Pacman Nebula NGC 281

Pacman Nebula NGC281
Taken in Cathedral City, CA

90/500 Refractor
2" Astro-Tech Field Flattener
Canon 450d modded
Baader 495nm Longpass filter
Astronomik CLS CCD Clip Filter
Celestron AVX Mount

10 Hours total exposure time
66 Lights varying 7-19 minute exposures at iso 200-400
60 Darks
40 Flats
80 Bias
Stacked in DSS, edited in CS6

Triangulum Galaxy M33

Triangulum Galaxy M33
Taken over 2 nights at Lake Cuyamaca, CA

90/500 Refractor
2" Astro-Tech Field Flattener
Canon 450d modded
Baader 495nm Longpass filter
Astronomik CLS CCD Clip Filter
Celestron AVX Mount

5 Hours total Exposure Time
20x900s ISO 800 Lights
11 Darks
43 Flats
30 Bias

Stacked in DSS, edited in CS6

The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 3 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. It is cataloged as Messier 33 or NGC 598, and is sometimes informally referred to as the Pinwheel Galaxy, a nickname it shares with Messier 101. The Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, behind the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. It is one of the most distant permanent objects that can be viewed with the naked eye.

The Eastern Veil Nebula NGC 6992

The Veil nebula has been my deep sky subject for the past month, and I'm finally done with the eastern portion. The desert heat and humidity we've had recently did not help at all, but us desert rats find ways to overcome this every summer. 

Next up is the western portion of the Veil nebula, which contains NGC 6960 the Witches Broom Nebula. I'm hoping to get the western side done before the end of the month.

NGC6992 Eastern Veil Nebula

taken in Cathedral City, CA

5h40m total exposure time

61 lights 4,5, and 6 minute exposures

48 darks

64 flats

80 bias

Stacked in DSS

My second attempt at photographing the Orion Nebula M42 2-4-16

This is my second attempt at photographing the Orion Nebula. My first attempt went well, with my limited equipment and abilities. This time around, I was pleasantly surprised with what I was able to capture, and with a phone camera no less! The LG G4 is truly an amazing piece of machinery, and has a fantastic camera for astrophotography.

There is a bit of star trailing and other imperfections, but overall a huge improvement over my first try here. I used a Celestron Nexstar 6SE with a phone adapter and the G4 attached. Camera settings were 4 x 30s exposures ISO 250. The 4 images were stacked in Deep Sky Stacker, and some light editing in Photoshop to help bring out more of the gaseous details. Unfortunately, there are some star trails and doubling of stars, but this will be worked out as I get better with the editing process.

Isn't the Coachella Valley a beautiful place for Astronomy and Astrophotography? Enjoy the night skies!

Final edited image

RAW image from camera