Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Sharpless 261, the "Lower's Nebula"
This starts to be my final images for this season. We'll be out of an astronomical darkness in couple of weeks, up here 65N.
Difficult target just above the Orion, I have spent three night trying to collect enough photons to have a nice image. Sh2-261 doesn't rise very high up here, so I have only around three hours per night to shoot this.
I manged to collect five hours of H-a light and six hours UHCs-filtered colors. 11h total exposure time is not too much for this object.
Sharpless 261 (Sh2-261) , the Lower's Nebula
Image is in visual spectrum and dominated by the red light emitted by ionized Hydrogen, H-alpha. Blueish hues are from ionized Oxygen, O-III. Colors are shot simultaneously with H-a emission by using QHY8 color camera, Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 camera lens and Baader UHCs-filter.
INFO
SH2-261, or Lower's Nebula, is a Hydrogen Alpha emission region located in the upper area of Orion, near the Gemini constellation. Image covers about a same area as a full Moon. There is no information about the distance of this hydrogen cloud, so we are not able to determine how large it is.
The nebula is named after amateur astronomers Harold Lower and his son Charles, who discovered this nebula in 1939 from a picture taken with their homemade 8 inch, f/1 Schmidt camera.
Image in Hydrogen alpha light alone
Technical details
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Optics, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guiding, SXV-AO, an active optics unit, and Lodestar guide camera 7Hz
Image Scale, ~0,8 arc-seconds/pixel
15 x 1200s exposures for the H-alpha, emission of ionized Hydrogen = 5h
+
Color exposures with QHY8 single shot color camera
36x600s exposures with UHC-sfilter = 6h
36x600s exposures with UHC-sfilter = 6h
Friday, March 15, 2013
Rosette Nebula, a closeup, part II
I have combined the new Rosette data to an old one, from the year 2010.
New image has little different colors and much tighter stars. The natural color image, more or less red, is done by combining colors from wider field Rosette image to a closeup. Wide field image used is shot with Tokina 300mm f2.8 camera optics, UHC-s-filter and the QHY8 color camera. UHCs-filter from Baader delivers natural colors to the Nebula and stars. UHCs-data is shot simultaneously with new image of H-a emission.
Rosette Nebula & a star cluster NGC 2239
Ra 06h 33m 45s Dec +04° 59′ 54″
Image is in visual spectrum and dominated by the red light emitted by ionized Hydrogen, H-alpha. Blueish hues are from ionized Oxygen, O-III. Colors are shot simultaneously with H-a emission by using QHY8 color camera, Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 camera lens and Baader UHCs-filter.
¨
A new data alone
Image is in visual spectrum and dominated by the red light emitted by ionized Hydrogen, H-alpha. Blueish hues are from ionized Oxygen, O-III. Colors are shot simultaneously with H-a emission by using QHY8 color camera, Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 camera lens and Baader UHCs-filter.
A leaping Puma
A detail, from the image above, looks like a leaping puma!
INFO
The Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49) is a large, circular H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros. The open cluster NGC 2244(Caldwell 50) is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter. The cluster and nebula locates at a distance of about 5,200 light years from Earth. The diameter is about 130 light years.
The radiation from the young stars ionized the atoms in the nebula, causing them to emit light, typical to each element, producing the visible nebula. Stellar winds, radiation pressure, from a group of stars cause compression to the interstellar clouds, followed by star formation in the nebula. This star formation is currently still ongoing.
Rosette closeup in mapped colors
from narrowband channels
Image is in mapped colors from the emission of ionized elements, R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen and B=Oxygen.
A new data alone
Image is in mapped colors from the emission of ionized elements, R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen and B=Oxygen.
A wide field image of the Rosette Nebula
Image is in mapped colors from the emission of ionized elements, R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen and B=Oxygen.
Blog post about the image with technical data:
A study about an apparent scale
Click for a large image!
Note. A moon size circle in the images as a scale. (Moon has an apparent size of 0.5 degrees, that's equal to 30 arc minutes)
Technical details
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Optics, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guiding, SXV-AO, an active optics unit, and Lodestar guide camera 11Hz
Image Scale, ~0,8 arc-seconds/pixel
13 x 1200s exposures for the H-alpha, emission of ionized Hydrogen = 4h 20min.
+
Data from 2010
H-alpha 13x1200s, binned 1x1
Colors are taken from my older wide field image, for a mapped color composition, and new UHCs-filtered image, for a visual color composition.
emission.
UHCs-filtered image
Shot for color information
This image is used just for the color information. Only 20min. of exposures.
Tokina 300mm f2.8 camera optics, UHC-s-filter and the QHY8 color camera. UHCs-filter from Baader delivers natural colors to the Nebula and stars. UHCs-data is shot simultaneously with new image of H-a emission.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Rosette Nebula, a closeup
The weather up here 65N hasn't been very cooperative. My latest image, the Rosette Nebula, has taken during four different nights, about an hour at the time, before the clouds rolled in. Images are shot at 20.02, 25.02, 07.03 and 08.03. 2013.
I shot just H-alpha channel, other two channels, S-II and O-III are from an older wide field image of the same target.
"Rosette Nebula"
Ra 06h 33m 45s Dec +04° 59′ 54″
Image is in mapped colors from the emission of ionized elements, R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen and B=Oxygen.
INFO
The Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49) is a large, circular H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros. The open cluster NGC 2244(Caldwell 50) is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter. The cluster and nebula locates at a distance of about 5,200 light years from Earth. The diameter is about 130 light years.
The radiation from the young stars ionized the atoms in the nebula, causing them to emit light, typical to each element, producing the visible nebula. Stellar winds, radiation pressure, from a group of stars cause compression to the interstellar clouds, followed by star formation in the nebula. This star formation is currently still ongoing.
Natural colors
from narrowband channels
Image is in visual spectrum and dominated by the red light emitted by ionized Hydrogen, H-alpha. Blueish hues are from ionized Oxygen, O-III.
A wide field image
A wide field image of the Rosette Nebula in visual colors, taken with the Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 camera lens and the cooled astronomical camera, QHY9.
Blog post about the image with technical data:
A study about an apparent scale
Click for a large image!
Note. A moon size circle in the images as a scale. (Moon has an apparent size of 0.5 degrees, that's equal to 30 arc minutes)
Technical details
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Optics, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guiding, SXV-AO, an active optics unit, and Lodestar guide camera 11Hz
Image Scale, ~0,8 arc-seconds/pixel
13 x 1200s exposures for the H-alpha, emission of ionized Hydrogen = 4h 20min.
Colors are taken from my older wide field image
A single unprocessed 1200 second frame of H-a emission
A single 20 min. frame, just calibrated and nonlinear stretched to visible.
Imaged with the QHY9 camera, Baader 7nm H-alpha filter and Meade LX200 12" telescope.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
The Veil Nebula, an experimental 3D-study
This is an experimental test with a 3D-conversion of my astronomical images. Only real elements from my image are used, there is nothing added but the volumetric information!
(In this image, some of the stars are enhanced for a visual reasons)
NOTE. This is a personal vision about shapes and volumes, based on some scientific data and an artistic impression.
Veil Nebula supernova remnant as a 3D-model
In constellation Cygnus, animation in natural colors
This is a looped video, click to start and stop. Original movie is in HD1080p resolution.
An other version of the animated Veil
Animation in mapped colors
This is a looped video, click to start and stop. Original movie is in HD1080p resolution.
My original image of the Veil Nebula is used for the animations
Click for the large image
Blog post about this image with technical details:
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/03/veil-nebula-reprocessed-with-some-new.html
An animated GIF
Click for a large image
Blog post about the animated GIF can be seen here:
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/10/an-experiental-3d-animation-from-my.html
My original image of the Veil Nebula is used for the animations
Click for the large image
As can be seen here, the compression in YouTube has lost some details from above videos, they are all in original, less compressed, video.
Blog post about this image with technical details:
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/03/veil-nebula-reprocessed-with-some-new.html
An animated GIF
Blog post about the animated GIF can be seen here:
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/10/an-experiental-3d-animation-from-my.html
HOW IT'S DONE
For as long as I have captured images of celestial objects, I have always seen
them three-dimensionally in my head. Over time I realized that we actually have
enough scientific information to build a coarse skeleton model of the nebula itself.
The scientific information makes my visions much more accurate, and the 3-D technique I have developed enables me to share those beautiful visions with others.
How accurate my 3-D-visions are depends on how much accurate information I have and how well I implement it. Also, many different estimates are
needed for the 3-D model. The final 3-D-image is always an appraised simulation
of reality based on known scientific facts, deduction, and some artistic creativity
on top of everything else
After I have collected all the necessary scientific information about my target,
I start my 3-D conversion using the stars in the image. Usually there is a recognizable star cluster which is responsible for ionizing the nebula. We don’t need to
know its absolute location since we know its relative location. Stars ionizing the
nebula have to be very close to the nebula structure itself. I usually divide up the
rest of the stars by their apparent brightness, which can then be used as an indicator of their distances, brighter being closer. If true star distances are available
I use them, but most of the time my rule of thumb is sufficient.
By using a scientific estimate of the distance of the Milky Way object, I can
then locate the correct number of stars in front of it and behind it.
Emission nebulae are not lit up directly by starlight; they are usually way too
large for that. Rather, stellar radiation ionizes elements within the gas cloud. So it
is the nebula itself that is glowing, at the characteristic wavelengths of each ionized element. (The principle is very much the same as in fluorescent tubes.) I use
this information for my 3-D model. The thickness of the nebula can be estimated
from its brightness, since the whole volume of gas is glowing, brighter means
thicker. By this means, forms of the nebula can be turned to a real 3-D shape.
Nebulae are also more or less transparent, so we can see both sides of it at the
same time, and this makes model-making a little easier since not much is hidden.
The local stellar wind, from the star cluster inside the nebula, shapes the
nebula by blowing away the gas around the star cluster. The stellar wind usually
forms a kind of cavity in the nebulosity. The same stellar wind also initiates the
further collapse of the gas cloud and the birth of the second generation of stars
in the nebula. The collapsing gas can resist the stellar wind and produces pillarlike formations which must point to a cluster.
Ionized oxygen (O-III) glows with a bluish light, and since oxygen needs a lot
of energy to ionize it, this can only be achieved relatively close to the star cluster
in the nebula. I use this information to position the O-III area (the bluish glow) at
the correct distance relative to the heart of the nebula.
Many other small indicators can be found by carefully studying the image
itself. For example, if there is a dark nebula in the image, it must be located in
front of the emission nebula, otherwise we can’t see it.
Using the known data in this way I build a kind of skeleton model of the
nebula. Then the artistic part is mixed with the scientific and logical elements,
and after that the rest is very much like creating a sculpture on a cosmic scale
Saturday, February 23, 2013
3D-study of the Bubble Nebula
This is an experimental test with a 3D-conversion of my astronomical images. Only real elements from my image are used, there is nothing added but the volumetric information!
(In this image, some of the stars are enhanced for a visual reasons)
NOTE. This is a personal vision about shapes and volumes, based on some scientific data and an artistic impression.
The Bubble Nebula as a 3D-model
This is a looped video, click to start and stop. Original movie is in HD1080p resolution.
Original 2D-image used for the animation
A different Bubble Nebula animation in visual colors
This is a looped video, click to start and stop. Original movie is in HD1080p resolution.
Original 2D-image used for the animation
A blog post with technical details can be seen here:
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2011/03/bubble-nebula-reprocessed.html
Info about the technique used
Due to huge distances, real parallax can't be imaged in most of the astronomical objects.
I have developed an experimental technique to convert my astropics to a artificial volumetric models.
My 3-D experiments are a mixture of science and an artistic impression. I collect distance and other information before I do my 3-D conversion. Usually there are known stars, coursing the ionization, so I can place them at right relative distance. If I know a distance to the nebula, I can fine tune distances of the stars so, that right amount of stars are front and behind of the object.
I use a “rule of thumb” method for stars: brighter is closer, but if a real distance is known, I'm using that. Many 3-D shapes can be figured out just by looking carefully the structures in nebula, such as dark nebulae must be at front of the emission nebulae in order to show up etc...
The general structure of many star forming regions is very same, there is a group of young stars, as an open cluster inside of the nebula. The stellar wind from the stars is then blowing the gas away around the cluster and forming a kind of cavitation – or a hole — around it. The pillar-like formations in the nebula must point to a source of stellar wind, for the same reason.
How accurate the final model is, depends how much I have known and guessed right. The motivation to make those 3-D-studies is just to show, that objects in the images are not like paintings on the canvas but really three dimensional objects floating in the three dimensional space. This generally adds a new dimension to my hobby as an astronomical imager.
A screen shot of the 3D-model
Friday, February 22, 2013
Astro Anarchy gets published
Past couple of days my 3D-studies have had some public interest.
Magazine
Read the story here:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/02/nebulas-in-3-d/
Read the story here:
Read the story here:
Thursday, February 21, 2013
A new image, NGC 2174, the Monkey Head Nebula
Image from last Tuesday, 19.02. I managed to use a crack in almost unbreakable cloud cover.
Result, ~4h exposures for the ionized Hydrogen of NGC 2174, the Monkey Head Nebula.
While shooting with my old Meade 12", I shot colors simultaneously with the QHY8 astrocamera, Baader UHCs-filter and the Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 camera lens.
NGC 2174, the Monkey Head Nebula
In the constellation Orion
Image is in visual spectrum and dominated by the red light emitted by ionized Hydrogen, H-alpha. Blueish hues are from ionized Oxygen, O-III. Colors are shot simultaneously with H-a emission by using QHY8 color camera, Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 camera lens and Baader UHCs-filter.
Buy a photographic print from HERE
A closeup
Buy a photographic print from HERE
INFO
Image in mapped colors
Image is in mapped colors from the emission of ionized elements, R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen and B=Oxygen.
Star colors are shot with a QHY8 color camera, Tokina 300mm f2.8 optics and the Baader UHCs filter.
The open cluster IC 1590 can be seen at middle of the image.
Colors in the nebula are taken from this older image of mine:
Buy a photographic print from HERE
A study about the apparent scale in the sky
Note. A Moon size circle as a scale, click for a large image
More info about this scale study in blog post here:
Technical details:
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Optics, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guiding, SXV-AO, an active optics unit, and Lodestar guide camera 8Hz
Image Scale, ~0,8 arc-seconds/pixel
12 x 1200s exposures for the H-alpha, emission of ionized Hydrogen = 4h
Optics and exposures used for colors
Tokina AT-X 300mm at f2.8
QHY8, a cooled single shot color camera
Baader UHC-s filter
Baader IR-cut filter
22x600s = 3,6h
Color channels for a mapped-palette image, O-III and S-II, are from an older image of mine.
A single unprocessed 1200 second frame of H-a emission
A single 20 min. frame, just calibrated and nonliterary stretched to visible.
Imaged with the QHY9 camera, Baader 7nm H-alpha filter and Meade LX200 12" telescope.
And yes, it really does look like a head of a monkey!
Monday, February 18, 2013
3D-study of NGC 6543, the Cat's eye Nebula
This is an experimental test with a 3D-conversion of my astronomical images. Only real elements from my image are used, there is nothing added but the volumetric information!
(In this image, some of the stars are enhanced for a visual reasons)
NOTE. This is a personal vision about shapes and volumes, based on some scientific data and an artistic impression.
Cat's Eye Nebula, NGC6543, as a 3D-model
This is a looped video, click to start and stop. Original movie is in HD1080p resolution.
Original 2D-image used for the animation
Original 2D-image used for the animation
A blog post with technical details can be seen here:
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2011/01/cats-eye-nebula-reprocessed.html
Info about the technique used
Due to huge distances, real parallax can't be imaged in most of the astronomical objects.
I have developed an experimental technique to convert my astropics to a artificial volumetric models.
My 3-D experiments are a mixture of science and an artistic impression. I collect distance and other information before I do my 3-D conversion. Usually there are known stars, coursing the ionization, so I can place them at right relative distance. If I know a distance to the nebula, I can fine tune distances of the stars so, that right amount of stars are front and behind of the object.
I use a “rule of thumb” method for stars: brighter is closer, but if a real distance is known, I'm using that. Many 3-D shapes can be figured out just by looking carefully the structures in nebula, such as dark nebulae must be at front of the emission nebulae in order to show up etc...
The general structure of many star forming regions is very same, there is a group of young stars, as an open cluster inside of the nebula. The stellar wind from the stars is then blowing the gas away around the cluster and forming a kind of cavitation – or a hole — around it. The pillar-like formations in the nebula must point to a source of stellar wind, for the same reason.
How accurate the final model is, depends how much I have known and guessed right. The motivation to make those 3-D-studies is just to show, that objects in the images are not like paintings on the canvas but really three dimensional objects floating in the three dimensional space. This generally adds a new dimension to my hobby as an astronomical imager. (Pun intended)
Thursday, February 14, 2013
A new panorama from my IC 1805 material
Since I have shot several overlapping, longer focal length, images out of the IC 1805, the Heart Nebula, I'm able to stitch them together as a mosaic images.
A two frame panoramic mosaic of IC 1805 details
There are two images combined in this mosaic.
At left an unnamed trunk like formation, the original image with details can be seen here:
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2012/12/a-detail-from-heart-nebula.html
At right, a closeup image of an unnamed triangular shape, the original image with details can be seen here:
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2013/02/black-lace-detail-of-ic-1805-heart.html
The mosaic in natural colors
A 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.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
IC 443, supernova remnant as a closeup
I have shot several times this supernova remnant in Gemini. In this image, there are three different exposure sets combined, first from the year 2010 and two others from this season. Total exposure time is now around 20h. Latest images for this target are shot at 11.02 this week, 3h of H-alpha emission.
A Gemini SNR, IC 443, the "Jellyfish Nebula"
Ra 06h 17m 13s Dec +22° 31′ 05′′
Image is in HST-palette, from the emission of ionized elements, R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen and B=Oxygen.
INFO
IC 443 (also known as the Jellyfish Nebula and Sharpless 248 (Sh2-248)) is a Galactic supernova remnant (SNR) in the constellation Gemini. It locates visually near the star Eta Geminorum at distance of about 5000 light years.
IC 443 may be the remains of a supernova that occurred 3,000 - 30,000 years ago. The same supernova event likely created the neutron star CXOU J061705.3+222127, the collapsed remnant of the stellar core. IC 443 is one of the best-studied cases of supernova remnants interacting with surrounding molecular clouds
Source Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_443
IC 443 in visual colors
A 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.
Older wide field images of the same target
Click for large images
A wide field image from Spring season 2012, Image info in the blog post here:
Two panel mosaic
A two panel mosaic, info in the original blogpost here:
A study about the apparent scale in the sky
Click for a large image
Note. A Moon size circle as a scale.
Technical details
Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Optics, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9
Guiding, SXV-AO, an active optics unit, and Lodestar guide camera 8Hz
Image Scale, ~0,8 arc-seconds/pixel
Exposures for the H-alpha, emission of ionized Hydrogen = 20h
Narrowband cahnnels for ionized Oxygen and Sulfur are taken from an older wide field image.
A single unprocessed 1200 second frame of H-a emission
A single 20 min. frame, just calibrated and stretched. Imaged with the QHY9 camera, Baader 7nm H-alpha filter and Meade LX200 12" telescope.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
A two frame mosaic of IC 1805
This is a two frame mosaic of IC 1805, the Heart Nebula. Image shows a detail, from much large nebula complex, in natural colors. Colors are combined to a visual spectrum from emissions of ionized elements.
A detail of IC 1805 emission nebula
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.
This image in a HST-palette and technical details can be found from my previous post
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/2013/02/black-lace-detail-of-ic-1805-heart.html
A study about the apparent scale in the sky
Moon size circle as a scale
Note. a Moon size circle in images as a scale.
The apparent size of the full Moon is ~30 arc minutes, that's equal to ~0.5 degrees.
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