips TouCam, Vixen VC200L (f.l. 1800mm)
Subframes: 300 frames at 20fps, with flats, calibrated and stacked in Registax 2.1.14.0

The above image is a bit of a pastiche as the bright evening twilight, added to the huge difference in brightness and contrast between the Moon and Saturn, rendered Saturn pretty much invisible in my first processing efforts. I shot some more frames of Saturn once the Moon was out of the shot, processed these separately and then "dropped" a layer in Paint Shop Pro containing the processed Moon image over it such that the faint image of the emerging Saturn exactly matched the underlying brighter shot of the planet.

Merging the layers and adjusting the final contrast gave the above "idealised" shot of what the event would have looked like in a dark sky.

I guess the imaging purists might sneer, but I like it.

NGC 7380

Object: NGC 7380 (cluster), Sh2-142 (nebula)

Type: Cluster with Bright Nebula

Distance: 10400 light years
Constellation: Cepheus
Date: 11 November 2008
Equipment: SXV-H9, Vixen ED114 refractor (f.l. 600mm)
Subframes: 50 x 150s 2x2 binned in H alpha, 16 darks, 16 flats/flat darks, calibrated and stacked in AIP4Win.

I'd love to be able to say that the above image was a product of LRGB imaging, but after acquiring the H alpha frames that I planned to use as the luminance contribution, clouds started making an appearance, so I decided to call it a night (especially as I had to work next day) and "fake it" in PSP7.

The image below is the "real" monochrome one. North is up. Click on either to enlarge.

Rob Gendler, as ever, shows what someone can achieve with skill and dedication (and some rather nifty equipment). As well as a wonderful image, he also gives us some useful information about one of Caroline Herschel's remarkable discoveries and its associated nebula.

I wasn't too sure that the RGB frames would have worked out too well anyway, given the glare of a moon just a couple of days away from full. Moonlight doesn't seem to trouble imaging through an H alpha filter, but I'm pretty sure I would have noticed a loss of contrast on the broader band colour filters.

Incidentally, I use an ATIK manual filter wheel, and find that it "leaks light" rather badly, both around the thumbwheel area and through the casing joint itself. I noticed it when I was shooting some flats, but I can get around the problem by wrapping some foil around the edge of the wheel housing and thumbwheel area. Has anyone else come across the same problem?

And talking of equipment, one of the most useful bits I've bought for ages consists of a pair of battery-powered heated insoles for my shoes (£9.99 from Maplin - 50% off until Xmas). It was pretty chilly on Tuesday night while I was setting up, but these little beauties kept my feet toasty warm.

The cold may no longer be an excuse for not imaging during the forthcoming freezing winter evenings!

Galaxies in Pegasus...

A wide field view of the region around NGC 7331, showing Stephan's Quintet (lower right) and numerous other galaxies visible in the same field. Click to enlarge - I've tagged the galaxies I could identify.

The image was taken on 20th October 2007, and comprises of an average of 35 subframes of 120 second duration, taken with the SXV-H9 and the Vixen ED114 refractor.

The Swan Nebula

Object: Messier 17, NGC 6618

Type: Bright Nebula

Distance: 4890 light years
Constellation: Sagittarius
Date: 04 August 2007
Equipment: SXV-H9, Vixen ED114 refractor (f.l. 600mm)
Subframes: 40 x 100s full frame in H alpha, 16 darks, 16 flats/flat darks, calibrated and stacked in AIP4Win.

This was one of those rare nights when everything went perfectly. The polar alignment appeared to be spot on at the first attempt and the sky stayed crystal clear with a steady atmosphere for the hours around midnight that it took to acquire the frames.

Even though this object never gets much more than about 20º above my southern horizon and the summer sky wasn't truly dark, this effort turned out to be one of my best ever and one of the few that I felt was worthy of a large scale print.

I think it holds up pretty well against deeper images produced by masters such as Johannes Schedler, shown here.