A cold but clear and still night was a great opportunity to find an unexplored target. This little nebula was in a favorable position to allow a nice long run. With 29 frames of 330 seconds each, this is the integrated image I obtained. A small object with limited detail, I was happy to be challenged processing this result from my second try.

Click on the image and zoom in for a good look as usual.

My first try at this nebula on a less than ideal evening sky. It was dropping below freezing which is a good thing but there was a good bit of moisture in the air and dew on everything. The individual subs varied a lot in quality, so it may be worth another try at compiling an image stack with just the better subs.

This image stacked 28 frames of 300 seconds each for a total of 2 hours 20 minutes integration. Not a lot of color in this nebula but this image does show a large region of dark cloud in the area.

During a smoky and stormy summer it can be hard to find a decent night at the telescope. This night the moon was low in the southern sky and my target was high in the northern sky so the best area I could work with. The Cat’s Eye Nebula is small and not very bright so even with almost three hours of 300 second subs it was difficult to pull out of the noise, but it is there. A very interesting target for those with better gear than I run. Perhaps one day….

From the Web:
“The Cat’s Eye Nebula (also known as NGC 6543 and Caldwell 6) is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation of Draco, discovered by William Herschel on February 15, 1786. It was the first planetary nebula whose spectrum was investigated by the English amateur astronomer William Huggins, demonstrating that planetary nebulae were gaseous and not stellar in nature.”

Omega Nebula is an Emission Nebula in the southern sky and at a distance of 5,500 light-years away. On this very warm July night with reasonably stable and clear air, the moon is just a sliver and was down before this run started. I went with 240 second subs and used 34 out of the 45 frames taken for an integrated time of 2 hours 16 minutes. 

“also known as the Swan Nebula, Checkmark Nebula, Lobster Nebula, and the Horseshoe Nebula is an H II region in the constellation Sagittarius.”

“M17 contains one of our galaxy’s youngest star clusters, at only 1 million years old. However, many of the young stars in this cluster are impossible to see because of the gas and dust that surrounds them. The powerful radiation from the young stars evaporates and erodes the dense clouds of cold gas in which new stars form. One such pocket of gas is seen at the center of the brightest region of the nebula and is about 10 times larger than our solar system. Other dense pockets of gas have formed the remarkable dark features jutting inward”

Last night I was able to get out to the telescope and while the atmospheric conditions were less than ideal I chose the Ring Nebula for a session. This image is compiled of 150 second subs with 2 hours and 22 minutes stacked. This is a small but bright target. My focal length does not bring up a lot of detail on this scale but it is such a dramatic jewel in this field of view.

This target is designated Messier 57 and is thought to be a white dwarf remnant of a star once similar to our Sun.

Crab Nebula in December 13 2023

Cold clear night and near New Moon I was able to compile 36 frames at 240 seconds for a total of 2hr 24min.

The crop was completed from the 2x resolution render .

“Better known as the Crab Nebula, Charles Messier originally mistook Messier 1 for Halley’s Comet, which inspired him to create his famous catalog of objects.”

“The Crab Nebula was the first astronomical object recognized as being connected to a supernova explosion. In the early twentieth century, the analysis of early photographs of the nebula taken several years apart revealed that it was expanding.”

Image generated from 2 hours 35 minutes of 300 second subs. NGC 6914 is a reflection nebula located approximately 6,000 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus. 

From the web:

“A study in contrasts, this colorful skyscape features stars, dust, and glowing gas in the vicinity of NGC 6914. The complex of reflection nebulae lies some 6,000 light-years away, toward the high-flying northern constellation Cygnus and the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. Obscuring interstellar dust clouds appear in silhouette while reddish hydrogen emission nebulae, along with the dusty blue reflection nebulae, fill the cosmic canvas. Ultraviolet radiation from the massive, hot, young stars of the extensive Cygnus OB2 association ionize the region’s atomic hydrogen gas, producing the characteristic red glow as protons and electrons recombine. Embedded Cygnus OB2 stars also provide the blue starlight strongly reflected by the dust clouds.”

The full frame and a crop of the reflection nebula area.

A very challenging target for my setup. The air was a bit unsettled and tracking was problematic most likely because of the location in the sky of this run. Tossed out four or five frames with satellite tracks through them and six or so low scoring frames. This is compiled from 26 five minute subs.

A dim red emission nebula with two blue reflection nebulas along the edge, this first image was pushed hard in processing. I have included a less processed version to get an idea of how difficult this can be to resolve a decent output.

The moon is half full but otherwise a break in the clouds and smoke allowed me to get out to the telescope. Calm air helped to give nice guiding and after tossing some early frames with not so dark background and four or five of the lowest scoring frames in Deep Sky Stacker left me with 3hr 12 minutes of 240 sec. sub frame data to integrate. Again as I have been doing lately I used the 2x drizzle function in stacking for cleaner resolution after downscaling in Photoshop.

4000 light years away and around 15 light years across, this is a star nursery area showing both emission and reflection nebula characteristics.