Friday, October 24, 2025
ICARUS, the final flight
My latest photo shows a small portion of the Veil Nebula supernova remnant in Cygnus. I have wanted to photograph this tiny, knot-like object for a long time, making it the main character of the composition. I couldn’t find any catalog number for this object — if someone knows it, please drop a comment and I’ll add it here.
After I stacked all the data and saw the full-resolution image for the first time, I had the strange feeling that I had seen this composition before. A moment later I realised what it reminded me of — an old painting of Icarus from Greek mythology.
ICARUS
Click for a large image, 1600 x 2000 pixels
This is how I saw it in my head
ICARUS, orientation in the Veil Nebula
Click for a large image, 2000 x 2500 pixels
The Veil Nebula supernova remnant in constellation Cygnus.
The area of interest is marked as a white rectangle
Click for a large image, 1600 x 2000 pixels
A mapped color image from a light emitted by an ionized elements, sulfur=red, hydrogen=green and oxygen=blue. The resolution of the photo is reduced for the web usage.
This is how I saw it in my head
ICARUS, a full scale closeup
Click for a large image, 1600 x 2000 pixels
Click for a large image, 1600 x 2000 pixels
Click for a large image, 2000 x 2500 pixels
The area of interest is marked as a white rectangle
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
Total exposure time 9h
H-alpha, 9 x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 3 h
O-III, 9x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 3h
O-III, 9x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 3h
S-II, 9x 1200 s. binned 1x1 = 3h
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Western Veil nebula, the Witch's Broom
This is my first-light image for the autumn season 2025.
I collected a total of 34 hours of exposure time over a period of about two months for this two-frame mosaic. The seeing conditions were relatively good for my location, with FWHM values ranging between 1.6 and 2.5 throughout the sessions.
Witch's Broom Nebula
Click for a large image, 3500 x 1800 pixels
A mapped color image from a light emitted by an ionized elements, sulfur=red, hydrogen=green and oxygen=blue. The resolution of the photo is reduced for the web usage.A full resolution closeup
Click for a large image, 3500 x 1800 pixels
Witch's Broom Nebula, O-III emission alone
Click for a large image, 3500 x 1800 pixels
Witch's Broom Nebula, visual palette
Click for a large image, 3500 x 1800 pixels
The emission from H-alpha and S-II are seen as red, blueish tones are from an emission of ionized oxygen, O-III. This combination is very close to a visual colors of the nebula.
Orientation
The area of interest is marked as a white rectangle
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
Total exposure time 34h
H-alpha, 72 x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 13 h
O-III, 6x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 13
O-III, 6x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 13
S-II, 6 x 1200 s. binned 1x1 = 8h
Tuesday, August 12, 2025
An artwork for the Art Museum of Oulu
While waiting to get back to imaging, I completed an artwork commissioned by the Art Museum of Oulu.
This is part of the Art Cabinet project, and I was given complete freedom to fill the cabinet with my art.
The cabinet measures 120 × 110 × 65 cm and has two doors in the front and one on the top.
My idea was to evoke a sense of infinity when the doors are opened. To achieve this, I used the blackest paint in the world—Vantablack. I have photographed galaxies over the past 30 years, and I decided to use them to create a 3D representation of infinity.
Here are a couple of pictures, but the video will best show how successful I was.
The Video
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
A Planetary Nebula Purgathofer-Weinberger 1 (PuWe1) is the Last Photo for Now
I spent total 36 hours of collecting 20 min. exposures for this cosmic smoke ring with narrowband filters, H-alpha, S-II and O-III. PuWe1 locates in constellation lynx at distance of about 1300 light years.
This is my last new photo for the imaging season 2024-25, we ran out of the astronomical darkens at May 7. Deep sky imaging is possible again after the first week of September. up here 65N.
PuWe1
Click for a large image, 2000 x 2000 pixels
A mapped color image from a light emitted by an ionized elements, sulfur=red, hydrogen=green and oxygen=blue. Original resolution 6500 x 6500 pixels
A Closeup
Click for a large image, 1600 x 1600 pixels
Image in visual colors
Click for a large image, 2000 x 2000 pixels
The emission from H-alpha and S-II are seen as red, blueish tones are from an emission of ionized oxygen, O-III. This combination is very close to a visual colors of the nebula.
A size comparison between M27 and PuWe1
Click for a large image, 2000 x 2300 pixels
Note, a size of the Full Moon is marked as a white circle as a scale.
The apparent size of the Full Moon in the sky is 30 arc minutes (0,5 degrees)
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
Total exposure time 36h
H-alpha, 72 x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 24 h
O-III, 6x 1200 s, binned 2x2 = 6h
O-III, 6x 1200 s, binned 2x2 = 6h
S-II, 6 x 1200 s. binned 2x2 = 6h
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
