MadMan's Astronomy and Astrophotography Pages - Photos of the Week
23 months and counting
since I bought my first
telescope and took my
first picture (below)....

Mike
Photos of The Week - October, 2012
Dual Imaging with the Losmandy G11 mount and testing the CGEM DX mount.  
Comet 168/P Hergenrother (first comet) and Jupiter in the Flea3
The Rosette Nebula (Caldwell 49) in Monoceros:
The Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49) is a large, circular H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of
the Milky Way Galaxy. The open cluster NGC 2244 (Caldwell 50) is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from
the nebula's matter.

The cluster and nebula lie at a distance of some 5,200 light-years from Earth (although estimates of the distance vary considerably, down to 4,900
light-years.[3]) and measure roughly 130 light years in diameter. The radiation from the young stars excite the atoms in the nebula, causing them to emit
radiation themselves producing the emission nebula we see. The mass of the nebula is estimated to be around 10,000 solar masses.

It is believed that stellar winds from a group of O and B stars are exerting pressure on interstellar clouds to cause compression, followed by star formation in
the nebula. This star formation is currently still ongoing.

A survey of the nebula with the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2001 has revealed the presence of very hot, young stars at the core of the Rosette Nebula.
These stars have heated the surrounding gas to a temperature in the order of 6 million kelvins causing them to emit copious amounts of X-rays.
Final Processing:
Captured using Astrodon 5nm Ha,
S2 and O3 filters with a  
SXVR-H694 camera in a
Takahashi FSQ 106 EDXiii
refractor  @ f3.7 and f5.0.

5 hours were hand selected from 9
hours of data (15 minute
subframes) to obtain the best
image possible.  Processing was
done with PixInsight, PS4 and
Registar (to combine the two focal
lengths).  

Presentation is the Hubble Palette
using emission lines of Sii, Ha and
Oiii to represent R,G and B
channels.  Ha channel was added
back as luminance.
Re-channeling to show the CFHT
palette (Ha, Oiii, Sii) is a breeze in
accomplished.accomplished.
Without Frame first attempt
Simultaneous imaging on my
G11 mount.  Explore Scientific
ED 80 triplet with  AT
flattener and the M25C
Camera.  Images were taken
during above image capture.  
Ha channel added from the
Tak and H694 using Registar.
First attempt (red star halo)

The Pleiades, or Seven Sisters (Messier object 45 or M45), is an open star cluster containing middle-aged hot B-type stars located in the constellation of
Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky. The name Pleiades comes from
Greek mythology; it has several meanings in different cultures and traditions.

Captured using
Astrodon
Tru-Balance LRGB
filters with a  
SXVR-H694 camera
106 EDXiii refractor  
@ f3.7.

100 minutes of 4
and 5 minute
frames.  Processing
was done with
PixInsight and PS4.  
Alternate,
cropped, lighter
version - frame
and no frame
LEFT: Simultaeous capture
with the M25C camera in an
Explore Scientific ED80 on
the same mount.
No frame or
spikes.
Darker
Comet 168/P Hergenrother:

I chose to image my first comet on 10/20 and 10/26/12 at f7 in my C11" Edge with the M25C color camera.  This was my first attempt at a
comet and while my processing of the final jpeg is poor at best, by stacking individual, uncalibrated frames, I was able to put together a rough 2
hour timelapse as well as a more cropped 1 hour timelapse (see both below).  In the 1 hour timelapse video, you can clearly see the comet
tumbling.  This comet flared unexpectedly in October with a 6 mag increase in brightness.  

Interestingly, the tumbling was probably quite violent given that on the 26th (after I imaged it of course), the comet broke in two as can be seen
in the professional photograph shown at the right.  I missed that event due to weather on the 26th - which stopped my data capture after just a
few frames.  

Exciting aspect of the hobby I have lots of work to do to get good at!
Jupiter done in my C11 at F20 using a Flea3 video
camera.  Best 800 frames of 4000.  Two images - one
with more sharpening.