NGC 6888 - Crescent Nebula in HaRGB + O3

The Crescent Nebula (also known as NGC 6888, Caldwell 27, Sharpless 105) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, about 5000 light years away. It is formed by the fast stellar wind from the Wolf-Rayet star WR 136 (HD 192163) colliding with and energizing the slower moving wind ejected by the star when it became a red giant around 400,000 years ago. The result of the collision is a shell and two shock waves, one moving outward and one moving inward. The inward moving shock wave heats the stellar wind to X-ray-emitting temperatures.

Telescope: APM Astrograph 107, f/6.5 with Baader Steeltrack Focuser and 2.5'' TS FF
Mount: NEQ6 Pro with EQ Mod and XBOX Wireless Controller
Camera: ATIK 314L+
Image Scale: 1.91 arcsec/pixel
Filter: Baader Ha 7nm, OIII 8.5nm, RGB, IDAS LPS
Filter Wheel: Starlight Xpress Motor USB, 7x1.25''
Guide Camera: QHY5 with PHD Guiding and TS UV/IR Block
Guide Scope: Skywatcher Finderscope 8x50
Exp. Time: 5 hours & 12 mins (Ha: 150 min, O3: 72 min, R,G,B: 30,30,30 min)
Temperature: Ambient (8C..14C), CCD (-5..-10C)
Capture: Nebulosity 2.3.0
Register, Stack: Maxim DL, CCD Stack
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 13 May 2011 (Ag. Panteleiomon, Attica, GR) & 29 July 2011 (Parnon Mount, Arcadia, GR)

NGC 6888 - Crescent Nebula Wiki

PTF11kly Messier 101 Supernova SN 2011fe

It is my quick effort to catch light from the SN 2011fe. It is 40min Luminace capture with APM Astrograph 107 & Atik 314L. The comparison image was a 3 hours RGB image (which desaturated) since April 2010, with Skywatcher ED80 & QHY8 OSC.

Supernova 2011fe was discovered on August 24, 2011 by the Palomar Transient Factory, a research program run by astronomers at CalTech. Their telescopes caught the explosion very soon after it occurred while they were making routine observations of the galaxy Messier 101 near the Big Dipper (the constellation Ursa Major). Within a few hours of the explosion, the supernova brightened from invisibility to become one of the brightest objects within M101, and has since become even brighter still. It's now nearly a thousand times brighter than when it was first spotted by PTF, and is visible in medium sized back yard telescopes, outshining all of the rest of M101 combined!

An analysis of the light from SN 2011fe shows that it is the type of supernova that originates from a white dwarf, known as a "Type-Ia Supernova". Type-Ia supernovae are very important for cosmology because they can be used to measure distances to the galaxies where they occur. All Type-Ia supernovae give off the same amount of light at their peak brightness, and by measuring the amount of light that we detect, we can measure how far away they must be. We already know the distance to M101 pretty well, but SN 2011fe will allow us to calibrate the relationship between peak brightness and distance better than ever, and will also allow us to study the evolution of this supernova in greater detail than we normally can.


Learn more about PTF11kly Messier 101 Supernova SN 2011fe

NGC 891 Galaxy in LRGB

NGC 891 (also known as Caldwell 23) is an edge-on unbarred spiral galaxy about 30 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It was discovered by William Herschel on October 6 1784. The galaxy is a member of the NGC 1023 group of galaxies in the Local Supercluster. It has an H II nucleus.

Although this galaxy looks as we think our own galaxy would look like when viewed edge-on, recent high-resolution images of its dusty disk show unusual filamentary. These patterns are extending into the halo of the galaxy, away from its galactic disk. Scientists presume that supernova explosions caused this interstellar dust to be thrown out of the galactic disk toward the halo.But this explosive hypothesis may not be right. It may also be possible that the light pressure from surrounding stars causes this phenomenon

Telescope: APM Astrograph 107, f/6.5 with Baader Steeltrack Focuser and 2.5'' TS FF
Mount: NEQ6 Pro with EQ Mod and XBOX Wireless Controller
Camera: ATIK 314L+
Image Scale: 1.91 arcsec/pixel
Filter: Baader L,R,G,B, IDAS LPS
Filter Wheel: Starlight Xpress Motor USB, 7x1.25''
Guide Camera: QHY5 with PHD Guiding and TS UV/IR Block
Guide Scope: Skywatcher Finderscope 8x50
Total Exp. Time: 3 hours, Lum: 90 min(bin 1x1),R,G,B: 30,30,30 min(bin 2x2)
Temperature: Ambient (15C...23C), CCD (-5C...-10C)
Capture: Nebulosity 2.3.0
Register, Stack: Maxim DL, CCD Stack
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 29 July 2011 & 26 August 2011
Location: Parnon Mount & Tyros,Arcadia,GR

NGC 891 Galaxy in Wiki

NGC 7293 - Helix Nebula in (L+Ha)RGB

The Helix Nebula (also known as The Helix, NGC 7293, or Caldwell 63) is a large planetary nebula (PN) located in the constellation Aquarius. Discovered by Karl Ludwig Harding, probably before 1824, this object is one of the closest to the Earth of all the bright planetary nebulae.

The estimated distance is about 215 parsecs or 700 light-years. It is similar in appearance to the Ring Nebula, whose size, age, and physical characteristics are similar to the Dumbbell Nebula, varying only in its relative proximity and the appearance from the equatorial viewing angle. The Helix has often been referred to as the Eye of God on the Internet, since about 2003.

The Helix Nebula is an example of a planetary nebula, or 'planetary' formed at the end of a star's evolution. Gases from the star in the surrounding space appear, from our vantage point, as if we are looking down a helix structure. The remnant central stellar core, known as a planetary nebula nucleus or PNN, is destined to become a white dwarf star. The observed glow of the central star is so energetic that it causes the previously expelled gases to brightly fluoresce.

Telescope: APM Astrograph 107, f/6.5 with Baader Steeltrack Focuser and 2.5'' TS FF
Mount: NEQ6 Pro with EQ Mod and XBOX Wireless Controller
Camera: ATIK 314L+
Image Scale: 1.91 arcsec/pixel
Filter: Baader Ha 7nm, Baader L,R,G,B, IDAS LPS
Filter Wheel: Starlight Xpress Motor USB, 7x1.25''
Guide Camera: QHY5 with PHD Guiding and TS UV/IR Block
Guide Scope: Skywatcher Finderscope 8x50
Total Exp. Time: 3.5 hours, Lum: 90 min(bin 1x1), Ha: 60 min(bin 1x1), R,G,B: 30,30,30 min(bin 2x2)
Temperature: Ambient (13C), CCD (-10C)
Capture: Nebulosity 2.3.0
Register, Stack: Maxim DL, CCD Stack
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 30 July 2011
Location: Parnon Mount,Arcadia,GR

NGC 7293 - Helix Nebula in Wiki

The Milky Way from Parnon Mount

Camera: Canon EOS 50D
Lens: Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 DG, working @ 28mm (f/2.8)
Exp time: 20 sec @ ISO 1600
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 30 July 2011
Location: Parnon Mount, Arcadia, GR

IC 1396 - Elephant's Trunk Nebula in HST

IC 1396 - Elephant's Trunk Nebula in 6 filters (SII_Ha_OIII + RGB data)



Telescope: APM Astrograph 107, f/6.5 with Baader Steeltrack Focuser and 2.5'' TS FF
Mount: NEQ6 Pro with EQ Mod and XBOX Wireless Controller
Camera: ATIK 314L+
Image Scale: 1.91 arcsec/pixel
Filter: Baader Ha 7nm, OIII 8.5nm, SII 8nm, Baader R,G,B, IDAS LPS
Filter Wheel: Starlight Xpress Motor USB, 7x1.25''
Guide Camera: QHY5 with PHD Guiding and TS UV/IR Block
Guide Scope: Skywatcher Finderscope 8x50
Total Exp. Time: 6 hours (Ha: 150 mins, O3, S2: 60,60 min, R,G,B: 30,30,30 min)
Temperature: Ambient (13C), CCD (-5C)
Capture: Nebulosity 2.3.0
Register, Stack: Maxim DL, CCD Stack
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 10 June 2011 & 8 July 2011
Location: Ag. Panteleimon & Grammatiko, Attica, GR

IC 1396 - The Elephant's Trunk Nebula

IC 1396 - Elephant's Trunk Nebula in HaRGB



The Elephant's Trunk nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust in the star cluster IC 1396 – an ionized gas region located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth.

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 that is just to the west of IC 1396A. The entire IC 1396 region is ionized by the massive star, except for dense globules that can protect themselves from the star's harsh ultraviolet rays.

The combined action of the light from the massive star ionizing and compressing the rim of the cloud, and the wind from the young stars shifting gas from the center outward lead to very high compression in the Elephant's Trunk nebula. This pressure has triggered the current generation of protostars.

Telescope: APM Astrograph 107, f/6.5 with Baader Steeltrack Focuser and 2.5'' TS FF
Mount: NEQ6 Pro with EQ Mod and XBOX Wireless Controller
Camera: ATIK 314L+
Image Scale: 1.91 arcsec/pixel
Filter: Baader Ha 7nm, Baader R,G,B, IDAS LPS
Filter Wheel: Starlight Xpress Motor USB, 7x1.25''
Guide Camera: QHY5 with PHD Guiding and TS UV/IR Block
Guide Scope: Skywatcher Finderscope 8x50
Total Exp. Time: 4 hours, Ha: 150 min (bin 1x1), R,G,B: 30,30,30 min (bin 1x1)
Temperature: Ambient (13C), CCD (-5C)
Capture: Nebulosity 2.3.0
Register, Stack: Maxim DL, CCD Stack
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 10 June 2011
Location: Ag. Panteleimon, Attica, GR