AZ Remote #4, March-May 2021

North America Nebula, 'The Wall', In Bi-Color Narrowband

This relatively bright region in the constellation Cygnus is famous for its resemblance to the North American continent, including a prominent Gulf of Mexico area. The Wall section is the bright region of Hα emission that runs along the lower edge of the frame. This image is over 19 hours of data, primarily in Hα and OIII, with about an hour's worth of RGB data used for the stars. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -15C 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: Hα: 105 x 240 secs (7 hrs ) OIII: 175 x 240 secs (11 hrs 40 mins) Red:46 x 30 secs (23 mins) Green:46 x 30 secs (23 mins) Blue: 46 x 30 secs (23 mins) 19 hrs 49 mins total Dark Frames: 10 x 30 secs each, RGB (15 mins total) 10 x 240 secs each, Hα, OIII(1 hr 20 mins total) Bias Frames 60 Flat Frames 20 each filter

M106 and Friends

M106 is joined by a number of other galaxies in this widefield view. 6 NGC galaxies in addition to a large number of small PGC objects can be found in the frame. The largest 3 in addition to M106 (top left center), are the edge on galaxy NGC 4217 (bottom edge), NGC 4220 (right edge), and NGC 4248 (closest to M106). Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -15C and Gain:0 Offset:10 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: 205 x 30 secs (1 hr 42 mins 30 secs) Red:111 x 60 secs (1 hr 51 mins) Green:105 x 60 secs (1 hr 45 mins) Blue: 105 x 60 secs (1 hr 45 mins) 7 hrs 3 mins total Dark Frames: 10 x 30 secs, RGB (5 mins) 10 x 60 secs, Luminance (10 mins) Bias Frames 60 Flat Frames 10 each filter More M106 Details from Wikipedia: Messier 106 (also known as NGC 4258) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781. M106 is at a distance of about 22 to 25 million light-years away from Earth. M106 contains an active nucleus classified as a Type 2 Seyfert, and the presence of a central supermassive black hole has been demonstrated from radio-wavelength observations of the rotation of a disk of molecular gas orbiting within the inner light-year around the black hole.

The Tadpoles Nebula (IC410) in Narrowband

So this is a set of data I took earlier this year. I was having some issues with my remote setup at the time and didn't like some aspects of how things were working and so I went off on a troubleshooting sidetrack and never got back to this. Eventually I kinda forgot I had taken the data at all. As it turned out, even with some issues the the data was good enough to make a decent image, although I think it could have benefitted from more subframes. As it is, I ended up with about 8 and 1/2 hours worth of frames, mostly in narrowband, with a typically small stack of RGB data to add back in natural color stars. This object is reasonably bright, and does have signal in all 3 narrowband wavelengths that are typically used. As is often the case, the Hα signal is the strongest, with the OIII and SII signals being noticeably weaker. I would have taken a little more data in SII and OIII to compensate a bit had I not interrupted my data collection on this. IC410, as it is otherwise known, is a nebula in the constellation Auriga, and is located approximately 12,000 light years away from Earth. A number of newborn stars have been detected in this relatively energetic star forming region. The namesake tadpoles can be seen in the just left of center of the image, 'swimming' towards the center of the frame :) Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -15C 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 Software Bisque TheSkyX Light Frames: Ha: 28 x 360 secs ( 2 hrs 48 mins) OIII: 26 x 360 secs 2 hrs 36 mins) SII: 28 x 360 secs (2 hrs 48 mins) Red: 12 x 30 secs (6 mins) Green: 10 x 30 secs (5 mins) Blue: 10 x 30 secs (5 mins) 8 hrs 28 mins total Dark Frames: 10 x 60 secs, RGB (10 mins) 10 x 360 secs (1 hr)

M13

Here is another M13 image, this time using the refractor for a wider view. M13 is one of the larger and more impressive globular clusters visible, and makes for an interesting target in almost any scope. This image is an RGB composite with just a little of the luminance data blended in to get some glow in the core without washing out the colors. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -15C and Gain:0 Offset:10 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: 50 x 30 secs (25 mins) Red:50 x 60 secs (50 mins) Green:50 x 60 secs (50 mins) Blue: 49 x 60 secs (49 mins) 2 hrs 54 mins total Dark Frames: 10 x 30 secs, RGB (5 mins) 10 x 60 secs, Luminance (10 mins) Bias Frames 60 Flat Frames 10 each filter More from Wikipedia: Messier 13 or M13, also designated NGC 6205 and sometimes called the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules or the Hercules Globular Cluster, is a globular cluster of several hundred thousand stars in the constellation of Hercules. About 145 light-years in diameter, M13 is composed of several hundred thousand stars, the brightest of which is a red giant, the variable star V11, also known as V1554 Herculis,[12] with an apparent visual magnitude of 11.95. M13 is 22,200–25,000 light-years away from Earth.[13]

Rosette Nebula (Caldwell 49) in Narrowband

The Rosette Nebula is one of the most spectacular deep sky objects in the night sky. The clouds of gas are being stimulated by the radiation from the young stars in the open cluster at the center, NGC 2244. The nebula lies at an estimated distance of about 5,000 light years and spans a distance of roughly 130 light years, not quite fitting completely into the FOV of my imaging telescope used for this capture. Although imaged in all 3 common narrowband filters, I 'mixed' the colors to emulate a pink rose color while also showing some of the OIII emissions in the core in a blue color. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -15C 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: 56 x 240 secs (3 hrs 44 mins) OIII: 57 x 240 secs (3 hrs 48 mins) SII: 63 x 240 secs (4 hrs 12 mins) Red:40 x 30 secs (20 mins) Green:40 x 30 secs (20 mins) Blue: 40 x 30 secs (20 mins) 12 hrs 54 mins total Dark Frames: 10 x 30 secs, RGB (5 mins) 10 x 240 secs, Ha,OIII,SII (2 hrs) Bias Frames 60 Flat Frames 10 each filter

Barnard 150 and the Fireworks Galaxy

A 3 panel mosaic showing both the Seahorse Nebula (B150), the dark nebula across the bottom portion of the frame, and the Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946), a galaxy with a multitude of active star forming regions, in the upper right of the frame. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -15C and Gain:139 Offset:21 (Unity Gain) 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: Red:159 x 240 secs (10 hrs 36 mins) Green:158 x 240 secs (10 hrs 32 mins) Blue: 136 x 240 secs (9 hrs 04 mins) 30 hrs 12 mins total Dark Frames: 10 x 240 secs (40 mins) Bias Frames 60 Flat Frames 10 each filter

Gamma Cygni Nebula (IC1318) , in Hα-RGB

This region of the sky, in the approximate middle of the constellation Cygnus, is brimming with clouds of ionized hydrogen. In this image I have located the bright star Sadr just out of the field of view to the lower right, and highlighted a butterfly shaped section of the nebula. But truthfully, it is hard to point to this section of the sky without getting some interesting and captivating shapes in your field of view. This was imaged in RGB and Hα, with the Hα mixed in to the red channel to add some sharpness and detail. In retrospect, I might have also captured OIII and made a 'proper' bi-color narrowband image out of this as well. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -15C 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: Hα: 39 x 600 secs (6 hrs 30 mins) Red:22 x 30 secs (11 mins) Green:22 x 30 secs (11 mins) Blue: 22 x 30 secs (11 mins) 7 hrs 3 mins total Dark Frames: 10 x 180 secs, RGB (30 mins) 10 x 600 secs, Hα(1 hr 40 mins) Bias Frames 60 Flat Frames 20 each filter Here is some more detail from Wikipedia: The Sadr Region (also known as IC 1318 or the Gamma Cygni Nebula) is the diffuse emission nebula surrounding Sadr (γ Cygni) at the center of Cygnus's cross. The Sadr Region is one of the surrounding nebulous regions; others include the Butterfly Nebula and the Crescent Nebula. It contains many dark nebulae in addition to the emission diffuse nebulae. Sadr itself has approximately a magnitude of 2.2. The nebulous regions around the region are also fairly bright.

Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) in narrowband

Here is a famous object, called the Pelican Nebula (even though I think it looks more like a Pterodactyl :) ). This object is frequently imaged along with the North America Nebula, which is a brighter area of nebulosity out of the frame to the left and above. This is shot in narrowband and mixed using the SHO palette. Extra data was taken in the 2 fainter narrowband channels (OIII and SII) to mitigate noise. The stars were added from a very small amount of RGB data. The data was taken unguided. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -15C and Gain:200 Offset:50 Software Bisque MyT Mount Stellarvue SVQ100 Astrograph Refractor, 580mm @ f/5.8 Software: Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8 Lightroom CC Photoshop CC Innovations Foresight SkyGuard Light Frames: Ha: 62 x 360 secs (6 hrs 12 mins) OIII: 81 x 360 secs (8 hrs 06 mins) SII: 84 x 360 secs (8 hrs 24 mins) Red:16 x 30 secs (8 mins) Green:16 x 30 secs (8 mins) Blue: 16 x 30 secs (8 mins) 23 hrs 06 mins total Dark Frames: 10 x 30 secs, RGB (5 mins) 10 x 360 secs, Ha,OIII,SII (3 hrs) Bias Frames 60 Flat Frames 20 each filter From Wikipedia: The Pelican Nebula (also known as IC 5070 and IC 5067[1]) is an H II region associated with the North America Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The gaseous contortions of this emission nebula bear a resemblance to a pelican, giving rise to its name.[1] The Pelican Nebula is located nearby first magnitude star Deneb, and is divided from its more prominent neighbor, the North America Nebula, by a molecular cloud filled with dark dust. The Pelican is much studied because it has a particularly active mix of star formation and evolving gas clouds.