GingerAstroNerd

Beautiful shot! I hope there will be clear skies next week.

I just dug though some old computer files and realized that I forgot to process my Heart Nebula data from 2023. I’m so glad that I uncovered this long-forgotten data since the details are pretty darn sharp!

#ic1805 #heartnebula #astrophotography #space #nebula

M35 (aka the Shoe Buckle Cluster) sits in the constellation Gemini at around 2.7K-2.9K light years away. It probably isn’t the most interesting object in the Messier catalog but I really love the array of star color in my image overall.

#m35 #ngc2158 #astrophotography #opencluster #gemini

I shot about 25 hours on the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101). I first captured about 22 hours RGB color data and then a few additional hours of Hydrogen alpha data. I also included a closeup since the details really came out nicely in the core.

#galaxy #space #m101 #pinwheelgalaxy #astrophotography

Still very cool-looking! What was your exposure set as?

Technology is so cool. We encounter a plane in one of our subs and can immediately identify the airline, departure/destination, speed, altitude, & flight number. 🤣

#photobomb #astrophotography #plane #galaxy #m104 #space #photofail

Here’s my latest attempt at our closest galactic neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy. I waited too long to even begin so I was getting light pollution. 🤷‍♂️ I’ll just try it again later in the summer!

#galaxy #astrophotography #space #m31 #andromedagalaxy

Thank you! I used the ZWO ASI294MC Pro dedicated astronomy camera with a UV-IR Cut filter.

Here’s 22 hours of RGB data on the Flame & Horsehead Nebulae. The signal was so good that I barely had to apply any noise reduction to the final image!

#ic434 #horseheadnebula #flamenebula #astrophotography #space

I have huge trees blocking my western sky. Too bad since this comet looks pretty cool!

I finally completed my recent capture of galaxies M81 & M82 more commonly known as Bode’s Galaxy & the Cigar Galaxy. I captured two versions showing just full color (RGB) as well as the Hydrogen alpha signal combined with full color (HaRGB).

#astrophotography #space #galaxy #m81 #m82

Thank you, Joe!

It’s supposed to finally be clear for a couple days here. Guess we’ll see. 🤞

I was deeply disappointed in my first processing attempt of this beautiful star cluster so I collected even more data and gave it another go. Here’s my new Pleiades (M45) image after stacking in 3 additional hours of data.

#pleiades #starcluster #m45 #astrophotography #space

Here’s a reprocess of my data from last year showcasing the Tadpole Nebula (IC410). I’m also shocked that
PixInsight rejected so many bad frames but the details still pop. I guess it’s a classic case of quality over quantity!
#ic410 #astrophotography #nebula #space #tadpolenebula

This isn’t the most colorful galaxy cluster but there’s one on the left of my photo called NGC1365 that I absolutely love. It’s got such an interesting shape and is perfectly symmetrical. Too bad it rises only 15 degrees above my horizon. #ngc1365 #astrophotography #galaxy #astronomy #space

OMG I love this song! ❤️ And the music video is like a mashup of Xanadu and True Blood. 😝

Here’s the last image taken with my ASI2600MM Pro camera right before the power port broke. I just got it back from repair yesterday. The Cone Nebula still looks great considering that I didn’t get more subs due to 📷 failure.
#conenebula #christmastreecluster #ngc2264 #astrophotography #nebula

Similar experience here. The upper left corner of my image is apparently used as Elon’s satellite superhighway.

Thanks! It’s specially difficult where I’m located. 😂 I need to retry this somewhere darker.

Capturing the Witch Head Nebula has been quite a journey. I’ve been shooting it for the past 2 months. I think I’ve actually trashed more exposures than I’ve saved but I still ended up with 200+ exposures at 5 minutes each.
#witchheadnebula #astrophotography #nebula #space #ic2118 #witchhead

Trust me, I had plenty of satellites streaking through. 🤣 I just deleted those subexposures prior to processing the data.

PixInsight is a bit easier in my opinion since you don’t have to load all 4 data types (darks/lights/flats/bias) under each individual date. But maybe it has changed. The age of your data won’t matter unless it’s 20+ years old. Nebulae might show visible expansion and some stars may move slightly.

I store each day’s exposures in a separate folder labeled with a specific date. I consolidate these date folders regardless how old until I’m ready to process the data. With Siril, I downloaded a separate program called “Sirilic” to handle multi-day situations.

I just tried combining my Triangulum Galaxy (M33) data from last year with brand new data acquired this year. I took color photos (RGB including the galaxy and the stars) & Hydrogen alpha data using my dual band filter.

#galaxy #m33 #triangulum #astrophography #space #askar #fra400 #asi294mc

Here’s an image I just completed of Markarian’s Chain. Not a whole lot of color variation in this galaxy cluster but the sheer abundance of galaxies in such a compact region is still quite impressive!
#markarianschain #galaxy #galaxycluster #astrophotography #space #askar #fra400 #asi294mc #zwo

I decided to try something a bit different so here’s a 2 hour timelapse of comet 24P/Schaumasse. It is currently in the constellation Virgo. Each video frame is 2 minutes long so it’s actually moving quite slowly.
#comet #space #timelapse #astrophotography #comet24P #24Pschaumasse

Here’s my annual obligatory photo of the Orion Nebula (M42). I want to keep shooting it annually to see if I’m getting any better at shooting and/or processing it. The trapezium isn’t quite visible so I still have room for improvement.
#m42 #space #astrophotography #nebula #orion #orionnebula

Roughly 3,000 light years away is the Spaghetti Nebula (SH2-240). It occupies 3 degrees of the night sky (6 full moons). I shot this as a 2-panel mosaic due to its impressive size. This includes 50 hours of exposure time to bring out more details.
#shaghettinebula #sh2240 #nebula #astrophotography

Heart and Soul Nebulae with RGB Stars

Heart and Soul Nebulae without Stars

Heart Nebula without Stars

Soul Nebula without Stars

I just finished processing the Heart & Soul Nebulae that I took last week. I included a starless version and two individual photos so you can see the neat little structures in both nebulae.

#space #astronomy #astrophotography #nebula #ic1805 #heartnebula #ic1848 #soulnebula #askar #zwo