Imaging the Cocoon Nebula (IC5146)

21st July 2015 / Carsten / Leave a comment

Tonight I imaged the Cocoon Nebula (IC5146) – a reflection / emission nebula in constellation Cygnus. The cluster is about 4,000 ly away. The seeing was great and the guiding with PHD worked perfectly well. I was a fantastic summer night.

For stacking I used DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 with Kappa-Sigma Clipping. The picture is also available in full resolution here.

	Date	2015/07/21
	Location	Böblingen / Germany
	Object	IC5146 (Cocoon Nebula)
	Camera	Atik383L+
	Guiding	yes, QHY5-II Mono via OAG
	Telescope	8" GSO Newtonian
	Barlow lens	none
	Mount	EQ6Syntrek
	Cooling	-15°C
	Luminance	8x, 600s, bin: 1x1
	Red	11x, 150s, bin: 2x2
	Green	11x, 150s, bin: 2x2
	Blue	11x, 150s, bin: 2x2
	Dark	10x
	Flat	10x
	Total exposure	~2h42min.

Clear skies!

Last updated: June 16, 2022 at 23:20 pm

NGC6914 – The dark monster of Cygnus

15th July 2015 / Carsten / Leave a comment

Behind the unspectacular name NGC6914 a nice emission nebula in constellation Cygnus is hiding. To me the nebula looks a little like a dark monster with two deep blue eyes in the center of the picture 😀

The picture is also available in full resolution here.

	Date	2015/07/15
	Location	Böblingen / Germany
	Object	NGC6914 (Emission Nebula)
	Camera	Atik383L+
	Guiding	yes, QHY5-II Mono via OAG
	Telescope	8" GSO Newtonian
	Barlow lens	none
	Mount	EQ6Syntrek
	Cooling	-15°C
	Luminance	7x, 600s, bin: 1x1
	Red	5x, 150s, bin: 2x2
	Green	5x, 150s, bin: 2x2
	Blue	5x, 150s, bin: 2x2
	Dark	10x
	Flat	10x
	Total exposure	~1h50min.

Clear skies!

Last updated: June 16, 2022 at 23:19 pm

Astrophotography Oberstdorf – Imaging the Witch’s Broom Nebula

11th July 2015 / Carsten / Leave a comment

This article is about Astrophotography in Oberstdorf. Last year I put all my equipment into the car and drove to Lake Garda. Unfortunately, in contrast to the forecast I had lots of clouds and no chance to take a good astro-picture. Last weekend I decided to give it another try and took all my equipment to Oberstdorf – a small village at the foot of the German Alps. Beside hiking I think this place is well suited for astrophotography.

I found a good place not far from the center of Oberstdorf, with free view to Polaris and almost no traffic:

GPS coordinates: 47°24’17.5″N 10°17’28.9″E

Important update: The described location can only be reached by car when driving into a “no entry” road. Of course you do this on your own risk.

(Oh, and btw. a good Italian restaurant is also not too far: Ai Quattro Canti…)

Continue reading →

Imaging the black claw of Vulpecula – vdB126

8th July 2015 / Carsten / Leave a comment

vdB 126 is a reflection nebula in constellation Vulpecula. To me it looks like a black claw with at least 4 fingers.

I like the many stars in this region! In this clear night I was able to get 8 good IR frames before the moon rose. For stacking I used DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 with Kappa-Sigma Clipping. The picture is also available in full resolution here. Finally, I decided to put it into my My Top Astro-Pics gallery.

	Date	2015/07/08
	Location	Böblingen / Germany
	Object	vdB126 (Reflection nebula)
	Camera	Atik383L+
	Guiding	yes, QHY5-II Mono via OAG
	Telescope	8
	Barlow lens	none
	Mount	EQ6Syntrek
	Cooling	-15°C
	Luminance	8x, 600s, bin: 1x1
	Red	7x, 150s, bin: 2x2
	Green	7x, 150s, bin: 2x2
	Blue	7x, 150s, bin: 2x2
	Dark	10x
	Flat	10x
	Total exposure	~2h12min.

Clear skies!

Last updated: June 16, 2022 at 23:33 pm

Astrohotography of Sh2-88 without H-alpha filter from Böblingen / Germany

5th July 2015 / Carsten / Leave a comment

The evening of 24th June 2015 was a warm and nice summer evening. All the clouds vanished and the forecast predicted a clear night 🙂 Since I didn’t image a nebula for quite some time I decided to image one this night. Recently I came across Sh2-88 which is an HII emission nebula in constellation Vulpecula. So this should have been the target for tonight!

I saw some great pictures of Sh2-88 before which have been taken using an H-alpha filter. Since I am not yet having an H-alpha filter I just decided to give it a try without H-alpha. Of course the nebula structures don’t come out as good as when using a such a filter. But I am still satisfied for a picture with just 5 IR frames. The seeing with my f/5 GSO Newton (F=1000mm) was around 2.1″ – so quite good for this region.

	Date	2015/06/24
	Location	Böblingen / Germany
	Object	Sh2-88 (Emission nebula)
	Camera	Atik383L+
	Guiding	yes, QHY5-II Mono via OAG
	Telescope	8" GSO Newtonian
	Barlow lens	none
	Mount	EQ6Syntrek
	Cooling	-15°C
	Luminance	5x, 600s, bin: 1x1
	Red	5x, 150s, bin: 2x2
	Green	5x, 150s, bin: 2x2
	Blue	5x, 150s, bin: 2x2
	Dark	3x
	Flat	10x
	Total exposure	~1h27min.

Clear skies!

Last updated: June 17, 2022 at 6:58 am

Lost infinity

Tag: telescope

Imaging the Cocoon Nebula (IC5146)

NGC6914 – The dark monster of Cygnus

Astrophotography Oberstdorf – Imaging the Witch’s Broom Nebula

Imaging the black claw of Vulpecula – vdB126

Astrohotography of Sh2-88 without H-alpha filter from Böblingen / Germany