Milky Way From Cygnus to Cassiopeia

©2006 Richard Murray


©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 10/29/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 28mm Lens at F/2.8 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 5 x 1800 secs, autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes: This is a straight imaging run up the Milky Way from the constellation Cygnus all the way to Cassiopeia; a distance of about 5500 light years. Each panel of the mosaic (5 in all) is an exposure of 30 minutes using an Halpha filter. Each frame is angled to the right because of the earths rotation.

Happy Holidays!

©2006 Richard Murray

IC2118 Witchhead Nebula

©2006 Richard Murray


©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 12/19/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 140mm Telephoto Lens at F/5.6 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 5 x 1800 secs, autoguided, darks applied, Binning 2x2, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes: This is a faint reflection nebula which derives its glow from the large 0.1 magnitude star Rigel which is just outside the field of view to the left. Rigel is part of the Orion Constellation. Notice the witches head complete with hair and a star for an earring.

The second image was processed in the beta version of Adobe Lightroom. Thanks Dan!

Voyage to the Horsehead Nebula

©2006 Richard Murray

Notes: This is a gif animation of several images I took over the past several months with my Atk 16hr ccd imager and different camera lenses. The last frame was taken using my 8" SCT. To the top left of the Horsehead is the Flame Nebula.

Rosetta and Cone Nebula Complex

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 10/26/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 35mm Lens at F/5.6 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 2 x 1200 secs, autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes: This is a wide field image of the Rosette Nebula (bottom right), the Monoceros Loop (a supernova remnant which covers half the image and embeds itself into the Rosette) and the Cone Nebula located at top center.

Lying just outside of the field of view to the bottom right of the Rosette is Barnard's Loop also a suspected supernova remnant which is part of the Horsehead and Orion Nebula region.

NGC2237 Rosetta Nebula

Violet photo filter (12%) and slight deconvolution sharpening applied.

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 11/20/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 400mm Lens at F/8 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 11 x 600 secs, autoguided, darks applied, Binning 2x2, Processed in Registax 4, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight.

M42 Orion Nebula

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 11/10/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 400mm Lens at F/11 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 12 x 50 secs and 11 x 3 secs, no tracking, darks applied, Binning 2x2, Processed in Registax 4, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Orion Constellation Wide Field

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 10/26/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 35mm Lens at F/5.6 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 1 x 900 secs for each of four images, autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight

Notes: This is a mosaic consisting of four images which were assembled in Photoshop CS2. See labeled image below.


©2006 Richard Murray

False Color Image

©2006 Richard Murray

NGC7635 Bubble Nebula Widefield

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/24/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 58mm Lens at F/4 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 1 x 1200 secs, 1 x 1500 secs, 1 x 1800 secs, autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight

Notes: There's a lot going on in this image with 11 objects identified and several unidentified. See labeled image below.


©2006 Richard Murray

SH2-240 (Simeis 147) Supernova Remnant

©2006 Richard Murray
My best attempt at processing this faint DSO.


©2006 Richard Murray
Best image from the QCUIAG Group Sh2-240 Processing Challenge.


©2006 Richard Murray
My first processing sttempt.


©2006 Richard Murray
My second processing attempt.

Techno Stuff: 10/1/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 58mm Lens at F/4 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 6 x 1200 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 2x2, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, Pixinsight, Neat Image, Image Analyzer .

Notes: This is a very old (100 to 200,000 years) and very faint supernova remnant that is dispersing back into the interstellar medium. At the top left is M37 an open cluster and the object to the bottom left of Sh2-240 is LBN826 a nebula which is 7' x 7' in size. Sh2-240 is approximately 150 light years across.

This supernova is so faint that it is a real challenge to bring out any details. At the beginning of the processing session you are faced with a massive amount of stars and almost no detail showing of the supernova itself. That's why the original image frames were provided to QCUIAG (QuickCam and Unconventional Imaging Astronomy Group) to provide a processing challenge for the group as a whole. The result of that challenge is the second image from the top.

IC434 Horsehead Nebula / NGC2024 Flame Nebula

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/26/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 140mm Telephoto Lens at F/5.6 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 7 x 600 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight

Notes: The large star in the upper right corner is Alnitak (Mag. 2.0) which is part of the belt in the Orion Constellation.

NGC6888 Crescent Nebula Widefield

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/21/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 140mm Telephoto Lens at F/3.8 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 1 x 633 secs, 1 x 1200 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight, Neat Image

Notes: The Crescent Nebula is bottom right. The large star in the upper left corner is Sadr (Mag. 2.2).

IC410 The Tadpole Nebula/IC405 The Flaming Star Nebula

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/21/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 140mm Telephoto Lens at F/3.8 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 3 x 1200 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight

Notes: The Tadpole Nebula is on the left and the Flaming Star Nebula is on the right. IC417 Emission Nebula is at the top left.

NGC7000 - The American Nebula / IC5070 The Pelican Nebula

Halpha Image


False Color Image
©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/20/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 140mm Telephoto Lens at F/3.8 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 3 x 1200 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight

Notes: The American Nebula is on the left and the Pelican Nebula is on the right.

Orion Widefield

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/21/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 58mm Lens at F/4 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, Ha Filter, 3 x 1200 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, Pixinsight.

Notes: This image includes the Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula on the right and part of Barnards Loop (a supernova remnant) on the left. At the bottom right is a small part of M42, the Orion Nebula.

M31 Andromeda Galaxy

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/17/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 140mm Telephoto Lens at F/3.8 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, IR Filter, 25 x 360 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 2x2, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop CS, Neat Image.

Notes: Mag 3.4, Size 189' x 61', Focus & Reference Star: Mirach

IC1805 The Heart Nebula

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/15/06 ATK-16hr coupled to Minolta 140mm Telephoto Lens at F/3.8 piggybacked on LX90 8" SCT, HA Filter, 10 x 360 secs autoguided, darks applied, Binning 2x2, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight, Neat Image.

Notes: Mag 6.5, Size 60', Focus Star: Cas SAO11482 Reference Star: Segin SAO12031

NGC7479 Galaxy

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/3/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 7 x 360 secs autoguided, 6 x 900 secs manually guided, darks & flats applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight, Neat Image. Notes: Mag 10.9, Size 4' x 3.1', Focus Star & Reference Star: Markab

IC1805 Heart Nebula

©2006 Richard Murray


NASA Image

The top image shows the portion of the nebula I imaged and the image at bottom shows the full Heart Nebula with a box indicating the approximate area that was imaged.

Techno Stuff: 9/3/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 26 x 360 secs autoguided, no darks, Binning 1x1, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight, Neat Image. Notes: Mag 6.5, Size 60', Focus Star: CAS SAO 11482, Reference Star: Segin SAO 12031

IC434 Horsehead Nebula

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 9/4/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 1 x 60,120,180,240,300,360 secs autoguided, Darks applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight, Neat Image. Notes: Mag 11, Size 90' x 30' Focus and Reference Star: Alnitak SAO 132444

IC410 The Tadpole Nebula

SPECIAL EFFECTS


©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 8/31/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 1 x 600 secs manually guided, No Darks or Flats applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight. Notes: Mag 7.5, Size 11' Focus Star: Capella Reference Star: Iota SAO 57522

IC5146 Cocoon Nebula LLRGB

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 8/20/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 2 x 360 secs autoguided and 4 x 360 manually guided, Darks and Flats applied, Binning 2x2, R,G each 3 x 180secs B 4 x 180secs (for 10 total) Binning 2x2 all RGBs manually guided, Darks applied, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight.

NGC7293 Helix Nebula

In Halpha


In False Color
©2006 Richard Murray


Techno Stuff: 8/22/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 8 x 360 secs autoguided and 2 x 360 manually guided, Darks and Flats applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight.

IC1396 Elephant Trunk Nebula

©2006 Richard Murray


Techno Stuff: 8/16/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 6 x 300 secs manually guided, Darks and Flats applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight, Neatimage.

NGC 7000 Mexico Region of North American Nebula

©2006 Richard Murray


Techno Stuff: 8/15/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16hr, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Taurus .50 focal reducer for about F5, 4 x 720 secs manually guided, Darks and Flats applied, Binning 1x1, Processed in ImageViewca, Registax 3, Photoshop CS, PixInsight.

IC5070 Pelican Nebula

©2006 Richard Murray

This is first light with my new Atik 16hr ccd camera. Once I get past the learning curve, I think this will be an exceptional imaging device. At first I'll be concentrating on all kinds of nebula so expect to see a lot more images in the coming months.

Techno Stuff: 8/5/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-16HR, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60 for about F3, Guided with Guidedog, No Darks, Binning 1x1, 1 frame at 100 secs, Processed in Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight.

M27 Dumbell Nebula L[HA]RGB

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: RGB Images: 7/29-7/31/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60 for about F/3, Guided with Guidedog, Darks, 5fps, R: 100 sec x 15, G: 120 sec x 16, B: 100 sec x 13, 60-80% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 25-
50%, Sat 50%, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight, Neat Image.

Ha Luminance Image: 6/15/06, LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60, Guided with Guidedog, Darks, 5fps, 8 frames at 300 secs each, 55% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 15%, Sat 50%, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight.

M16 in Halpha and Ha+RGB

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 7/16-7/17/06 LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60 for about F/2, Guided with Guidedog, Darks, 5fps, R: 100 sec x 8, G: 120 sec x 6, B: 110 sec x 12, 53-60% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 100%, Sat 50%, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight, Neat Image.

Ha Luminance Image: 6/24/06, LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60 for about F/2, Guided with Guidedog, Darks, 5fps, 15 frames at 120 secs each, 48% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 100%, Sat 50%, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight, Neat Image.

See Halpha version several images below.

NGC6888 The Crescent Nebula

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 7/6/06, LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA
Filter, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60
for about F/2, Guided with Guidedog, No Darks, 5fps, 9 frames at 150
secs each, 55% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 100%, Sat 50%, Processed
in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight, Neat Image, iPrep.

NGC7635 The Bubble Nebula

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 6/24/06, LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60 for about F/2, Guided with Guidedog, Darks, 5fps, 24 frames at 150 secs each, 52% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 100%, Sat 50%, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight, Neat Image.

Here's One Good Reason Not to Retire Hubble

NASA Hubble Space Telescope

M27 The Dumbell Nebula in H-Alpha

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 6/15/06, LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60, Guided with Guidedog, Darks, 5fps, 8 frames at 300 secs each, 55% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 15%, Sat 50%, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, PixInsight.

NGC6823 Open Cluster With Nebulosity

©2006 Richard Murray


©2006 Richard Murray

This is my first successful attempt at taking an image with a Hydrogen Alpha filter which helps to bring out nebulosity in objects.

The bottom image is an example of how creating a pseudo red image in Photoshop, bluring it, and then placing the HA filtered image on top of it as a luminance layer can bring out even more nebula details.


Techno Stuff: 6/6/06, LX90 8" SCT, ATK-2HS, Taurus Mini Tracker, HA Filter, Used 2 focal reducers in tandum - a Taurus .50 and a Mogg .60, Guided with Guidedog, Darks, 5fps, 9 frames at 300 secs each, 55% gain, Brightness 50%, Gamma 15%, Sat 50%, Processed in K3ccdTools, Registax 3, Photoshop, Loreal, PixInsight.