Category: Astrophotography

I shot this with my 11″ SCT and Hyperstar, 40 60 second subs stacked. This could use a longer focal length than the 532 mm provided by the Hyperstar but it did a good job anyway. I used an Optolong L-Pro filter to reduce light pollution.

Messier 13 or M13, also designated NGC 6205 and sometimes called the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules or the Hercules Globular Cluster, is a globular cluster of several hundred thousand stars in the constellation of Hercules.
M13 was discovered by Edmond Halley (of comet fame) in 1714, and cataloged by Charles Messier on June 1, 1764 into his list of objects not to mistake for comets; Messier’s list, including Messier 13, eventually became known as the Messier Catalog.

I’ve mentioned the Sadr region before. The bright star in this image is Sadr, or Gamma Cygni, or the intersection of the wings and the main body of Cygnus the Swan. The dark nebula separating the two glowing nebulae is B 347 while the other two are IC 1318 and IC 1318B. This was made from 43 sixty second images using my 11″ SCT with Hyperstar and an L-eNhance filter. Taken Thursday evening from the River Ridge Observatory.

As a follow-up to the DSLR image of the North American Nebula that I posted yesterday, Sunday evening I went back to the River Ridge Observatory and did a close up of that nebula and the adjacent Pelican Nebula. I used my 11″ SCT with Hyperstar and L-eNhance filter to shoot in three narrow frequencies. Each image is made from 40 sixty second images. I did a minimum of processing this morning as I had to get to work.In the first image you see the shape of North America and specifically the “Cygnus Wall” in “Mexico” and “Central America”. On the right hand edge you can see the start of the Pelican Nebula which is the focus of the second image.