Friday, March 27, 2026
Two globular clusters, M3 and M13
The imaging season of 2026 is soon coming to an end here at 65°N. I managed to capture a couple of hours of new data for two northern globular clusters, M3 and M13.
My new processing method reveals extremely faint stars and shows that these clusters have a much larger angular diameter than is usually seen in images of them.
Both LRGB images have a total exposure time of about four and a half hours, captured under heavily light-polluted skies. The primary imaging optics were a Celestron EdgeHD 11", with an additional two hours of data for each target taken using a Celestron EdgeHD 14". Both telescopes were used with a 0.7× reducer.
MESSIER 13
Click for a large image, 2300 x 1800 pixels
Click for a large image, 2300 x 1800 pixels
My previous version of this cluster can be seen HERE
INFO
M13 is located in the constellation Hercules at a distance of about 25,000 light-years. The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules is one of the brightest globular star clusters in the northern sky. Its stars are packed into a spherical formation with a diameter of approximately 150 light-years.
MESSIER 3
Click for a large image, 2300 x 1800 pixels
My previous version of this cluster can be seen HERE
INFO
Messier 3 (also known as M3 or NGC 5272) is a globular cluster in the constellation Canes Venatici.
It is one of the largest and brightest globular clusters, located at a distance of about 33,900 light-years from Earth. M3 has an apparent magnitude of 6.2, making it visible to the naked eye under dark-sky conditions.
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
NEW PHOTO, The Flaming Star Nebula, IC405
This winter has been extremely cloudy up here at 65°N, but I managed to use those few clear moments to capture enough data for a new cosmic artwork from our night sky.
IC405, the Flaming Star Nebula in Auriga, is a beautiful velvet-like emission nebula with a reflection nebula component. I somehow managed to capture good exposures of the reflection component despite my light-polluted conditions.
I decided to create a two-panel horizontal panorama of IC405, and the result is quite dramatic.
The total exposure time is 36 hours, with the data collected between 2024 and 2026.
Flaming Star Nebula, IC405
Please, click for a large image, 1700x3000 pixels
The red emission originates from hydrogen (H-alpha), and in narrowband images the bluish tones are usually produced by ionized oxygen (O III). In this case, however, the blue area in the image is a broadband reflection nebula. This color combination closely represents the nebula’s natural visual appearance.
IC405 in Hubble palette
Please, click for a large image, 1700x3000 pixels
A mapped color image from a light emitted by an ionized elements, sulfur=red, hydrogen=green and oxygen=blue. beside the narrowband data, there are some exposures for the broadband RGB-data to show the reflection nebula component
A closeup
Please, click for a large image, 1700x1700 pixels
Please, click for a large image, 1700x1700 pixels
A closeup from the lower left shows an interesting looking nebula structures
INFO
Rippling dust and gas lanes give the Flaming Star Nebula its name. The colors are a mix of red light and blue light emitted by AE Aurigae but reflected to us by surrounding dust. The two regions are referred to as emission nebula and reflection nebula, respectively. The Flaming Star Nebula, officially known as IC 405, lies about 1500 light years distant, spans about 5 light years, and is visible with a small telescope toward the constellation of the Charioteer (Auriga)
Source, NASA APOD
Source, NASA APOD
Orientation in the Sky
Please, click for a large image, 1700x2000 pixels
Technical details
Processing workflow
Image acquisition, MaximDL v6.5
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Deconvolution with a CCDStack2 Positive Constraint, 27 iterations, added at 50% weight
Color combine in PS
Levels and curves in PS
Imaging optics,
Celestron EDGE 14" with 0.7 Focal reducer
Mount,
MesuMount Mark II
Cameras,
Imaging camera Apogee Alta U9000M and Apogee seven slot filter wheel
Guider camera, Lodestar x 2 and SXV-AO Active Optics @ 5hz
filters,
Astrodon 5nm H-alpha, 3nm S-II and 3nm O-III and LRGB
Total exposure time 36h
H-alpha, 72 x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 21 h
O-III, 6x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 5
O-III, 6x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 5
S-II, 6 x 1200 s. binned 1x1 = 8h
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LRGB data. binned 1x1 = 2h
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LRGB data. binned 1x1 = 2h
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