Bright Ascension

Bright Ascension Capturing ancient photons from my backyard and bringing them to life through my astrophotography.

The Great Orion NebulaConstellation 🌌: OrionDistance 📏: 1,500 lyAn unmistakably grand gem in our night sky, the Orion N...
02/09/2024

The Great Orion Nebula

Constellation 🌌: Orion
Distance đź“Ź: 1,500 ly

An unmistakably grand gem in our night sky, the Orion Nebula shines bright overhead in the winter months. I was lucky to have a string of four clear and moonless nights this week, so I took advantage of the conditions to image this nebula for the first time in two years. I wanted to stay as true to the calibrated color as I could, with very minimal tweaking. I used some shorter exposures to reveal the intensely bright core and the trapezium open cluster within. In the next few days I’ll share a closeup of the core from the shorter exposures.

Shooting from Bortle 5/6 skies I am extremely impressed with the amount of dust that came through. This is just about 15 hours of straight RGB. No H-alpha added in. Very happy with the performance of these optics and the entire rig as a whole. Everything ran so smooth and sharp during those four nights and it really shows!

A little bonus project to wrap up the season with my main rig. Stay tuned for more!

Clear skies.

“Flame of Auriga”Flaming Star Project - Part 2Here is the (almost) full FOV of my latest capture. It’s a bit taller but...
01/30/2024

“Flame of Auriga”

Flaming Star Project - Part 2

Here is the (almost) full FOV of my latest capture. It’s a bit taller but had to crop down to 4:5 for IG. I knew going into this project that this target would be a bit different to process than some of the other emission nebulae I’ve done recently. The oxygen is extremely faint, but it is definitely there! Sulfur and hydrogen are in a bit of a messy mixture that doesn’t create as much depth as I am used to getting. However, there are some beautiful structures that have come through and I was blown away by the oxygen in particular. YES, there is indeed structure there! I will make a separate post to highlight this fascinating feature, as it is very difficult to make out when mixed in with the other stronger signal from H-alpha and Oiii.

91 hours of total integrated exposure time here! Captured from my deck in my backyard under Bortle 6 skies.

If you ever have any questions about my process, gear, or just want to chat.. feel free to send me a PM!

“Rogue Star”Flaming Star Project - Part 1Thought to have been originally ejected from the Trapezium cluster in Orion, AE...
01/22/2024

“Rogue Star”

Flaming Star Project - Part 1

Thought to have been originally ejected from the Trapezium cluster in Orion, AE Aurigae (bright blue star slightly right of center) is just a visitor from afar. Evidence of its movement through the region can be seen in the faint ionized oxygen around it. As a bright O-type star, it is hot enough to ionize the gases it is passing through.. leaving behind a visible wake. I will share more details of this in a later post so be sure to stay tuned for that!

91 hours total here, 30/30/30/1 (S/H/O/RGB) is my usual target recipe for narrowband+RGB stars. It’s a tougher edit due to the weak oxygen signal and messy mix of hydrogen and sulfur emissions. But I think I accomplished what I set out for! Be sure to check out some broadband images of this region. The reflection nebula around AE Aurigae popularly imaged in broadband does not make the “cut” with my narrowband filters.

My shooting window for the winter constellations is closing as my house blocks most of the western sky. This is likely my last big project until Milky Way season returns this summer.

If you have any questions about my gear or process, feel free to PM me!

Clear skies.

Faced with many new challenges in 2023, I’m proud of the work I was still able to put together. Hopefully the weather i...
12/31/2023

Faced with many new challenges in 2023, I’m proud of the work I was still able to put together. Hopefully the weather in 2024 will be more favorable the first half of the year! Nonetheless, fall in Virginia continues to be an incredible time for astrophotography.

Thank you all for the support and interest in my work! Be sure to check out my website if you are ever interested in hanging one of these pieces on your wall!

#2023

Isolating the sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen (pictures are in that order). These are the continuum subtracted images for ...
12/09/2023

Isolating the sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen (pictures are in that order). These are the continuum subtracted images for the three filters I primarily use when imaging emission nebulae. The stars have also been removed.

I shot about 35 hrs per filter for this project. For my fellow astrophotographers out there.. if you are not spending much time on your sulfur filter, take a look at what you are missing out on!

Wavelengths:

Sii - 672.4nm
H-alpha - 656.3nm
Oiii - 500.7nm

Filters: Antlia 3nm Pro SHO

If you have any questions about this concept, my gear, process, or anything at all.. feel free to send me a PM!

Clear Skies.

“The Super Fish”🏆 AstroBin Image of the Day🗓️ December 4th, 2023The Fish & Supernova Project: Part 4Now available on my ...
12/04/2023

“The Super Fish”

🏆 AstroBin Image of the Day
🗓️ December 4th, 2023

The Fish & Supernova Project: Part 4

Now available on my website, see link in bio!

A supernova juxtaposed with an emission nebula resembling a fish. Compared to galaxies far, far away.. these structures are right in our cosmic backyard.

I always want to circle back and share the full FOV, especially for those who have followed each part I have posted. Over the last few weeks I have received so much positive feedback (including an awarded Image of the Day) for this piece. I want to thank all of you for the kind words giving recognition to my efforts.

The weather has turned less favorable in recent weeks, but the next project has kicked off and I hope that I can complete it this winter season. In the meantime I’ll put together some breakdowns of the different hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur images for my recent projects.

If you have any questions about this image, my equipment, methods, etc.. feel free to send me a PM!

Until the next one.. Clear Skies.

https://brightascension.spaceI really appreciate all the support with prints purchased on Displate! The commission is e...
11/30/2023

https://brightascension.space

I really appreciate all the support with prints purchased on Displate! The commission is extremely low so I wanted to offer an alternative where you can find a variety of options at the same affordable price. The big difference here is I will get a much larger cut of the sale, which I reinvest 100% back into my astrophotography work.

Some of my latest and most extensive work is up there and it really looks incredible on a large format. If you are considering getting a print of your own, this is the best way to get a quality print that goes a lot further to support me.

“Celestial Tapestry”The Fish & Supernova Project: Part 3Dancing across the frame are the other filaments of HB3’s shell ...
11/29/2023

“Celestial Tapestry”

The Fish & Supernova Project: Part 3

Dancing across the frame are the other filaments of HB3’s shell (see Part 2) and their overlap with the emission nebula IC 1795 / NGC 896. Check out the small planetary nebula in panel 4!

I really love shooting with a full frame camera at this focal length (780mm). It’s a great combination that captures nice details while retaining a fairly wide FOV. The trade off is that the files are huge and can be a bit cumbersome at times to work with (especially if you run drizzle integration). 106 total hours on this project, and totally worth the effort.

If you ever have any questions about my gear or process, don’t hesitate to send me a PM!

Clear skies.

“Interstellar Shockwaves”The Fish & Supernova Project: Part 2Hurtling through space upwards of 30,000 km/s are the shoc...
11/25/2023

“Interstellar Shockwaves”

The Fish & Supernova Project: Part 2

Hurtling through space upwards of 30,000 km/s are the shockwaves of SNR 132.7+1.3 (HB3). The energetic fronts OF this supernova remnant collide with interstellar matter as they emanate out from the spectacular “death” event that was observed by Japanese and Chinese astronomers in the year 1181. (Bonus: Let me know if you can spot a planetary nebula in these photos!)

105 total integrated hours of narrowband exposure time plus 1 hour of RGB stars. Here we are viewing the lower left corner of the final image I put together (see part 1 if you haven’t!). There can be so much going on in these images that I want to talk about and showcase some of the features individually.

I was extremely impressed with the amount of signal I was able to pull in with my rig, shooting from my backyard in a suburb. It is not the brightest supernova remnant, but it is also not the faintest by any means. I think it’s worth the challenge to try and image this relatively large target.

If you ever have any questions about my process or techniques, please feel free to send me a PM!

Stay tuned for Part 3! Clear Skies.

“Galactic Sushi”The Fish & Supernova Project: Part 1For my latest fall project I turned my scope just a few degrees from...
11/21/2023

“Galactic Sushi”

The Fish & Supernova Project: Part 1

For my latest fall project I turned my scope just a few degrees from the center of the Heart Nebula. IC 1795, known as the “Fish Head” nebula, has a striking resemblance to an aquatic life form. It’s kind of a mess of dust, emissions, dark nebulae.. with strong pastel-like colors coming through when imaged in SHO.

105 hours of narrowband imaging plus 1 hr of RGB star collection.. for a whopping 106 hr project. Stay tuned for the next pieces of this project as we take a look at a less commonly known supernova remnant!

If you ever have questions about my process, gear, etc.. feel free to send me a PM!

Clear skies.

“Devotion of the Heart”The Heart Project: Part 4My final post for this project is of course the (almost) full FOV of the...
11/07/2023

“Devotion of the Heart”

The Heart Project: Part 4

My final post for this project is of course the (almost) full FOV of the Heart nebula. Since IG restricts to 5:4, you can find the full version on Astrobin and it will also be available on a metal print from Displate. See link in bio!

This nebula lies about 7,500 light years away from Earth. Incredibly close to us on the cosmic scale. The colors you see here are not “true” color, but that does not mean they are meaningless or “fake”.. quite the contrary. Just look up “SHO imaging” and you’ll learn that this is how some of your favorite Hubble images were put together.

Please enjoy looking through some of the panorama closeups. If you want to take a closer look check out my AstroBin post.. I’ll put a link up in my story shortly.

If you have any questions about the technical side of acquiring and editing these images, feel free to send me a PM!

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Leesburg, VA

Website

https://linktr.ee/brightascension

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