Friday, March 11, 2011
Sh2-157 reprocessed
Since my processing technique gets better and weather doesn't give any support, I have reprocessed some older images. There is now star colors added and other processing is tweaked too.
Sharpless 157 in Cassiopeia
Ra 23h 16m 04s Dec +60° 02′ 06″
Image is in HST-palette, (HST=Hubble Space Telescope) from the emission of ionized elements, R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen & B=Oxygen.Star colors are mixed from the NB channels, Red=H-a, G=O-III & B= 85%O-III + 15%H-a.
Sharpless object 157 locates at middle of the image field, it looks like a giant termite head to me. At Ten a clock position are two objects, closer to the center lays the "Bubble Nebula" and little bit further an open cluster M52. The bright emission nebula, just left from the upper center, is NGC 7538. There are several open clusters in the image area, including NGC 7510, King 19, Mrk 50.
Distance from Earth is about 8100 light years and the central emission area, Sh2-157, has an angular dimension about 60x60 arc minutes. (Full Moon is about 30 arc minutes wide.) The shape of the nebula is coursed by a stellar wind, a radiation pressure, from several massive young stars.
Note. The size of the full Moon is marked, as a gray circle, for a scale.
(The apparent size of the full Moon is about 30', that's 0,5 degrees)
Natural color composition from the emission of ionized elements, R=80%Hydrogen+20%Sulfur, G=100%Oxygen and B=85%Oxygen+15%Hydrogen to compensate otherwise missing H-beta emission. Star colors are mixed from the NB channels, Red=H-a, G=O-III and B= 85%O-III + 15%H-a.This composition is very close to a visual spectrum.
Image is shot with a QHY8, Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 lens and Baader narrowband filter set, H-a, S-II & O-III
Original versions from November 2008, with technical details:
A closeup of the "Bubble Nebula"
(A Bright pearl at Ten a clock position in the wide field image above)
More images and technical details of the "Bubble Nebula":
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The "Bubble Nebula" reprocessed
Since my processing technique gets better and weather doesn't give any support, I have reprocessed some older images. There is now star colors added and other processing is tweaked too.
Sharpless 162, NGC 7635, the "Bubble Nebula"
Ra 23h 20m 48s Dec +61° 12′ 06″
A closeup
NGC 7635 aka "Bubble Nebula, Sh2-162 or Caldwell11, is a Hydrogen emission nebula in constellation Cassiopeia. It locates near the open cluster M 52 at distance of about 11.000 light years from the Earth.
The bubble structure is created by a strong stellar wind, a radiation pressure, from massive hot magnitude 8,7 central star, SAO 20575, it can be seen in an image inside of the bubble, off centered at Right.
Bubble is an expanding shock front inside a giant molecular cloud and it has a diameter more than Six light years. The spherical formation is expanding at speed of 6500.000 km/h, due the huge scale and distance we can't see the movement easily. In a century, the bubble in this image will be only about one pixel wider, than now! ( ~1 arc second)
Strong UV-radiation from a central star ionized elements in a gas and makes them glow at typical wavelength to each element. (Hydrogen glows Red light as Sulfur, Oxygen emits Green/Blue light at visible wavelengths)
If you are interested about color schemes used in my images, I wrote a small study about them, please, have a look here: http://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2009/11/colors-in-astro-images.html
Image is in HST-palette, (HST=Hubble Space Telescope) from the emission of ionized elements, R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen & B=Oxygen.Star colors are mixed from the NB channels, Red=H-a, G=O-III & B= 85%O-III + 15%H-a.
A full, none cropped, image area
Image is shot with a QHY9 and the Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5, pixel scale 0.65pixels/arc second.
Original versions from October 2009, with technical details:
Due the small angular scale of bubble itself, about 5,4' x 4,9', (0,09 x 0,08 degrees) this Nebula is hard to capture with details. In this image, the size of the full Moon is marked as a gray circle for a scale. (Moon has an angular size of the 30', that's a 0,5 degrees)
NOTE! The Wikipedia states, that angular size of the Bubble Nebula is 15' x 8'. There must be outer formations included, not just the bubble.
A wider field image of the region, Bubble can be seen at ten a clock position as a bright "pearl".
Gray circle shows the size of the full Moon.
NOTE! The Wikipedia states, that angular size of the Bubble Nebula is 15' x 8'. There must be outer formations included, not just the bubble.
A wider field image of the region, Bubble can be seen at ten a clock position as a bright "pearl".
Some 3D-studies out of this 2D-image.
Parallel vision Stereo Pair 3D:
Cross vision Stereo Pair 3D:
An anaglyph Red/Cyan 3D:
Still motion animations of the Buble Nebula
Zoom in:
Zoom out:
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Start of the two new projects, Barnard 30 & PuWe1 PN
Barnard 30, a dark nebula in Sh2-264, in Orion
Ra 05h 31m 42s Dec +12° 12′ 39"
A gray scale image of H-alpha emission. I'll shoot more H-a and rest of the emission lines,
needed for a color image, later.
Barnard 30 is a dark nebula at Orion's head, due the proximity of eye catchers of Orion Nebula and low surface brightness, this target is rarely imaged.
B30 is part of the very large Sharpless object in Orion's head, Sh2-264. This large nebula spans 8 degrees of sky, that's 16 full Moons side by side, whole upper part of this image is covered with Sh2-264. Above image is about three degrees wide.
B30 lies about 1300 light years from Earth, above the triangular group of stars marking the head of constellation Orion.
Latest data from a Spitzer Space Telescope indicates, that this area is a star-birth region with many low mass stars and brown dwarfs.
This image will need much more exposures, at the moment it's too dim and noisy. It'll take some time, since nights are getting shorter and I can shoot this one only two hours, before it's too low.
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Equipments:
Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 @ f2.8
Platform and guiding, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guider, Lodestar
Image Scale, 3,79 arc seconds/pixel
Exposures:
Baader H-alpha 7nm 8x1200s, binned 1x1
PuWe1, a Planetary Nebula in Lynx
Ra 06h 19m 34s Dec +55° 36′ 42"
A gray scale image of H-alpha emission. I'll shoot more H-a and rest of the emission lines,
needed for a color image, later.
Note.
I don't usually publish an image so unfinished but this time I'll like to show a new finding, least it's new to me.
I have never seen an outer halo at any image of PuWe1, there is not too many of them though.
It seems to span about 100 arc minutes, the actual circular body of nebula is about 20 arc minutes wide.
It looks like, that there is a dim brightening at right hand side of the outer halo.
I'll shoot much more lights for this later, then I can confirm, if the halo seen here is 100% real.
PuWe1, (Purgathofer-Weinberger 1, PNG 158.9 + 17.8, PK 158+17.1) is a large circular Planetary Nebula in the constellation of Lynx. It has an apparent diameter of 20' (Outer halo seems to be about 100' wide, if it's rely there) Nebula is very very faint and will need many hours more exposures for better contrast and colors.
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Equipments:
Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 @ f2.8
Platform and guiding, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guider, Lodestar
Image Scale, 3,79 arc seconds/pixel
Exposures so far:
Baader H-alpha 7nm 9x1200s, binned 1x1
More to come...
Sunday, February 27, 2011
LDN 1622 as a Stereo Pair 3D
Parallel vision 3D
Cross vision 3D
NOTE! This is a personal vision about forms and shapes, based on some known facts and an artistic impression.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
LDN1622, "Boogie Man Nebula", finalized
LDN 1622, a dark nebula in Orion
Ra 05h 55m 11s Dec +02° 00′ 00"
Natural color composition from the emission of ionized elements, R=80%Hydrogen+20%Sulfur, G=100%Oxygen and B=85%Oxygen+15%Hydrogen to compensate otherwise missing H-beta emission. This composition is very close to a visual spectrum.
At the same night, February 25 ,I shot rest of the lights for Sh2-216 at previous post, I was able to finalize O-III and S-II channels for LDN 1622.
Since this object stays low at here 65N, there is way too little data for a great image. I leave this as it is due the weather. While shooting data, the transparency was bad and that ate out signal very badly. Due that, no HST-palette version this time.
LDN 1622, "Boogie Man Nebula", in Orion is a silhouette of dark nebula at lower half of the image. At background, there is part of the "Parnad's Loop", a large cloud of hydrogen surrounding the nebula complex at Belt and Sword of Orion. LDN 1622 is much closer, than a more famous Orion nebulae, about 500 light years.
This target is very difficult to shoot, since it doesn't rise high, up here 65N. Maximum elevation is only about 27 degrees, at the end of the imaging session, the elevation is only 14 degrees above horizon. I actually had to stop imaging for a while, to avoid a chimney at top of the opposite building. Transparency was poor at the time the data was collected.
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Equipments:
Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 @ f2.8
Platform and guiding, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guider, Lodestar
Image Scale, 3,79 arc seconds/pixel
Exposures:
Baader H-alpha 7nm 12x1200s, binned 1x1
Baader O-III 8,5nm 6x600s, binned 2x2
Baader S-II 8nm 5x600s, binned 2x2
Friday, February 25, 2011
Sh2-216, project finalized
Sh2-216, A planetary Nebula in Perseus, the closest PN to Earth ever discovered
Ra 04h 45m 35s Dec +46° 48′ 30"
Image is in HST-palette, (HST=Hubble Space Telescope) from the emission of ionized elements, R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen and B=Oxygen. Star colors are mixed from the NB channels, Red=H-a, G=O-III and B= 85%O-III + 15%H-a. Total exposure time 17h
In this image, three emission lines are shown. Ionized Hydrohen (H-a) as Green, ionized Sulfur (S-II) as Red and ionized Oxygen (O-III) as Blue.
S-II region seems to be more expanded than H-a region, O-II is mainly in upper part of the PN but there is some at Right, at between the hydrogen filaments. H-a seems to be little more expanded at the Left side of the nebula, much more dimmer, than a Right side though.
This must be one of the dimmest targets I ever have shot!
I never have seen this target as a three band emission color image before, as far as I know, this must be the first! Generally there is very few images of this to compare, please, let me know, if you have seen this before as a narrowband three color image.
( Actually I have shot this one before, together with a SNR Sh2-221 back in March 2009)
( Actually I have shot this one before, together with a SNR Sh2-221 back in March 2009)
Note! There is a size of the full Moon marked, as a Gray circle, at a upper Right corner
Natural color composition from the emission of ionized elements, R=80%Hydrogen+20%Sulfur, G=100%Oxygen and B=85%Oxygen+15%Hydrogen to compensate otherwise missing H-beta emission. This composition is very close to a visual spectrum.
All three channels, Ha, S-II & O-III, as an animation
All three channels, Ha, S-II & O-III, as an animation
As astronomical cameras are usually gray scale CCD's, colors are made by imaging each of them separately, trough a filter. Color channels, usually three of them, are then composed to a final color image.
In this animation, used channels are shown one by one.
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Equipments:
Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 @ f2.8
Platform and guiding, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guider, Lodestar
Image Scale, 3,79 arc seconds/pixel
Exposures:
Baader H-alpha 7nm 30x1200s, binned 1x1
Baader O-III 8,5nm 17x600s, binned 2x2
Baader S-II 8nm 25x600s, binned 2x2
Total exposure time 17h
I have shot this target before, March 2009, with even wider field.
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2011/01/two-ways-to-end-life-planetary-nebula.html
At this image Sh2-216 can be seen with its neighbor, Sh2-221, a Supernova remnant. .
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2011/01/two-ways-to-end-life-planetary-nebula.html
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Start of the new projects, Sh2-216 & LDN 1622
This time I'll work with two objects, since LDN 1622 is very low up here, 65 North. I can shoot about two and half hours, before it's too low. My second target for rest of the night is Sharpless 216, an extremely faint planetary nebula. Both projects have been started at 20.02.
LDN 1622, a dark nebula in Orion
Ra 05h 55m 11s Dec +02° 00′ 00"
LDN 1622, "Boogie Man Nebula", in Orion is a silhouette of dark nebula at lower half of the image. At background, there is part of the "Parnad's Loop", a large cloud of hydrogen surrounding the nebula complex at Belt and Sword of Orion. LDN 1622 is much closer, than a more famous Orion nebulae, about 500 light years.
This target is very difficult to shoot, since it doesn't rise high, up here 65N. Maximum elevation is only about 27 degrees, at the end of the imaging session, the elevation is only 14 degrees above horizon. I actually had to stop imaging for a while, to avoid a chimney at top of the opposite building.
This target is very difficult to shoot, since it doesn't rise high, up here 65N. Maximum elevation is only about 27 degrees, at the end of the imaging session, the elevation is only 14 degrees above horizon. I actually had to stop imaging for a while, to avoid a chimney at top of the opposite building.
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Equipments:
Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 @ f2.8
Platform and guiding, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guider, Lodestar
Image Scale, 3,79 arc seconds/pixel
Exposures:
Baader H-alpha 7nm 12x1200s, binned 1x1
Sh2-216, A planetary Nebula in Perseus
Ra 04h 45m 35s Dec +46° 48′ 30"
A gray scale image of H-alpha emission. I'll shoot rest of the emission lines, needed for a color image, later.
Sharpless 216 (aka Simeis 288, Marsalkova 44, LBN 742, GN 04.41.3) is a closest known planetary nebula and also one of the oldest known. Due the old age, it's very diffused, dim and large, apparent diameter is about 1,6 degrees. This must be one of the dimmest targets I ever have shot!
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Equipments:
Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 @ f2.8
Platform and guiding, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guider, Lodestar
Image Scale, 3,79 arc seconds/pixel
Exposures:
Baader H-alpha 7nm 30x1200s, binned 1x1 (10h)
Monday, February 21, 2011
Sh2-132 as a Stereo Pair 3D
Parallel vision 3D
Cross vision 3D
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2011/02/sh2-132-project-finalized.html
NOTE! This is a personal vision about forms and shapes, based on some known facts and an artistic impression.
NOTE! This is a personal vision about forms and shapes, based on some known facts and an artistic impression.
HOW?
I have been asked many times, how my 3D-images are done, so here it goes!
All the original 2D-images are imaged by me, if not otherwise noted.
Due the huge distances, no real parallax can be imaged to form a volumetric information.
I have developed a method to turn any 2D-astronomical image to a various 3D-formats. The result is always an approximation of the reality, based on some known facts and an artistic impression.
What are the known facts?
By using a scientifically estimated distance of the object, I can organize right amount of stars front and behind the object. (as then we know the absolute position of an object at our Milky-way)
Stars are divided to groups by apparent brightness, that can be used as a draft distance indicator, brighter the closer. There usually is a known star cluster or a star(s) coursing the ionization and they can be placed in right relative position to the nebula itself .
Generally emission nebulae are not lit by the starlight directly but radiation from stars ionizing gases in the nebula. Hence the nebula itself is emitting its own light, typical to each element. Due that, the thickness of the nebula can be estimated by its brightness, thicker = brighter.
Many other relative distances can be figured out just carefully studying the image, like dark nebulae must be front of bright ones. The local stellar wind, radiation pressure, from the star cluster, shapes the nebula, For that reson, pillar like formations must point to a cluster. Same radiation pressure usually forms kind of cavitation, at the nebulosa, around the star cluster, by blowing away all the gas around the source of stellar wind. That and many other small indicators can be found by carefully studying the image itself.
The artistic part is then mixed to a scientific part, rest is very much like a sculpting.
WHY?
All the original 2D-images are imaged by me, if not otherwise noted.
Due the huge distances, no real parallax can be imaged to form a volumetric information.
I have developed a method to turn any 2D-astronomical image to a various 3D-formats. The result is always an approximation of the reality, based on some known facts and an artistic impression.
What are the known facts?
By using a scientifically estimated distance of the object, I can organize right amount of stars front and behind the object. (as then we know the absolute position of an object at our Milky-way)
Stars are divided to groups by apparent brightness, that can be used as a draft distance indicator, brighter the closer. There usually is a known star cluster or a star(s) coursing the ionization and they can be placed in right relative position to the nebula itself .
Generally emission nebulae are not lit by the starlight directly but radiation from stars ionizing gases in the nebula. Hence the nebula itself is emitting its own light, typical to each element. Due that, the thickness of the nebula can be estimated by its brightness, thicker = brighter.
Many other relative distances can be figured out just carefully studying the image, like dark nebulae must be front of bright ones. The local stellar wind, radiation pressure, from the star cluster, shapes the nebula, For that reson, pillar like formations must point to a cluster. Same radiation pressure usually forms kind of cavitation, at the nebulosa, around the star cluster, by blowing away all the gas around the source of stellar wind. That and many other small indicators can be found by carefully studying the image itself.
The artistic part is then mixed to a scientific part, rest is very much like a sculpting.
WHY?
Many times images of nebulae looks like paintings on the canvas. I like to show a real nature of those distant objects as a three dimensional shapes floating in a three dimensional volume. This is a great way to show, how I personally see astronomical targets as a 3D-forms.
3D-experiments seems to increase a public interest to a subject, as you might have noticed.
I have studied my astronomical images much deeper, than ever without 3D-modeling.
3D-studies has really added a new dimension to my hobby as an astronomical photographer. (pun intended)
Sh2-132 as an anaglyph Red/Cyan 3D
You'll need Red/Cyan Eyeglasses to be able to see this image right.
Note, if you have a Red and Blue filters, you can use them! Red goes to Left eye.
Other 3D-formats:
Original 2D:
NOTE! This is a personal vision about forms and shapes, based on some known facts and an artistic impression.
IC 1848, the "Soul Nebula", as a Stereo Pair 3D
Parallel vision 3D
Cross vision 3D
Other 3D-formats:
Original 2D:
NOTE! This is a personal vision about forms and shapes, based on some known facts and an artistic impression.
IC 1848, the "Soul Nebula", as an anaglyph Red/Cyan 3D
You'll need Red/Cyan Eyeglasses to be able to see this image right.
Note, if you have a Red and Blue filters, you can use them! Red goes to Left eye.
Other 3D-formats:
Original 2D:
NOTE! This is a personal vision about forms and shapes, based on some known facts and an artistic impression.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Sh2-132, project finalized
Sh2-132, an emission nebula in Cepheus
Ra 22h 19m 20s Dec +56° 06′ 00"
Image is in HST-palette, (HST=Hubble Space Telescope) from the emission of ionized elements, R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen and B=Oxygen. Star colors are mixed from the NB channels, Red=H-a, G=O-III and B= 85%O-III + 15%H-a.
Sharpless 132 is a very faint emission nebula, it locates at the border of Cepheus and Lacerta. Distance is about 10.000 light years. This image covers about 210' x 160', that's about 3,5 x 2,7 degrees. Resolution is 3,79 arc seconds/pixel.
In this final version, a strong O-III area is visible as a Blue color in both color palettes. There is some S-II in the area too but it's weak.
Natural color composition from the emission of ionized elements, R=80%Hydrogen+20%Sulfur, G=100%Oxygen and B=85%Oxygen+15%Hydrogen to compensate otherwise missing H-beta emission. This composition is very close to a visual spectrum.
With this image, I had my QHY9 and the Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 lens perfectly perpendicular to each others. Due that, the image is very sharp, there is no sharpening or star reduction methods used.
At f2.8, everything hast to be perfect, collimation, focus and orthogonality. The critical focus zone is only about 14 microns at this optical speed. If it's missed at all, the sharpness of the image collapse. At perfect focus, light ends up in a pixel, if focus is missed, even lightly, light will fall to all nine pixels, not just one!
The temperature compensating focuser, TCF-s, works as a heart of my DIY lens focusing system. It keeps focus perfect at all night when ambient temp. drops, typically 15 or more degrees up here. (Half a degree drop is enough to destroy the focus.) You can see my focusing device here:
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2008/09/new-equipmets-and-some-development-work.html
A closeup
Note! no sharpening or any star reduction methods used
An experimental starless version as an animation
The purpose, of this animated image, is to show the actual nebula complex under the dense star field .
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Equipments:
Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 @ f2.8
Platform and guiding, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guider, Lodestar
Image Scale, 3,79 arc seconds/pixel
Exposures:
Baader H-alpha 7nm 12x1200s, binned 1x1
Baader O-III 8,5nm 12x600s, binned 2x2
Baader S-II 8nm 10x600s, binned 2x2
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