Image of the day

Captured by
Douglas Rollain

Lion Nebula SH2-132 - RC71

About Astromart

My Account

New to Astromart?

Register an account...

Need Help?

Posts Made By: Jim Thommes

May 29, 2009 06:37 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

North American and Pelican Region - wide field

Posted By Jim Thommes
I was recently camping in the Portal Arizona region which is a Bortle class 2 dark site. We were there with some family, but I had some travel Astro gear with me. I couldn't help but to collect a souvenir. (I'm usually in a Bortle 3 to 4.5 at home in the San Diego outlying areas.) Actually only one night was cloud free, the transparency was not real good that night - but the skies were real dark.

I got a wide field shot of Cygnus around the North American and Pelican. Image and exposure / processing details are at:

http://www.jthommes.com/Astro/DSLR/NAP.htm

Scope - Sigma 150 mm APO lens at f/3.5
Camera - Canon XT 350D (Baader ACF modified)
Mount - Celestron CG5 (GOTO)
Guiding - Homemade 180 mm FL guider, Vesta 690 LE webcam, K3CCDTools

18x5 min ISO 800, 8 Darks

June 2, 2009 06:19 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Sunflower Galaxy

Posted By Jim Thommes
I got some exposures in on M63. I have processed them and produced an image. I did get the small irregular galaxy PGC 46093 (toward the right edge of the image). There are two edge on galaxies that can be seen through the periphery halo of M63 on its right side as well as several other galaxies in the lower part of the image. I am unable to identify these other galaxies. Anybody have any ideas?
Image and exposure / processing details are at:

http://www.jthommes.com/Astro/M63.htm

Scope - C8 at f/6.7
Camera - Artemis285, Astronomik LRGB filters
Mount - G11/Gemini
Guiding - Megrez 80 mm, DSI Pro, Phd Guiding

June 6, 2009 04:53 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Coma Cluster - Abell 1656

Posted By Jim Thommes
I got a wide field image of the Coma cluster. From this perspective it looks like a star cluster (almost) - except some of the stars look fuzzy. This is a 4 degree field. Image and exposure / processing details are at:

http://www.jthommes.com/Astro/DSLR/ComaCluster.htm

Scope - Zenithstar 66 APO
Camera - Canon 350D (Baader ACF modified) no external filters
Mount - Celestron CG5 GOTO
Guiding - Homemade 180 mm FL optic, Vesta 690, K3CCDTools

June 11, 2009 10:35 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

M6 and NGC 6416

Posted By Jim Thommes
The image of these two clusters is about 3.5 degrees South of the Milky Way Galactic Center. They are of course a closer distance than the Galactic Center which is not seen in visual spectrum. In this image, the upper part looks like empty space behind the clusters and field stars. It is in reality a wall of dust that obscures the central areas of our galaxy. Image and exposure / processing details are at:

http://www.jthommes.com/Astro/M6_NGC6416.htm

Scope - Zenithstar 66 APO at f/4.5 (WO FFIII)
Camera - Artemis285 - Astronomik HaLRGB filters
Mount - G11/Gemini
Guiding - C8 at 1350 mm FL, DSI Pro, Phd Guiding

Some other earlier (webcam) images of M6 are here:

http://www.jthommes.com/MiscAstro/Archives/M6_NGC6416.htm

June 14, 2009 08:43 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Dusty area around IC 4601

Posted By Jim Thommes
Here is an image with a 8 degree field of view centered approximately on IC 4601. It includes IC 4592 and IC 4604. I have presented the image conventionally with North up, but when inverted you can see that IC 4592 looks like the so called Blue Horse head. The Globular Cluster M80 is there too, but at this image scale and exposure length, it just looks like a bright star.

Image and exposure / processing details are here:

http://www.jthommes.com/Astro/DSLR/IC4601Region.htm

20 subs at 6 minutes ISO800

Optic - Sigma 150 mm EX APO lens at f/3.5
Camera - Canon XT 350D (Baader ACF modified)
Mount - Celestron CG5 GOTO
Guiding - Home build 180 mm FL guide scope, Vesta 690 LE webcam, K3CCDTools


July 2, 2009 03:47 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

M16 and M17 (Very Wide Field)

Posted By Jim Thommes
This image is really a Milky Way shot as there is not much detail in M16 and M17 with an 8 degree FOV. Also, M18, M24, and M25 are in this image as well as a variety of other cataloged objects. Its kind of a dalliance I am doing this summer with wide fields - I promise to get back to more traditional imaging soon. I kept the processing on the bright side to see some of the Milky way features. Image can be seen here:

http://www.jthommes.com/Astro/DSLR/M16M17Region.htm
(click on the image for a larger view)

Being on the border, this image encompasses parts of Scutum, Serpens, and Sagittarius.

Optic - Sigma 150 mm lens at f/3.5
Camera - Canon 350D (Baader ACF modified)
Mount - Celestron CG5 (GOTO)
Guiding - Homemade 180 mm FL mini guide scope, Vesta 690, K3CCDTools

July 6, 2009 04:08 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Sharpless 119 - Ha RGB

Posted By Jim Thommes
Sharpless 119 is just to the left of the North American Nebula. It is a region that also includes a number of Lynd's Bright Nebula objects - the most notable of which is LBN 400. I ended up doing a two frame mosaic since my chip is so small. Even at that I didn't get it all. Image can be seen here:

http://www.jthommes.com/Astro/SH2-119.htm
(you can click on the image for a larger version)

Optic - Zenithstar 66 APO at f/4.2 (WO FFIII)
Camera - Artemis285 Astronomik Ha, RGB filters
Mount - G11/Gemini
Guiding - Megrez II at 375 mm FL, DSI Pro, Phd Guiding

Here is an older version:

http://www.jthommes.com/MiscAstro/Archives/SH2-119.htm

July 12, 2009 06:16 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Dark Regions in Vulpecula

Posted By Jim Thommes
Here is an 8 degree field in the Southwest corner of Vulpecula. There are 42 cataloged Lynd's Dark Nebula objects in this field. Strangely, the Barnard Catalog does not have any dark nebula in Vulpecula. The image is a nice wide region of the Milky Way - NGC 6820 is in the upper left. Image is here:

http://www.jthommes.com/Astro/DSLR/VulpeculaCorner.htm

Optic - Sigma APO 150 mm SLR Lens at f/3.5
Camera - Canon XT 350D (Baader ACF modified) ISO800
Mount - Celestron CG5 GOTO
Guiding - Home made 180 mm FL guide scope, Vesta 690 LE, K3CCDTools

July 22, 2009 04:05 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Re: M-16 first try

Posted By Jim Thommes
Tony,
Nice one. I do agree with the others on the spikes. I am impressed with the pinpoint stars in the image.

July 22, 2009 04:17 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Network and Cirrus Nebula

Posted By Jim Thommes
Here is an image made using my ZenithStar 66. The orientation is not North up (I needed to fit the object in the camera FOV). It is a combination of OSC and HAlpha. The image can be seen with some of the exposure and processing details here:

http://www.jthommes.com/Astro/DSLR/NetworkNeb.htm

Optic: ZenithStar 66 mm APO
Camera: Canon 350D EOS Clip HAlpha filter and OSC
Mount: G11/Gemini
Guiding: Megrez II at 555 mm FL, DSI Pro, PHD Guiding

Funding Member

Sponsors


View all sponsors

Search