Latest CCD images

HELIX NEBULA HOO palette Oct. 4, 22, 23 and 25 (Ha), and Oct. 5 & Nov. 3 (OIII) 2024 Leitz f=300mm Telephoto obj. at f/D=4 FTT1010-M CCD on Fork-mount Baader 6.5nm H-alpha & OIII filters Exposure: H-alpha 156x3min and OIII 126x3min FoV: 1.8x1.6 degr

NGC7331 & STEPHAN'S QUINTET October 4 (L) and October 5 (RGB) 2024 25cm Newton f/D=5.7 FTF2020M CCD with Edmund Optics RGB-filters Exposure: L 34x120 + 48x150 sec RGB 24x150sec each Brightest stars 'thinned' FoV: 0.64x0.76 degr

Veil East HOO-palette 27/28 aug 2024 25cm Newton f=882mm f/D=3.5 FTT1010-M CCD camera FoV: 0.76 x 0.76 degr Exp.: H-alpha 102x150sec OIII 83x150sec. BW 6.5nm

Veil or Cirrus Nebula HOO palette, stars removed 27/28 aug 2024 & 24 sep 2023 FTF2020-M CCD camera f=300mm tele-obj. at f/D=4 FoV: 2.0 x 2.0 degr Exposure: H-alpha 132x3min OIII 79x3min. BW 6.5nm

NGC6820 & NGC6823 HOO-palette, 29 july and 6, 9 & 11 august 2024 25cm Newton, f=882mm and f/D=3.5. FoV: 0.74 x 0.74 degr Exposure: H-alpha 161x150sec, OIII 174x150sec. BW 6.5nm Shown with Gamma=2.0 while intenser H-alpha contributions are shown with increasing whiter appearance A couple of nights end of July and start of August were quite bright but also quite warm (16-20 C). This caused a higher dark current (and thus noise) of my FTT1010-M CCD camera for which I had to compensate by using quite a lot of images. NGC6820 is a strong H-alpha region with only a weak OIII content. I had to manipulate the HOO balance, i.e. enhancing the O intensity (causing stars to get a teal colour) to have the OIII contribution show up: See image to the right.

Nearly a full year, from end of august 2023 till june 2024, the Netherlands had a record year in terms of precipitation. Related to that, the number of relatively bright nights over that period could be counted 'using the fingers of one hand'. I had to combine results obtained in 2022, 2023 and 2024 to come to the images of M63 and PK205 shown below. Hopefully the record-high Atlantic Ocean's surface temperature, causing all the extra moisture and clouding in the Netherlands, will become lower with a deminishing El Nino, although I expect that with ongoing global warming we (in the Netherlands) will have to get used to fewer astrophotography opportunities....

M63 SUNFLOWER GALAXY April 2023 (L) and May 2024 (RGB) 25cm Newton f/D=5.7 FTT1010-M CCD with Edmund Optics RGB-filters Exposure: L 48x120sec RGB 35x120sec FoV: 0.43x0.29 degr (click here for earlier attempts: 2001 and 1998)

MEDUSA nebula HOO palette March 2022 (Ha), Feb/Mar 2024 (Oiii) 25cm Newton f/D=5.7 FTT1010M CCD with Baader 6.5nm H-alpha and OIII filters H-alpha 203*120 sec OIII 131*150 sec FoV: 0.39x0.39 degr

Dumbbell nebula revisited with H-alpha and OIII filters. I've copied earlier photographs of the Dumbbell nebula that were taken with RGB-filters (2007) and the FTF1020C colour CCD (2000, now out-of-use).

DUMBBELL nebula HOO palette August 21/22, sept. 6/7 2023 25cm Newton f/D=5.7 reduced with simple coma-corrector to f/D=4.6 FTT1010M CCD with Baader 6.5nm H-alpha and OIII filters H-alpha 133*120 sec OIII 128*120 sec FoV: 0.34x0.34 degr	Date: 16 september 2007 25cm Newton f/D=5.7 FTT1010-M CCD RGB-filterweel Exp. RGB 12x90sec FoV: 0.3x0.3 degr	Date: 23 august 2000 Scope: 25cm Newton at f/D=5.7 CCD: FT1020 colour CCD Exp.: Sum of 29 images of 120sec

Coincidentally I photographed M101 on 17 May 2023, two days before supernova SN2023ixf was discovered. On 19 may I could confirm the supernova during a short break in the clouds. The wheather cleared on 24 May and the few astronomically dark hours enabled me to photograph M101 and SN2023ixf in L and RGB. Below the results shown in different ways. Image information: Equipment: 25cm Newton f/D=5.7 with FTT1010M CCD and RGB filterwheel Sub-image exposures: 17 May: Luminance 15*120sec 24 May: Luminance 30*120sec 25 May: RGB 30*120sec each FoV: 0.48x0.44 deg

Gif switching between 17 and 24/25 May 2023	17 May and 24 May side by side	Sum of 17 and 24/25 May images

M42 imaged with SII, H-alpha and OIII narrow-band filters (Baader Planetarium, 6.5-8.5nm bandwidth), shown in three different ways. To the left H-alpha is shown in Red while the OIII image is distributed over Green (100%) and Blue (100%) to obtain the characteristic teal colour. The middle image has the same colour assignment and is unsharp masked, i.e. the luminance of the image was devided by a smoothed version of itself, lowering the intensity of the central part of the nebula and revealing the (nearly overexposed) trapezium star cluster. The image to the right shows M42 with H-alpha again assigned to Red (150%), S-II to Green (400%) and OIII to Green (80%) and Blue (100%). In order to have a clear effect, the Sulfur contribution had to be increased 4-fold. Images are obtained on february 8, 2023, with the FTT1010-M CCD camera and the f/D=3.5 Newton configuration described below (and in the equipment section, see here). M42 is a relatively bright object and for H-alpha and OIII short, 60-second exposures were needed to avoid overexposure of the central part: H-alpha 19x60 seconds, OIII 30x60seconds. The Sulfur contribution is much weaker and 16 exposures of 120 seconds were acquired. The images cover a 0.8x0.8 degree field of view, are sharpened and shown with a gamma of 2.2. The luminance is based on the (photopic) eye sensitivity for the H-alpha wavelength (656nm: sensitivity 0.08) and OIII wavelength (501nm: sensitivity 0.34). Thus L=0.08*H-alpha+0.34*OIII.

Horse nebula HOO 14/27/28 february 2023 H-alpha 155x2min OIII 95x2min FoV 0.73x0.73 degrees Gamma 2.0 Intenser red contributions are shown with increasing whiter appearance The image is sharpened and rotated 90-degrees (CCW)

M42, HOO	M42, HOO, Unsharp masked.	M42, HSO	Horsehead nebula

Images obtained with the FTT1010-M CCD camera and my latest Newton telescope. In fact it is a modified Cassegrain telescope with a 25cm, f=1091mm primary. By adding a plane-convex lens close to the CCD the effective focal length is reduced to f=880mm and the f/D is improved from 4.3 to 3.5. Without this lens, coma of the parabolic primary over the 12mmx12mm focal plane of the CCD is substantial. The plano-convex lens reduces coma and increases sensitivity by some 50% (which compensates for the relatively low quantum efficiency of the CCD's I'm (still) using). For more details click here. The images are cropped to 0.5x0.5 degrees of the 0.8x0.8 degrees field of view. The bandwidth of the H-alpha and OIII filters are 6.5nm and 8.5nm (Baader-Planetarium).

Bubble nebula NGC7635 19 nov, 12/14 dec 2022 25cm Newton f/D=3.5 Exposure: H-alpha 76x120sec OIII 93x120sec Cropped FoV: 0.50 x 0.50 degr

Crescent nevel NGC6888 20/23 aug, 1/21 sep 2022 25cm Newton f/D=3.5 Exposure: H-alpha 94x120sec OIII 149x120sec Cropped FoV: 0.52 x 0.52 degr

Proper motion of 2 stars in Hickson44 galaxy field. 2012 / 2022 25cm Newton f/D=5.7 FTT1010M CCD with RGB-filter wheel FoV: 0.28x0.28degr	M1, SHO as RGB H-a: Febr. 25..27, 2022 SII,OIII: Jan 28, 2011 25cm Newton f/D=5.7 FTT1010M CCD with SHO-filter wheel H-alpha: 151x120sec SII,OIII: 26x120sec FoV: 0.37x0.28 degr	M1, HOO as RGB H-a: Febr. 25..27, 2022 OIII: Jan 28, 2011 25cm Newton f/D=5.7 FTT1010M CCD with SHO-filter wheel H-alpha: 151x120sec OIII: 26x120sec FoV: 0.37x0.28 degr	PK205 planetary neb. 4, 5 and 7 March 2022 25cm Newton f/D=5.7 FTT1010M CCD with Baader H-alpha filter. 203x2 minute exposures FoV: 0.43x0.43 degr
NGC2903 February 26&28, 2022 25cm Newton f/D=5.7 FTT1010M CCD with RGB-filter wheel Lum.: 83x120sec RGB: 24x120sec FoV: 0.38x0.38degr	M90 and IC3583 March 7&8, 2022 25cm Newton f/D=5.7 FTT1010M CCD with RGB-filter wheel Lum.: 94x120sec RGB: 30x120sec FoV: 0.38x0.38 degr	M105, NGC3384,3389 Feb. 28 (RGB) and March 4&7, 2022 25cm Newton f/D=5.7 FTT1010M CCD with RGB-filter wheel Lum.: 111x120sec RGB: 30x120sec FoV: 0.38x0.38 degr	M31 Andromeda nebula December 2&25, 2021 FTF2020M CCD with RGB-filter wheel 300mm Tele-objective F#4.0, on fork-mount Lum.: 48x2 min RGB: 18x3 min FoV, cropped: 0.48 degr

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