My humble NEOWISE

Sent: Friday, July 10, 2020 5:48 PM to my team at work, "kicking myself for not getting up."

I made up for.  Sunday AM I got up on my own with no alarm at ~4:25AM EDT.  Drove over to a big field between Cary and Holly Springs I believe it's part of the Southeast area of Swift Creek, NC, to get this…. 

 

 

FULL resolution here

I had my alarm set for 4:45AM when the comet was supposed to clear the horizon.  I didn't account for ~10 min to drive to this spot, but I awoke on my own anyway.  I made the short trip only to find that I didn't have the tripod adapter I assumed I had packed the night prior.  I didn't feel the time to return back home and to the site again was time well spent, soinstead decided to lean the camera and adapter shoe straight on the quiet, rural road instead of the tripod itself.  Only later, after I got home did I realize that I had the 'missing' adapter on the binoculars as well.  Regardless I was able to hold the camera and 70->200mm zoom lens still enough for the planned 5s subs for several tens of minutes!  Refocusing by hand, without a trip was quite challenging, but in the end I'm glad I was able to pull it all out.

I did have to move from the road when a car passed by.  A few minutes later I had a 2nd car visit and this one stopped.  This is why I hate being alone on rural roads at that hour.  Turned out a fellow local observer had the same idea as I did.  We chatted for sometime but never exchanged info.  Hopefully someone can show him this photo taken from Pierce Olive Rd near the old cow pasture!

Cygnus - Sadr Region

From the Crescent Nebula to the Sadr Region

I have had this camera for over 5 years and have yet to really discover it's full potential. I have been focusing more on how to squeeze the most out of it. I decied to lower the ISO from 1600 to 400, add some solid guiding via the C8 and QHY guidecam as well as ad bias calibration. I'm quite pleased with how the end result came out! It is minimally processed after all new darks, flats and new bias frames added to the stacking in DSS.

Solved annotation: http://nova.astrometry.net/user_images/3747039#annotated

Included in this region are the following:

 

SAC        20h18m50.13s        +40°47'40.1"        OC        Cr 419        m: 5.40        sbr:        Dim: 4.5 x 4.5 '        pa: 90        class:IV 2 p        desc:13''-pB;pL;nRi;sC; 16* mags 11..13 at 100X;Compact but not rich;N of Struve 2666;14 * to 13 mag        Const:CYG                

SAC        20h24m39.81s        +38°35'48.5"        OC        M 29        m: 6.60        Name:NGC 6913        sbr:11.00        Dim: 7.0 x 7.0 '        pa: 90        class:III 3 p n        desc:Cl;P;lC;st L&S;About 20 stars mags 8...        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h17m16.00s        +37°41'38.4"        OC        IC 4996        m: 7.30        Name:Cr 418        sbr:        Dim: 6.0 x 6.0 '        pa: 90        class:I 3 p n        desc:Cl;st 8...13;        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h23m56.37s        +40°50'47.2"        OC        NGC 6910        m: 7.40        Name:OCL 181        sbr:        Dim: 8.0 x 8.0 '        pa: 90        class:I 2 p n        desc:Cl;pB;pS;P;pC;*20.12;H VIII 56;In Gamma Cyg nebula and Cyg OB9        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h04m34.97s        +44°13'19.2"        OC        NGC 6866        m: 7.60        Name:OCL 183        sbr:        Dim: 7.0 x 7.0 '        pa: 90        class:II 2 m        desc:Cl;L;vRi;cC;H VII 59;50* mags 10...        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h21m09.54s        +38°45'43.7"        OC        Berk 86        m: 7.90        sbr:        Dim: 8.0 x 8.0 '        pa: 90        class:I 3 p n        desc:13''-pF;pS;nRi;nC 19* mags 10..13 at 135X;        Const:CYG                

SAC        20h12m04.83s        +35°54'31.3"        OC        NGC 6883        m: 8.00        Name:OCL 148        sbr:        Dim: 15.0 x 15.0 '        pa: 90        class:I 3 p n        desc:Cl;pRi;** inv; r Gamma CYG        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h12m51.36s        +38°24'32.0"        Nb        NGC 6888        m:10.00        Name:LBN 203        sbr:        Dim: 20.0 x 10.0 '        pa: 90        class:E        desc:F;vL;vmE;** att;H IV 72;Crescent Neb;Wolf-Rayet * invl        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h24m01.79s        +41°45'47.2"        OC        Cr 421        m:10.10        sbr:        Dim: 6.0 x 6.0 '        pa: 90        class:III 1 p n        desc:13''-pF;pS;nRi;lC; 22* at 135X;        Const:CYG                

SAC        20h25m32.86s        +40°13'49.5"        Drk        LDN 889        m:11.00        sbr:79.90        Dim: 90.0 x 20.0 '        pa: 90        class:4 Ir        desc:;Wide lane in IC 1318 following Gamma Cyg        Const:CYG                

SAC        20h27m24.59s        +43°48'51.5"        Drk        B 346        m:11.00        Name:LDN 906        sbr:79.90        Dim: 10.0 x 4.0 '        pa: 90        class:6 K        desc:;In patchy area 2.8 deg preced and 1.5 deg south of Deneb        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h14m14.21s        +40°19'33.7"        Drk        B 343        m:11.00        Name:LDN 880        sbr:79.90        Dim: 10.0 x 5.0 '        pa: 90        class:5 Ir G        desc:;1.7 deg preceeding Gamma Cyg        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h29m09.20s        +39°58'54.5"        Drk        B 347        m:11.00        Name:LDN 889        sbr:79.90        Dim: 10.0 x 1.0 '        pa: 90        class:5 Ir        desc:;Narrow streak 1.2 deg foll and 20' south of Gamma Cyg        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h11m01.42s        +41°16'28.9"        C+N        IC 1311        m:13.10        Name:OCL 173        sbr:        Dim: 5.0 x 5.0 '        pa: 90        class:II 3 r n        desc:30 pF * in eF neby;small cluster;Neb Descr=60'x20' emission neb in sev parts near Gamma CYG        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h26m45.02s        +40°03'51.2"        Nb        IC 1318        m:14.90        Name:Sh2-108        sbr:        Dim: 45.0 x 20.0 '        pa: 90        class:E        desc:Gamma Cygni Neb;L patches of F nebulosity;Portions of neby surround Gamma Cyg;elong generally E-W        Const:CYG        

Full steps:

Guided in QHY at f/10 on 8" SCT on CGE mount with PHD2

Imaged piggy back on 200mm f/4 Canon lens.

Camera is stock Canon 60Da with LP filter.

Shot 26 x 5min subs with EOS Utility

Stacked and calibrated in DeepSkyStacker (DSS)

Processed in Photoshop:

Levels and Curves

Topaz Noise reduction

Saturation adjustment

Slight sharpening with Google NIX

Assembled menu'ing and text overlays in GIMP

My widefield Horsehead, Flame, Running Man and Orion Nebulae

I tried something new that I have not done before and that was to piggy back my 200mm lens with the Canon 60Da camera onto the 14".  I had planned on guiding but the coldness of mid 20*F kept me from that extra bit of setup.  I found that the 200mm at f/4 and 1600ISO on the 60Da did pretty well up to 2min unguided and even roughly aligned.

Here's a 1900x1200 HD version that will fit your screen pretty well http://i.imgur.com/4hYb6LM.png

Here's the monster full res version of 5200x3400, from the camera's resolution!  http://i.imgur.com/OUeiMQU.jpg


Next time I will try guiding but I think there might be a portion of my finder in the lower areas of the frame that is reflecting some light into the lens.  I'd like to look at resurrecting my old 6" with 4" guide scope onto a new mount for these types of shots as it is VERY fun and rewarding to use a one-shot color camera on nebula.  Nextime I will work harder to mask the brighter areas of the Orion Nebula too, as it's a bit washed out in some areas.

Thanks for looking,

Mike

ATTENTION: I am switching my photos and videos

As soon as I catch up with all my 'existing' photos and videos I will start using Google Plus (G+) for new photos and videos.  You may have already started receiving them there.  If not, let me know and I'll be sure to add you to my circles and send a G+ invite.  Over on G+ the photos and videos autoupload from the cell phone in very high quality (8MegaPixel cam) and 1080p videos, and in nearly realtime.

It's been fun Multiply, but it's time to upgrade!

Astronomy stuff may land here or in Picasa Web albums... not sure yet, but do use the main page for astro stuff, http://maphilli14.webs.com/

Mike