M45

This was taken from the Austerfield Observatory as a test for the new Focal Reducer to the 106FSQ, on a clear night with the malevolent moon looking on through some haze and heavy dew, not the best of conditions, but it was a test for acreage and composition, and in that latter the cluster looks a bit lost, but perhaps because I'm used to seeing it fill the frame more.
I used the 106 with a .73 focal reducer and an M25C. The guiding was with the H9C in the Vixen260L and an AP .62 focal reducer, to gain a wider field for easier choice of fatter stars. All this sat on the AP900GTO mount. The exposure was 15x300sec. Calibration in Astroart with masterflat and master bias and stacked by sigma average. Finally processed in Photoshop.

NGC 7538

An exciting emission and reflection nebula in Cepheus, namely NGC 7538. It is the host to ongoing star formation and includes the largest known protostar. This is, apparently, embedded in a collapsing core of 85-115 solar masses on the way to becoming a high mass B star.

Taken by Rhys Owen from Hatfield on the 8th of September, using a modified Canon 600D on a Takahashi 106FSQ. Guiding was done with a Celestron Nexstar8 controlled by PHD. The exposure was 3x500sec., captured in Nebulosity, calibrated in Astroart with darks, no flats, and finally processed in Photoshop.

The Milky Way- from South Africa

I hoped to take some dark sky pictures whilst I was away, however there was a lot of light pollution from the hotels and local towns.
So I took a chance one night and pointed my Cannon 1100D at the sky.
18(28.8)mm f3.5, 15secs ISO 1600 and hoped for the best.  Just used 6.3M JPEG, well I wasn't sure it would work.
This was 6/9/2013 @20.45 from St Lucia -28.37 South, 32.41 East.
The first one has been a little processed. the cluster is M7, Antares at the bottom of the view. Sag A* is in the top layer of dust, to the right of M7.
Peter Smith

NGC7000

Further testing with the Takahashi focal reducer, taken on 7.9.13 from the Austerfield Observatory. With my M25C I usually get only the upper large part of the nebulosity, the North American (Buffalo) and a touch of the Ferret, but the FR embraces a field a good bit wider without costing much in resolution. I'd hoped to include some nebulosity further to the left, south, of the snout of the Buffalo, but failed. The guiding was done with the H9C on the Vixen with an AP .62 Focal reducer controlled by Astroart5.
Flats and Bias frames were used in the calibration in Astroart, with final processing done in Photoshop.
Not the greatest, but certainly a success for me in terms of a useful piece of kit proved out.

SH2-129

 

 

 I recently bought Dave Adshead's focal reducer for my 106 but it wouldn't focus when used with my M25C camera. And after a prolonged series of trials with different spacers etc., with a dealer of Takahashi telescopes, this is the final test on a faint area of nebulosity in Cepheus recorded in the second catalogue of Stewart Sharpless of "bright" nebulosity. It's also known as the Flying Bat, and is far more extensive than this frame of the brightest part. The FR gives the telescope a focal length of 387mm, but this bit of nebulosity would need a focal length of 150 to 250mm, so mosaicking or a camera lens would be the solution. But I've not enough patience for doing mosaics so I may try my old 135mm Pentax lens, some time in the future.

The night was cloudless but with haze, though the Milky Way could be seen all night. The dew was heavy too, and the car was wringing wet.

The exposure was 220 mins in total, and the guiding was done by my trusty H9C and Astroart. Stacked in Astroart and finally processed in Photoshop.

 

 

 

M17 - the Swan

Taken by Rhys Owen on the 13th of August, from home using a modified Canon 600D DSLR with an Astronomic CLS filter on a Takahashi FSQ106ED. The exposure was 30x60sec at ISO1600 and recorded in Nebulosity. Then calibrated with 5x60s darks and stacked in Astroart, and finally processed in Photoshop.

The Milky Way and the busy centre of Cygnus

 

This is a stack of 9 x 1 min. taken on 8.8.13, from Bessacarr by Bill Hughes, under Sodium Vapour street lights. The camera was set at ISO 1600, with a 50mm. F2.8 and an LPR filter.

See if you can pick out the nebulous areas, the largest and brightest is the North American Nebula, NGC7000, near the middle left with the Butterfly, NGC1813d, lower to the right.


 

Another by Bill Hughes from the same location and using the same camera with the gain set at ISO1600. The same street lights were doing their best to spoil things too. The lens fitted for this was a 14mm f2.8, so drawing in a much larger area of sky. The exposure was 10x1min. Again see what features you can recognise.

In both cases the processing was done in Deep Sky Stacker followed by Photoshop.

M39 - in Cygnus

Taken on the 5th of August 13, as a finish off to a 4 hour job, when the sky was dying out.
The usual kit was used, M25C in the 106 and the H9C guiding with a .67 focal reducer in the Vixen 260.
Stacked in Astroart with bias and masterflat and processed in Photoshop. The exposure was 11x120sec.

IC4665 in Ophiuchus

A wide cluster of blue stars, not many but clearly blue. Taken from the Austerfield Observatory on 5.8.13, with an M25C in a Tak106 at native FL. Guided by an H9C in a Vixen VMC260L with a .67 focal reducer. Nebulosity controlled the taking camera and Astroart the guiding one. Stacked in Astroart and processed in Photoshop. The spikes are of course artificial. Perhaps worth more time on it to highlight the dust lanes more.

NGC1318d in Cygnus

Taken on 3.8.13 from the Austerfield Observatory with the Tak106 and M25C. Not a great night, hazy and with intermittent cloud. Guided by an H9C in the VMC260 with a .67 focal reducer. The focal reducer helped find and hold stars by brightening them through the haze, but couldn't help it see through clouds. The small cluster to the lower left is NGC6910.
North is to the right with extremely bright Sadr cropped to just a glow at the bottom edge of the frame. The exposure was 21x300sec, stacked in Astroart and processed in Photoshop.