Mike Parker

I’m still here… Terrible weather and dealing with a freak torn rotator cuff = no Astro photos. Doesn’t look to be surgically fixable so some lifestyle changes in store. Get lemons, make lemonade. Tuesday is looking positive for clear skies so keeping fingers crossed.

M51 Whirlpool Galaxy

No posts for a while. In the process of moving and it is fully consuming of my time. Hope to have more astro photos soon!

Great question. When I do a linear fit on the narrowband data, it balances the 3 narrowband images. O3, which is weakest in this image, gets a boost from that utility. In this case, the 3 masters show equal strength for that nebula. But with O3 promoted, it moves it closer to green and blue.

Thanks!!!

Great catch, I should have identified it in my post. It is NGC2261 - Hubble variable nebula. I had no idea what it was initially.

NGC2264 Cone Nebula taken with narrowband filters. I mapped red for Hydrogen, blue for Oxygen III, and blended Sulfur II as a complimentary yellow tone. Just over 2,700 light years away. #astrophotography

Rosette nebula NGC2237 with red=hydrogen, oxygen=blue processed as HOO. Sulfur was added as a yellow highlight. Located in the constellation Monoceros, it is 5,200 light-years away from Earth. This emission nebula spans about 130 light-years across.

M13 - The Great Hercules Cluster is one of 150 known globular cluster within the Milky Way. The associated stars of the cluster tend to be very old with some actually approaching being the oldest stars in the universe. #astrophotography

Today is perihelion, the day earth is closest to the sun. It also marks the period of the latest sunrise in the northern hemisphere. The two are closely linked due to the earths orbital speed increasing as it reaches perihelion and decelerating afterwards causing changes to the solar time.

Thanks so much!

Some background on the narrowband colors. For IC443 I mapped Hydrogen to red, Oxygen to blue, and Sulfur to green. Sulfur dominates the supernova shell so it has a primary green cast. You can see layers of oxygen (light blue) surrounding the shell. Others areas hydrogen (red) dominates.

@kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

IC443 Jellyfish nebula in Gemini shot across 3 nights. A supernova remnant created about 30,000 years ago. Over 5,000 light years away and 70 light years across. #astrophotography

Definitely. I just hope he can get it back.

My first astrophotography purchase in early 2019 was an iOptron SkyGuider Pro. It allowed me to take 45-60 second shots with my DSLR. It required manual polar aligning and of course no goto but I was fully impressed with the longer exposures.

Have a bud that lost his mount after sending it to Orion for repair just days before their announcement. He’s hoping to repurchase it if it shows up on the auction.

I see it available on Amazon but wondered if there a better/preferred place I can purchase?

NGC2174 also known as the Monkey Head Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Orion at about 6,400 light years away. I mapped Hydrogen to red, Oxygen 3 to blue, and Sulfur 2 to yellow. Ended up with a magenta area where the oxygen and hydrogen were strongest. #astrophotography

Wow! I forgot about the fast f/3.3 optics in that scope paired with a full frame camera. Nice!!!

Great job!!! How many panels did you have to combine for this image? I did this with my Esprit 100 and was able to get away with only two.

Looking to get into astrophotography? I started with a simple DSLR and tripod. Set your camera to take 30 seconds shots and point near Polaris There is free software that will allow you to stitch your photos into an incredible image!

Nice!!! I need a travel tripod and a possible 2nd tripod for my other scopes. Now just finding $2300 on a credit card 😀

I have the AM5N on my short list for a second mount. Currently using the EQ6-R. I have an older LX10 I recently deforked that by the looks of your setup should be fine. Do you need any counterweights on the LX200 for balance?

Below are YouTube astrophotographers I follow. AstroBackyard got me hooked 5 years ago that started my journey!

- Adam Block, AstroBackyard, Cosgrove Cosmos, Dark Rangers Inc, Dylan O’Donnell, Easy Astro Images, Lukomatico, Nebula Photos, Peter Zelinka, Seti Astro, View into Space, VisibleDark

I can never get the O3 to pop like you have. Great job!

Thanks Paul for sharing! Such a beautiful area and culture. I will definitely let you know!

I just read about the festival of Matariki. What a beautiful celebration! Traveling to New Zealand is on my bucket list of trips

@kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

NGC2264 - Cone nebula. Dark V shaped object in the upper right and below it the Christmas Tree cluster of stars. Both are an incredible 2,300 light years away. I normally crop into the subject more but really liked the interplay with the dark nebula LDN1610 bottom left #astrophotography