Images by Andy Atterbury. All images (c) A Atterbury
The Great Orion Nebula; M42 and NGC 1981 reflection nebulae. The Orion Nebula; the most popular Emission Nebula to both view through a telescope and binoculars, and to image, is a region of Star formation and possibly planet formation also. The main nebula itself is some 1500 lights years distant and measures about 24 light years across. In photographs and images, the nebula is seen as bright red because of the heating up of the surrounding gas by hot stars within. The Emission nebula is embedded into a far more extensive dark dense dust cloud, where new proto-stars are forming. The blue areas are reflection nebulae and dark dust cloud intrusions can be seen. The running man or to me looks like a footballer going to kick a ball, can be seen as one of these dark dense cloud intrusions.Used William Optics 80mm refracting telescope, fitted with a Canon 60DA H-Alpha pass DSLR camera, and is a stack of about 30 usable frames, various exposures, 6400 ISO; processed in Astroart and then using layering in Photoshop, to enhance and reduce any noise in the final image. The William Optics system was mounted on a driven Sky-Watcher H EQ5.
The Horse Head Chess Piece dark cloud intrusion into the Faint Emission Nebula; IC 405. Equipment and technique used, was the same as above, but only had 15 usable images, owing to the development of haze in the atmosphere. Next to Alnitak (Zeta Orionis), the bottom star of the belt of Orion, we have the Flame Emission Nebula; NGC 2024.
The Rosette Nebula Image (NGC 2237) in the constellation of Monoceros, close to Orion, was taken using a Canon 300mm lens fitted to same camera as above, and the camera mounted and guided on the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mount. Processing techniques same as above. The Rosette Emission Nebula surrounds the Open Galactic Cluster; NGC 2244 and the clusters stars were formed from an original dark dense cloud within the complex. Like the Orion Nebula, the atoms within the surrounding gas cloud are excited by the hot stars within the cluster, causing the gas to glow red when imaged. Visually, you can see the open cluster very well using binoculars, but the nebula can’t be seen. I have never been able to see the nebula visually through any optical aid.
The Star field image containing Cassiopeia and the Great Andromeda Spiral; M31; was taken at Woolsthorpe Manor; and using; 18mm wide angle lens fitted to same camera as above, and the camera mounted and guided on the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mount. Processing techniques same as above.
The California Nebula
The California nebula (NGC1499), imaged on the 28th of October 2017. It is a stack of about 50 images of 20 to 40 seconds duration. Imaged using the William Optics 81mm f/5.9 system, on a Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Mount and using a Canon 60DA DSLR Camera. ISO setting was 6400. Stacked and Processed using Astroart and rendered using Photoshop.
The California Nebula is in the constellation of Perseus. It is close to the bright star Zeta Persei, which appears as the brightest star in the image. The California Nebula is one of the most extensive emission nebulae in the northern sky. In one direction it is over 2 degrees in angular size. It is quite faint, at magnitude 12, and I have never been able to see this visually through any optical instrument. Maybe from an extremely dark site it is possible, but not sure.
The California Nebula is in the constellation of Perseus. It is close to the bright star Zeta Persei, which appears as the brightest star in the image. The California Nebula is one of the most extensive emission nebulae in the northern sky. In one direction it is over 2 degrees in angular size. It is quite faint, at magnitude 12, and I have never been able to see this visually through any optical instrument. Maybe from an extremely dark site it is possible, but not sure.
M42 and the Belt of Orion.
It was taken using the Canon 60Da DSLR Camera driven on the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer mount. Is 17 images of 50 Second duration, taken on the 30th of November 2016 between 01:09 and 01:27 in the early hours. Stacked and processed using Astroart and Photoshop.
It shows the Great Orion Nebula, the Running Man Nebula, and next to the left hand star in the image of the Belt of Orion (Zeta Orionis), the Flame and Horse Head nebula.
It was taken using the Canon 60Da DSLR Camera driven on the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer mount. Is 17 images of 50 Second duration, taken on the 30th of November 2016 between 01:09 and 01:27 in the early hours. Stacked and processed using Astroart and Photoshop.
It shows the Great Orion Nebula, the Running Man Nebula, and next to the left hand star in the image of the Belt of Orion (Zeta Orionis), the Flame and Horse Head nebula.
M20 The Triffid Nebula
This was imaged using my Meade LX90 8 inch SCT on the 9th of August 2015 from Astro-Adventures in Cornwall. Used Canon 60Da camera and was a Stack of 10 images of 1 minute duration. Considering that M20 was very low down in the sky, it shows what a good dark site this is.
Image shows the Emission Nebula, which is divided up into 3 main segments of nebulosity by dark dense dust lanes, and has also picked out some of the blue reflection nebulosity which surrounds the emission nebula. The bright white area at the centre of the nebula is the location of the extremely hot stars which cause this nebula to glow.
This was imaged using my Meade LX90 8 inch SCT on the 9th of August 2015 from Astro-Adventures in Cornwall. Used Canon 60Da camera and was a Stack of 10 images of 1 minute duration. Considering that M20 was very low down in the sky, it shows what a good dark site this is.
Image shows the Emission Nebula, which is divided up into 3 main segments of nebulosity by dark dense dust lanes, and has also picked out some of the blue reflection nebulosity which surrounds the emission nebula. The bright white area at the centre of the nebula is the location of the extremely hot stars which cause this nebula to glow.
Image of the Pleiades, taken 5th and 6th NOV 16 _2356 to 0038UT & 30 x 50s were stacked in final image.
Used Canon 60Da camera attached to the Prime Focus of the William Optics 81 F/5.9, FPL-53 Triplet APO system and this mounted on driven Skywatcher EQ5 mount.
Processed and stacked in Astro-art and rendered in Photoshop.
Used Canon 60Da camera attached to the Prime Focus of the William Optics 81 F/5.9, FPL-53 Triplet APO system and this mounted on driven Skywatcher EQ5 mount.
Processed and stacked in Astro-art and rendered in Photoshop.
Imaged the rising Moon earlier tonight [November 13]. This is what some are calling the Super Moon.
It was very misty and Moon took on this yellow appearance. It clouded over quite quickly, so only a glimpse.
Taken with fixed Tripod and Canon 500D Camera fitted with 35 to 200mm Tamron zoom lens.
It is looking out towards the vet camp, about 1 mile away from where I was photographing. The other picture was taken a bit further down the road, but it started clouding over.
It was very misty and Moon took on this yellow appearance. It clouded over quite quickly, so only a glimpse.
Taken with fixed Tripod and Canon 500D Camera fitted with 35 to 200mm Tamron zoom lens.
It is looking out towards the vet camp, about 1 mile away from where I was photographing. The other picture was taken a bit further down the road, but it started clouding over.
The Southern Milky Way, imaged from Brane farm in Cornwall where we stayed this Summer. I am quite amazed at how much the camera has picked out here. Very little processing has been performed. This was 4 x 20 Second stacked images. Taken on static fixed tripod, and using the Canon 60Da DSLR camera fitted with a Tamron lens. ISO 6400 for each frame.
These I took this year are definitely my best ever images of the Milky Way. The skies from that location are without doubt the best we have encountered from this country to date.
You can just see the teapot shape of Sagittarius, partly obscured by some cloud close to the horizon. I think the bright object to the bottom right, must be Saturn. Some of the bright nebulae can be seen, such as Messier 8; the Lagoon Nebula. [Many dark dust clouds are also well seen. DC] The image is looking out towards the sea, in the distance from a field at the back of the farm.
These I took this year are definitely my best ever images of the Milky Way. The skies from that location are without doubt the best we have encountered from this country to date.
You can just see the teapot shape of Sagittarius, partly obscured by some cloud close to the horizon. I think the bright object to the bottom right, must be Saturn. Some of the bright nebulae can be seen, such as Messier 8; the Lagoon Nebula. [Many dark dust clouds are also well seen. DC] The image is looking out towards the sea, in the distance from a field at the back of the farm.
Images of the recent transit of Mercury (2016 May 9). "Got Mercury transit images here, taken using Meade LX 90 8” aperture at the Cassegrain focus and using Canon 500D camera and Glass front aperture white light filter."
The Orion Nebula, M42, taken on December 21 2015. This emission nebula, which is visible to the naked eye, is a region where stars are being born.
The North American Nebula, taken on 9 and 10 September 2015. This emission nebula lies about 1600 to 1800 light years away in the constellation of Cygnus.
I have been imaging with the new Canon 60DA DSLR Camera. has taken this long
to get all of these processed though. Last good clear night was on the 14th
/ 15th night of November 2014 and this was when I took the images attached.
Some images were captured using the Meade 8" LX90, with the camera fitted at
the Cassegrain focus and some using the Canon 300mm zoom lens fitted piggy
back on the Telescope. Images are all composites of several images,
typically of 60 seconds in length and were stacked and processed in Astroart
and then rendered in Adobe Photoshop.
The images attached are as follows:
The Pleiades M45, using 300mm lens and piggyback guided.
The Great Orion Nebula M42, at Cassegrain focus.
The Flame Nebula NGC2024, with the bright star Zeta Orionis on the
right-hand side of the image, causing considerable light pollution. Taken at
the at the Cassegrain focus.
The Double Sword Handle Cluster in Perseus, using 300mm lens and piggyback
guided.
The Crab Nebula, M1, in Taurus, taken at the Cassegrain focus.
The Great Andromeda Spiral Galaxy, M31, and the Satellite galaxies, M32
Elliptical and NGC 205 Elliptical. Taken using 300mm lens and piggyback
guided.
The Horsehead was imaged on 2 captures, just to see if this camera would
capture this at the Cassegrain focus. In both 1 minute images it could be
seen faintly. So this is what I need to try and capture next. It will
definitely need an integration of a large quantity of images. My previous
Canon would not capture this at all, so it is looking promising. All I need
is a good clear night and those street lights to go out after midnight. I
attempted to see if the Rosette nebula in Monoceros would also be captured
at the Cassegrain focus and it did capture faintly, including some dust
lanes on the two 1 minute images taken. In both cases I ran out of time, it
was getting late and I needed to retire to bed and this was 2:30 in the
morning.
to get all of these processed though. Last good clear night was on the 14th
/ 15th night of November 2014 and this was when I took the images attached.
Some images were captured using the Meade 8" LX90, with the camera fitted at
the Cassegrain focus and some using the Canon 300mm zoom lens fitted piggy
back on the Telescope. Images are all composites of several images,
typically of 60 seconds in length and were stacked and processed in Astroart
and then rendered in Adobe Photoshop.
The images attached are as follows:
The Pleiades M45, using 300mm lens and piggyback guided.
The Great Orion Nebula M42, at Cassegrain focus.
The Flame Nebula NGC2024, with the bright star Zeta Orionis on the
right-hand side of the image, causing considerable light pollution. Taken at
the at the Cassegrain focus.
The Double Sword Handle Cluster in Perseus, using 300mm lens and piggyback
guided.
The Crab Nebula, M1, in Taurus, taken at the Cassegrain focus.
The Great Andromeda Spiral Galaxy, M31, and the Satellite galaxies, M32
Elliptical and NGC 205 Elliptical. Taken using 300mm lens and piggyback
guided.
The Horsehead was imaged on 2 captures, just to see if this camera would
capture this at the Cassegrain focus. In both 1 minute images it could be
seen faintly. So this is what I need to try and capture next. It will
definitely need an integration of a large quantity of images. My previous
Canon would not capture this at all, so it is looking promising. All I need
is a good clear night and those street lights to go out after midnight. I
attempted to see if the Rosette nebula in Monoceros would also be captured
at the Cassegrain focus and it did capture faintly, including some dust
lanes on the two 1 minute images taken. In both cases I ran out of time, it
was getting late and I needed to retire to bed and this was 2:30 in the
morning.
Jupiter 2014 March
I visited Tony’s the other night and we used my Phillips ToUcam Pro II camera, attached to his 10” Newtonian Telescope. The first two, I processed were reasonable, but I have just processed another sequence of frames using Registax 5 and I’m very please with the result. The Red Spot is just visible to the bottom left of the disc, but a remarkable amount of detail is visible. There is a remarkable amount of activity, ovals, dark barges, and turbulent cloud features. I have used my webcam on my 8” Meade telescope, but I can’t get this level of detail. Although they are still good they are not to this standard, but I’m convinced you need that extra aperture to get the real resolution. In the case of the 10”, the optical quality of the mirror Tony made, is to an incredibly high standard. I’m not convinced that many commercially produced mirrors even closely match the optical quality of Tony’s mirrors.
Extremely pleased with this one though.
Extremely pleased with this one though.
SN2014J in M82
This picture of supernova SN 2014J in M82 was imaged on Sunday evening 2nd Feb 2014 using an LX90 SCT fitted with a Canon 500 DSLR and is a stack of 4 X 1 Min exposures. Cloud came in fast, so I was lucky to get this many.
Below is a 'before' image showing the galaxy before the supernova.
Below is a 'before' image showing the galaxy before the supernova.
M82 on 2013 August 4.
M82, also known as the Cigar Galaxy, is what is known as a starburst galaxy. Interactions with the nearby galaxy M81 have triggered an episode of extreme star formation, which is visible as the glowing red hydrogen clouds interspersed with dark dust clouds at the centre of the galaxy. Both galaxies are about 12 million light years away.
M82, also known as the Cigar Galaxy, is what is known as a starburst galaxy. Interactions with the nearby galaxy M81 have triggered an episode of extreme star formation, which is visible as the glowing red hydrogen clouds interspersed with dark dust clouds at the centre of the galaxy. Both galaxies are about 12 million light years away.
The Double Cluster in Perseus (h Persei and χ Persei) using Driven Canon 500 DSLR fitted with Canon 300mm Lens.
Just 2 stacked exposures of 30 seconds each and stacked in Photoshop. Not much processing at all, except slight shift in contrast.
Imaged when street lights had gone out, after midnight and images showed no obvious trouble with light pollution. Transparency was excellent. All came out with dark sky background.
Just 2 stacked exposures of 30 seconds each and stacked in Photoshop. Not much processing at all, except slight shift in contrast.
Imaged when street lights had gone out, after midnight and images showed no obvious trouble with light pollution. Transparency was excellent. All came out with dark sky background.
M31, The Andromeda Spiral,
showing the two satellite galaxies of M32 (NGC 221) and NGC 205 elliptical galaxy.
Images obtained using piggyback guided Canon 500 DSLR fitted with a 300mm Lens. Exposures were 15 x 60 second images stacked in Astroart and then with slight rendering in Adobe Photoshop.
Sky was of reasonable transparency and was taken over the Christmas Period 2013. This was imaged after the street lights had been turned off, so that the sky was very dark.
showing the two satellite galaxies of M32 (NGC 221) and NGC 205 elliptical galaxy.
Images obtained using piggyback guided Canon 500 DSLR fitted with a 300mm Lens. Exposures were 15 x 60 second images stacked in Astroart and then with slight rendering in Adobe Photoshop.
Sky was of reasonable transparency and was taken over the Christmas Period 2013. This was imaged after the street lights had been turned off, so that the sky was very dark.
M42, the Great Nebula in Orion
I think this is quite amazing how a darker sky can help with imaging any faint deep sky object. This is a single image taken on November 30 2013 through the Meade LX90 8” Telescope with the Canon 500 D SLR camera, set at 3200 ISO. This was only a 45 Second exposure and has not been cleaned up in anyway. The colours are the colours recorded by this camera, with no enhancement. The original image was in RAW mode, which has been converted to JPEG format. No filters of any kind were used. I was amazed with the results of this relatively short single exposure.
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M1, the Crab Nebula, in Taurus
I I I This image of the Crab Nebula is a combination of images taken in the very early hours of Sunday 01/12/13, between 12 Midnight and 12:40 am and a few images taken Friday night at the meeting. It is a stack of 30 frames of 1 minute duration each, taken using the Meade LX90 8” aperture telescope, using the Canon 500 DSLR Camera, set on 3200 ISO. Images were stacked in Astroart and final rendering was carried out in Photoshop. The Crab Nebula in Taurus is the most famous example of the remains of a Supernova explosion, recorded as an observation made by the Ancient Chinese back in 1054 AD. The Supernova remnant is in fact 6000 light years distant, so they may have observed the event here on Earth in 1054, but it actually exploded 6000 years earlier than this, as it takes this long for the light to travel to us. It is number one or M1 in Charles Messier’s famous catalogue. This image shows that results are better after the street lights have all gone out, as this reduces the redness of the sky and makes the faint objects like this more contrasty against the dark sky background. In the image, there is the faint hint of that filamentary structure.
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Orion, 28 November 2013
This wide angle image of the night sky was taken from home after the street lights had all gone out after 12 mid night and it is quite amazing what is recorded on this 15 second exposure. Taken on a fixed Tripod, not driven in anyway, using the Canon 500D, set at ISO 3200. There is not much processing either, just a bit of contrast stretching and changes in brightness. There is no stacking; this is a single image. This shows the impact shutting off the street lights has on our skies. Even visually the sky, this transparent night, was breath taking.
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Images completed November 2013.
Just some more images I have been working on and improving using Astroart and Photoshop, some of the images are recent, others were taken earlier this year.
All images were taken with the Canon 500 DSLR and coupled to the Meade 8” aperture LX90 at the Cassegrain focus. All are combinations of 1 minute images of varying quantity, stacked in Astroart and finished and rendered in Photoshop.
All images were taken with the Canon 500 DSLR and coupled to the Meade 8” aperture LX90 at the Cassegrain focus. All are combinations of 1 minute images of varying quantity, stacked in Astroart and finished and rendered in Photoshop.
M8 the Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius.
M16 The Eagle nebula records the Pillars of Creation from that most famous Hubble image and many dark spots which are called Bok Globules. These are dense dark clouds of gas and dust where star formation is taking place. This needed more exposures to stack, but cloud and rain stopped this from happening. Will have another go next year. All the same it does record some interesting features.
M27 the Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula
NGC 891. This is an edge on spiral galaxy with a central dust lane, which is in the Constellation of Andromeda. It is so faint, I have to admit, I could not see this visually in the telescope field. It is estimated to be around 55 million light years away. So the light from this galaxy started on its journey to us only 10 million years after the dinosaurs' demise here on Earth.
Have got my stacked image here of M33, the other Pinwheel spiral galaxy in Triangulum, taken last Tuesday, the 29/10/13. It forms part of the Local Group of galaxies of which we are a member, and is about 3 Million Light years distant from us. The spiral arms of this galaxy are littered with H2 star forming regions.
Image was taken using Meade LX90 - 8” aperture telescope and using at the Cassegrain focus, a Canon 500 DSLR camera. ISO for images was set at 3200. It is a composite of 17 X 1 minute images, which have been stack using Astroart and then rendered in Adobe Photoshop.
Below are some images taken by Andrew Atterbury on 4 August 2013 while on holiday in Wales.
[(c) Andrew Atterbury ]
Andy says "Here are a few images I have now processed. All of the deep sky images were taken using the Meade LX90 8” aperture telescope coupled to a Canon 500D SLR and taken in Wales from a dark site, when we were on holiday. Individual exposures were all about 45 seconds each and then stacked and processed in Photoshop.
Most of the objects I imaged are very low down and quite difficult to capture from home. Whilst in Wales for the week, we did get 3 hours of clear skies, but that was the lot, so did not get as many images as I would have liked to stack. Camera setting was ISO 3200."
Most of the objects I imaged are very low down and quite difficult to capture from home. Whilst in Wales for the week, we did get 3 hours of clear skies, but that was the lot, so did not get as many images as I would have liked to stack. Camera setting was ISO 3200."
The Hercules Globular Cluster, M13, which is about 30,000 light years from us.
Omega Nebula or Swan nebula, M17, which is in Sagittarius and is an ionized gas cloud and like the Trifid Nebula. It is an area of star formation. It is a swan shape, but in this image it is an upside down swan!
The Trifid Nebula, M20 in Sagittarius. The image shows a reasonable amount of detail and it has picked out some of the blue reflection nebula also. The main nebula is an emission nebula and the three dust lanes which give it the name can be seen well. It should really be pronounced the Try Fid, after these 3 dust lanes that divide up the nebula, but most people pronounce it as the TriF Fid, probably confused with the, ‘Day of the Triffids’, however, this way seems to have stuck.
