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The Heart Nebula (IC 1805) is an emission nebula located at an approximate distance of 7,500 light years from Earth, in the constellation Cassiopeia.

(Ha) 20min X 20
(Sii) 20 min X 10
(Oiii) 20 min X 10
Camera: QSI-683wsg-i
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106ED
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Lubbock, TX
Dates: Multiple nights on October 19-22, 2016
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding.
Processed with PixInsight and Photoshop6. 

Helix Nebula

Helix

(Ha) 20min X 10
(R) 15 min X 3
(G) 15 min X 3
(B) 15 min X 3
Camera: QSI683wsg at F/7
Telescope: Celestron 11" Edge HD
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Lubbock, TX
Dates: Multiple nights on November 6-8, 2015
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding.
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and Photoshop6.

Orion

Orion, a famous winter constellation in the northern hemisphere has been one of the most pronounced and recognizable constellations.  Its brightest stars are Rigel and Betelgeuse a blue-white and a red super-giant.
Orion was a gigantic, supernaturally strong hunter of ancient times.  One myth recounts Gaia's rage at Orion, who dared to say that he would kill every animal on the planet. The angry goddess tried to dispatch Orion with a scorpion.  This is given as the reason that the constellations of Scorpius and  Orion are never in the sky at the same time. However, Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, revived Orion with an antidote.  This is said to be the reason that the constellation of Ophiuchus stands midway between the Scorpion and the Hunter in the sky.

Supermoon Lunar Eclipse

Every now and then, the sun, moon, and Earth are aligned exactly right to get a great lunar eclipse.  This one was special because it was a full "Harvest Moon."  Taken from my back yard in Lubbock, TX.  This is a 1/10 second exposure using a Canon 5D Mark II and my Celestron 11" Edge HD scope.  It was taken at F/7 on September 27, 2015.

M101 Pinwheel Galaxy

The Pinwheel Galaxy is an face-on spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major and is approximately 21 million light years away.  The Pinwheel has several different galaxies near it as seen in the image.  To the lower right is NGC 5474 which is being torn apart by the Pinwheels massive gravitational pull.  The interaction between the Pinwheel and other surrounding galaxies gives the Pinwheel a neat spiral design.

M101
(Lum) 5min X 18
(R) 15 min X 5
(G) 15 min X 5
(B) 15 min X 5
Camera: QSI683wsg at F/5
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ106N
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro

Location: Fort Davis, TX
Dates: May 17, 2015
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding.
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

NGC 3628 Hamburger Galaxy

NGC 3628 is often called the Hamburger Galaxy because of its divided dust lanes.  At a distance of 35 million light years away, this galaxy can be found in the constellation Leo the Lion.  At a wider field of view, this galaxy is one of three galaxies that make up the Leo Trio.

NGC 3628
(Lum) 15min X 12
(R) 15 min X 4
(G) 15 min X 4
(B) 15 min X 4
Camera: QSI683wsg at F/7
Telescope: Celestron 11" Edge HD
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Lubbock and Fort Davis, TX
Dates: Multiple nights on February 14, 2015 (Luminance) and April 19, 2015 (RGB)
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding.
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2

A new comet discovered by Terry Lovejoy in August 2014 from Australia is a great comet to view because of its path through the sky.  It is high up and excellent position for cameras and telescopes.  I took this image from Zodiac Ranch near Fort Davis, TX on the night of January 18, 2015.  It is at its maximum brightness and orbits the sun every 11,000 years. 

Lovejoy C/2014 Q2
(L) 3min X 2
(R) 3 min X 2
(G) 3 min X 2
(B) 3 min X 2
Camera: QSI683wsg at F/5
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ106
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Fort Davis, TX
Dates: January 18, 2015
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding.
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

 The smaller image is a widefield image using a Canon 5D Mark II that is modified for deep sky astrophotography.  It is a single 3-minute exposure piggybacking on my scope.

NGC 1499

NGC 1499, California Nebula
(Ha) 20min X 10
(R) 10 min X 4
(G) 10 min X 4
(B) 10 min X 4
Camera: QSI683wsg at F/5
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ106
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Fort Davis, TX
Dates: Multiple nights on December 19 and 20, 2014
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding.
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

Crab Nebula

The Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant and in the constellation Taurus.   Located at a distance of about 6,500 light years from Earth,  the nebula has a diameter of 11 light years. At the center of the nebula lies a neutron star about 20km across spinning about 30 times per second.  When a star dies it throws out a wave of gas and dust known as a supernova nebula.

M1, Crab Nebula
(L)15 min X 2
(Ha) 15 min X 13
(R) 15 min X 2
(G) 15 min X 2
(B) 15 min X 2
Camera: QSI683wsg at F/7
Telescope: 11" Edge HD
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Lubbock, TX
Dates: Multiple nights on November 25-29, 2014
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding.
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

NGC 7331

NGC 7331 with neighbors
(L)20min X 14
(R) 20min X 4
(G) 20min X 4
(B) 20min X 4
Camera: QSI683wsg at F/7
Telescope: 11" Edge HD
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Lubbock, TX
Dates: Multiple nights on October, 23, 24, and 25, 2014
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding.
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

Dumbbell Nebula (M27)

At a distance of 1,360 light years away, the Dumbbell Nebula is located in the constellation Vulpecula.  It's more of a summer time object, however, I started imaging this object on August 29, 2014 with a Hydrogen Alpha filter for Luminance and completed a set of images with a red filter.  I wanted to complete the image using green and blue filters, however, the wind and the weather were a factor the next night, so I had to wait until September.  September came around and I was unable to find any clear skies due to tropical storm Odile that was placed over Lubbock, TX.  Yes, you read right, the remains of a tropical storm gave Lubbock 10 inches of rain within a week.  So October finally came around and I was able to complete the image using more Hydrogen Alpha data, red data, and completed the green and blue data on October 16 and 17, 2014.  Processed on Saturday October 18, 2014.

Dumbbell Nebula
(Ha)15min X 12
(R) 10min X 4
(G) 10min X 4
(B) 10min X 4
Camera: QSI683wsg at F/7
Telescope: 11" Edge HD
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Lubbock, TX
Dates: Multiple nights on August 29, 2014, October 16 and 17, 2014.  Imaged over several nights.
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding.
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

Trifid Nebula

The Trifid Nebula is located in the constellation Sagittarius located approximately 5200 light years away.  It's a star forming region with numerous dark dust lanes creating lots of dark filaments. 

Trifid Nebula
(L)10min X 12
(R) 10min X 4
(G) 10min X 4
(B) 10min X 4
Camera: QSI683wsg at F/7
Telescope: 11" Edge HD
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Lubbock, TX
Dates: Early morning, July 25 and 26, 2014.  Imaged over several nights.
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding.
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

Lagoon and Trifid Nebula

Lagoon and Trifid Nebula!
Took this last week at the Texas Star Party.
Lagoon and Trifid
5min X 20 RGB
Camera: QHY8 F/5
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ106 guided
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location:Zodiac Ranch
Dates: Early morning, May 29, 2014
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding.
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

Milky Way Rising (Video)

My movie I made with a Canon 5D Mark II.
Spent all night from sunset to sunrise capturing data to make this movie.
Took 400 images and combined each to make this movie.
Each exposure was 30 seconds at ISO 5000 with one minute delay between each frame.

Clink the link to watch.  Don't forget to set to HD 1080.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxkHF2HRBGc

Whirlpool Galaxy, M51

Located in the northern constellation Canes Venatici, the Whirlpool Galaxy is approximately 23 million light years away.  Appearing as a face-on type galaxy, it is one of the most famous and often photographed images.  In the image, there are fainter galaxies located around M51 toward the upper right.

M51
5min X 18 RGB
Camera: QHY8pro F/2
Telescope: Celestron 11" Edge HD guided
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Lubbock, TX
Dates: Early morning, May 3, 2014
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding. 
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

 

 

Mars Opposition 2014

Imaged Mars on April 8, 2014 when it was at opposition.  Opposition refers to Earth being right in the middle of another planet and the sun.  So when the sun sets in the west, Mars will rise in the east.  And when the sun rises, Mars will set in the west.  Get it?  Just like a full moon.  Mars will appear closer this year than it has in the last 7 years, however, it will be a mere 92 million kilometers on April 14th.  That's when Mars will appear it's closest to Earth.
The image below is from a Philips Web Cam and processed with Registax 6.

Mars Opposition 2014
1200 frames at 10 frames per second video
Camera: Philips TouCam Web Cam
Telescope: Celestron 11" Edge HD guided
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Lubbock, TX
Dates: 2:00am, April 9, 2014
Captured with WebCam software and guided with PHD guiding. 
Processed with Registax 6.

Leo Trio

All three galaxies lie within the constellation Leo and all three galaxies are spiral galaxies.  NGC 3628 (Edge on) has a thick dark dust lane that is visible.  The Leo Triplet is about 30 million light years away.

Leo Triplet
5min X 20 RGB
Camera: QHY8pro F/2
Telescope: Celestron 11" Edge HD guided
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Lubbock, TX
Dates: Early morning, March 29, 2014
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding. 
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

 

 

Messier 82 and supernova

M82 is a distance of 12 million light-years. It has thick areas of dust and sprays out hydrogen gas and has a bright center that creates massive star formations. The supernova is not in the central star-forming region but above the center of the galaxy.  On January 21, 2014, a group of astronomy students spotted a supernova in M82.  The supernova itself did not happen on January 21st, but did occur about 12 million years ago.  It's light is just now reaching Earth.  So, the supernova itself is ancient history, but it takes light 12 million years to travel to Earth.  Located in the constellation Ursa Major (Big Dipper).

Messier 82 (Cigar Galaxy)
5min X 12
Camera: QHY8 F/7
Telescope: Celestron 11" Edge HD guided
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Zodiac Ranch, Fort Davis, TX
Dates: Early morning, February 28, 2014
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding. 
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

 

 

Horsehead Nebula

The Horsehead Nebula is a emission nebula in the constellation Orion the Hunter.  Just under the star Alnitak, this nebula is 1500 light years from Earth.  It's one of the most identifiable nebula due to its shape of a horses head.  This is where stars are born. 

Horsehead Nebula (IC 434)
5min X 11
Camera: QHY8 F/5
Telescope: Takahashi FS106 guided
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Zodiac Ranch, Fort Davis, TX
Dates: Early morning, March 1, 2014
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding. 
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.