AstroBert UK

AstroBert UK I'm an amateur astronomer based in Lancashire, UK, photographing objects in the night sky

With summer approaching, the nebula rich area of the Cygnus (The Swan) constellation rises in the sky. Discovered in 179...
18/05/2025

With summer approaching, the nebula rich area of the Cygnus (The Swan) constellation rises in the sky. Discovered in 1792 by William Herschel, NGC 6888, the Cresecnt Nebula, is an emmission nebula formed by the fast stellar wind of Wolf-Rayat star WR 136 hitting and then energising the slower wind that was ejected by the same star when it became a red giant approximately 250,000-400,000 years ago

This image was taken over 5 nights in May 2025 from my back garden, and is stacked from over 11 hrs of exposures.

Telescope: Askar 103APO (1x Flattener)
Camera: Svbony SV405CC
Filter: Optilong L-Enhance & Astronomik UV/IR (for RGB Stars)
Off-Axis-Guider: Askar M54 OAG
Guide Camera: Player One Xena-M
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro

Lights (L-Enhance): 219x 180s
Lights (UV-IR): 294x 30s
Flat x20 (per imaging session)
Dark Flat x20 (per imaging session)
Dark x20

Each image was stacked & processed using PixInsight

First discovered in 1785 by William Herschel, NGC 4565, the Needle Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy viewed edge-on from our pe...
08/05/2025

First discovered in 1785 by William Herschel, NGC 4565, the Needle Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy viewed edge-on from our perspective. It is located in the northern constellation Coma Berenices and calculated to be 50-60 million light-years away.

This image was taken in a single night back in March 2025 from my back garden, and is stacked from over 5hrs of exposures.

Telescope: Askar 103APO (1x Flattener)
Camera: Svbony SV405CC
Filter: Astronomik UV/IR
Off-Axis-Guider: Askar M54 OAG
Guide Camera: Player One Xena-M
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro

Lights: 159x 120s
Flat x20
Dark Flat x20
Dark x20

Each image was stacked & processed using PixInsight

Markarian's Chain is a line of galaxies (when viewed from Earth) located in the constellation of VirgoThe two brightest ...
03/05/2025

Markarian's Chain is a line of galaxies (when viewed from Earth) located in the constellation of Virgo

The two brightest galaxies, M84 & M86, were discoverd in 1781 by Charles Messier. The remaining galaxies were discovered by William Herschel in 1784.

Near the middle of the image you can see the galaxiy NGC 4435 interacting with NGC4438. Together, these are refered to as the Eyes Galaxies

This image was taken over two nights in March 2025 and is stacked from over 5hrs of exposures.

Telescope: Askar 103APO (1x Flattener)
Camera: Svbony SV405CC
Filter: Astronomik UV/IR
Off-Axis-Guider: Askar M54 OAG
Guide Camera: Player One Xena-M
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro

Lights: 165x 120s
Flat x20
Dark Flat x20
Dark x20

Each image was stacked & processed using PixInsight

This is M13, sometimes called Great Globular Cluster in Hercules and is one of the most magnificient globular clusters v...
23/04/2025

This is M13, sometimes called Great Globular Cluster in Hercules and is one of the most magnificient globular clusters visible to northern observers.

Discovered in 1714 by Edmund Halley, in darkened skies, it can be visible to the naked eye, but is easily visible with a pair of binoculars as a smudge.

With an estimate of 300,000 to over 500,000, the cluster has a diameter of approximately 145 light-years

This image was taken in March 2025 and is stacked from 75 2 minute exposures.

Telescope: Askar 103APO (1x Flattener)
Camera: Svbony SV405CC
Filter: Astronomik UV/IR
Off-Axis-Guider: Askar M54 OAG
Guide Camera: Player One Xena-M
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro

Lights: 75x 120s
Flat x20
Dark Flat x20
Dark x20

Each image was stacked & processed using PixInsight

Taken over two nights in November, this image is of NGC 7023, Caldwell4, but more commonly referred to as The Iris Nebul...
05/04/2025

Taken over two nights in November, this image is of NGC 7023, Caldwell4, but more commonly referred to as The Iris Nebula.
The immense dust clouds surrounding this reflection nebula are clearly visible, with the center being lit by its central star.

The Iris Nebula can be seen in the night sky not too far from Polaris (the North Star) in the constellation Cepheus, at a distance of approximately 1400 light years.

Telescope: Askar 103APO (x1.0 flattener)
Camera: Svbony SV405CC
Filter: Astronomik UV-IR Block
Off-Axis-Guider: Askar M54 OAG
Guide Camera: Player One Xena-M
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro

Lights: 305x 120s
Flat x20
Dark Flat x20
Dark x20

Each image was stacked & processed using PixInsight

With galaxy season well underway, there are not many more impressive targets to image than M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy in...
19/03/2025

With galaxy season well underway, there are not many more impressive targets to image than M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy interacting with its close neighbour, NGC 5195

Discovered in 1773 by Charles Messier, it is possible to see, even with a pair of binoculars and can be found in the northern sky near the Big Dipper

This image was taken in March 2025 and is stacked from over 270 2 minute exposures.

Telescope: Askar 103APO (1x flattener)
Camera: Svbony SV405CC
Filter: Astronomik UV/IR
Off-Axis-Guider: Askar M54 OAG
Guide Camera: Player One Xena-M
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro

Lights: 273x 120s
Flat x20
Dark Flat x20
Dark x20

Each image was stacked & processed using PixInsight

IC1396, commonly called 'The Elephant Trunk Nebula' is one of my favourite Deep Space Objects, and something that I'll c...
09/03/2025

IC1396, commonly called 'The Elephant Trunk Nebula' is one of my favourite Deep Space Objects, and something that I'll continue to image when possible.

Although faint, the nebula is very large, and is approximately 5 times the diameter of the full moon in the sky. It is located in the northern sky constellation of Cepheus (named after a king in Greek Mythology), and is 2400 light years away. It is thought that the Elephant Trunk Nebula is a stellar nursery containing stars that are less then 100,000 years old.

This image is a 2 panel mosaic taken in November 2024 and is stacked from over 200 2 minute exposures.

Telescope: Askar 103APO (x0.6 reducer)
Camera: Svbony SV405CC
Filter: Optilong L-Enhance
Off-Axis-Guider: Askar M54 OAG
Guide Camera: Player One Xena-M
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro

Lights: 209x 120s
Flat x20
Dark Flat x20
Dark x20

Each image was stacked & processed using PixInsight

This is IC443 The Jellyfish Nebula and is located at the foot of the constellation Gemini - Literally... The bright star...
23/02/2025

This is IC443 The Jellyfish Nebula and is located at the foot of the constellation Gemini - Literally... The bright star, named Propus, forms the heel of the twin Castor.

The nebula, located approximately 5000 light years away, is believed to be the remains of a supernova that exploded 30,000-35,000 years ago

This image is stacked from over 660 2 minute exposures that I took over several nights in January & February this year to produce over 22hrs worth of data.

Telescope: Askar 103APO
Camera: Svbony SV405CC
Filter: Optilong L-Enhance
Off-Axis-Guider: Askar M54 OAG
Guide Camera: Player One Xena-M
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro

Lights: 663x 120s
Flat x20
Dark Flat x20
Dark x20

Each image was stacked & processed using PixInsight

As Valentines day is just around the corner, what better target than IC1805, better known as the Heart Nebula. This emis...
13/02/2025

As Valentines day is just around the corner, what better target than IC1805, better known as the Heart Nebula. This emission nebula is visible pretty much all year round from the UK, as it's located in the northern constellation Cassiopeia.

This image is a two-panel mosaic I managed to image over two nights in January this year.

Telescope: Askar 103APO
Camera: Svbony SV405CC
Filter: Optilong L-Enhance
Off-Axis-Guider: Askar M54 OAG
Guide Camera: Player One Xena-M
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro

Panel 1: 176x 120s LIGHTS
Panel 2: 113x 120s LIGHTS

Flat x20
Dark Flat x20
Dark x20

Each panel was stacked, processed & merged using PixInsight

Two clear nights in a row.... 2025 is looking good so far
06/02/2025

Two clear nights in a row.... 2025 is looking good so far

Here are two separate images of M45 Pleiades (aka the Seven Sisters) taken earlier this month from my back garden. Each ...
02/02/2025

Here are two separate images of M45 Pleiades (aka the Seven Sisters) taken earlier this month from my back garden. Each image was taken with the same Askar APO 103 telescope, but using different field flatteners. The larger image is using a 1x flattener which results in a 700mm focal length. The other was with a 0.6x flattener, resulting in a 420mm focal length.

The Pleiades is an open star cluster located in the constellation Ta**us and is easily visible with the naked eye.

The larger image is a combined stack of 145x120s images, and the smaller image 58x 120s. 20x FLAT & 20x DARK FLAT images were used for calibration.

The images were stacked and processed within PixInsight, an advanced image processing tool primarily used for astronomical images.

2024 was a very poor year for Astrophotography in the UK. The number of opportunities to image was ridiculously low, hen...
24/01/2025

2024 was a very poor year for Astrophotography in the UK. The number of opportunities to image was ridiculously low, hence my lack of posts recently.

This is a 2 panel mosaic of the Cygnus Loop, the remnants of a supernova in the Cygnus constellation. The Cygnus Loop has been calculated to be approximately 120 light years in diameter, and roughly 20,000 years old. Most recent calculations estimate it to be 1760 light years distant from Earth.

This image was taken from my garden in Lancashire over two nights in September 2024.

Telescope: SkyWatcher 72ED
Camera: Svbony SV405CC
Filters: Optilong L-Enhance
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro
Stacked from 160×120s exposures
Flat x20
Dark Flat x20
Dark x20

Stacked & Processed using PixInsight

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