by Chuck's Astrophotography 2017.12.14 SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBED UNSUBSCRIBE I always get asked why I keep my exposures in narrowband down to 3 minutes. So I decided to compare 3 minute exposures to 10 minute exposures. This test was performed with my ZWO ASI1600MM-cool camera (CMOS) chip. The outcome may have been completely different had I tested with a CCD…

by Chuck's Astrophotography 2017.12.31 SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBED UNSUBSCRIBE I certainly didn't capture enough OIII and SII data for this object, but I wanted to finish the Jellyfish Nebula and move on. There are too many more deepsky objects on my list right now to get to. Here is more info: Target: Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443) Imaging Telescope: Orion ED80T CF (480 focal length) Reducer: Orion…

by Chuck's Astrophotography 2017.12.28 SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBED UNSUBSCRIBE The Soul Nebula (IC 1848) was not an easy one to process. Data for the OIII and SII filters were hard to come by, probably made worse by capturing it in a Red Zone and with the moon getting brighter. Here is more info: Target: Soul Nebula (IC 1848) Imaging Telescope: Orion ED80T CF (480…

by Chuck's Astrophotography 2017.11.29 SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBED UNSUBSCRIBE I captured this nebula over two nights with narrowband using the Hubble Palette. All three filters (Ha, OIII, SII) produced good data, so I felt I could process the image with 7 hours of data. Here is more info: Target: Rosette Nebula Imaging Telescope: Orion ED80T CF (480 focal length) Reducer: Orion .8 Mount: Celestron CGX Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Cool Ha=63x180s OIII=67x120s SII=40x180s Total Time:…

by Chuck's Astrophotography 2017.10.22 SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBED UNSUBSCRIBE The Elephant Trunk nebula is always a strange beast for me - it never turns out the same way when I capture and process it. For this attempt, I didn't capture as much OIII as I wanted and now the weather is going to be bad for the next week. So…

by Chuck's Astrophotography 2017.10.3 SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBED UNSUBSCRIBE I wanted to go after the Wizard Nebula (NGC 7380) again. My first attempt was four months ago. Now equipped with a new telescope and better post-processing techniques, I thought it would be worth it to try again. I much prefer this result over my old one. I used all three…

By Chuck's Astrophotography 2017.10.1 SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBED UNSUBSCRIBE I am keeping busy lately. I've completed work on the Cygnus Wall (part of the North American Nebula - NGC 7000). I also finished NGC 7822 and captured Ha on the California Nebula (NGC 1499). I'm still using my new refractor. Here is more info: Targets: Cygnus Wall (NGC 7000) NGC 7822 California Nebula (NGC…

By Chuck's Astrophotography 2017.9.3 SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBED UNSUBSCRIBE I was capturing the Fish Head nebula (IC 1795) over the past couple of nights. I used a script in the new version of PixInsight (1.8.5) called the Color Mask. It helped get the colors I wanted. I show how to use the Color Mask in this video. Here is more…