AAPOD2 Image Archives

2020 Charles Lillo 2020 Charles Lillo

NGC 1672 in Dorado

NGC 1672 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Dorado. It was originally thought to be a member of the Dorado Group, however, this membership was later rejected.
NGC 1672 has a large bar which is estimated to measure around 20 kpc. It has very strong radio emissions emanating from its nucleus, bar, and the inner portion of the spiral arm region. The nucleus is Seyfert type 2 and is engulfed by a starburst region. The strongest polarized emissions come from the northeastern region which is upstream from its dust lanes. Magnetic field lines are at large angles with respect to the bar and turn smoothly to the center.

It was taken with a 36.8 cm F9 Ritchey Chretien telescope using a SBIG STXL16200 CCD camera. The exposure is a LHaRGB image with about 9 hours total imaging time.

Copyright: Steve Crouch‎

AAPOD2 Title: NGC 1672 in Dorado
AAPOD2 Page Link: https://www.aapod2.com/blog/ngc-1672-in-dorado
Sumbit Your Photo!

galaxyngc1672steve crouch

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2020 Monthly Winners, 2020 Charles Lillo 2020 Monthly Winners, 2020 Charles Lillo

Andromeda Clouds in HaRGB

Here is an image of Andromeda Clouds in HaRGB, with 23 hours of total exposure.
Captured during 6 nights of New Moon from Pioz, Guadalajara, Spain.

It is the biggest project I have done since I started doing astrophotography and it is an honor for me to be one of the few astrophotographers who have photographed these strange clouds in color.

You can see more information and photos in my section of the website:
https://aipastroimaging.com/m31-ha-clouds-hargb/

In full resolution:

https://aipastroimaging.com/wp-content/uploads/full-resolution/Andromeda_Clouds_16200_HaRGB_horizontal_AIP.jpg

This photo was taken with this setup:


Telescope: Takahashi FSQ106EDX (f/5)
Mount: Takahashi EM-400 Temma2
Camera: Atik 16200 (Kodak KAF16200)
Guider: Lunático EZG-60 + SXLodestar
Filters: Baader Ha 7nm, Baader LRGB
Focuser: RoboFocus Rev3.1
Date: November and December 2018
Place: Pioz, Guadalajara, España
Software: MaxIm DL + AstroMatic
Processing: PixInsight Core + Photoshop CC
Exposure: Ha: 80x900s bin2, RGB: 12x300s bin2.

Total: 23h

Copryright: Álvaro Ibáñez Pérez

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2020 Charles Lillo 2020 Charles Lillo

The Shark Nebula (LDN1235)

This image shows the Shark Nebula (LDN1235) in the constellation of Cepheus.

This is a nice cloud of gas and dust which is highlighted by the light of nearby stars.

Telescope: TMB92 @ f/5.5

Camera: QSI583ws

Mount: Skywatcher EQ6

Exposures:
L: 53 x 600s
R: 9 x 600s
G: 9 x 600s
B: 9 x 600s
Total: 13,3 hours

Copyright: André Van Der Hoeven

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2020 Jason Matter 2020 Jason Matter

Heart and Soul Nebula


Tech Specs: Williams Optics Redcat 51 APO, Celestron CGEM-DX mount (pier mounted), ZWO ASI071MC-Pro, Optolong L-eNhance 2” filter, each panel was 60 x 60 second exposures at a GAIN of 200, one hour total exposure with dark/bias frames, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope. Captured using Sequence Generator Pro (SGP) v3.03. Image date: November 25, 2019. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

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2020 Jason Matter 2020 Jason Matter

Thor’s Helmet

Thor’s Helmet (NGC 2539, Sh2-298, Gum 4) is an emission nebula in Canis Major. The powerful Wolf-Rayet star WR7 near the centre of the nebula is causing the gases to glow. That star is thought to be in a brief pre-supernova stage, and could explode in the cosmically-not-too-distant future. This object is thought to be similar to the Bubble Nebula, but the energy from WR7 has blown the gas in Thor’s Helmet into more complex shapes.  Thor’s Helmet also contains much more oxygen structures than the Bubble Nebula. Oxygen gives the teal-coloured structure; hydrogen provides the reds. This nebula contains hundreds of solar masses of ionized gases (the gases that are glowing), along with hundreds of thousands of solar masses of unionized material. The age of the nebula is uncertain, with estimates ranging from 78,500 to 236,000.

This data used to create this image was acquired from Yass, New South Wales, Australia by my friend, expert astrophotographer Martin Pugh. Thank you Martin!

Tekkies: 

SBIG STXL-11002 camera, Astrodon Ha, O3, R, G and B filters, Planewave 17″ CDK, Paramount ME. Equipment control with the SkyX, scripted with CCDAutopilot. All pre-processing and processing in PixInsight, except that master calibration frames were made using CCDStack. Data Acquired by Martin Pugh, from Yass, NSW, Australia. 

3x10m R and B, 4x10m B, 18x20m Ha and 13x30m O3 unbinned frames (total=14hr10m). 
Image scale is 0.63 arcsec per pixel for this camera / telescope combination.

Copyright: Ron Brecher

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2020 Charles Lillo 2020 Charles Lillo

The Great Orion-Nebula, the Horsehead- & Flame Nebula and M78

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

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2020 Charles Lillo 2020 Charles Lillo

The Blinking Nebula, NGC 6826 (Caldwell 15, PK 83+12.1)

The Blinking Nebula, NGC 6826 (Caldwell 15, PK 83+12.1) is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Cygnus.

The nebula is located at a distance of about 2000 light years, the central part has a visible size of 27″x 24″ and a visual magnitude of 8.8m.

Date taken in August 2019.

R-channel - 158 x 5 sec. bin 1x1;
G-channel - 158 x 5 sec. bin 1x1;
B-channel - 158 x 5 sec. bin 1x1;
Ha- 38 x 600 sec. bin 1x1;
OIII- 36 x 600 sec. bin 1x1.

Total integration time about 13 hours.

Setup: Telescope 8" Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain (SCT) CPC800 GPS (XLT) on the equatorial wedge, focal reducer Starizona 0.75x, Feq.= 1626mm, camera Starlight Xpress Trius SX694, SX mini filter wheel, filters Astrodon LRGB E-series gen.2, Astrodon Ha 5nm, Astrodon OIII 3nm.

Capture and processing software: MaxIm DL6, PHD2, PixInsight, StarTools, Photoshop CC, Zoner photo studio 14.

North at the top.

Copyright : Boris Vladimirovich

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2020 Charles Lillo 2020 Charles Lillo

Taurus Molecular Cloud

This image is a small part of the Taurus Molecular Cloud centered near the variable star 44 Tauri.
Below star 44 Tau extends through center of field the large faint nebula called IC 360. Lower center and left are bright dusty nebulas Barnard 208 and B 210. Center right is located LBN 777 also known as the Baby Eagle nebula. In the upper left are B 209, B 211 and B 10.

  • Object:    IC 360, LBN 777, B 208, B 209, B 210, B 211.

  • Exposure:   22 x 300s (L) + 12 x 300s (R) + 12 x 300s (G) + 12 x 300s (B).

  • Processing:    PixInsight Core 1.8.

  • Telescope:    Takahashi FSQ-106EDX3 on EM-200Temma2M. Seletek Armadillo / Focusmax.

  • Camera:    Andor Apogee U16M / AFW-50-7S ( - 20ºC ). Astrodon E-Series genII filters.

  • Guiding:    FS-60CSV, QHY-5, PHDguiding.

  • Date:    2ndof December 2019

  • Copyright: Iñaki Lizaso

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