M51 Whirlpool Galaxy - First Light With Megrez 80mm APO

Full Size Image

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 2/23/07 ATK-16hr, Megrez 80mm APO at F/6 mounted on LX90 8" SCT, Red and IR filter, 2 x 480 secs, autoguided with LX90, no darks, Binning 1x1, Processed in Photoshop CS2, PixInsight

Notes:This is the first image taken with my new Megrez 80mm APO. After aligning the scope on top of the LX90 and a few mishaps, adjustments, balancing etc., etc.. I only had a short time left to image so only got two images. Next time out I should be able to get a lot more.

Current Equipment

©2006 Richard Murray

This is my latest equipment configuration. The 80mm refractor on top which I just received in the mail is a William Optics Megrez Super APO which I'll be using for widefield imaging and to autoguide with. My main imaging instrument is an ATK-16hr which is attached to the APO. And of course my trusty LX90 SCT sits below the refractor.

Despite the somewhat awkward appearance of this setup it actually is very stable in all the positions I'm likely to encounter during imaging.

Oh and the toy robots in the background were really enthused when I first started to set everything up but they seem to have lost interest now. :>)

IC410 Tadpole Nebula

©2006 Richard Murray

Techno Stuff: 1/17/07 LX90 SCT ATK-16hr, Ha Filter, 1 x 500 secs, autoguided, no darks or flats, Binning 2x2, Processed Photoshop CS2, Adobe Lightroom, PixInsight, Image Analyzer

Notes: Mag 7.5, Size 11' Focus Star: Capella Reference Star: Iota SAO 57522

The bottom image was processed using a minimum and hipass filter technique in Photoshop CS2 (see Jellyfish Nebula image dated March 18, 2007 for details)

SPECIAL EFFECTS


©2006 Richard Murray

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.