Many failures on this object … CTB1
I started this blog a year ago, and I stated that I will publish the good and the bad. That’s a “failures” blog today. Skies were not nice with me these last months but I thought I could try something
Iris Nebula - Tak Mewlon 180
Finally … some light, catching Iris Nebula. Since September, I didn’t get any clear sky in Luxembourg. Though, I had this telescope I bought a year ago and it didn’t see light yet. A lot of new stuff on this setup to handle, I got a slot on the 11th of January.
Sh2-115 and IFNs
3/3 : Back to Sardegna. It took me some time to publish the details of this one. That was my latest shot in Sardegna. No nickname on this one, it is just Sharpless 2-115, and while shooting I figured that the Hydrogen Alpha filter was good enough to catch the IFNs (Integrated Flux Nebula).
Pelican Nebula … and North America Nebula
1/3 : Back to Sardegna. Last year, I got one shot (Helix Nebula) and I stopped everything after it : humidity was reaching 90% and my setup was sweating. I said in a previous post that the island is tough, some year it’s dry, some year is humid … I got the dry weather this time. I spent five nights, shooting from 10PM to 3AM (there wasn’t even dew … incredible) letting the setup outside until the morning without any anti-dew equipment (dry, dry, dry … perfect !)
Eastern Veil, Western Veil, Supernova and Pickering’s Triangle
Back to Sardegna. Last year, I got one shot (Helix Nebula) and I stopped everything after it : humidity was reaching 90% and my setup was sweating. I said in a previous post that the island is tough, some year it’s dry, some year is humid … I got the dry weather this time. I spent five nights, shooting from 10PM to 3AM (there wasn’t even dew … incredible) letting the setup outside until the morning without any anti-dew equipment (dry, dry, dry … perfect !)
Let’s chase the Bubble
Nights are now very short. I get a dark sky around 1AM and dawn is coming up at 3AM … That night was a chance to catch better SIIOIII lights from IC1805, just in case … But no, guiding was awful, so I targeted Bubble Nebula instead.
An amazing adventure and some lessons …
I tried so hard on this Heart Nebula. My last chance was to go back to the Hyperstar. I’d never let me down, but this night has been so epic.
New strategy … let’s go back to hyper fast
New Plan for IC 1805 Heart Nebula : let’s get back the Hyperstar. I tried the Hyperstar on Laguna Nebula, Eagle Nebula and Eastern Veil Nebula (this picture is Eastern Veil Nebula, also named C33 or also NGC 6992)
Some news despite the frustrating weather
The weather is not really the best these last weeks. Upside is about the water levels, downside is the very few hours available for shooting.
Part 2 : Your Station setup is done, time for taking shots
Let’s setup the basics, it is really not that complicated. And you may find it fun.
Part 1 : Where do we start before taking shots ?
Let’s setup the basics, it is really not that complicated. And you may find it fun.
Here’s the Go-Public time.
Here we go, I decided to go public on this blog. An exact year after my first Great Orion shot.
Heart Nebula. Still testing … and it went very wrong
I got a slot of bad average cloudy sky, and I believed I could test a 2h30min of shooting with a UHC-S filter on IC1805 (Heart Nebula)
Heart Nebula. Preview
I got a new setup. I promised to one of my colleagues a gift for her new achievement in life and that would be the Heart Nebula (IC 1805). I checked all configurations with Stellarium and N.I.N.A., but I knew that the Tak Mewlon and the C9 will not be able to get the full frame. I thought I got a chance with the Hyperstar on the C9, but I would have needed a bigger camera sensor (or using the APN, but as this nebula is so faint, I forgot about it)
Helix Nebula
I’m back in Sardegna, my second home …Last time I was there, I caught a glimpse of Laguna Nebula. This time I have the Hyperstar and I really aim for shooting a lot … but I forgot how stubborn this island is.
Laguna Nebula, third try.
Always a special feeling with this nebula. It is currently my first shot with my Hyperstar lens. I started astrophotography with my APN Canon EOS 550D attached to the Schmidt-Cassegrain C9 on this object. When I got the Hyperstar from Starizona, it was a slap in my face getting these details.
Laguna Nebula, second try.
I got the reducer 0,67 attached, the ZWO 183MC Pro … and I was wondering if I got the right object. Clearly, the reducer helped to get a lot of light, faster a bit, but the colors felt wrong … the core is full of details, so I was okay about this at least. It was about 40 shots of 20s, camera cooled at 10 degrees C, and I made an effort to get flats/darks and biases shots. It was on July before I burnt my credit card on the Hyperstar. Stars are round, black seemed black to me … yeah, overall it was a big effort, getting all the setup C9+AltAz mount+ Equatorial Wedge + Reducer + Cooled Camera (44kg of setup)
Equatorial Wedge
This picture shows two new things I added up. But this post is about the equatorial wedge and my attempt to compensate the earth rotation for my astrophotography shots. You can see the tripod and on top the wedge and the AltAz mount.
Great Orion also named Messier 42
This picture is important to me. That’s my first shot I’m kind of proud of. Messier 42 is a winter nebula but March was a good month to catch it.
Laguna Nebula, first shot
I have a special feeling about this nebula. First, it’s because it was my first shot with my Schmidt-Cassegrain and my APN Canon on September 2021, when I was in Sardegna. The result is what it is, but getting the red spot was a thrilling moment