Our Beautiful Universe - Photos and Videos

[Devin-M]

I just listened to a new video by Nico Carver in the background, and he seemed pretty excited about the new version of the free astro software Siril (available for Windows, macOS and Linux), so thought I'd share the video here in case someone is interested:

The Best Free Astro Software just got even BETTER (Nebula Photos (Nico Carver))

I started using Siril as it can stack my Nikon’s RAW files directly rather than me having to convert then to TIF’s first which unbeknownst to me til recently was drastically reducing the final quality and it outputs at 32 bits rather than 16 bits which improves the final histogram stretch (brightness enhancement). It’s not very intuitive though until you’ve done it once… you just create folders in your photos directory with the names “lights” “darks” “flats” “biases” then drop the RAW files in the appropriate folders then go to the “Scripts” button and choose “OSC_Preprocessing” (if you’re on a color camera - OSC stands for “One Shot Color”) and then it does the rest of the stacking process. It's really worth it because the final colors are much more accurate than if you are converting your RAW files to TIFs first before stacking. It outputs a 32 bit FITS file so I then use Siril once again to convert this to a 32 bit TIF file which I then bring into Adobe Lightroom for the final histogram stretch.

Comparison (same RAW files)--

Converting RAWs to TIFs, then stacking:

OSC_Preprocessing Script directly on RAW files in Siril:

 

[pinball1970]

I started using Siril as it can stack my Nikon’s RAW files directly rather than me having to convert then to TIF’s first which unbeknownst to me til recently was drastically reducing the final quality and it outputs at 32 bits rather than 16 bits which improves the final histogram stretch (brightness enhancement). It’s not very intuitive though until you’ve done it once… you just create folders in your photos directory with the names “lights” “darks” “flats” “biases” then drop the RAW files in the appropriate folders then go to the “Scripts” button and choose “OSC_Preprocessing” (if you’re on a color camera - OSC stands for “One Shot Color”) and then it does the rest of the stacking process. It's really worth it because the final colors are much more accurate than if you are converting your RAW files to TIFs first before stacking. It outputs a 32 bit FITS file so I then use Siril once again to convert this to a 32 bit TIF file which I then bring into Adobe Lightroom for the final histogram stretch.

Comparison (same RAW files)--

Converting RAWs to TIFs, then stacking:

View attachment 323184

OSC_Preprocessing Script directly on RAW files in Siril:
View attachment 323185

You took this?

 

[Devin-M]

You took this?

Yes-- Andromeda galaxy on a Nikon D800 w/ Nikon 300mm f/4.5 lens.

 

[Devin-M]

…AKA “The Goldman Array…” w/ Science Directors Hudson & Colby.

 

[pinball1970]

…AKA “The Goldman Array…” w/ Science Directors Hudson & Colby.

View attachment 323187

An array right there. 3 meters?

 

[pinball1970]

…AKA “The Goldman Array…” w/ Science Directors Hudson & Colby.

View attachment 323187s

The dogs are looking at something else?

 

[Devin-M]

It lets me shoot through all my narrowband filters simultaneously. For example suppose I’m shooting in the “Hubble Palette” with Ha, OIII, SII narrowband filters, each individually takes about 10 hours (10 minutes per exposure x 60 exposures) so we’re talking about 30 total hours but with the Goldman Array I can get the same result in 10 hours in a single evening… Its much more feasible for me to spend 10 hours in the cold in a single evening vs 30 hours spanning multiple evenings.

RGB:

HA:

OIII:

SII:

RGB+Ha+OIII+SII Composite:

 

[Astronuc]

Video of the outer planets, discussion of Neptune, Triton and other moons

Astronomers:
Alexis Bouvard - https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Bouvard/
Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier - https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Le_Verrier/

William Lassell - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lassell - discovered Triton in 1846 and subsequently other moons of Saturn and Uranus

In 1846, Lassell discovered Triton, the largest moon of Neptune, just 17 days after the discovery of Neptune itself by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle, using his self-built instrument. In 1848, he independently co-discovered Hyperion, a moon of Saturn. In 1851 he discovered Ariel and Umbriel, two moons of Uranus.

Neptune's other moons were discovered much later, e.g., Nereid was discovered in 1949 by Gerard Kuiper.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Kuiper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triton_(moon)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nereid_(moon)The title is quirky, but it is an interesting narrative

 

[Andy Resnick]

IC 434 (Horsehead nebula, Flame nebula) in Orion, 10 hrs @ 400/4, 10s subs:

The large field of view works well here, and just outside the frame are both M78 and M43.... I found that's actually the 'imaging problem' with this part of the sky. I started with a tight crop of IC434, but then wanted to include the nearby objects (IC 431, IC 432, etc, etc...):

And if I zoom out a bit more, I include some of the diffuse dust/gas like the Slug nebula (IC 423) and IC 426, and if I zoom out a bit more I get M78 and M43, and if I zoom out more I get... (not mine!!!):

https://www.deepskycolors.com/archive/2010/10/22/orion-from-Head-to-Toes.html

Some interesting ways to think about this image: the apparent magnitude of the objects visible above range from the bright star, Alnitak (apparent magnitude 2, note- did not saturate the detector!), down to the faintest objects just detectable above background (some apparent magnitude 17 galaxies, for example PGC178593). 15 units of stellar magnitude range corresponds to an optical flux ratio of 10^6, which can also be expressed as a signal-to-noise ratio of the object scene as either 120 dB or 20 bits. For the noise level, if the "lowest visible feature" is taken to have a SNR of 10:1 (4 bits or 24 dB), that gives us a final image (signal + noise), obtained by stacking (averaging) many many 14-bit RAW files into a final 24bit/ch or 144 dB/ch image. The 24-bit/ch image (encoded as a 32-bit/ch FITS file) is then compressed by tone mapping to an 8-bit/ch (42 dB) TIF or JPG image, which means the dynamic range of the object scene has been compressed by 102 dB.

Dynamic range compression is the reason why bright stars are so much larger than fainter stars.

 

[Devin-M]

Could've been longer exposure for the H-Alpha channel (w/ stars removed filter), shorter exposure for stars then overlay it as an adjustment layer.

 

[collinsmark]

Casper the Friendly Ghost Nebula (a.k.a. M78, Messier 78, NGC 2068) welcomed from my back patio in February 2023. M78 is a reflection nebula, approximately 1350 light-years away, and can be seen from Earth in the constellation Orion. Casper is dead center on the celestial equator, making him equally friendly to observers in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

Figure 1. Casper the Friendly Ghost Nebula (M78).

Figure 2: Same image, just rotated so it can be displayed a little larger on PF.

This is my very first attempt to photograph a reflection nebula, ever (I'm a little embarrassed to say). Unlike emission nebulae, which emit light at very specific wavelengths via electron excitation and ionization, reflection nebulae merely reflect the light from nearby stars, thus having very wide, continuous bands of wavelengths.

That makes narrowband filters pretty much useless for reflection nebulae, and there isn't an easy way to separate the nebulosity's signal from the noise of the light pollution. And I've got plenty of light pollution.

I had some struggles with reproducible gradients in the unprocessed data. I've ruled out my flats, and almost ruled out moon glow, but their true source is still somewhat of a mystery. I managed to remove the gradients in post processing, but I'm afraid I might have taken out some of the nebulosity along with them. I would have liked to gather more data (like luminance data with an L-Pro filter), but then the clouds and rains came and haven't stopped for weeks.

[Edit: I think I may have figured out the gradients. I neglected to shield my telescope from my neighbor's porchlight by propping up a bedsheet nearby, like I occasionally do. I forgot about that, this time. Without the bedsheet, the glare strikes the inside of my telescope's dewsheild when the telescope is facing anywhere near that direction. Hence the gradients.]

Equipment:
Meade 10" LX200-ACF fork mounted on an equatorial wedge.
Off-axis guider (OAG) with guide camera.
Optolong LRGB filter set.
ZWO ASI6200MM-Pro main camera.

Software:
N.I.N.A.
PHD2 guiding
PixInsight with RC-Astro plugins.

Integration:
Location: San Diego
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies.
All subframes binned 3x3
R: 160×240s = 10.67 hrs
G: 243×240s = 16.20 hrs
B: 108×240s = 7.20 hrs
Total integration time: 34.07 hours.

Casper the Friendly Ghost is, of course, always welcome at the Shady Crypt Observatory.

 

[Astronuc]

NASA captures 74,500-mile-high 'solar tornado' on the sun's surface
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/tech...solar-tornado-on-the-suns-surface/ar-AA18RtEy

https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA18RKkl.img?w=1920&h=1080&q=60&m=2&f=jpg

The twister, composed of plasma and heat, measured more than 74,500 miles high and moved up to 310,000 miles per hour.

 

[collinsmark]

The Seagull Nebula (IC-2177) captured from my back patio in February, 2023. IC-2177 can be seen hovering on the border between the constellations Monoceros and Canis Major.

IC-2177 is quite large, angular-wise; it's about the angular length of roughly 5 full moons, more-or-less. The reason the Seagull Nebula is not visible to the naked eye isn't because it's too small, rather it's because it's not bright enough.

Equipment:
Explore Scientific 80ED-FCD100
Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractors
Off-axis guider (OAG) with guide camera
Baader 3.5/4nm Ultra-Narrowband filter set
ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro main camera

While we're on the subject of dim seagulls, actual seagulls (the living, fleshy variety) are not regarded as being the brightest of birds, cognitively speaking.

Software:
N.I.N.A.
PHD2 guiding
PixInsight with RC-Astro plugins

San Diego is a pretty good place to observe seagulls.

Integration:
Location: San Diego
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies.
All subframes binned 1x1
SHO mapping
SII: 48×600s = 8.00 hrs
Hα: 12×600s = 2.00 hrs
Oiii: 25×600s = 4.17 hrs
Total integration time: 14.17 hours.

 

[collinsmark]

The Jellyfish Nebula (a.k.a. IC 443, Sh 2-248), caught from my back patio in February, 2023. The Jellyfish Nebula is a supernova remnant, roughly 5000 light-years away, and can be seen in the constellation Gemini.

Well, this came out better than expected. There's a couple of star halos (caused by the narrowband filters) that I didn't bother removing in post, but overall I'm satisfied. Less than 7 hours of data. I look forward to scuttling back to the jellyfish in coming years.

Below is a crop (from the same data, same image) showing a little more detail.

Equipment:
Explore Scientific 80ED-FCD100
Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractors
Off-axis guider (OAG) with guide camera
Baader 3.5/4nm Ultra-Narrowband filter set
ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro main camera

Ya might think that the Jellyfish Nebula would be better in Pisces, but no, it's in Gemini. I suppose it's fine though, since living jellyfish are not actually fish; they're invertebrates, sometimes called "gelatinous zooplankton." Of course, the Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443) is neither; it's the remnants of an exploding star.

Software:
N.I.N.A.
PHD2 guiding
PixInsight with RC-Astro plugins

I'm on record as saying that man can live on peanut butter sandwiches alone. But I suppose a bit of jelly could be welcome from time to time.

Integration:
Location: San Diego
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies.
All subframes binned 1x1
SHO mapping
SII: 19×600s = 3.17 hrs
Hα: 8×600s = 1.33 hrs
Oiii: 13×600s = 2.17 hrs
Total integration time: 6.67 hours.

I've never been stung by a jellyfish, myself. But if you get stung, I would recommend against peeing on the wound. That treatment method is based on urban myth without scientific backing. It may do more harm than good.

Keeping a fair distance away from presently exploding supernovae might be wise advice, however.
.

 

[horacio torres]

View attachment 181606
​

Here we see disproven the commonly held notion that shields don't work inside a nebula. Bow shock of LL Orionis plowing through the Orion Nebula, protected by its stellar wind.

Beautiful pic,, Amazing

Horacio

 

[Andy Resnick]

The constellation Orion, captured @ 105mm f/2 (50mm refractor equivalent), total integration time 12 hours:

The full size image looks a lot better.....

A couple 1:1 crops:

 

[Astronuc]

Polar Crown Prominence - 60,000-mile-tall 'plasma waterfall' seen showering the sun
https://www.space.com/sun-plasma-waterfall-polar-crown-prominence

Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau, who is based near Rafaela in Argentina, captured a striking image on March 9 using specialized camera equipment. The plasma wall "rose some 100,000 km [kilometers, or 62,000 miles] above the solar surface," Poupeau told Spaceweather.com. For context, that is as tall as around eight Earths stacked on top of one another. "On my computer screen, it looked like hundreds of threads of plasma were dripping down a wall," Poupeau added.

The dazzling phenomenon is known as a polar crown prominence (PCP), according to Spaceweather.com. PCPs are similar to normal solar prominences, which are loops of plasma, or ionized gas, that are ejected from the solar surface by magnetic fields. However, PCPs occur near the sun's magnetic poles at latitudes between 60 and 70 degrees North and South, which often causes them to collapse back towards the sun because the magnetic fields near the poles are much stronger, according to NASA (opens in new tab). This collapse back to the sun has earned them the nickname "plasma waterfalls."

The plasma within PCPs is not actually in freefall because it is still contained within the magnetic field that initially spat them out. However, the plasma travels downwards at speeds of up to 22,370 mph (36,000 km/h), which is much faster than the magnetic fields should allow based on experts' calculations, according to NASA. Researchers are still trying to figure out how this is possible.

 

[Tom.G]

However, the plasma travels downwards at speeds of up to 22,370 mph (36,000 km/h), which is much faster than the magnetic fields should allow based on experts' calculations, according to NASA. Researchers are still trying to figure out how this is possible.

Cool! A cosmic mystery in our own backyard. (and after spending many $$$ on Bigger-n-Better telescopes )

 

[DennisN]

I just posted this video in the "First telescope" thread on PF", but I think it is worth posting here too .

I like that one of the points he is making is that you don't have to start with very expensive things if you want to try the hobby. He also has a number of videos on his channel about doing astrophotography with quite cheap equipment. I like this approach, since that's how I got hooked. I started with just a smartphone.

Busting Five MYTHS About Astrophotography in Ten Minutes (Nico Carver/Nebula Photos)

 

[Tom.G]

Another informative video at:

 

[DennisN]

Something unusual this time...

I saw that a team recently had used AI to generate better images of the M87 black hole, so I started wondering how well AI could render celestial bodies and space related stuff. So I asked of friend of mine who has got AI software if he would like to try it out, which he did, and I posted some of his pictures here: (post 1, post 2).

 

[Astronuc]

Eight planets and many worlds - from Galileo to New HorizonsI was interested in the Roche limit of Jupiter and other planets and objects
https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/r/Roche_limit.htm

 

[dlgoff]

Eight planets and many worlds - from Galileo to New HorizonsI was interested in the Roche limit of Jupiter and other planets and objects
https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/r/Roche_limit.htm

I was a student of the professor who taught Clyde Tombaugh at the University of Kansas after he discovered Pluto.
See: https://union.ku.edu/planetary-man

 

[timmdeeg]

The Leo-Triplet

I love it because each galaxy has it's own "personality".

Taken April 14. 2023 with

Sony A7III
UNC 200 f/4 Newton on HEQ5 - guiding with StarAid - no Filter
DSS - Siril - LightZone

Frames 32x180s 1.6 h - ISO 800

 

[Andy Resnick]

Heh... I was getting ready to post my image of the same region of sky :)

Deets: Nikon D810 + Nikkor 800/8 ơn a Losmandy GM-8, 8s subs, total integration time 8.3 hours. Stacking with AstroPixel Processor. Guess I have a thing for the number '8'....

There's a plethora of faint galaxies everywhere in this image, I haven't had a chance to upload it to Astrometry.net and see what's what.

 

[Astronuc]

The outer planets Uranus and Neptune have some interesting characteristics and features.

Voyager 2's Discoveries On Neptune and Uranus [4K] | Zenith | Spark​

The first 20 minutes cover early missions to Mercury and Venus, and only the last 7 minutes cover Uranus and Neptune. Nevertheless, it's interesting to see where missions failed and what was learned in order to improve subsequent missions.

Uranus And Neptune | A Travellers Guide To Planet​

 

[timmdeeg]

Heh... I was getting ready to post my image of the same region of sky :) View attachment 325140

Deets: Nikon D810 + Nikkor 800/8 ơn a Losmandy GM-8, 8s subs, total integration time 8.3 hours. Stacking with AstroPixel Processor. Guess I have a thing for the number '8'....

There's a plethora of faint galaxies everywhere in this image, I haven't had a chance to upload it to Astrometry.net and see what's what.

Indeed, lots of galaxies!

 

[Structure seeker]

Eight planets and many worlds - from Galileo to New Horizons

At the ending phrase, "perhaps life is just next door": I'm certain it is! I can hear my neighbours at this very moment.

 

[collinsmark]

Bode's Galaxy (M81), captured from my back patio from February through April, 2023. Bode's Galaxy is about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It is a grand design spiral galaxy: a galaxy who's arms are prominent, well defined spirals.

M81 is named after Johann Elert Bode, who discovered the galaxy at the tail end of the year 1774. It's a bit unusual for a nearby, bright galaxy's common name be that of its discoverer. But here we are for M81. His name stuck.

Bode was pretty famous astronomer in his time. He may be most famous for his Titus-Bode law, which hypothesizes planets orbiting a star should be spaced roughly exponentially; i.e., each planet should be about twice the distance to the star as the one before. This works out pretty well, more-or-less, for the planets in our solar system, sort of. Time will tell how well it applies generally once we get more data from exoplanets.

Bode is known for quite a few other things too, such as creating a star atlas, determining the orbit of Uranus, and even suggesting the planet be named Uranus. So if you're wondering whom we ultimately have to thank for all the Uranus jokes, that honor goes to Bode.

Equipment:
Meade 10" LX200-ACF fork mounted on an equatorial wedge.
Off-axis guider (OAG) with guide camera.
Optolong broadband filter set.
Optolong L-Pro filter
Optolong 3 nm Hα filter
ZWO ASI6200MM-Pro main camera.

The weather weather did not cooperate with my imaging of M81. It was cloudy and rainy nearly every day for months.

Software:
Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy (N.I.N.A.)
PHD2 guiding
PixInsight with RC-Astro plugins

I think I spent more time on this object than any other so far in terms of days/weeks waiting for the skies to clear, and almost the most time in terms of total hours of exposure/integration when it was.

Integration:
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies
All subframes binned 3×3
R: 210×4 min = 14.00 hrs
G: 116×4 min = 7.73 hrs
B: 136×4 min = 9.07 hrs
L-Pro: 244×4 min = 16.27 hrs
Hα: 35×10 min = 5.83 hrs
Total integration time: 52.90 hours
.

 

[timmdeeg]

Thanks for commenting on Bode! And for this great image, almost 53 hrs with such weather conditions.