AAPOD2 Image Archives

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April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter

SH2-129 & OU4 - Flying Bat & Squid Nebula

Image Description and Details : Data gathered at 13 different nights between 2023-01-01 and 2023-03-30.
Data for this image: 197x300s Ha, 181x300s O-III.
Total number of exposures 378 with a total integration time of 31,5 hours.
Processing: PixInsight with ForaxX HO palette with HA stars.
Equipment: SkyWatcher EvoStar 80ED Pro (0,85x FR/FF) and ZWO ASI294MM Pro on SkyWatcher HEQ5 Pro with SkyWatcher EvoGuide 50ED and ZWO ASI120MM Mini. ZWO Ha and OIII filters.

Copyright: Mårten Frosth

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April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter

M82

Image Description

This is an image of M82, also known as the Cigar Galaxy. It is a starburst galaxy about 12 million light years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It is about five times more luminous than the Milky Way and its central region is about one hundred times more luminous. The starburst activity is thought to have been triggered by interaction with neighboring galaxy M81.

January 21 - February 22, 2017

December 16, 2021 - January 26, 2022

Location: Rancho Hidalgo, NM

Telescope: Planewave CDK-17

Camera: Apogee CG16M (2017 Data)

Camera: FLI PL16803 (2022 Data)

Mount: Paramount ME

Luminance: 59x20 minutes (binned 1x1)

Ha: 12x30 minutes (binned 1x1)

Red: 28x15 minutes (binned 1x1)

Green: 27x15 minutes (binned 1x1)

Blue: 28x15 minutes (binned 1x1)

Copyright 2023 Bernard Miller

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April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter

Elephant Trunk Nebula

Image Description and Details : Nebulosa Proboscide di Elefante IC1396 nella costellazione di Cefeo.
Newton 10' f5
Neq6 pro
Asi294Mc Pro T 0°
Guida Asi224Mc
Filtro L_eNhance
Light 45x300"
Dark 21
Flat 31
Acquisizione N.I.N.A.
Post DSS, Pixinsight, Photoshop Camera Raw
Scatto prima periferia di Ferrara Bortle 5.5

Copyright: mirco turra

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April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter

Ceres meets Galaxy

Image Description and Details : The Dwarf Planet or Asteroid CERES crossed my field of view of the galaxy M100 in constellation coma berenices from 24th to 29th of March 2023, imaging from Augsburg (Germany) with the private remote scope "Wolfatorium" in Hakos, Namibia. To document this "transit", short images where taken at 21.00 and 1.00 CET every day. Additional images were taken at 4.30 on the night of crossing the galaxy. The whole field was imaged with much longer exposures for two nights before CERES entered the frame. The Asteroid images were made starless and the single - strong dimmed - CERES copied into the galaxy frame.

Telescope: 10"-Newtonian f/4
Camera: ASI 1600 MM Pro @ -15°C & gain 139/10
Filter: Baader L-RGB
Galaxy: L 84 x 120s, RGB 24 x 60s each
CERES: LRGB 1s each
Processing: PixInsight, Photoshop

Copyright: copyright: Dr. Siegfried Weida

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April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter

Maffei I & II galaxies

Image Description and Details : Maffei I and II Galaxies.
Shots taken with RC8" 0.75x reducer.
QHY163M mono camera and IR685nm filter as luminance.
Star colors made with QHY163C color camera and L-PRO light pollution filter.
2 panels mosaic.

Technical details:
QHY163M with infrared pass filter IR685nm: 24 x 10min.
QHY163C with L-PRO filter: 20 x 3min.
Total whole mosaic shooting: 10 hours.
Both cameras were set with the following parameters: Gain= 300, Offset= 100, T= -25°C.
Made Dark, Flat and Dark-flat.
From my home: Vigevano (Pavia), Italy.

Copyright: Roberto Frassi

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April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter

Strottner-Drechsler 163 / PNG 184.4+05.4

Image Description and Details : Strottner-Drechsler 163 / PNG 184.4+05.4

This candidate planetary nebula was discovered by our team in August 2022.
StDr 163 in the constellation Gemini is without doubt one of the most beautiful objects in the StDr catalogue.
The remarkable aspect of this nebula is that we can literally watch the structure expand.
The hot star in the centre is surrounded by a constantly growing envelope of ionised oxygen (OIII).
Gently, the blue OIII core breaks through the red cocoon of ionised hydrogen (H-alpha).
It is not known whether the reddish halo area around the nebula, which resembles two wings, belongs to the object itself, or whether it is interstellar material that is ionised and excited to glow by the potential white dwarf in the centre.
Discovery by my amazing friends Xavier Strottner and Marcel Drechsler. Data capture by myself and Sven Eklund from our remote observatories in Spain. Image processing by Marcel Drechsler.
Scopes: APM TMB LZOS 152 Refractors and Celestron C14 Edge HD
Cameras: QSI6120wsg8 and ZWO ASI6200MM Pro
Mounts: 10Micron GM2000 HPS and iOptron CEM120
A total of 76 hours 40 minutes (HaOIIIRGB)
More information at

Copyright: Copyright: Peter Goodhew, Sven Eklund, Xavier Strottner, Marcel Drechsler

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April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter

M 87 - Supermassive Black Hole relativistic jet

Image Description and Details : The supermassive black hole powering M87's core has a mass about 6.5 billion times that of the Sun and generates two jets of plasma in opposite directions that span thousands of light-years. The jet oriented towards the Earth is visible and appears blue / light blue while the other is extremely weak and is not visible. The great luminosity and blue tint of the jet are due to the relativistic effect called "relativistic beaming" or "Doppler boosting" which occurs because particles oriented towards our line of sight are accelerated by the black hole up to 99% of the speed of light and simultaneously emit radiation.
Scope: Meade LX200 10” ACF Camera: QHY268m Filters: Astrodon LRGB Tru-balance Mount: 10 Micron GM2000 HPS II
Processing: PixInsight Exposure: 10h 30m

Copyright: Antonio Ferretti & Attilio Bruzzone

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April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter

NGC 5367

NGC 5367 is a reflection nebula around 2500 light years away in Centaurus. It is embedded in the Cometary Globule CG 12.

The reflection nebula is lit by a double star H4636 which are type B4 and B7 stars.

Imaged in LRGB on our Planewave CDK 700 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.

Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

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April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter April 2023, 2023 Jason Matter

IC 443

Image Description and Details : On the right of the picture, IC 443, or SNR G189.0+03.0, is a supernova remnant located in the constellation of Gemini, with a large angular size (45 minutes of arc, or one and a half times the apparent diameter of the Moon), and quite luminous both in X and in radio. Its distance is rather uncertain and is estimated to be between 2800 and 8000 light years, while its age varies between 3000 and 30 000 years.

The supernova afterglow IC443, with a golden colour indicates that the Ha and SII are strongly interacting, and OIII surrounds a large part of the object. OIII has a slightly faster expansion rate.

On the left of the picture, the emission nebula SH2-249, which is not in the same plane as Ic 443. It is at about 5200 AL There is also a very small nebula in the field.
Photo taken in South Portugal . Set Up FSQ 106 on EQ6 Pro mount. Camera ZWO Asi 1600MM .
Photo in SHO, LRVB; 80 hours of exposure, double panels.
PixinSight processing, Photoshop

Copyright: Team ARO

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2023, April 2023 Jason Matter 2023, April 2023 Jason Matter

Sunspots in Highlights

Image Description and Details : Sunspots are temporary phenomena that occur on the surface of the Sun, which appear as dark spots and are regions of reduced temperature relative to the regions around it.
In the week of February 27, 2023, the Sun had several sunspots, with the highlight of AR 3234, a very beautiful group of sunspots, with a beautiful sunspot standing out, with many details.
The group of sunspots AR 3237, on the other hand, helped the composition of the photo, highlighting with beautiful groups of sunspots.
The photo was captured on the same morning of February 27, 2023, in 02 different telescopes (with an ASI290MM camera + Baader white light filter + Baader Solar Continuum Filter): an 11” SCT (C11 - in the details with photos on the right) and an APO 80mm composing a mosaic of 02 panels in full disk, defining the context of the location of the large groups of highlighted sunspots.
Its yellowish coloring is artificial, as the capture is made with a monochromatic camera with a white light filter, enhancing these beautiful images.
This composition with full disk (on the left) and large sunspots highlighted (on the right) presents a beautiful scenario of that beautiful moment.

Copyright: Natan Fontes

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