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"M78 is part of the Orion complex, a large region of star-forming gas and dust centered around M42 and M43. It is the brightest diffuse reflection nebula in the sky, and fairly easy to see with binoculars (and almost visible to the naked eye, claim some observers). M78 is some 1,600 light-years away and around 4 light-years across. Ray and I imaged this often-overlooked part of the Orion Complex while we were at the Astronomer’s Inn, Benson, Arizona on January 9, 2008. We used a Canon 400D attached to a 12-inch Meade LX200 Classic @ f/10. Images Plus v 3.0 was used to acquire and Bayer convert the RAW frames; further processing done with Photoshop CS and Noise Ninja. Total exposure time: 40 minutes." -- Lynn M. Paul |
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Triffid Nebula: I imaged it at Letha House in August of this year. Even though the evening had a slight haze throughout the sky that night I was still able to achieve good results on this object. The "blue" nebulous material in the outer regions has long been the most difficult for me to capture. Its extremely faint and elusive. This image is a combination of - 22 separate images, each five minutes long, at ISO 1,600. I used a Canon 20d attached to a Televue NP101 four-inch scope @ f/5.4. I use Images Plus software for focus and processing.
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"The Lagoon Nebula (M8) is one of my favorite summer objects. With a distance of 2500 light years this bright nebula glows brightly in Sagittarius. Located within the Lagoon is the prominent open star cluster NGC 6530. One of its most interesting features are the "dark globules", these are believed to be dense patches of interstellar dust contracting into stars. For me, one of the most difficult features to image, is the red outer regions that encircle the Lagoon's main lighter component. It was very challenging." Scope: Televue NP101 4-in., Camera: Canon 20D, Exposure: 24 x 5 min. @ ISO 1600, Processing: Images Plus v. 2.82 -- Wayne Cukras, 2007 |
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"The Rosette Nebula is a large circular H-2 region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the constellation Monoceros. The open cluster NGC 2244 is closely associated with the nebulosity, in that the stars of the cluster were thought to have formed from the nebula's matter. The cluster of stars is visible in binoculars and small telescopes, but the nebula is more diffficult to spot visually, requiring a telescope with low magnification. Photographically, the Rosette Nebula is easier to record and it is the only way to record the red color which is not seen visually. Telescope: Vixen ED80 Sf; mount: Celestron AS-GT; camera: unmodified Canon Digital Rebel XT; exposure: 45 minutes; location: Doylestown, OH." -- Lynn Laux |
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"The Orion Nebula (M42) is part of a much larger region known as the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex which includes Barnard's Loop, the Horsehead Nebula, M78, M43 and NGC 1977. In my photograph, M43 is the nearly circular formation located to the left of M42, with a tangled web of dust partially obscuring it. The Running Man Nebula (NGC 1977) is located diagonally from M43. Telescope: Vixen ED80Sf on Celestron ASGT GEM, unguided. Camera: Canon 350D, unmodified, at prime focus. Images acquired, converted, aligned, and enhanced with Images Plus. Further processing in Photoshop CS. Total exposure time: 45 minutes. Location: Doylestown, Ohio." -- Lynn Laux, April 2007 |
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M1 - The Crab Nebula is the most famous and conspicuous remnant of a supernova, which was observed around the world in 1054 AD. In most astronomical handbooks this object is listed as "bright" but an increase in light pollution has resulted in its becoming harder to see in a modest telescope! Once seen, however, it is not easily forgotten, resembling a gauzy handkerchief fluttering in a cosmic wind. Telescope: 12 in. Meade SCT, unguided; Camera: unmodified Canon 350D; Total exposure time: 30 minutes. Images acquired, converted, aligned, and combined using ImagesPlus. Further processing done with PhotoShop CS, Gradient X-terminator, and Noise Ninja. -- Lynn Laux |
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M33 - The Pinwheel Galaxy: "Last October (2005) I had the opportunity to image one of the most difficult objects I've attempted to date -- M33 in Triangulum, a member of our local group of galaxies, which includes the Milky Way, the Magellenic Clouds, and M31. Its distance of 2.3 million light-years has a visual magnitude compared to a star of 5.3. Because of its size (approx. 1 degree across), the surface brightness is extremely low. In spite of this, I was able capture its faintly structured arms surrounding a fairly bright nucleus. Truly a beautiful object!" -- Wayne Cukras |
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The Heart of Cygnus: A multi-part test of a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L series lens, a CG-5 mount, and of the CAA club's dark site at Letha House Park. I'm encouraged by all of them! This 3-minute exposure was taken Sept. 4, 2005, using Kodachrome 200 film pushed one stop. Deneb is the brightest object in the lower right region with NGC7000, the North America Nebula, above it. The CG-5 was unguided. -- Rich Rinehart |
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The Double Cluster (NGC 884 & NGC 869): Shot from Strongsville, Ohio, using a Canon Digital Rebel XT (unmodified) and an Orion ED 80 (mounted piggyback on Meade 8" SCT). Images captured and processed using ImagesPlus version 2.50. -- Lynn Laux |
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The Hyades: Shot from Strongsville, Ohio, using a Canon Digital Rebel XT (unmodified) and an Orion ED 80 (mounted piggyback on Meade 8" SCT). Images captured and processed using ImagesPlus version 2.50. -- Lynn Laux |
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This image of M-16, The Eagle Nebula, was taken in Canada while attending Star Fest over a period of two nights. Sky conditions were calm and very clear. Telescope: Astro Physics 130 F/8.35 EDT refractor; Mount: Losmandy G-11; CCD camera: SBIB 2000XM & color wheel. Exposure: 60 min. luminance; 40 min. red; 30 min. green; 40 min. blue. -- Joe Golias, Summer 2005 |
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The "North American Nebula" (NGC7000), located in Cygnus, has always been one of my favorite targets. Its easy to see how it got its name, being shaped roughly like the continent of North America. This is an example of an emission nebula.
Also, please notice how few stars are visible in the area that would be the Gulf of Mexico because that is where the dark absorbtion nebula is located. The light is absorbed by the dark dust in that region. I've always been facinated by this concept, this darkness is not caused by the lack of something, but rather by the presence of something!
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M13, one of the finest globular clusters in the northern skies has always been one of my favorites to observe. It lies at a distance of 25,000 light-years and is one of our nearest globulars, with a diameter of roughly 170 light-years. In order to capture this object's multitude of outer stars without having the core wash out. I took a series of short exposures and longer exposures. After that I blended the shorter exposures into the longer ones so you can still see individual stars within its center.
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"M45 - The Pleiades, taken with my Canon 20D and Televue 4" refractor on Nov. 12, 2004. This is a composite image of only seven exposures. The extreme sensitivity of this camera allowed me to shoot five-minute exposures with an ISO of 1600 to obtain this photo. Notice the faint nebulosity throughout the stars ... and the wisps of delicate matter which seem to interconnect the stars with straight shooting lines. Once thought to be part of the star pattern itself, astronomers now believe that the bluish nebulosity is simply passing in front of the stars themselves and not be related to them at all." -- Wayne Cukras
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"The Rosette Nebula, located in Monoceros. A very large and very faint nebula in the southern sky mid-winter. The nebula surrounds an open cluster called NGC 2244. When observed with the telescope I couldn't see any nebulosity at all. The image was produced from 24 five-minute exposures at ISO 1600 on my Canon 20D. Processing with Images Plus and Photoshop. Imaged 2/5/05 at our Letha House darksite." -- Wayne Cukras
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"This was taken with my Canon D60 DSLR, shot through a Meade 10" LX200 working at f/6.3, with focal reducer attached. The image is a composite of 12 separate images of five minutes each, using a speed setting of 400 ISO. All the post-processing was done with Images Plus and Adobe Photoshop software. BTW, This image was taken at our Letha House dark site. What a great evening that was!" -- Wayne Cukras
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M-31 -- The Great Andromeda Galaxy. This image was taken down in Coshocton County, Central Ohio, on Nov. 20, 2003. A combined 160 mins. of data were collected to produce this final image: 80min. Luminance, 20 min. Red, 30 min Blue, 30 min Green. First light image using my newly acquired Takahashi FS60C APO-Refractor mounted on a Losmandy G-11. CCD camera: SBIG ST-2000-XM & SBIG color wheel. Conditions were perfect, with the exception of that darned Aurora Borealis :) -- Joe Golias.
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The Lagoon Nebula was recorded by Joe Golias on June 25. It represents the power of CCD imaging in overcoming our Ohio climate. He explains, "the conditions were very poor -- 80 percent humidity and poor visibility -- I could not even make out M-8 nor Sagittarius with the naked eye." Still, the image to the left was the result. Tech: 5-in. Astro-Physics 130EDT Refractor, SBIG 2000XM CCD Camera & Color wheel. Exposure: 60 min. Hydrogen Alpha; 60 min. Luminance Red;10 min. Red; 10 min. Green; 20 min Blue.
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"This image of the Triffid Nebula was taken at Letha House in July 2003. Captured with my Canon D60, this was achieved from seven separate images, each at 10 minutes exposure time. Speed: ISO400. I used my Meade 10" LX200 working at f/6.3. Autoguided with the ST-4 through my Televue NP101 working as a piggybacked guide scope. The images were processed using v1.70 of "Images Plus" software. -- Wayne Cukras |
