Our Beautiful Universe - Photos and Videos

[Andy Resnick]

Finally, some clear nights- it's been about a month. Even better, the combination of shorter days and daylight savings means my observation time tripled, from 2-3 hours to 6-8 hours per night. Good views of M31 (Andromeda galaxy) and NGC 891:

Nikon D810+ 800/8 mounted on a Losmandy GM-8, 15 hours integration time. Images stacked in AstroPixelProcessor. Here's a closeup of the center:

NGC 891:

Same setup as above, but 6.5 hours integration time. A 1:1 closeup of the galaxy:

And this odd smudge (lower right) that doesn't appear in Simbad/2MASS/Gaia catalogs:

Here's a better view from Aladin Lite (ignore the blue cross):

Any guesses?

 

[DennisN]

Another night, another moon:

Gear: Sky-Watcher Capricorn-70 EQ1, Sony A7R, Rollei wireless intervalometer
Settings: 1/2000 s exposure, ISO 800
Software: PIPP, Autostakkert (548 photos taken, the best 25% stacked), Photoshop (levels & fixes)

It was cold, so cold outside. But I guess the atmosphere conditions were really good.
I had gloves on, but I had to take them off now and then to fiddle with the camera.
And sometimes my finger was so cold I couldn't really feel the camera buttons.
But no pain, no gain .

By the way, I've actually got two hand warmers with internal rechargable batteries,
but I didn't use them this time. Next time I will. They are nice to put into the gloves when it's cold.

Hand warmers:

More gear I recently got:

Dew Heater Strip (link)

Variable adapter for eyepiece projection (link):

Thank you, Amazon!

 

[collinsmark]

The North America Nebula (a.k.a. NGC 7000) captured from my back patio, Sept-Oct 2023. NGC 7000 is an emission nebula about 2590 light-years away. When viewed from Earth, the North America Nebula can be found in the constellation Cygnus, not too far away (angular wise) from the bright star, Deneb.

The North America Nebula gets its name from its resemblance to the North America continent here on Earth. If it helps, North is to the left (this is true not only in the actual nebula, but also the figurative comparison Earth-map). The blue/aqua region is what you want to concentrate on (well, what appears blue/aqua in my narrowband image). The large, dark, goblin-looking dust lane in the upper center corresponds to the Gulf of Mexico. The detailed bird corresponds to the coastline from the southern Mexican coast and south through several Central American countries to Panama.

It should be noted that the North America Nebula is way, way, bigger than North America here on Earth. And it's much older too. Although geological time is mind boggling from a human's perspective, it doesn't hold a candle to astronomical time.

As such, since the North America Nebula came first (and is so much larger), I propose we change the name of the North American continent to be named after the nebula, and not the other way around. Since the North America Nebula already has a name, we can leave it as it is.

Thus I propose changing the continent's name from "North America" to "North America Nebula Landmass Thingy."

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

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

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego, USA
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies
All subframes binned 1x1
Stacked using the drizzle algorithm
SHO mapping
SII: 94×480s = 12.53 hrs
Hα: 88×480s = 11.73 hrs
Oiii: 96×480s = 12.80 hrs
Total integration time: 37.07 hours.

 

[berkeman]

captured from my back patio

Beautiful.

I keep forgetting that you live on top of Maunakea...

 

[timmdeeg]

View attachment 336918Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies

Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies - unbelievable that you obtain such an image!? Congratulations!

 

[collinsmark]

SH 2-188, sometimes called, "The Shrimp Nebula," [Edit: sometimes also called "The Dolphin Nebula"] captured from my back patio, August-October, 2023. SH 2-188 is a planetary nebula, about 850 light-years away, and can be seen in the constellation Cassiopeia.

It's unusual for a planetary nebula, in that it's so asymmetric, with one side being so bright compared to the other side. It's been postulated (Chris Wareing et. al., Conference: "Stellar end products" workshop, 2005) [Edit: here's an updated reference: https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2006MNRAS.366..387W] that this is due to its relatively fast motion through the interstellar medium (ISM), the stuff in-between stars in our galaxy. This motion through the ISM creates a bow shock in addition to the normal stellar winds created by the central star. More-so, much of the matter on the leeward side may have been swept downstream.

Earlier, I mentioned it's "sometimes" called The Shrimp Nebula, because I don't think that name has fully caught on yet. [Edit: it's also sometimes called "The Dolphin Nebula."] You have to admit though, it does kinda look like a nice, tasty shrimp. (It's not to be confused with The Prawn Nebula, IC 4628; that's a completely different nebula.)

Another thing it resembles -- and I didn't realize this until I was writing up this description -- is my own hairstyle. Not the colors, mind you: my hair is mostly grayish brown and white at this point, but the style is spot on. I haven't been to the barber/hairstylist since the before times. I just cut my own hair with some clippers in the mirror. It takes me all of 45 seconds. I suppose it shows.

But if I cock my head to the side, and walk around in brightly colored neon lights, my hairstyle is a dead-ringer for SH 2-188.

I'll use that next time somebody says the usual, "Did you cut your hair with a lawnmower," or "Jaysus, what happened to your hair," or "Did your mom cut your hair again?" I'll just answer by saying it's cut in the particular style of SH 2-188.

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

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

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego, USA
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies
All subframes binned 3x3
Stacked using drizzle algorithm
SHO mapping
SII: 79×600s = 13.17 hrs
Hα: 62×600s = 10.33 hrs
Oiii: 77×600s = 12.83 hrs
Total integration time: 36.33 hours.

 

[timmdeeg]

Hi,

I've been waiting for weeks to test my Sony A7III after being astro-modified and selected M33 for its H-alpha regions. Integration time was short because of upcoming clouds, but I think Ha is quite ok. Please criticize if it isn't.
I have been struggling to obtain a reasonable color balance.

A very weird experience recently, really hard to believe: stacking with DSS creates blown up stars if hotpixel recognition is activated, see below.

UNC 200/800 Newton f/4 - HEQ5-Pro - guiding with StarAid
DSS - Sirl/StarNet++- LightZone
Lights 22x180s - ISO 400

DSS without with hotpixel recognition

 

[collinsmark]

Hi,

I've been waiting for weeks to test my Sony A7III after being astro-modified and selected M33 for its H-alpha regions. Integration time was short because of upcoming clouds, but I think Ha is quite ok. Please criticize if it isn't.
I have been struggling to obtain a reasonable color balance.

A very weird experience recently, really hard to believe: stacking with DSS creates blown up stars if hotpixel recognition is activated, see below.

UNC 200/800 Newton f/4 - HEQ5-Pro - guiding with StarAid
DSS - Sirl/StarNet++- LightZone
Lights 22x180s - ISO 400
View attachment 337364DSS without with hotpixel recognition
View attachment 337365

Nice M33 shot! Great job!

In regards to the hot pixel rejection, I wish I could help more, but I don't use a hot pixel rejection algorithm directly. I use PixInsight rather than DSS. Instead of hot pixel detection,

• after I ensure subframe pointing involves some form of dithering during acquisition,
• I first calibrate with DARK and FLAT frames (and the FLAT frames are calibrated themselves with DARKFLAT frames),
• Then I use what's called "Winsorized Sigma Clipping," where, after star alignment (sometimes called "registration"), statistical outlier pixel values (on the basis of one calibrated, star-aligned subframe to the next) are replaced with median pixel values -- but only for statistical outliers. Other than those, everything then is averaged using the arithmetic mean (the averaging also involves weighting, primarily as a funciton of estimated SNR).
• [Edit: this workflow eliminates hot-pixels, cosmic ray artifacts, and satellite/airplane trails, all together.]

If I can speculate, what's happening is for some reason, the central region of many of your stars are being flagged as hot pixels, then replaced with a lower intensity value just for the central part of the star. Any sharpening/deconvolution will vomit at this, since it can't handle those sharp, spacial transitions, and you'll end up with weird results. That's my speculation anyway. The solution would be to tweak your existing pixel rejection algorithm, or look into using a different algorithm.

[Edit: Coincidentally, M33 is next in line in my processing queue. Give me a week or two for that post.]

 

[Andy Resnick]

After 2 months of cloudy nights, a couple clear-ish nights when M45 (Pleidaes) is in a good viewing position:

Nikon D810 + 800/8 lens mounted on a Losmandy GM-8, 8s frames, 14 hours total integration time. Images stacked in AstroPixel Processor. Stopping down the lens gives bright stars a cool 'sunburst' pattern:

 

[timmdeeg]

If I can speculate, what's happening is for some reason, the central region of many of your stars are being flagged as hot pixels, then replaced with a lower intensity value just for the central part of the star. Any sharpening/deconvolution will vomit at this, since it can't handle those sharp, spacial transitions, and you'll end up with weird results. That's my speculation anyway. The solution would be to tweak your existing pixel rejection algorithm, or look into using a different algorithm.

I appreciate that you like my image.

Thanks, this could be a reasonable explanation. I should add that above pictures are taken from the final stack, before processing. Perhaps the problem is somehow related to my Sony.

The only thing is for sure that I'm not alone, I've got this hint from someone else.

 

[Ibix]

Taken by my sister and my six year old nephew using her phone and his new 3" Dobsonian:

Apparently they could see the bands on Jupiter too, but I don't think they got a photo of that.

 

[collinsmark]

The Triangulum Galaxy, M33, captured from my back patio, Oct-Nov 2023. The galaxy is about 2.73 million light-years away, and can be seen in the constellation Triangulum.

Figure 1. M33, The Triangulum Galaxy.

I was able to capture quite a bit of detail with this one (see below).

Figure 2. Crop showing more detail.

The Triangulum Galaxy (M33) is part of our Local Group, together with The Andromeda Galaxy (M31), and our own Milky Way Galaxy. The Triangulum Galaxy is the smallest of the three, being only about 61,000 light-years across. And it's a little bit farther away from us than the Andromeda Galaxy.

If you have good eyesight, and your eyes are well adjusted to the darkness, and you're in a location away from city lights with dark skies, you might be able to just make out M33's core with your naked eyes. That makes The Triangulum Galaxy about the farthest, discernible object humans can make out with the naked eye, absent any additional optics or electronics.

I on the other hand, with my eyesight and light pollution, can't see crap. So, you can count me out. I'm happy if I can see to the end of the block without a telescope.

Well, I guess I can see the moon. And some planets: Jupiter, Saturn, and whatnot. And some of the brighter stars, Sirius, Deneb, Aldebaran, and the like. I might not be able to make out any constellations, but yeah, I guess there's a few bright stars. So there's that.

Equipment:
Explore Scientific 80ED-FCD100
Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Orion Field Flattener for Short Refractors
Off-axis guider (OAG) with guide camera
Optolong L-Pro filter
Baader Hα 3.5nm Ultra-Narrowband filter
ZWO LRGB filter set
ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro main camera

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

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego, USA
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies.
All subframes binned 1x1, stacked with drizzle algorithm
L-Pro: 483×90s = 12.00 hrs
Hα: 84×480s = 11.20 hrs
R: 430×90s = 10.75 hrs
G: 390×90s = 9.75 hrs
B: 348×90s = 8.70 hrs
Total integration time: 52.4 hours.
.

 

[bruha]

Hello, I attach three yesterday attempts of Orion Trapezium made by handyphone adapter for eyepiece
(unfortunately its fuzzy by exposition time and with suburb light condition....)

 

[collinsmark]

The Deer Lick Group (NGC 7331 Group), shot from my back patio, Oct-Nov 2023. The prominent galaxy in the image, NGC 7331, lies about 40 million light-years away. The seemingly smaller surrounding galaxies (NGC 7335, 7336, 7337, and 7340), affectionately called "The Fleas," are not not gravitationally associated with NGC 7331, but rather just happen to be in the background, and are about 300-350 million light-years away. They can all be found in the constellation Pegasus when viewed from Earth.

Figure 1. Deer Lick Group.

Figure 2. Slight crop to show a bit more detail.

The name, "Deer Lick Group," apparently was coined by Tom Lorenzin, author of the book, 1000+ The Amateur Astronomer's Field Guide to Deep Sky Observing, when he was observing the galaxies in the Deerlick Gap Overlook, in the Deer Lick Gap region in the mountains of North Carolina, USA. The name stuck. I must admit, this is perhaps my favorite name for a group of galaxies.

NGC 7331 is much like our own Milky Way Galaxy in terms of size and structure, except that the Milky Way is now thought to be a barred spiral, whereas NGC 7331 is an unbarred spiral.

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 Deer Lick Gap, North Carolina, USA, apparently got its name in reference to the natural salt deposits in the area that would attract wildlife fauna, such as deer.

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

I used to have cats that caught fleas on occasion: Phea, Teva, Osso, and Nyquist Stability Criterion for the Function GH(s).

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego, USA
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies
All subframes binned 3×3
R: 107×4min = 7.13 hrs
G: 124×4min = 8.27 hrs
B: 159×4min = 10.60 hrs
L-Pro: 232×3min = 11.60 hrs
Hα: 37×10min = 6.17 hrs
Total integration time: 43.77 hours

They all lived long and happy lives (the cats, not the fleas).

 

[collinsmark]

Section of the Soul Nebula (LBN 673), imaged from my back patio, Oct-Dec, 2023. The Soul Nebula, SH 2-199, is a relatively large nebula in Cassiopeia. It contains various nebulous regions and star clusters. Shown here is one such region, LBN 673. The entire Soul Nebula is too large (angular wise) to fit into the field of view of my LX200-ACF telescope setup, so this is just a part of the nebula.

This section of the Soul Nebula reminds me of a curious incident I had several years ago after leaving the neighborhood pub one night. Alcohol was involved, so my memory might not be too reliable here. But this is how the story goes.

The pub was closing for the night. The doorman bellowed to the remaining patrons, "time to go home! Everybody must go!" Now, before I continue, the doorman was a friend of mine, as were the bartenders and musician for that matter, so I almost certainly could have stayed for another pint or two had I really desired. They might have even welcomed my help cleaning up. But on this particular night I was a bit hungry, and the all-night taco shop was silently beckoning me a few blocks away. So I decided not to stick around. I pulled an Irish-goodbye, stumbled out the door, and began my several block walk to the taco shop.

My ears still rang a little from the PA, the singing, the shouting and all-around revelry. The melodies of the drinking songs and folk music still repeated fresh in my mind. The shock of silence, walking out into the still night sobered me up a bit, as I journeyed on foot.

Earlier that evening I was on stage briefly, playing a few songs merely to pacify the crowd while the main musician was between sets. I didn't bring my own instrument; I just played the musician's guitar since it was already there and set up. Sometimes I sang a little too. It was a pretty common occurrence for me at the time. My singing voice is not terribly pleasant, but the crowd usually would enjoy my guitar instrumental, mostly.

The first landmark on my trek to the tacos was a normally busy intersection: A "crossroads," if you will. I say, normally busy, but at this wee hour in the dead of night it slumbered in silence.
Even the stragglers from the pub were home now, or nearly there, leaving the roads desolate.

In the silence, as I approached the crossroads, I noticed a well-dressed, shadowy figure sitting on the corner next to what appeared to be a guitar case. Just as I had spotted him, he immediately made eye contact -- almost as if he was waiting there for me, specifically. He looked right at me and smiled wide. His flawless white teeth clashed against the slightly reddish-yellow tint of his eyes. I had never seen this man before in my life.

"I beseech thee," he spoke, "draw near. For I have a proposition that shall pique thy interest," he said as he tipped the rim of his top hat: a hat that matched his glittering, reddish-purple, three-piece suit.

"Yeahhhh..." I slowly said as I was about to back away. I wasn't sure what he was selling, but I didn't want any. Then I noticed next to his guitar case was a burrito, still wrapped up, that looked to be from the same taco shop to where I was headed. The whole thing was just so strange that suddenly, intrigue got the better of me. I hesitated out of sheer curiosity.

I just stood there with my eyes on the burrito.

"I entreat thee, dost thou wish to engage in a contest, a gambit of musical technique, wagering the stakes of your mortal soul against this..."

"Deal!" I interrupted.

He paused quizzically. "I have not yet finished my proposition of the wager," he motioned his hands objecting to my interruption, "A contest for your mortal soul against this..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I interrupted a second time, "my mortal soul against your burrito. Deal. Even better, how about this: Let's just skip all the contest rigmarole and just trade. I'll give you my 'mortal soul' for your burrito." It sounded like a good idea at the time. He seemed to want my "soul" for some reason, and it would save me the trouble of having to walk the couple of blocks to the taco shop. So I reckoned it was a fair trade.

He looked at me, dumbfounded. He scratched his forehead before looking back at me, "Nnn, neh, no, not the burrito. This guitar," he said as he unlatched the guitar case lid, revealing a fancy guitar within.

"Oh, the guitar!" I laughed, "I thought you were wagering your burrito." I continued, "'Thing is, I've already got one, you see. I mean, not with me, but at home. I don't need another guitar."

"But, but, just look. Mother of pearl inlays, gold accents, ..." He motioned his open, cupped palm, facing up, showcasing the craftsmanship.

I must admit, it was an immaculate guitar. but I wasn't in the mood to awkwardly stand in the taco shop line bumping into everybody with a guitar in tow. Plus, I'd have to lug the thing all the way back home. Then when I got there, where would I put it? Clutter and all.

"Sorry, but I'm going to go get some tacos," I concluded and started to walk away. "Best of luck to you and your endeavors, good sir," I finished. With that, I walked the couple of blocks to the taco shop.

With my bag of tacos in hand, I made it back to the intersection on my way home, but the man was gone without a trace. So I guess it all worked out in the end: He got to keep his guitar, and I got my bag of tacos. Win-win, if you ask me.

I woke up the next day with a powerful hangover. Did it all actually happen? I asked myself. I frantically looked around for evidence. I found my T-shirt that I was wearing the night before. Sure enough, it was stained and drenched in blood. Good god, what have I become. Hold on, wait. That's not blood, I thought to myself as I sniffed the T-shirt, that's just taco sauce and drippings. I searched further, following the trail of taco drippings, and there, almost hidden under the sofa was an empty bag, and stapled to that bag was a receipt from the taco shop, dated last night (technically, early that morning).

"It did happen!" I verbally exclaimed. Well at least the tacos happened. The rest, I'm not so sure about.

Best I can gather after thinking about it for a while is that I may have accidentally pestered some guy on the street -- probably confusing him to no end -- drunkenly attempting to trade my "mortal soul" for an imaginary burrito.

And that's the end of this story.

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

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

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego, USA
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies
All subframes binned 3x3
Stacked using drizzle algorithm
SHO mapping
SII: 69×600s = 11.5 hrs
Hα: 62×600s = 10.33 hrs
Oiii: 74×600s = 12.33 hrs
Total integration time: 34.17 hours.
.

 

[Arjan82]

This section of the Soul Nebula reminds me of a curious incident I had several years ago after leaving the neighborhood pub one night. Alcohol was involved, so my memory might not be too reliable here. But this is how the story goes.

[story]

Hmm, was this around 1986 and did the man look like this perhaps:

The story reminds me of the film "Crossroads"

 

[collinsmark]

Hmm, was this around 1986 and did the man look like this perhaps:
[...]
The story reminds me of the film "Crossroads"

Yes, I'm sure that Crossroads, The Devil Went Down to Georgia, and any other examples of a contemporary Faustian bargain, were influences on the story, either consciously or subconsciously. This motif is somewhat common in American culture. They might have fit even better had my name been "Johnny."

 

[russ_watters]

I've been working on nebulae lately, mostly narrow-band. All taken with an identical setup:

Scope: Explore Scientific ES127CF
Camera: ZWO ASI1600 Monochrome
ES 0.7 Focal Reducer (~f/5.3)

 

[bruha]

Excelent!!

Here just for fun- I pointed handyphone against sky randomly and make shot -and surprisingly Orion belt and sword scabbbard was catched (center of nebula is recognazible as well)....

 

[DennisN]

The Deer Lick Group (NGC 7331 Group), [etc]

I've been working on nebulae lately, mostly narrow-band.

Beautiful images!

Over here it has occasionally been really cold, really cloudy, occasionally very strong winds... AND I've been lazy. So honestly, I haven't been very motivated on the astrophoto front for a while.

 

[bruha]

It is whole image (Pleiades are in right upper corner)

Lot of succes !

 

[neilparker62]

Southern Cross and Pointers (and many, many Milky Way stars!)
2024/02/02 / 04:28:48
Johannesburg: -26.15298693747131, 27.82441637118623

 

[neilparker62]

Faint "smudged" looking star left top directly above Beta Centauri (rightmost Pointer) is Omega Centauri - a very large cluster of stars or possible dwarf galaxy since a black hole was detected at its centre.

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Black_hole_found_in_Omega_Centauri

 

[bruha]

Hello, its interesting.. its done by the Handyphonecamera? What this red spot on the left on the half between Omega and lower margin? (I did not find it on Star Walk,,)

Lot of succes and clear nights..

 

[neilparker62]

Thanks.

I had a careful look in Stellarium and also couldn't find anything that would relate to the red spot. But there are quite a few of them if I zoom in on the pic. Some kind of camera artefact perhaps. Red is lower frequency radiation - older stars ? Or something moving away (red shifted). I am just speculating.

 

[collinsmark]

Thanks.

View attachment 339783

I had a careful look in Stellarium and also couldn't find anything that would relate to the red spot. But there are quite a few of them if I zoom in on the pic. Some kind of camera artefact perhaps. Red is lower frequency radiation - older stars ? Or something moving away (red shifted). I am just speculating.

I would guess a camera artifact then (maybe a hot pixel or cosmic ray that happened to be a red location in the sensor's Bayer matrix). This, perhaps exacerbated by the camera's internal sharpening software. 'Just a guess though.

Eyeballing it, it looks pretty close to [the location of] NGC 5156, but not quite.

I don't think you'll pick up any decently redshifted objects with a 15 second exposure from a camera phone.

[Edit: There is a star, HIP 65804 -- HD 117148 -- SAO 224176, that's kind of on the red side, and is in about the right location. Your image makes it more red than I would expect though. So I'm not sure if that's it either.]

 

[neilparker62]

I would guess a camera artifact then (maybe a hot pixel or cosmic ray that happened to be a red location in the sensor's Bayer matrix). This, perhaps exacerbated by the camera's internal sharpening software. 'Just a guess though.

Eyeballing it, it looks pretty close to NGC 5156, but not quite.

I don't think you'll pick up any decently redshifted objects with a 15 second exposure from a camera phone.

[Edit: There is a star, HIP 65804 -- HD 117148 -- SAO 224176, that's kind of on the red side, and is in about the right location. Your image makes it more red than I would expect though. So I'm not sure if that's it either.]

Thanks for your thoughts on the mysterious red dot(s). I also found both items you mention in Stellarium but the locations did not seem quite correct. However if I zoom in on Betelgeuse (old star in Orion) , it has a red/orange pixellated fringe whilst Rigel (young star in Orion) has a blueish pixellated fringe. So I'd say there's something "real" in that.

Rigel and ....

Betelgeuse.

Canon DSLR 600D.

 

[neilparker62]

Some more red dots in same pic. Bright star is a Crux and one of the red dots is right next to binary system labelled Theta Crux in Stellarium. Zoomed in on the right.

 

[Tom.G]

Both Rigel and Betelgeuse look like chromatic aberration in the optics.

Since your altitude is around 5700 feet (2100 M), the Red blobs could be cosmic ray hits.
Do the Red blobs show up on dark-field frames? (maybe use long exposures to catch them)

Cheers,
Tom

 

[neilparker62]

Both Rigel and Betelgeuse look like chromatic aberration in the optics.

Since your altitude is around 5700 feet (2100 M), the Red blobs could be cosmic ray hits.
Do the Red blobs show up on dark-field frames? (maybe use long exposures to catch them)

Cheers,
Tom

You can see Betelgeuse is slightly 'orange' so I guess the camera's 'eye' might show that too.

Come to think of it, the obvious way to check out the red blobs is to take multiple photos rather than just one and then see if the red spots are in the same place or just randomly distributed. Will try that next time the skies are clear.