Campin' Under the Stars

Campin' Under the Stars Going to dark skies capturing deep sky objects in pictures and video.

This photo of the Crescent nebula was taken at Monument Valley, Utah. Unfortunately it is only 95 minutes of capture tim...
06/10/2025

This photo of the Crescent nebula was taken at Monument Valley, Utah. Unfortunately it is only 95 minutes of capture time and includes only Hydrogen and Oxygen data. The software had a fatal error and failed to capture more Oxygen and captured zero Sulfur data.

This image is a HOO image instead of a SHO image. The red you see is Hydrogen data and the fainter blue-green is Oxygen data. If you look closely there is some Oxygen data around the main object.

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With a big camping trip comping up had to get a night of astrophotography in at home before we leave. It helps to make s...
05/12/2025

With a big camping trip comping up had to get a night of astrophotography in at home before we leave. It helps to make sure we pack everything we need.

Decided to get about 6 hours in on an old favorite in galaxy season, Messier 51 also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy.

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Clear skies last night at home. We visited old friend Bode’s galaxy, that is at the center of the image. On the upper ri...
03/11/2025

Clear skies last night at home. We visited old friend Bode’s galaxy, that is at the center of the image. On the upper right is the Cigar galaxy.

The second image is a generated sky map that shows where it is in the sky. If you can find the Little Dipper, these galaxies are always nearby. The end of the handle of the Little Dipper is Polaris, or also known as the North Star.

Both galaxies are too dim to be seen with just your eyes, you would need at least binoculars to see Bode’s as a gray fuzzy patch.

Bode’s is 12 million light years from Earth.

First time I’ve captured these objects so that fact alone makes it fun. This is known as the Spider and the Fly. The Spi...
12/23/2024

First time I’ve captured these objects so that fact alone makes it fun. This is known as the Spider and the Fly. The Spider being in the center and the Fly located in the lower right.

An Arctic blast in December is quite bone chilling but often brings clear skies. The first clear night here in 36 days.

This is 6 hours of capture data.

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Our neighbor galaxy Andromeda. In addition to the 2 other small galaxies here - Messier 32 (below) and Messier 110 (just...
11/09/2024

Our neighbor galaxy Andromeda. In addition to the 2 other small galaxies here - Messier 32 (below) and Messier 110 (just above).

Just a few hours of capture time since it is such a bright object. The few times I did visual astronomy I remember seeing Andromeda in the eyepiece. It was a circular gray patch surrounded by the blackest black you have ever seen.

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September, October and early November have been kind to capturing astronomy images. More than our share of clear nights....
11/08/2024

September, October and early November have been kind to capturing astronomy images. More than our share of clear nights.

Here is the latest capture of the Elephants Trunk nebula. Captured in SHO with a monochrome camera and light filters.

Notice the dark sections - that is not just space but dark clouds of gas so thick they block all light from stars behind them.

Amazing.

The final image captured of the Bubble nebula when Phin and I camped in the driveway. The data is more than just that ni...
10/08/2024

The final image captured of the Bubble nebula when Phin and I camped in the driveway. The data is more than just that night, a total of 16 hours of exposure time.

The Redcat 71 telescope has quite a large field of view.

In the first photo you can see there are 3 objects near each other. A cluster called Messier 52 near the top, NGC 7538 at the lower right and in the center the Bubble. This photo is an SHO image.

The second photo is a scaled closer-up view of the Bubble. This photo is an HOO image. Since hydrogen alpha gas is usually the strongest in these astro photos, it is shown as the red color here.

Part of the Milky Way not commonly photographed is NGC 7822. A young star forming region just 2900 light years from Eart...
09/16/2024

Part of the Milky Way not commonly photographed is NGC 7822. A young star forming region just 2900 light years from Earth. The first time I have photographed the area. Many beautiful colors.

A September to remember as far as astrophotography goes in Central NY with 10 very clear nights out of the first 15. The weather looks to be turning back to a more normal state over the next 10 days. The next time it will be clear we will embark onto something new.

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Here is Messier 27 also known as the Dumbbell nebula. It is a close neighbor to Earth as its only 1350 light years away ...
09/13/2024

Here is Messier 27 also known as the Dumbbell nebula. It is a close neighbor to Earth as its only 1350 light years away in our Milky Way galaxy.

This was captured in narrowband (mono camera) and presented as a HOO image.

Nearly 13 hours of exposure time. Unfortunately it has begun to move behind a tree so capturing more data is limited. Time to go onto another target.

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The Wizard Nebula (NGC 7380) in SHO.The most time I've spent capturing photons on a single object at 33.5 total hours.Th...
09/06/2024

The Wizard Nebula (NGC 7380) in SHO.

The most time I've spent capturing photons on a single object at 33.5 total hours.

The Wizard is a fun object to capture because it really looks like a wizard. You can see he is facing to his left and is in profile from our perspective. You can see his pointy wizard hat, his pointy nose and right eye which is a star. Further down you can see his hands and feet which are star forming regions.

The Wizard is located in our own Milky Way galaxy so is a friendly neighbor. Discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. Just a mere 8500 light years away.

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This is the North America nebula. The structure on the upper right is called the Cygnus Wall and is a star formation are...
08/15/2024

This is the North America nebula. The structure on the upper right is called the Cygnus Wall and is a star formation area.

This SHO image was captured with over 21 hours of exposure time. Love those rust and blue colors.

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Here is a recent project of capturing the Cygnus Loop. The Cygnus Loop is a Supernova Remnant. The full image is built ...
07/27/2024

Here is a recent project of capturing the Cygnus Loop. The Cygnus Loop is a Supernova Remnant. The full image is built as a mosaic from 4 panels in a 2x2 orientation.

In the distance past what could have happened is a massive star exploded and now consists of ejected material expanding from the explosion.

The area is so large in the sky that most telescopes cannot capture the entirety, so people will photo the three most unique features. I also have included those as cropped images. They are known as the Eastern Veil, Western Veil and Pickering's Triangle.

Over four evenings 18 hours of data was captured to create the full image. The image is a SHO (Sulfur, Hydrogen Alpha, and Oxygen III) defining a Red, Green, Blue image.

If you could see this with your eyes (it's too dim for humans to see) it is at least as large as four full moons. Next time you see the full moon imagine that the Cygnus Loop is at least 4 times larger to your eyes.

Located about 1470 light years from Earth.

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