Image Description:

On a rocky summit of an icy planet sits a remote research outpost. This frozen world orbits a inconspicuous star in a minor arm of a giant barred spiral galaxy.

Named after a mythical creature of an ancient culture that once dominated the planet, this scientific outpost is called the Sphinx. The Spinx is mythicized to have mercilessly killed those who couldn't answer her riddle.

The Sphinx station has a prime view on one of the galaxies major star forming regions, named after another mythological figure, a giant hunter. Not all scientific riddles within the hunter are solved yet, but fortunately the Sphinx hasn't killed any scientists so far.

The thin atmosphere of the planet at this high altitude location contains enough water to form clouds, which shroud the observatory in freezing fog about 40% of the time. If the clouds part, the hunter's giant molecular clouds of ionized hydrogen are lighting up the sky.

I had the opportunity to visit the Sphinx outpost with benjaminbarakat in September for a night of astrophotography. After a sternous night, we were happy that both the planet and the mythical creatures had shown mercy. The hunter had made its appearance and we escaped this stunning place without getting killed by lack of oxygen, the cold or the wrath of the Sphinx.

EXIF
Canon EOS EOS Ra
Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L ll @ 50mm
iOptron SkyTracker Pro
Sky:
4 panel panorama, each a stack of 7 x 60s @ ISO1600
Foreground:
Panorama of 4x 2s @ ISO400 during blue hour

Copyright: Ralf Rohner

2 panel mosaic crop

C 8 Hyperstar

C 14 Hyperstar

Starlight Xpress M25 C

Starlight Xpress 694 C

QHY 247 C

Baader L Booster Filter

Copyright: JP Pecorino

HorseHead Nebula

38 X 480 seconds

C 8 Hyperstar

SX M 25C

Baader L Booster filter

Copyright: JP Pecorino

The Horsehead is one of the most famous nebulae on the sky. The horse-head feature is dark because it is really an opaque dust cloud that lies in front of the bright emission nebula. Like clouds in Earth's atmosphere, this cosmic cloud has assumed a recognizable shape by chance. After many thousands of years, the internal motions of the cloud will surely alter its appearance. The emission nebula's color is caused by electrons recombining with protons to form hydrogen atoms. On the image left is the Flame Nebula that also contains filaments of dark dust. Just to the lower left of the Horsehead nebula is a blueish reflection nebulae that preferentially reflects the blue light from nearby stars.

Tech card:

Imaging telescope: Explore Scientific 127mm ED TRIPLET APO.

Imaging camera: ZWO ASI294MM-Pro.

Mounts: iOptron CEM60.

Guiding camera: ZWO ASI290MM mini.

Focal reducer: Explore Scientific 0.7 Reducer/Flattener.

Accessory: ZWO OAG · ZWO ASIAIR Pro · ZWO 8x 1.25" Filter Wheel (EFW).

Frames:

Chroma 3nm Ha: 12x600" (2h) (gain: 200.00) -20C bin 1x1.

Chroma 3nm OIII: 15x600" (2h 30') (gain: 200.00) -20C bin 1x1.

Chroma 3nm SII: 8x600" (1h 20') (gain: 200.00) -20C bin 1x1.

Total integration: 5h 50'

Darks: ~50.

Flats: ~30.

Flat darks: ~30.

Avg. Moon age: 19.61 days.

Avg. Moon phase: 75.53%

Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 4.00.

RA center: 5h 41' 15"

DEC center: -2° 16' 1"

Pixel scale: 0.706 arcsec/pixel.

Orientation: -93.427 degrees.

Field radius: 0.983 degrees.

Imaging dates: Jan. 3 and 4, 2021.

Imaging location: Abu Dhabi desert, UAE.

Copyright: Wissam Ayoub

Image Description and Details :

RECORDING DATA:Object: IC 434Recording date: November / December 2020Distance: 1,500 light yearsDiameter: 3 light yearsExposure: 75 x 300 sec. For RGB26 x 900 sec. For dual narrow bandTotal: 12.7 hoursCalibration: Darks / Flats / DarkFlatsMount: Skywatcher EQ6-R PROTelescope: Lacerta Fotonewton 250/1000Corrector: Lacerta GPU coma correctorFilter: Astronomik L2 UV-IR Block 2 ″Optolong filter L-eXtreme 2 ″Camera: QHY268c @ Gain 0/60 at -15 ° CGuiding: ZWO OAG with ASI 120mm-s and PHD2Software: APP / Photoshop CC



Copyright: Daniel Nimmervoll

Date image was taken: 1/5/2020

Image Title: Orion Costellation

Image Description and Details : Orion Costellation
Sharpstar Optics 76EDPH Artesky
Qhyccd 600 Mono
Filter Optolong Astronomy Filter Narrowband improved version
44 light 600 sec HA
44 Light 300 sec Red
33 Light 300 sec Green
22 Light 300 sec Blu
Software APT - Astro Photography ToolPixinsight Photoshop

Copyright: Andrea Maggi

Horsehead Nebula LRGB, Ha. Taken from PixelSkies, Spain www.pixelskiesastro.com

This target was what got me into Astrophotography many years ago but I could never do it justice in the UK with the light-polluted skies in Birmingham so now living in Spain and running a Remote Telescope Hosting site I have been able to collect better quality data and do it more justice.

Lum 25x900Secs

Red 48x300Secs

Green 19x300Secs

Blue 20x300Secs

Ha 81x1200Secs

40 hours 35 mins in total.

Equipment used:

Telescope: Tec 140 F7

Camera: Xpress Trius SX-694 Mono Cooled to -10C

Image Scale: 0.95

Guiding: OAG

Filters: Astronomik LRGB, Ha

Mount: iOptron CEM60 "Standard" GOTO Centre Balanced Equatorial Mount

Image Acquisition: Voyager

Observatory control: Lunatico Dragonfly

Stacking and Calibrating: Pixinsight

Processing: Pixinsight 1.8

Copyright: David Wills

In this capture you can find the emission nebula (M42), a combination of emission and reflection nebula (IC434) and the reflection nebula (M78). Other objects can be found in addition to the three main actors in the photograph. Down under the capture details I named all objects in the field I am familiar with.

This picture shows emission nebula (M42), a combination of emission and reflection nebula (ic434) and a pure reflection nebula (M 78).

List of objects:
M42, NGC1975 (Running Man), NGC1981, NGC1999, IC430, Orion AD N Complex, IC434, NGC2024, NGC2023, IC432, NGC1990, CR70, M78, NGC2071

Stars:
Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka

Tech.Details:

Scope: William Optics Spacecat 51
Cam: Nikon D810 Astrocool
Filter: Hutechidas Lps D1
Exif.: 55 x300" ISO 1600

Image Copyright: JN-Astrophotography