Contents

Globular and Open Star Clusters

NGC 6712 and IC 1295 in Scutum, Sept. 16, 2022

ngc6712

Globular cluster NGC 6712 and green planetary nebula IC 1295 are located in a rich starfield in Scutum. I had attempted these objects a couple of weeks earlier, but guiding issues rendered all but 11 frames useless. I added those frames to the twenty taken tonight (9/16) for a total of 31 frames (31 minutes). These two objects are separated by 24 arc minutes which would make them visually available in a widefield eyepiece. NGC 6712 is magnitude 8.7 and IC 1295 is much fainter at magnitude 12.5 and less than 2 arc-minutes in size.

Details:
Location: Front yard Cary, NC
Camera: ASI294mc-Pro
Exposure: 21 x 60s gain 120
Filter: UV/IR
Scope: Televue Genesis 4" f/5 refractor
Mount: iOptron GEM-45
Guider: Orion 60mm finder/guider
Capture software: ZWO ASIair Plus
Guiding software: ZWO ASIair Plus
Calibration frames: darks, flats, flat-dark
Processing software: Pixinsight, Photoshop CC, Topaz AI
Weather conditions:
Notes: The photo displayed is a crop of the original frame. The field shown is approx. a half degree wide.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home

Four clusters and two planetaries in Puppis, March 1, 2022

M46andM47

This is a photo of a busy area in northern Puppis. From left to right: Bottom left is open cluster M46 with its embedded planetary nebula NGC 2438. Just above M46 is the very small red planetary nebula Minkowski 1-18 (PNG 231.4+04.3). Moving to the right is the small open cluster NGC 2425. Further right and up is open cluster M47. Above and a little to the left is open cluster NGC 2423.

If you mouse over the photo, the objects will be outlined. For a larger view in a new window, click on the image.

Enlargement and crop of M46 with two planetary nebulae from the photo above. M46pln
Minkowski 1-18 is the small red planetary very near the top center of the photo. NGC 2438 is the bright planetary nebula near the lower center. When I took the photo, I had no idea that M 1-18 even existed but I noticed it while processing the wide field photo.

Details:
Location: Front yard Cary, NC
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-Pro
Exposure: 42x30s subs at gain 120
Filter: Optolong L-Pro
Scope: TeleVue Genesis 4" f/5
Mount: iOptron GEM-45
Guider: 60mm Orion finder/guider with ASI120mm-s camera
Capture software: APT
Guiding software: PHD2
Calibration frames: 13 flats and 13 darks
Processing software: PixInsight, Photoshop, and Topaz Denoise AI
Weather conditions: Clear skies with temps in the low 50s

Notes: Exposures were kept short to keep star colors from over saturating and going white.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home

M22 globular cluster in Sasgittarius - Aug. 5, 2021

M22

This is M22, a globular cluster in Sagittarius in a very rich starfield. At the top righ corner is a much smaller globular cluster called NGC6642. Note also the bell shaped group of stars at the bottom center to the bottom right edge of M22.

For a larger view in a new window, click on the image.

Details:
Location: Cary, NC in my front yard
Camera: ASI294MC-pro gain:120
Exposures: Sept. 2020 - 22 x 60 sec
Filter: Astronomik CLS
Scope: TeleVue Genesis 4" f/5 refractor
Mount: iOptron GEM-45
Guider: Orion finder/guider with ASI120mm-s camera
Capture software: APT
Guiding software: PHD2
Processing software: Pixinsight and Photoshop

Notes:
Pixinsight was used for data reduction, align, stack, ABE, Photometric CC, and convert to tiff. Photoshop was used for curves, GradientXterminator, and convert to jpg.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home

M35, NGC2158, Jellyfish and Monkey Head Nebulae - Jan. 9, 2021

M35area

This is a wide-field shot of southern Gemini with several nice objects in view. I took it from my front driveway in Cary, NC. At top right is open cluster M35 and its companion open cluster NGC 2158. The bright orange star at center is Eta Geminorum (Propus, mag. 3.3). To its left is supernova remnant IC 443, the Jellyfish Nebula. At the bottom right is NGC 2174, the Monkey Head Nebula. There are thousands of winter Milky Way stars all over the photo that I tried to suppress. This is a first attempt at this target. I will revisit it and try to do a better job next time.

I used my ASI294MC color camera at unity gain attached to my Nikkor 180mm ED lens at f/2.8. 31 x 60s light frames were used to create this photo. An Astronomik CLS filter was used to keep the light pollution down. The lens and camera were mounted on an iOptron GEM-45 mount. The shots were tracked but unguided. I used APT to capture the images. PixInsight was used to reduce and combine the individual frames. In 2024, BlurXterminator was used to reduce the star sizes and sharpen the frame. Photoshop CC was used for final gradient removal and levels changes before converting to jpg. The image was slightly cropped on the bottom, otherwise it is the full ASI294 frame.

For a larger view in a new window, click on the image.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home

M10, M12, and M14 in Ophiuchus - June 13, 2020

comet-m81

M10, M12, and M14 are bright globular clusters located within 12 degrees of each other in Ophiuchus. I photographed all three of them within the span of about an hour Saturday night. After processing the data, I was struck by the fact that all gloublars don't really look alike. I was thinking about a way to present this in a clear way and came upon the idea of making an animated gif of all three clusters in succession.

Here is the result of my efforts. I had several challenges. The most difficult was a flat fielding issue which resulted in a bright white circle in my images. The other was I only used 15 x 30 seconds on each object, so the noise was pretty bad. Finally, I had to process each image the same and center the cluster and label it before creating the gif in Photoshop.

The images were captured in my front yard using my ASI294mc-pro camera, my Genesis 4" f/5 refractor, and my iOptron GEM45 mount unguided. The capture was done using APT. The data was reduced, combined, cropped, and centered on each object using PixInsight. Finally, the images were taken into Photoshop to get rid of the flat fielding artifact, increase the contrast, downsize, and create the animated gif.

Click on the image for a larger view in a new window.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home

M13 - Globular Cluster in Hercules - July 24, 2019

M13

This is the great globular cluster in Hercules with two companion galaxies to the upper left. NGC 6204 at magnitude 11.4 is near the top while IC 4617 at magnitude 15.2 is faintly visible about halfway from the cluster to NGC 6204. One thing that made this photo successful was the passage of a rare July cold front which cleared out all the haze in the sky and put the dew points down into the 60s. I got a nice treat of seeing a bright fireball this evening while imaging.

I made this photo from my house in Cary. I was using my new ASI294 one shot color camera. The camera was connected to my TeleVue Genesis 4" f/5 refractor. The Genesis was mounted on my Celestron AVx which was tracking but not guiding. 17 x 30s exposures were taken at unity gain. The images were acquired with Astrophotography Tool (APT). PixInsight was used to reduce, align, combine, and stretch the data. I used Photoshop CC to make a few changes to levels, color balance, and convert to jpg.

Click on the image for a larger view in a new window.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home

Double Globulars M53 and NGC5053 in Coma Berenices - July 1, 2019

M63x32

It is pretty cool to be able to get two globular clusters into one field of view of my camera. Bright M53 is at upper right while fainter NGC 5053 is at lower left. NGC 5053 has an irregular shape to it - not appearing very round like most globulars.

This image was taken from my front yard in Cary, NC. A cool front came through overnight last night and lowered the humidity quite a bit. High clouds persisted off and on the whole time I was out, the temperature was very pleasent for July. This photo was made from 19 x 30s exposures through my 4" f/5 TeleVue Genesis refractor. The shots were unguided. I was using the Celestron AVx mount tonight. APT (Astrophography Tool) was used for mount control and image aquisition. I used my ASI1600MM-Cool camera at 0 degrees C and unity gain. The image was cropped and rotated 90 degrees putting north at the top. The image was calibrated, registered, aligned, and stacked with PixInsight. Final touchups were done with Photoshop CC.

Click on the image for a larger view in a new window.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home

M44 - The Beehive cluster in Cancer - Feb. 7, 2019

M44

This is an R,G,B sequence taken with my ASI-1600mm. I took 15 x 30 seconds exposures each of red, green, and blue filters at unity gain from my front yard in Cary, NC. The shots were taken through my 4" TeleVue Genesis refractor at f/5 unguided on my Losmandy G-11 mount. Maxim DL was used to capture the images. The images were calibrated, stacked, and combined with PixInsight. Final touch-ups were done with Photoshop CC.

Click on the image for a larger view in a new window.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home

Open Clusters M35 and NGC 2158 - Mar. 16, 2018

M35

M35 and NGC 2158 are open clusters in the consetllation of Gemini. M35 covers an area a little over the size of the full moon and is younger and closer than NGC 2158 which is much older and much further away. This image was captured at the Bigwoods site at Jordan Lake NC. It is a combination of 20 x 80 second exposures taken with my Canon XTi camera at ISO 1600. It is a crop of the central area of the original frame. North is at the top. I was using the 4" f/5 TeleVue Genesis refractor mounted on the Losmandy G-11. The images were unguided. The image data was processed using Pixinsight.

Click on the image for a larger view in a new window.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home



Open cluster M11 in Scutum - June 26, 2016

M11

This photo of M11 was captured in my front yard in Cary, NC. The skies looked clear but had high clouds present during the photo session. I used my homemade 8" f/6.2 Newtonian reflector and my new (to me) Canon T3i. Backyard EOS was used to control the camera. The shots were tracked but unguided. The best 18 of 26 shots of 30 seconds at ISO 800 were combined in ImagesPlus (IP) using the Sigma Clip Average method. IP was also used to stretch, sharpen, and convert to Tiff format. Final cleanup and a reduction in size for web display was done in Photoshop CS2. Tonight, I was trying to show the stars and their colors as opposed to my previous efforts using the 4" f/5 refractor which showed a wide field at the expense of an overexposed cluster and blown out stars.

Click on the image for a larger view in a new window.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home


Open Cluster M41 - Feb. 29, 2016

M41

This is an LRGB image of M41 in Canis Major taken from my driveway in Cary, NC on Feb. 29, 2016. It was taken with my f/5 Genesis refractor and my SBIG ST-402 CCD camera. I took L,R,G,and B images all at 10x30 seconds. I processed the image using an evaluation copy of PixInsight in an effort to learn the software. I added in the luminance using Photoshop.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home


The Coathanger in Vulpecula September 14, 2015

Coathanger

This is the Coathanger astrism in Vulpecula along with the nearby open cluster NGC 6802. The image was taken at Wildacres Retreat near Little Switzerland NC on September 14, 2015. The image was made with my Canon XTi at ISO 800 and a Nikon 180mm lens at f/4. The image was tracked using my iOptron SkyTracker, but it was not guided. I took the best 7 out of 10 images which were one minute each and combined them in ImagesPlus. I used 7 dark frames. The image has been cropped and reduced for web display.

By moving the mouse pointer onto the image you will see the objects identified. Click on the image to see a larger version in a new window.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home


M5 - Globular Cluster in Serpens - May 22, 2015

M5

This image of globular cluster M5 was taken at Bigwoods as the moon was setting in the west. It was taken with my modified Canon XTi camera through the Genesis 4" refractor on my Losmandy G-11 mount. Guiding was done with a 60mm Orion finder and an ATIK 16IC camera. The final image was made from 19 individual 2 minute exposures. Image reduction was done in ImagesPlus 5.75. All stretching was done in Photoshop CS2 using levels and curves. Some additional sharpening was then done in ImagesPlus before final image cleanup in Photoshop. The weather was very cool with temps in the low 50s with dew points also in the 50s.

To see a larger view in a new window, click on the image.


Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home

Double Cluster in Perseus - Oct. 1, 2013

Double Cluster

Double Cluster in Perseus - taken on Oct. 1, 2013 at Staunton River Virginia. This is a combination of 20 each 30 second exposures using my Genesis 4" scope and Canon Xti camera. Processed in ImagesPlus.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home


M45 - The Pleiades open cluster in Taurus - Oct. 1, 2013

Pleiades

M45 - The Pleiades taken 10/1/2013 at the Staunton River Star Party. 10x3 minutes using the Canon XTi and the Televue Genesis refractor. The original frame was rotated and tightly cropped.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home


M3 - Globular cluster in Canes Venatici - May 6, 2011

M3

M3 in Canes Venatici May 6, 2011. After the rain last night, I finally got a chance to try my 8 inch f/6 home made Newtonian again. I took this photo from my front driveway in Cary around 11:30 Friday night. This is a stack of 12 x 1 minute exposures. There was minimal processing done on this image, most with MaximDL. It was just dark subtracted, aligned, combined, and some DDP run on it. This is a full frame image on my SBIG ST-402ME. It was guided by my ATIK 16IC attached to an old 80mm Brandon refractor mounted on my old Losmandy G-11.

This is the first time I have got a chance to use the 8 inch on the G-11 since I replaced the worm gear with Ken Westall's old Losmandy high precision worm. My ATIK guide camera had to be sent back to the factory recently because of a problem with one of the guide relays. The SBIG went back to the factory a few weeks ago for a cooling upgrade. This is the first time this combination of equipment has worked this well.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home


NGC 7789 - Open cluster in Cassiopeia - Nov. 12, 2010

NGC7789

NGC 7789 in Cassiopeia captured on 11/12/2010 during a moonlit RACOBS at Jordan Lake. It was imaged with my Canon DSLR for 20 minutes through my Genesis 4" refractor guided by my SBIG ST-402 through a 80mm refractor. Captured with Maxim DL and processed with ImagesPlus and Photoshop.

Click on the image for a larger view in a new window.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home


M92 - Globular Cluster in Hercules - June 2, 2017

M92

This cropped image of M92 was shot at home on a bright moonlit night just past first quarter moon. The early June weather was unexpectedly delightful with the temperature in the low 60s with low humidity.

The imaging session started out as an experiment to see if I could guide my new Celestron Edge HD 800 SCT (C-8) at f/10 (2032mm focal length) and get acceptable results. Balance problems early caused some slightly oval stars in early sub-frames causing them to be rejected. Re-balancing the scope corrected the oval star problem.

The C-8 was mounted on a side by side plate with the 80 mm Brandon refractor guide scope on the other side. I was using my Losmandy G-11 non-Gemini mount. My ATIK 16IC CCD camera was attached to the Brandon acting as the guide camera. I was using my un-modified Canon T3i DSLR at prime focus on the C-8. Exposures were 60s long at ISO 800. I combined the best 14 of 24 images to create the final photo.

Click on the image for a larger view in a new window.

Back to the top of the page
Back to Mark's Astrophotography Home