Thursday, November 13, 2014
DWB-111, the Propeller nebula
The data for this object is shot at 31.10 last month but I got it processed just now.
The data for the emission of ionized Oxygen and Sulfur (O-III and S-II) is borrowed from my wide field shot of the area back from the first light image of Autumn 2011.
DWB-111, the Propeller Nebula
In constellation Cygnus, click for a large images
An experimental starless view
Info
Propeller Nebula (DWB 111, MRSL 497). This S-like formation is part of the much large area of emission nebula in constellation Cygnus. There are very little information about the origin and distance of this structure is unknown.
Image in visual colors
A wide field image of the nebula
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2011/10/first-light-for-autumn-season-2011.html
Also O-III and S-II channels are borrowed from this photo.
Orientation in Cygnus
Technical details
Processing work flow
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Deconvolution with a CCDStack2 Positive Constraint, 33 iterations, added at 50% weight
Color combine in PS CS3
Levels and curves in PS CS3.
Imaging optics
Celestron Edge HD 1100 @ f7 with 0,7 focal reducer for Edge HD 1100 telescope
Cameras and filters
Imaging camera Apogee Alta U16 and Apogee seven slot filter wheel
Guider camera, Lodestar x2
Astrodon filter, 5 nm H-alpha
Exposure times
H-alpha, 12 x 1200s = 4h
O-III & S-II from an older wide field photo of mine.
O-III & S-II from an older wide field photo of mine.
A single un cropped, calibrated and stretched 20 min. H-alpha frame
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
A furious cosmic horse gets blinded by a divine blue light
My latest photo, Sh2-132. I rarely give a name to my photos, other than the official catalog number or well known nickname, this time I couldn't resist to give a name of my own.
A furious cosmic horse gets blinded by a divine blue light
Sharpless 132 (Sh2-132) in Cepheus
A closeup composition
Why a furious horse?
A marble horse sculpture from Piazza Navona, Rome Italy, it's placed in the image to show the horse figure.
INFO
Sharpless 132 is a very faint emission nebula, it locates at the border of Cepheus and Lacerta. Distance is about 10.000 lightyears. My photo covers about one square degree of the sky (63x63"). The blue color in the image is from the emission of an ionized Oxygen (O-III). "The divine blue light" at horses face seems to be an Oxygen jet of some kind, or it's just a tens of light years long oddly shaped area of glowing gas. The shape can be seen in H-alpha channel too. (Ionized Hydrogen)
The actual nebula is much large, as can be seen in my older wide field photo of the area.
Area of interest is marked at my older wide field image of the Sh2-132. The original image from the Winter 2011, with technical details, can be found from HERE
A starless view
The actual nebula stands out nicely in this experimental starless version of my photo.
Technical details
Processing work flow
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Deconvolution with a CCDStack2 Positive Constraint, 33 iterations, added at 50% weight
Color combine in PS CS3
Levels and curves in PS CS3.
Imaging optics
Celestron Edge HD 1100 @ f7 with 0,7 focal reducer for Edge HD 1100 telescope
Cameras and filters
Imaging camera Apogee Alta U16 and Apogee seven slot filter wheel
Guider camera, Lodestar x2
Astrodon filter, 5nm H-alpha
Astrodon filter, 3nm O-III
Exposure times
H-alpha, 9 x 1200s = 3h
O-III, 3 x 1200s = 1h
S-II, 3x1200s = 1h
A single un cropped, calibrated and stretched 20 min. H-alpha frame
Friday, November 7, 2014
Astro Anarchy gets published
I shot my astronomical photos about five years from the rooftop of the Swedish Private School here in Oulu, Finland. Last year I had to find another location since they started to build an expansion for the school at the rooftop. I was so glad, when Anders Wentin from the school contacted me and ask, if I'm able to deliver an artwork from some of my photos to the School. Yesterday, at 6. 11. 2014, the artwork was revealed.
The photo is printed on dibond aluminium sheets and covered with a hard and glossy laminate. The size is 3600 x 1600mm (142 x 63 inch). There are three panels used for the final artwork. Seams are so thin, that's not possible to see them easily.
The Path of Swans
A large photo print in Swedish Private School, Oulu
The photo
Click for a large image, 2400 x 1100 pixels and 3,5MB
My previous large print
Artwork above is not a largest print made from my photos. Much larger one was published at spring 2014. More ifo about this gigantic, over 10 x 3 m, print can be seen in this blog post: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2014/04/astro-anarchy-get-published.html
The Cirrus of Cygnus
A very large photographic print on aluminium, 3x10m
Even in that size, the image is very sharp, since the original image is in very high resolution due to mosaic technique used. An info board for the artwork can be seen next to the door at middle right.
This photo is actually a upper part from the very large cygnus mosaic. The new print is the lower part of the mosaic. Here is the original photo of the whole area.
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
NGC 281, the Siamese fighting fish
At 31. October I shot the raw frames for the NGC 281. Yesterday I combined them as a final color photo. When the photo was ready, I didn't saw the usual "Pac Man" figure but a Siamese fighting fish!
Image in visual colors
It does look like a Siamese fighting fish!
INFO
NGC 281 is an H II region in the constellation of Cassiopeia. It includes the open cluster IC 1590 and several Bok globules (dark doo-dads at center of the Blue area). NGC 281 is also known as the Pac-Man Nebula for its resemblance to the video game character from early 80's. NGC 281 spans over 80 light years at its estimated distance of 9500 light years.
A study about the structure
All pillar like formations are pointing to a source of ionization, the open cluster NGC 281. There are some more dense areas in a gas, able to resist the radiation pressure from young star cluster. Those dense areas, at a tip of the each pillar, are also potential places for the formations of the new stars. Note. There are some very dim outer formations in this nebula, I haven't noticed them before. Like the one pillar like at the eleven o'clock position.
A starless view
An experimental starless view shows better the actual structure of the nebula.
Technical details
Processing work flow
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Deconvolution with a CCDStack2 Positive Constraint, 33 iterations, added at 50% weight
Color combine in PS CS3
Levels and curves in PS CS3.
Imaging optics
Celestron Edge HD 1100 @ f7 with 0,7 focal reducer for Edge HD 1100 telescope
Cameras and filters
Imaging camera Apogee Alta U16 and Apogee seven slot filter wheel
Guider camera, Lodestar x2
Astrodon filter, 5nm H-alpha
Astrodon filter, 3nm O-III
Exposure times
Astrodon filter, 3nm O-III
Exposure times
H-alpha, 9 x 1200s = 3h
O-III, 3 x 1200s = 1h
S-II, 3x1200s = 1h
S-II, 3x1200s = 1h
A single un cropped, calibrated and stretched 20 min. H-alpha frame
A sample image of Tonemapped channels
I'm using a special processing technique of mine for a weak signal, the Tone Mapping v2
Starless emission channels are much easier to process for color channels since I don't need to worry about bloating stars etc. In HST-palette, the idea is to have all the channels in equal weight in the final color image. To do that, tens of times more exposure time is needed for a weaker channels, usually O-III or S-II. Typically it's not possible in any reasonable time frame and weaker channels needs to be stretched very strongly. Doe to that, lots of artifacts are generated, like purple stars. With my technique a perfect color balance is easily done.
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