Kemble's Cascade

I was out experimenting with a DSLR attached to my RC recently and was browsing DSOs high in the sky.  On top of the RC I have a camera with a 135mm SLR lens to act as a viewfinder because I find it very difficult to look through the rather-small, straight-through finder on the 'scope.  I realised I could use it to image Kemble's Cascade  "a beautiful cascade of faint stars tumbling from the northwest down to the open cluster NGC 1502".  This gives a larger view than I has done previously.  Here is a reduced-size image, the full sized one can be seen here, on my web site.  I have tried to bring out the colours with some success.  I am told this cascade is clearly visible in binoculars, but I've not seen it myself.  It is in Camelopardalis, about 6° from Alpha.

The picture is a mosaic of three taken with an Imaging Source DFK 21AF04 colour camera fitted with a 135 mm SLR lens operating at f/4, mounted on an iOptron iEQ45 Pro mount.  The exposure was 27 seconds.  The background of one picture was slightly lighter than the others, so I darkened it to match, then constructed the mosaic using iMerge.  The final image was darkened again to remove the remaining background and the colour saturation increased by 30%.  
Peter

IC 1848

The Soul Nebula is an emission nebula in Cassiopeia.The object is named after the small open cluster I.C.1848 embedded within its body. The large cavities are carved out by radiation and stellar winds from the region's massive stars. Regions where gases are pushed together are thought to be the source of star formation.
This image based on the Hubble palette showing part of the nebula was taken with a SX Trius 694 on a Takahashi 106 refractor from Hatfield Woodhouse in the light of a full moon using narrowband filters.Ha 12x600s. O111 9x600s.S11 9x600s

NGC 7000

The Cygnus Wall part of the North America Nebula was photographed from Kelling Heath using a SX Trius 694 camera with a Ha filter attached to a Takahashi 106 refractor on a NEQ6 pro mount.12x600s exposures were acquired in Nebulosity, stacked in AstroArt and processed in PhotoShop.
This was a useful exercise in setting up  equipment in the field.

NGC 281

These images of the PacMan nebula were processed from data collected 11.09.16 using Ha(12x600s)O111(9x600s)andS11(9x600s) filters on my usual kit.I used the Hubble palette for one and HaR,O111B.S11G for other, Ha was added as a luminance layer to each,

Most of the fiddling was done in PhotoShop

IC 1805

At a distance of 6000 light years this cloud of energized hydrogen gas glowing in the shape of a heart in Cassiopeia is too extensive to be fully captured  with the Trius/Takahashi 106 combination.
Ha 12x600s,S11 6x600s and O111 8x600s filters were used assigned to green red and blue channels.

IC 1795

The Fish Head Nebula in Cassiopeia lies next to the Heart Nebula. For the image  Ha,S11 and O111 filters on a SX Trius 694 mono camera were connected to a Takahashi 106 refractor over a period of 4 and 1/2 hours last night.
 This is an emission nebula spanning about 70 light years across approximately 6000 light years away.

IC 1396

The Elephant's Trunk nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within a larger ionized gas region I.C.1396 in Cepheus.In the bright moonlight narrowband filters were considered appropriate,12x600sHa,6x600sO111 and 6x600sS11 using the Hubble palette.The telescope was a Takahashi 106,camera a SX Trius 694,guided with an OAG and Lodestar, location Hatfield Woodhouse.

I have been trying out with the Society's LDX55-AR6 refractor which the Society wishes to sell.  I have got the system working enough to try it out under the stars.

I took these pictures of the Moon and Saturn last night in less-than-perfect conditions, although I am quite pleased with the final results.  Both pictures were taken with the same camera at prime focus of the telescope.
I have pasted the picture of Saturn onto that of the Moon to illustrate their relative sizes in the sky.

Peter

Recent Sunspots

Solar activity is diminishing in its 11-year cycle, but there have been a few nice spots recently and I have used them to try out the Society's 6-inch refractor.  There was a nice single spot at the end of May and the AR-6 gave me a nice picture once I tried using a narrow-band filter with it.  Then more recently there has been a nice set of three spots.

Here firstly are whole-Sun pictures taken with a 270-mm SLR lens in white light.

Top:  Sunspot 12546 taken 24 May 2016



Below: Sunspots (left to right) 12567, 12565, and 12566 taken on 17 July 2016












The here are close-up pictures firstly of 12546 taken with the AR-6 refractor and an OIII filter.

And then the group of three taken in white light using my ETX125

Sadly this last is not as good as I would expect.  Maybe seeing conditions were worse than they appeared to be.

Peter

M27 The Dumbbell Nebula

The Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Apple Core Nebula, Messier 27, M 27, or NGC 6853) is a planetary nebula in the constellation Vulpecula, at a distance of about 1,360 light-years
This object was the first planetary nebula to be discovered; by Charles Messier in 1764. At its brightness of visual magnitude 7.5 and its diameter of about 8 arcminutes, it is easily visible in binoculars, and a popular observing target in amateur telescopes.

Photograph by Max Freier

Rossington 13th July 2016

19 x 300 sec at ISO 800..

100 mm APO telescope and Canon 600D Astromodified Camera