New gear is on order & should start arriving from Monday. Really looking forward to getting the 3nm OIII filter to start combining with some of my Ha images for some colour (getting a 3nm Ha as well). But decided with the good dark skies over a couple of nights to pull out my unmodified Canon 70D.
First target was Markarian's Chain, a group of 8 galaxies in the constellation Virgo. It's made up of M83, M86, NGC 4435 & NGC 4438 (The Eyes), NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4473 & NGC 4477. The area also contains a number of other galaxies such as NGC 4387 & NGC 4388, which when combined with M83 & M86 make up the Great Galactic Face.I've always struggled processing colour DSLR images & I think it shows here with the colour being not as good as I would like.
Final image:
57 x 90 second exposures (85.5 minutes - was hoping for twice that)
Canon 70D @ ISO1600
32 darks, 30 flats, 50 bias.
My second target was something a little different for me - dark nebulae! Unlike other nebula with their bright gas clouds, dark nebulae consist of thick clouds of cosmic dust that blocks the light from the stars behind them forming dark patches in the field of stars around them. Near the centre of the image is Barnard 72 (LDN 66), the Snake Nebula. Just to the left of centre is Barnard 68 (LDN 57), the Ink Spot Nebula. The image also contains, stretching up & right from the Inkspot, Barnard 69 (LDN 65), Barnard 71 (LDN 53), Barnard 70 (LDN 54) & LDN 70 at the tail of the 'Snake'.
This patch of sky is located in the constellation Ophiuchus near the magnitude 4 star Beta Ophiuchi (Cebalrai) which is the star just off the the edge of the image at top right. I find this an interesting target so it may be the subject of more investigation in the near future.
Final image:
94 x 90 second exposures (141 minutes)
Canon 70D @ ISO1600
32 darks, 30 flats, 50 bias.
And last night it was a nebulae double - IC 4604, the Oph Nebula & IC 4603, a nearby bipolar nebula. These form part of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, a complex of interstellar clouds with different nebulae in the constellation Ophiuchus. The image also contains several dark nebulae. It is situated not far from the bright star Antares and forms part of a large area of nebulosity in the region.
Final image:
102 x 180 second exposures (306 minutes)
Canon 70D @ ISO800
8 darks, 30 flats, 50 bias.
Common:
Saxon 102mm triplet @ F5.6
SW AZ-EQ5 Pro mount
Stacked with ASTAP & processed in PhotoShop
