AZ Remote #1-2, March-April 2020

The Eagle Nebula (M16), in Narrowband

The area made famous by the Hubble 'Pillars of Creation' image is also accessible to amateurs to image. This is a modified palette mixing the 3 typical narrowband filters into a modified SHO result. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -20C and Gain:200 Offset:50 Software Bisque MyT Mount Stellarvue SVQ100 Astrograph Refractor, 580mm @ f/5.8 Innovations Foresight ONAG Software: Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8 Lightroom CC Photoshop CC Innovations Foresight SkyGuard Light Frames: Ha - 46 x 360 secs ( 4 hrs 36 mins) OIII - 40 x 360 secs (4 hrs) SII - 43 x 360 secs (4 hrs and 18 mins) Red: 7 x 30 secs 3 mins 30 secs) Green: 4 x 30 secs (3 mins 30 secs) Blue: 7 x 30 secs (3 mins 30 secs) 13 hrs 4 mins 30 secs total Dark Frames: 10 x 60 secs (20 mins) Bias Frames 60 Flat Frames 20 each filter Additional data from Wikipedia: The Eagle Nebula (catalogued as Messier 16 or M16, and as NGC 6611, and also known as the Star Queen Nebula and The Spire) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens, discovered by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux in 1745–46. Both the "Eagle" and the "Star Queen" refer to visual impressions of the dark silhouette near the center of the nebula,[3][4] an area made famous as the "Pillars of Creation" imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. The nebula contains several active star-forming gas and dust regions, including the aforementioned Pillars of Creation.

Elephant's Trunk in Narrowband

The Elephant's Trunk is a fascinating object that is slightly larger than the FOV of the telescope I was using. This image focuses in on the namesake portion of the sky. My longest integration to date also took the longest time to process - NB processing is still a bit tricky to get the colors the way you want. In this case I processed the nebula in a starless configuration and then added in RGB stars at the end. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -20C and Gain:200 Offset:50 Software Bisque MyT Mount Stellarvue SVQ100 Astrograph Refractor, 580mm @ f/5.8 Innovations Foresight ONAG Software: Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8 Lightroom CC Photoshop CC Innovations Foresight SkyGuard Light Frames: Ha - 97 x 300 secs ( 8 hrs 5 mins) OIII - 88 x 300 secs (7 hrs 20 mins) SII - 103 x 300 secs (8 hrs and 35 mins) Red: 47 x 30 secs (23 mins 30 secs) Green: 47 x 30 secs (23 mins 30 secs) Blue: 46 x 30 secs (23 mins) 25 hrs 9 mins 30 secs total Dark Frames: 10 x 60 secs (20 mins) Bias Frames 60 Flat Frames 20 each filter Here is more detail from Wikipedia: The Elephant's Trunk Nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396 located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth.[1] The piece of the nebula shown here is the dark, dense globule IC 1396A; it is commonly called the Elephant's Trunk nebula because of its appearance at visible light wavelengths, where there is a dark patch with a bright, sinuous rim. The bright rim is the surface of the dense cloud that is being illuminated and ionized by a very bright, massive star (HD 206267) that is just to the east of IC 1396A.

M81-M82 Widefield

The famous Messier pair of galaxies M81 and M82 appear together in this image taken with a 580mm refractor. M81, Bode's Galaxy, a grand spiral design galaxy, dominates the center of the frame, while M81, the Cigar Galaxy, shines to the left. Both galaxies show a significant Ha signal in this longer integration image. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -20C and Gain:139 Offset:21 Software Bisque MyT Mount Stellarvue SVQ100 Astrograph Refractor, 580mm @ f/5.8 Software: Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8 Lightroom CC Photoshop CC Light Frames: Luminance: 100 x 90 secs (2 hrs 30 mins) Red: 40 x 120 secs (1 hr 20 mins) Green: 41 x 120 secs (1 Hr 22 mins) Blue: 46 x 120 secs (1 Hr 32 mins) Ha: 24 x 300 secs (2 Hrs) 8 hrs 42 mins total Dark Frames: 20 x 60 secs (20 mins) Bias Frames 60 Flat Frames 20 each filter Additional Details from Wikipedia: Messier 81 (also known as NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy) is a grand design spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away, with a diameter of 90,000 light years, about half the size of the Milky Way, in the constellation Ursa Major. Due to its proximity to Earth, large size, and active galactic nucleus (which harbors a 70 million M☉[5] supermassive black hole), Messier 81 has been studied extensively by professional astronomers. Messier 82 (also known as NGC 3034, Cigar Galaxy or M82) is a starburst galaxy approximately 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. A member of the M81 Group, it is about five times more luminous than the whole Milky Way and has a center one hundred times more luminous than our galaxy's center.[7] The starburst activity is thought to have been triggered by interaction with neighboring galaxy M81. As the closest starburst galaxy to Earth, M82 is the prototypical example of this galaxy type.

Markarian's Chain

A stupendous string of galaxies stretches across the sky in the direction of Virgo, part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. Containing Messier objects as well as many NGC objects, the group was named after Astrophysicist Benjamain Markarian, who discovered their common motion. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -20C and Gain:139 Offset:21 Software Bisque MyT Mount Stellarvue SVQ100 Astrograph Refractor, 580mm @ f/5.8 Software: Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8 Lightroom CC Photoshop CC Light Frames: Luminance: 188 x 60 secs (3 hrs 8 mins) Red: 76 x 60 secs (1 hr 16 mins) Green: 70 x 60 secs (1 Hr 10 mins) Blue: 80 x 60 secs (1 Hr 20 mins) 6 hrs 38 mins total Dark Frames: 20 x 60 secs (20 mins) Bias Frames 30 Flat Frames 20 each filter

The Whale and Hockey Stick Galaxies

his is almost 4 hours of data in LRGB on a strangely shaped pair of galaxies, usually referred to as the Whale and Hockey Stick Galaxies. The larger Whale Galaxy (NGC4631) also has a dwarf companion galaxy (NGC4627) just to the right of it in this image. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -20C and Gain:139 Offset:21 Software Bisque MyT Mount Stellarvue SVQ100 Astrograph Refractor, 580mm @ f/5.8 Software: Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8 Lightroom CC Photoshop CC Light Frames: Luminance: 56 x 60 secs (56 mins) Red: 56 x 60 secs (56 mins) Green: 54 x 60 secs (54 mins) Blue: 54 x 60 secs (54 mins) Total Duration: 3 hrs 40 mins Dark Frames: 20 x 60 secs (20 mins) More details from Wikipedia: NGC 4631 (also known as the Whale Galaxy or Caldwell 32) is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. This galaxy's slightly distorted wedge shape gives it the appearance of a herring or a whale, hence its nickname.[3] Because this nearby galaxy is seen edge-on from Earth, professional astronomers observe this galaxy to better understand the gas and stars located outside the plane of the galaxy. NGC 4631 has a nearby companion dwarf elliptical galaxy, NGC 4627. NGC 4627 and NGC 4631 together were listed in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies as an example of a "double galaxy" or a galaxy pair.[8] NGC 4631 and NGC 4627 are part of the NGC 4631 Group, a group of galaxies that also includes the interacting galaxies NGC 4656 and NGC 4657.[9][10][11][12]

The Swan (Omega) Nebula (M17) In Narrowband

This is another narrowband image, this time color blended to give a more 'natural' color palette. The Swan or Omega Nebula is a bright region that is very active in Ha, OIII, and SII emissions. This is the first image whose data was entirely captured using the Innovations Foresight ONAG for guiding and focusing. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -20C and Gain:200 Offset:50 Software Bisque MyT Mount Stellarvue SVQ100 Astrograph Refractor, 580mm @ f/5.8 Innovations Foresight ONAG Software: Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8 Lightroom CC Photoshop CC Innovations Foresight SkyGuard Light Frames: Ha - 41 x 360 secs ( 4 hrs 6 mins) OIII - 33 x 360 secs (3 hrs 18 mins) SII - 41 x 360 secs (4 hrs and 6 mins) Red: 21 x 30 secs (10 mins 30 secs) Green: 22 x 30 secs (11 mins) Blue: 21 x 30 secs (10 mins 30 secs) 12 hrs 2 mins total Dark Frames: 10 x 60 secs (20 mins) Bias Frames 60 Flat Frames 20 each filter More Details From Wikipedia: The Omega Nebula, also known as the Swan Nebula, Checkmark Nebula, and the Horseshoe Nebula[1][2] (catalogued as Messier 17 or M17 or NGC 6618) is an H II region in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745. Charles Messier catalogued it in 1764. It is located in the rich starfields of the Sagittarius area of the Milky Way. The Omega Nebula is between 5,000 and 6,000 light-years from Earth and it spans some 15 light-years in diameter. The cloud of interstellar matter of which this nebula is a part is roughly 40 light-years in diameter and has a mass of 30,000 solar masses.[3]

Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) Widefield

The aptly named Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) floats against a field of stars, with other very small galaxies in view. One of the most iconic astroimaging targets is normally imaged at a higher magnification but still presents an impressive sight when imaged at a wider field of view. This image is a result of only 48 minutes of total data imaged through LRGB filters. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -20C and Gain:139 Offset:21 Software Bisque MyT Mount Stellarvue SVQ100 Astrograph Refractor, 580mm @ f/5.8 Software: Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8 Lightroom CC Photoshop CC Light Frames: Luminance: 12 x 60 secs (12 mins) Red: 12 x 60 secs (12 mins) Green: 12 x 60 secs (12 mins) Blue: 12 x 60 secs (12 mins) Dark Frames: 20 x 60 secs (20 mins) Additional info from Wikipedia: The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a, M51a, and NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus.[7][6][8] It lies in the constellation Canes Venatici, and was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy.[9] Its distance is estimated to be 23 million light-years away from Earth. The galaxy and its companion, NGC 5195,[10] are easily observed by amateur astronomers, and the two galaxies may be seen with binoculars.[11]