Big Cat Astro

Big Cat Astro A Big Cat sharing stuff about a Big Sky.

🌒⭐️ Well the wildfire smoke didn’t make for the greatest night of viewing but tonight we did get to show a few dozen peo...
06/01/2025

🌒⭐️ Well the wildfire smoke didn’t make for the greatest night of viewing but tonight we did get to show a few dozen people the Moon, Mars and a pretty yellow/blue double star with the not so pretty name 24 Comae Berenices. 😂 Thanks to Joyce and Amanda for helping keep running and controlling the early crowd!

A great night to be humbled and grateful. Jupiter, Mars, Ta**us, Orion all in one frame.
02/28/2025

A great night to be humbled and grateful. Jupiter, Mars, Ta**us, Orion all in one frame.

This is SH2-132 also known as the Lion Nebula imaged from my back yard. It is an emission nebula located about 10,000 li...
02/18/2025

This is SH2-132 also known as the Lion Nebula imaged from my back yard. It is an emission nebula located about 10,000 light years away here in our own Milky Way galaxy. I am experimenting with the color palette in this image. I hope you enjoy!

If you enjoy these images please consider liking and sharing!!

Imaging Time: 11.25 hours of total w/ H, S and O filters (135 x 5 mins)
Palette Combination: SHO
Telescope: Williams Optics Redcat 61
Camera: ZWO ASI294MM
Mount: ZWO AM5
Processing softwares: Pixinsight, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator, BlurXterminator

Here is an image of galaxy NGC 2403 estimated to be a bit over 8 million light years away. The image is lacking some fin...
02/16/2025

Here is an image of galaxy NGC 2403 estimated to be a bit over 8 million light years away. The image is lacking some fine details but overall is fun to look at. I don’t know if I will ever get tired of having my mind blown by the amazing size and complexity of the universe. What we have here on Earth is so wonderfully special.

This was an attempt to image in less than ideal conditions to see what happened. I learned a lot from this. The first image is after processing the full image stack. The second is what the image first looked like after combining the individual filters into red, green and blue channels. The size of the galaxy relative to the telescope/camera field of view is fairly small and needed to be heavily cropped. It was imaged during a nearly full moon so there is a heavy gradient across the image. And also the transparency of the sky ended up not as good as forecast. All and all I am fairly surprised I was able to get much of an image at all. If this had been shot with a better field of view for the size of the object it likely would have retained good detail. 🤔

If you enjoy these images please consider liking and sharing!!

Imaging Time: 6 hours of total w/ R, G and B filters (76 x 5 mins)
Palette Combination: Standard RGB
Telescope: Williams Optics Redcat 61
Camera: ZWO ASI294MM
Mount: ZWO AM5
Processing softwares: Pixinsight, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator, BlurXterminator

If you are outside tonight you may be able to see the aurora. Keep in mind the bright moon will make it a challenge but ...
02/10/2025

If you are outside tonight you may be able to see the aurora. Keep in mind the bright moon will make it a challenge but you never know!

I have been a bit busy and distracted lately but today I was able to process some data I have been sitting on for a whil...
02/01/2025

I have been a bit busy and distracted lately but today I was able to process some data I have been sitting on for a while!

This is IC1396 the Elephant Trunk nebula. This ended up being a bit more of a challenge to process than I anticipated but overall I am fairly happy with the result.

If you enjoy these images please consider liking and sharing!!

Imaging Time: 7.5 hours of total w/ H, S and O filters (90 x 5 mins)
Palette Combination: SHO
Telescope: Williams Optics Redcat 61
Camera: ZWO ASI294MM
Mount: ZWO AM5
Processing softwares: Pixinsight, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator, BlurXterminator

A total of 12.5 hours of imaging from my back yard in Ozaukee County, WI this is the Wizard Nebula NGC 7380. This emissi...
11/28/2024

A total of 12.5 hours of imaging from my back yard in Ozaukee County, WI this is the Wizard Nebula NGC 7380. This emission nebula is located in the northern sky near the constellation Cepheus. The colors in this image are mapped to the glow of sulfur, hydrogen and oxygen - each one individually imaged using a monochrome camera then combined later at the computer.

If you enjoy these images please consider liking and sharing!!

Imaging Time: 12.5 hours of total w/ H, S and O filters (150x 5 mins)
Palette Combination: SHO
Telescope: Williams Optics Redcat 61
Camera: ZWO ASI294MM
Mount: ZWO AM5
Processing softwares: Pixinsight, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator, BlurXterminator

I am always awed by the universe and humbled to know how special being alive here on Earth is! We are so lucky to be abl...
11/18/2024

I am always awed by the universe and humbled to know how special being alive here on Earth is! We are so lucky to be able to experience this!

This is NGC 281 also known as the Pacman Nebula imaged from my back yard. It is an emission nebula - meaning the gases are being ionized by the photons thrown off by one or more nearby stars. The gas is unimaginably sparse (it is in the vacuum of space afterall) yet the gentle glow can still be seen here on Earth.

Imaging Time: 6 hours of total w/ H, S and O filters (72x 5 mins)
Palette Combination: SHO
Telescope: Williams Optics Redcat 61
Camera: ZWO ASI294MM
Mount: ZWO AM5
Processing softwares: Pixinsight, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator

Sure, you have seen all these posts about the comet. But exactly how big is the comet? Well, it is relative of course! H...
10/19/2024

Sure, you have seen all these posts about the comet. But exactly how big is the comet? Well, it is relative of course! Here is an example of how big it is from our perspective here on Earth. These are two photos were taken back to back tonight. One is of the comet and one of the Moon rising (it is a bit hazy tonight making the moon appear a bit orange.) All I did was turn the tripod around and reduce the exposure time. The field of view of each are identical in size. As you can see the tail of the comet is MUCH bigger than our moon! Keep in mind the comet is much further away from us right now than the moon is so not only is it relatively larger it is indeed literally (a lot!) longer than the moon is wide!🌖 💫

Address

Fredonia, WI

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Big Cat Astro posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category