Blog

Home/Blog
Blog2019-07-08T05:18:33+00:00

Jupiter’s Cloud Tops on 08-19-2022

By |August 24th, 2022|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Sorry its not JWST, but it is my most detailed shot of Jupiter yet this season.
We don’t get many good Stable Air (seeing) here in the Midwest, but it doesn’t keep me from trying, I was shocked that it turned out,
as most of my imaging Session was like looking a pot of Boiling water, but there were moments that Jupiter popped right in with nice Cloud Top details.

Now the planets have cleared my neighbors trees by early morning, I can start capturing more images.
I’m using my old Orange tube Celestron C-11 Telescope (30+ years old), and it still produces nice views.

Target=Jupiter, Date: 190822, Time: 081117 UT, Mag: -2.79, Diameter: 47.38, Res: 0.08″, Az: 177.68, Alt: 51.97, Phase: 1.00,
CM: CMI=279.2° CMII=187.3° CMIII=107.6°

Camera: QHY5III462C, Scope: C-11 SCT, C-Max Barlow, ADC, FL: 7100mm, F-ratio: 25, Bisque MyT mount,
Best 5800 frames captured in Fire-Capture Software, Autostakkert, Registax6, Adobe Raw CC 2022.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

 

The Heart & Soul Nebula in Cassiopeia

By |August 19th, 2022|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

The Heart & Soul Nebula!
The Heart Nebula, IC 1805, Sharpless 2-190, is some 7500 light years away from Earth and is located in the Perseus Arm of the Galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia.
It was discovered by William Herschel on 3 November 1787. It is an emission nebula showing glowing ionized hydrogen gas and darker dust lanes.
At the center of the heart is open cluster of stars, known as Collinder 26 or Mellotte 15, contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun, and many more dim stars that are
only a fraction of our Sun’s mass. At the very bottom of the Heart is the Fish-head Nebula, separately classified as NGC 896, because it was the first part of the nebula to be discovered.
W5 or the Soul nebula (aka Baby Nebula)
Westerhout 5 (Sharpless 2-199, LBN 667, Soul Nebula) is an emission nebula located in Cassiopeia. Several small open clusters are embedded in the nebula:
CR 34, 632, and 634 (in the head) and IC 1848 (in the body). The object is more commonly called by the cluster designation IC 1848.
Small emission nebula IC 1871 is present just above the top of the head, and small emission nebulae 670 and 669 are just below the lower back area.
W5 is a radio source within the nebula, spans an area of sky equivalent to four full moons and is about 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia.
Like other massive star-forming regions, W5 contains large cavities that were carved out by radiation and winds from the region’s most massive stars.
Samyang 135mm F2 Lens, set to F4, EOS Lens Adapter, L-Enhance Filter, 3D printed Ring System, to ZWO 294MC Cooled Cmos Color Camera, Bisque MyT Mount, ASI Air Wi-Fi to my Ipad,
44 x 120 sec. Subs, Calibrated all in DSS, Stretched and processed in Adobe Raw CC 2022. Captured a total of 88 minutes of integration time from my backyard in the City of Dayton, Ohio (bortle8) on 08-12-2022, under strong moonlight while I watched the Perseid Meteor shower.
Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

The Jovian Cloud Tops on 08-03-2022

By |August 16th, 2022|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This time a closer look at the Jovian cloud tops.
The Planet Jupiter & The Great Red Spot on 08-03-2022 at 09:21 U.T. from my backyard observatory in Dayton, Ohio

Using Winjupos I measured The Great Red Spot in the South Equatorial Belt(SEB)at 15,618 km (9,704 miles) across.
right below the Great Red Spot there are two small white ovals visible as well, measuring 5-6km (3,278 miles) across each.

There is a large Arch feature(festoon) in the North Equatorial Belt (NEB) and I measured it at 19,715 km (12,250 miles) across

C-11 SCT Telescope at F20, 2x Barlow, ADC, Bisque MyT mount, QHY462 Color Cmos Planetary Camera, 10.5 ms exposure,
Fire-Capture Software, best 75% of 25,000 images stacked in Autostakkert, Wavelets in Registax6, Winjupos measurements & de-rotation.

 

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

 

The North American Nebula & Pelican Nebula Complex (Wide)

By |August 14th, 2022|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The North American Nebula (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20) & Pelican Nebulae Complex (IC 5070 and IC 5067), an ultra wide shot.
The bright star on the right is Deneb, the Brightest Star in Cygnus a guide post for finding the North American Nebula. The North America Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, close to Deneb. The shape of the nebula resembles that of the continent of North America, complete with a prominent Gulf of Mexico. It is located 2,200 light years from Earth, and is about 100 light years across.
Off the Eastern Coast of the North American Nebula you will find the Pelican Nebula Complex, named for its resemblance to a Pelican. There are also many faint patches of Nebulae in the surrounding area in this ultra wide field shot.
Samyang 135mm Lens, ZWO ASI Air Via Wi-Fi, ZWO 294MC Cooled Cmos Camera, L-Enhance Filter, Bisque MyT Mount,
30 x 2 minute subs taken under strong full moonlight on 08-11-2022 from my backyard Observatory in Dayton, Ohio, (Bortle8), 60 minute exposure total.
Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

M16 The Eagle Nebula Complex – The “Pillars of Creation” a close-up view

By |August 11th, 2022|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The Eagle Nebula also known as “The Pillars of Creation” a Close-up inside the Eagle Nebula Complex.
(catalogued as Messier 16 or M16, and as NGC 6611, and also known as the Star Queen Nebula) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens
The cluster associated with the nebula has approximately 8100 stars, which are mostly concentrated in a gap in the molecular cloud to the north-west of the Pillars.
The Eagle Nebula is part of a diffuse emission nebula, or H II region, which is catalogued as IC 4703.
This region of active current star formation is about 5700 light-years distant.
A spire of gas that can be seen coming off the nebula in the northeastern part is approximately 9.5 light-years or about 90 trillion kilometers (56 trillion miles) long.
The Beak of an Eagle or Eagle Carrying a fish at Center and off to the top left side you can see the Bat hanging down from a stalactite looking HII region.
The Eagle nebula Complex is a massive star formation region!
C-11 Telescope at F10, Bisque MyT Mount, ZWO 294MC Cooled Cmos Camera, ASI Air via WiFi, L-Enhance Filter, 50 minute exposure., from my backyard observatory in the city of Dayton, Ohio on 08-02-2022.
Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

M17 – A close-up inside the Swan/Omega Nebula Complex

By |August 9th, 2022|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A close-up look inside of M17 the Swan/Omega Nebula… also known as the Check-mark Nebula, Lobster Nebula, and the Horseshoe Nebula.(so many common names for one object)

M17 The Swan or Omega Nebula Complex in Sagittarius

The Omega Nebula, also known as the Swan Nebula, is an HII region (star formation region) in the constellation Sagittarius.

5,000 to 6,000 light-years away, and spans about 22 light years across.

You can see lots of dust and gas in my close-up shot as well as some Bok globules.

This nebula is a bright one, shining at Magnitude 6, barely visible to the unaided eye from a dark location, but looks great in binoculars or a small telescope.

 

C-11 SCT Telescope at F10, Bisque MYT mount, ZWO 294MC Cooled Cmos Camera, L-Enhance filter,

“Short Exposure Imaging” Method, 60 x 20 second subs, 20 minutes total integration time., unfortunately the target went behind my neighbor’s trees, so only got 20 minutes worth of data from my backyard observatory in Dayton, Ohio on 08-01-2022.

Calibrated & stacked in Deep Sky Stacker, Pixinsight,  & Adobe Raw CC 2022.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

 

The Waxing Gibbous Moon in daylight on 08-07-2022

By |August 8th, 2022|Tags: , , , , |

I captured this image in Daylight, around 7:20pm EST on 08-07-2022  while the sky was still blue.

Here is a quick shot handheld with my Canon Point and Shoot  camera, Power Shot SX50 HS, 138.53mm lens, F6.5, ISO 80, 1/125 sec exposure.

Notice the Moon is sitting very low in the South all this week, as we go from Waxing Gibbous toward  Full Moon.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

Jupiter and The Great Red Spot on 08-03-2022

By |August 5th, 2022|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Jupiter and the Great Red Spot on 08-03-2022 @ 09:24 UT
I was surprised with better than average seeing, but there was still a thin layer of haze up there every morning this week.
C-11 Telescope at F20, 2x Barlow, ADC, Bisque MyT mount, QHY462 Color Planetary Camera,
Fire-Capture Software, 10.5 ms exposure, best 75% of 8,000 frames stacked in Autostakkert, Wavelets in Registax6, Final in Adobe Raw CS 2022. Captured from my backyard observatory in Dayton, Ohio. Jupiter & Great Red Spot on 08-03-2022 @ 09:24 UT
I was surprised with better than average seeing, but there was still a thin layer of haze up there every morning this week.
C-11 Telescope at F20, 2x Barlow, ADC, Bisque MyT mount, QHY462 Color Planetary Camera,
Fire-Capture Software, 10.5 ms exposure, best 75% of 8,000 frames stacked in Autostakkert, Wavelets in Registax6, Final in Adobe Raw CS 2022. Captured from my backyard observatory in Dayton, Ohio.
Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

M27 The Dumbbell or Apple Core Planetary Nebula – A Close-up of a dying star

By |August 2nd, 2022|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Just a quick test…on M27, another Dying Star blowing off its outer atmosphere. The Dumbbell Nebula (also known as the Apple Core Nebula, Messier 27, or NGC 6853) is a planetary nebula (Notice the White Dwarf star at center) in the constellation Vulpecula, at a distance of about 1360 light-years.
Captured with a C-11 at F10, Bisque MyT Mount, and ZWO 294MC Pro (OSC) cooled Cmos Camera, “Lucky Imaging” Method,
L-Enhance Filter, 60 x 30 sec Subs, 30 minutes total integration time from my backyard in the city of Dayton (Bortle 8 skies).
Captured via ASI Air WiFi App to capture on my IPAD, Calibrated & stacked raw in Deep Sky Stacker,
and Processed in Pixinsight, Adobe Raw CS 2022.
I was surprised it even came out okay, Since I was actually shooting through a lot of High Cirrus Clouds, we had rain all week, It was supposed to be clear last Friday night,
but I ended up with thin High Cirrus most of the night. So i got rid of most of the real badly fogged frames,
and ended up keeping 30 minutes worth of data.
Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

The Great Planetary Alignment 2022

By |July 29th, 2022|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

The 2022 Planetary Alignment from back in June, Sorry a little behind on this one, but I have been traveling on business and my shot was still on my camera from last month.
2022 Planetary Alignment captured on 06-23-2022.
Canon 6D DSLR Camera, Tokina 16mm lens F2.8, Set to F7.1, ISO 1250, A single 6 second exposure. Mercury is just above my truck and tree top on the left, Saturn is off to the far right edge, but at least I captured most of this alignment from the suburbs, not far from my home.
Captured off of Patterson Road in East Dayton, Ohio at 04:55am EST.
Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

Title

Go to Top