Sharpless 86 (Sh2-86) is a rich and beautiful emission nebula surrounding the open star cluster NGC 6823 plus small reflection nebula NGC 6820 in Vulpecula. The star cluster including 50 to 100 stars was discovered by William Herschel in 1785 and is about 6000 light years away. The remarkable pillar like features that are pointing […]
This is Sharpless 119 (Sh2-119), a nice an often forgotten emission nebula sitting right next to the North America Nebula – somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Probably, this is why are there not many images of it. In addition to the dominant H-alpha emission there are some prominent dark dust lanes. In the center of […]
The Sh2-131 emission nebula in Cepheus with the embedded star cluster IC1396 and home to the famous Elephant’s Trunk Nebula VDB142. It is a large emissions nebula with stunning inlays of dust clouds absorbing most of the lights. The total size of the complex corresponds to about 10 times the full moon. This is a […]
Now the full three-color narrowband version of the North America and Pelican Complex, following my earlier Ha monochrome version. Both nebulae belong to the same interstellar cloud of ionized hydrogen gas, but they are separated by a ragged lane of interstellar dust that absorbs their light. The North America (NGC7000) and the Pelican Nebula (IC5070) […]
Now the three-color version of the Cygnus Loop in Ha, OIII and SII using 24 x 300 sec exposures for each channel, i.e. a total of 6 hours. Taken with the ATIK 460EXm camera in combination with my Asahi/Pentax Takumar 135mm f2.5 photo lens. Exposure: HOS, (24,24,24) x 300sec Date: 2016-7-17…2016-7-18 Setup: Takumar 135mm f2.5 […]
This is the first-light image with my new wide-field travel setup. I decided to try the ATIK 460EXm camera in combination with some old M42 photo lens, in this case with the Asahi/Pentax Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 135mm f2.5, a wonderful super-solid 6-element tele-lens from 1972 (my age). This combination gives a field of view of more […]
The Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888, in a wide-field setting with lots of surrounding nebulosity. This is a pure narrow-band composite based on (18,16,15) frames for Ha, OIII, and SII with 1800sec each, taken at the Deep Sky West Observatory. The different versions below represent different color mappings, otherwise the processing is pretty basic. Exposure: HOS, […]
Following the plain H version, here the false-color HSO image of the Orion Nebula, M42. I went for a unconventional color scheme, which highlights the structure of the nebula outside of its main part… lots of dynamics. Exposure: H 16x60sec + 14x300sec + 8x900sec, S 11 x 1800sec, O 18 x 1800sec Date: 2016-1-17 Setup: […]
This in an incredibly faint object – EGB 6 – discovered by Ellis, Grayson, and Bond in 1984 in a visual search through prints from the Palomar Sky Survey. Here is a link to their original paper. EGB 6 is an old and hence large planetary nebula with extremely low surface brightness. The image is […]
The Heart Nebula IC1805 – it is kind of obvious why it got its name. The Heart Nebula is an emission nebula and star forming region of almost 200 light-years across, located within the Perseus Arm of our Milky Way galaxy, about 7500 light-years away in the northern constellation Cassiopeia. This is a complete narrowband […]
The Pacman Nebula (NGC281) is an active star forming region. Prominent features include a small open cluster of stars, a diffuse red-glowing emission nebula, large lanes of obscuring gas and dust, and dense knots of dust and gas in which stars may still be forming. The open cluster of stars IC1590 visible around the center […]
The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is an elongated dark globule within the emission nebula IC 1396 in the constellation of Cepheus. Located at a distance of 2,450 light-years, the globule is a condensation of dense gas that is barely surviving the strong ionizing radiation from a nearby massive star. The globule is being compressed by the […]