Dave

Another recent shot--this time the Orion Nebula, shot in LRGB using my SW Esprit 80ED refractor on my Wave 150i mount. Shot with an ASI2600MM Pro camera. 3.4 hours total integration. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/lvm6s9

#astrophotography

Wide field shot of M81, M82, and companions. Note the wispy integrated flux nebula throughout. 26 hours of exposures in LRGB + Ha through my SW Esprit 80ED f/5 refractor. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/9qkpit

#Astrophotography

NGC 7822, an emission nebula in Cepheus. Shot in narrowband (plus RGB for stars) with my SW Esprit 80ED reduced to 260 mm FL using a Starizona Apex ED-S reducer. 11 hours total integration. Hubble palette. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/jwte1m

#astrophotography

The Christmas Tree Cluster, shot in narrowband using my Sky-Watcher Esprit 80ED refractor. I initially processed this in HOO, and then blended in SII data as a shade of green, yielding the gold color you see.

More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/fqwgeh

#astrophotography

Dark nebula LDN 1452. 18 hours of data. Shot in LRGB with my SW Esprit 80ED refractor, ASI2600MM Pro camera, SW Wave 150i mount. I tried out the new Veralux Hypermetric Stretch tool on this image, and it did quite well on the nebulosity. More on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/f0ln5e

#astrophotography

This is a quick-and-dirty version of a dark nebula image I shot over the past week. This is about 18 hours of data, processed in true color. Veralux Hypermetric Stretch kept popping up on my radar, so I tried that with this image. Space is a dusty and dirty place.

#astrophotography

The California Nebula (NGC 1499), shot in narrowband (RGB for the stars) and processed in the Hubble pallette. About 13 hours of data shot over two evenings. Shot with my 80-mm f/5 refractor. More details on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/fbhw1e

#astrophotography

A couple hours on the Perseus Double Cluster in LRGB last night, using my 80-mm f/5 refractor and ASI2600MM Pro camera. Not the most spectacular target, but worth a couple hours. Details on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/bf4f1r

#astrophotography

Shooting astro from the middle of an RV resort around Christmas presents some extra challenges. At least we're past full moon. Trying out a Pegasus Falcon V2 rotator this evening. Shooting the Double Cluster in Perseus for a couple hours, then moving onto the California Nebula.

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The Seagull Nebula (IC 2177), shot at 260 mm FL in narrowband using my Sky-Watcher Esprit 80ED f/5 refractor with a Starizona Apex ED-S 0.65x reducer, riding on a Sky-Watcher Wave 150i strain wave mount. More equipment and exposure details on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/xtfoe5

#astrophotography

Another couple of clear nights gave me a chance to collect about 12 hours of photons on M33. Shot in LRGB + H-alpha with my SW Esprit 80ED 80-mm f/5 refractor and ASI2600MM Pro camera. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/4tmgil

#Astrophotography

Managed 5 hours on the Andromeda Galaxy last Friday (Nov 14). Shot with my 80mm f/5 refractor. LRGB + Ha. Seems I shoot this one every year. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/95kz13

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A redo of my Heart and Soul Nebulae image from a few days ago. I think the color and contrast in this one is a bit better.

#astrophotography

Redo of my North American Nebula data from a few days ago. This time I used the approach that Adam Block recently published for narrowband processing. Started with SOO and then blended Ha in across mostly the R and G channels. Maybe SH-OH-O? Definitely still false color.

#astrophotography

The Heart and Soul Nebulae, shot over four nights using my Esprit 80ED refractor shortened to 260mm FL using a Starizona Apex ED-S reducer. SHO with RGB stars. More info on equipment and exposures is on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/t38a7c

#astrophotography

The North American Nebula (NGC 7000) and the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) captured in a wide field image, shot at 260mm FL with a SW Esprit 80ED f/5 refractor reduced to f/3.25 with a Starizona Apex ED-S reducer. Hubble palette with RGB stars. About 10 hours of integration total.

#astrophotography

My ASI2600 has been a joy. Previously shot with the ASI533MM Pro, which has a much smaller sensor. Glad your 2600 got fixed.

(4/4) Even shooting at 260mm FL, guiding (using PHD2) has been consistently in the 0.5" - 0.6" range, sometimes as low as under 0.4". This is the first year that I haven't had to debug my travel rig.

FWIW, my software stack for image capture is N.I.N.A., PHD2, and Green Swamp Server.

(3/4) Pegasus FocusCube 3 Universal
Pegasus Pocket Powerbox Advanced
Sky-Watcher Wave 150i strain wave mount
iOptron LiteRoc tripod (originally shipped with the GEM45 mount)
iOptron Mini Pier (mates the mount and the tripod)

This stack has given great results over my first three nights of imaging.

(2/4) Sky-Watcher Esprit 80ED f/5 apo refractor (with flattener)
Starizona Apex ED-S 0.65x reducer/corrector
ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera
ZWO ASI2900MM mini guide camera
ZWO off-axis guider
ZWO 7-positon 36mm filter wheel

#astrophotography

The last few years we've been wintering in our 5th wheel in AZ, and I always drag along some travel-friendly imaging gear. In previous years the gear I've brought along as not met expectations. Not so this year. This hardware has exceeded my expectations (1/4):

#astrophotography

You just described my entire career. Funny thing, when you become "good enough" you appear elite to those who aren't.

My chat window showing all the bots that messaged me after I followed them back

This is what I get almost immediately when I follow back indiscriminately on Bluesky. All bots, no doubt. (Yes, I knew they were bots when I followed them back.)

Another image I processed using Telescope Live's data. This is M66, a galaxy about 31Mly distant, shot with a 27.5" scope. I processed this using PixInsight and Affinity Photo. More on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/076cr4

#astrophotography

@debf56.bsky.social thanks! Very kind of you to say.

Another image using data from Telescope Live, processed by me using PixInsight and Affinity Photo. The Fighting Dragons of Ara--too far south to shoot myself. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/v5081t

#Astrophotography

The Sculptor Galaxy is seen nearly edge-on so it appears as oval-shaped. Its center is bright and it has spiral arms that show dust and nebulosity.

NGC 253, The Sculptor Galaxy. Too far south for me to shoot myself so this data is from Telescope Live, processed by me with PixInsight and Affinity Photo. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/tnmpnm

#astrophotography

This one's too far south for me to shoot myself. The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, data from Telescope Live in Chile (24" scope!), processed by me in PixInsight. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/u/PhotonPhan...

#Astrophotography

The Dolphin Nebula (SH2-308). I used data from Telescope Live's observatory (20" telescope!) in Chile to create this image in HOO. Would like to shoot this myself someday, but it's tough to shoot where we are right now. More on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/u/PhotonPhan...

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Old data, new image. M 51, shot in Apr 2023. This time I added the H-alpha data I originally shot but never used. Less than 3 hours on this target, barely does it justice. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/e10t0a?r=D

#Astrophotography