IC1805 Heart Nebula – 2016

IC1805 Heart Nebula - 2016
IC1805 Heart Nebula – 2016

2016-10-04 21:00-03:30
Some low clouds, windy, 80% humidity, 5 degrees C
IC1805
Exposures Luminance:
90x30s+25x120s+20x240s LIGHT
100x240s DARK
200 BIAS

2015-12-13 17:30-21:00 (2 hours lost due to Canon driver issue with Windows 10 and USB 3.0 setting in VMWare Fusion 8.1.0)
Some low clouds followed by fog, no wind, -3 degrees C
IC1805
Exposures RGB:
9x480s LIGHT
60x480s DARK
200 BIAS

Camera L: ASI1600MM-COOL, IDAS LPS-D1, gain 77, offset 12, -20C
Camera RGB: Canon EOS-600Da, IDAS LPS-P2, ISO800
Lens: Sky-Watcher Esprit 80ED + Sky-Watcher field flattener
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Skywatcher SynGuider auto guider and Celestron 80mm guide scope
Software: Sequence Generator Pro, BackyardEOS, PixInsight, Photoshop

IC1848 Soul Nebula – 2016

IC1848 Soul Nebula - 2016
IC1848 Soul Nebula – 2016

2016-10-04 21:00-03:30
Some low clouds, windy, 80% humidity, 5 degrees C

IC1848
Exposures Luminance:
90x30s+25x120s+20x240s LIGHT
100x240s DARK
200 BIAS

2014-04-03 22:00-05:00 (2 hours lost due to a combination of hardware and software problems)
Clear, moon at the horizon, no wind, 0 degrees C

IC1848
Exposures RGB:
8x480s LIGHT
28x480s DARKS
200 BIAS

Camera L: ASI1600MM-COOL, IDAS LPS-D1, gain 77, offset 12, -20C
Camera RGB: Canon EOS-600Da, IDAS LPS-P2, ISO800
Lens: Sky-Watcher Esprit 80ED + Sky-Watcher field flattener
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Skywatcher SynGuider auto guider and Celestron 80mm guide scope
Software: Sequence Generator Pro, BackyardEOS, PixInsight, Photoshop

M33 – 2016

M33 - 2016
M33 – 2016

2016-10-03 21:00-03:30
Some initial high clouds, some wind, 85% humidity, 5 degrees C

M33
Exposures Luminance:
59x30s+30x120s+39x240s LIGHT

100x240s DARK
200 BIAS

2016-09-09 22:00-01:30
Clear followed by fog, setting moon, no wind, 99% humidity, 12 degrees C

M33
Exposures Luminance:
126x30s+64x120s LIGHT

2014-10-29 22:30-00:30
Some initial clouds followed by clear, humid, 2 degrees C

2014-10-28 19:30-23:30
High and fast moving low clouds, humid, 9 degrees C

M33 – Triangulum Galaxy
Exposures RGB:
30+20x360s LIGHT
40+40x360s DARK
200 BIAS

Camera L: ASI1600MM-COOL, IDAS LPS-D1, gain 77, offset 12, -20C
Camera RGB: Canon EOS-600Da, IDAS LPS-P2, ISO800
Lens: Sky-Watcher Esprit 80ED + Sky-Watcher field flattener
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Skywatcher SynGuider auto guider and Celestron 80mm guide scope
Software: Sequence Generator Pro, BackyardEOS, PixInsight, Photoshop

NGC7331 and Stephan’s Quintet – 2016

NGC7331 and Stephan's Quintet - 2016
NGC7331 and Stephan’s Quintet – 2016

2016-09-08 22:00-01:30
Clear, no moon, no wind, 98% humidity, 15 degrees C

NGC7331
Exposures L:
120x30s+60x120s LIGHT
200 DARK
200 BIAS

2015-08-21 22:30-03:30
Clear, no moon, no wind, 12 degrees C

2015-08-20 00:00-01:00
Low clouds, no moon, no wind, 14 degrees C

2015-08-19 23:00-03:00
Very clear, no moon, no wind, 14 degrees C

NGC7331
Exposures RGB:
52x480s LIGHT
85 DARK
200 BIAS

Camera L: ASI1600MM-COOL, IDAS LPS-D1, gain 77, offset 12, -20C
Camera RGB: Canon EOS-600Da, IDAS LPS-P2, ISO800
Lens: Sky-Watcher Esprit 80ED + Sky-Watcher field flattener
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Skywatcher SynGuider auto guider and Celestron 80mm guide scope
Software: Sequence Generator Pro, BackyardEOS, PixInsight, Photoshop

NGC6888 – Crescent Nebula

NGC6888 - Crescent Nebula
NGC6888 – Crescent Nebula

2016-09-05 21:30-00:30
Some high clouds, no moon, some wind, 80% humidity, 9 degrees C

NGC6888 L
Exposures:
240x30s LIGHT
200 DARK
200 BIAS

NGC6888 RGB
Exposures:
7x480s LIGHT
100 DARK
200 BIAS

Camera L: ASI1600MM-COOL, IDAS LPS-D1, gain 139, offset 21, -20C
Camera RGB: Canon EOS-600Da, IDAS LPS-P2, ISO800
Lens: Sky-Watcher Esprit 80ED + Sky-Watcher field flattener
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Skywatcher SynGuider auto guider and Celestron 80mm guide scope
Software: Sequence Generator Pro, BackyardEOS, PixInsight, Photoshop

NGC869, NGC884 – Double Cluster

NGC869, NGC884 - Double Cluster
NGC869, NGC884 – Double Cluster

2016-08-14 23:00-02:00
Clear, moon, some wind, 96% humidity, 10 degrees C

Doble Cluster L
Exposures:
60x45s LIGHT
100 DARKS
200 BIAS

2016-01-04 17:30-19:00
High clouds followed by low clouds, no wind, -5 degrees C

2016-02-03 19:00-03:30
Clear, no wind, no moon, moist, -2 degrees C

Double Cluster RGB
Exposures:
9x300s+8x480s LIGHT
120x480s DARK
200 BIAS
Camera L: ASI1600MM-COOL, IDAS LPS-D1, gain 0, offset 10, -20C
Camera RGB: Canon EOS-600Da, IDAS LPS-P2, ISO800
Lens: Sky-Watcher Esprit 80ED + Sky-Watcher field flattener
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Skywatcher SynGuider auto guider and Celestron 80mm guide scope
Software: Sequence Generator Pro, BackyardEOS, PixInsight, Photoshop

 

NGC 7023 – Iris Nebula

NGC 7023 - Iris Nebula
NGC 7023 – Iris Nebula

2016-08-07 00:00-03:00
Low clouds, no moon, no wind, 99% humidity, 12 degrees C
2016-08-12 00:30-02:30
Clear, setting moon, no wind, 94% humidity, 5 degrees C

NGC7023 L
Exposures:
214x30s+40x45s+60x120s LIGHT
300 DARKS
200 BIAS
Camera L: ASI1600MM-COOL, IDAS LPS-D1, gain 77, offset 12 and gain 100, offset 17, -20C

2015-08-14 23:30-03:00
Very clear, no moon, some wind, 14 degrees C
2015-08-18 23:00-03:00
Clear, no moon, some wind, 14 degrees C

NGC7023 RGB
Exposures:
52x480s LIGHT
85x480s DARK
200 BIAS
Camera RGB: Canon EOS-600Da, IDAS LPS-P2, ISO800

Lens: Sky-Watcher Esprit 80ED + Sky-Watcher field flattener
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Skywatcher SynGuider auto guider and Celestron 80mm guide scope
Software: Sequence Generator Pro, BackyardEOS, PixInsight, Photoshop

ASI1600MM-COOL test

M27Test2_LRVB_Test3
M27 luminance with ASI1600MM-COOL, RGB with Canon EOS600Da

2016-07-28 23:30-01:00
Clear, no moon, no wind, 12 degrees C

2016-08-02 00:00-02:00
Low clouds, no moon, no wind, 10 degrees C

2016-10-03 21:00-03:30
Some initial high clouds, some wind, 85% humidity, 5 degrees C

Took some more test luminance frames on 2016-07-28, 2016-08-02 and 2016-10-03 to decide upon gain, offset and exposure time. Added RGB from previous DSLR image of same object, see https://astrophotos.se/?p=600

66x30s+17x60s+9x90s+19x120s+8x180s+26x240s+3x300s exposures with ASI1600MM-COOL and IDAS LPS-D1 filter used for luminance (224.5 minutes total exposure) taken with gain 77, offset 12 and gain 100, offset 17 settings of the camera cooled to -20C. 16x300s+8x240s+9x180s exposures with Canon EOS600Da used for RGB (139 minutes total exposure for RGB)

With gain 77 setting, the 120s exposures seem to be optimal (with some caveat since the sky was not fully dark). With gain 100, offset 17 I could not see any difference in amount and detail of nebulosity and stars when stacking 23 30s exposures compared to 3 240s exposures apart from the 30s stack had less noise and less saturated stars. This suggests that 30s exposures could be used.

ASI1600MM-COOL first light

ASI1600MM-COOL first light - M27 (Dumbbell Nebula)
ASI1600MM-COOL first light – M27 (Dumbbell Nebula)

2016-07-19 00:00-01:00
Clear, full moon, no wind, 10 degrees C

Taken at full moon and dusk (astronomical night still a couple of weeks away) using just 5 60s unguided LIGHT exposures at -20C, unity gain with my new ASI1600MM-COOL camera
100 DARK
200 BIAS

Filter: IDAS LPS-D1
Lens: Sky-Watcher Esprit 80ED + Sky-Watcher field flattener
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Skywatcher SynGuider auto guider and Celestron 80mm guide scope
Software: Sequence Generator Pro, PixInsight, Photoshop