December 2022 Onwards - Wide Field OTA (Askar FRA400) and the 9.25" SCT
The Heart Nebula - Captured December 2022. L-EnHance filter. 416 frames of 180 seconds each! First time I've had multiple nights to shoot the same target. First proper go with the Askar FRA400 'scope. Really pleased with the results!
7,500 light years away! More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_Nebula
M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. 2.5 million lights years away, it’s the closest galaxy to us. Data acquired 20 December 2022. 40 light frames, each of 180 seconds. Stacked and processed with all calibration frames using PixInsight. This image was published in the BBC's Sky At Night Magazine March 2023 edition and is on their Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Co0FsK9JN2m/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
More info here:
Part of the Rosette Nebula. Processed using the 'Hubble Palette'. Data acquired Jan 2023. No Dark or Bias calibration frames used, only Flats. Taken using the 9.25" SCT.
The Horse Head and Flame Nebula. Classic astro-photo shot! Around 140 frames, each of 180 seconds with 50 each of the calibration frames (dark, bias, flats). All stacked and processed using PixInsight. Minimum processing for this one as quite easy to get to a good result. Used the Optolong l-Enhance filter as it was a full Moon!
The Rosette Nebula. Data acquired 13th Feb 2023. The small part from the image above is the bottom left quarter of this image.
M81, and a few other galaxies! Data acquired 18 March 2023. 2 hours of data, no filters, full set of calibration frames. All stacked and processed using PixInsight. More information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M81_Group.
