Images
last updated: 2008/04/26
Images
last updated: 2008/04/26
This page is for images taken with an SBIG ST-10 on various telescopes. As always, the newest images are at the top of the table while the oldest are at the bottom.
This page has been a long time coming - more than 2 years since the first image was taken - as I became rather busy at that point. I'll add more images from my library as soon as I can.
| NGC 6357 | H-alpha 4×1 hour 13cm f/6 refractor |
What exquisite detail! A delicious object. Even more is visible at full resolution in this crop. | M8 region | Tri-colour Pentax 135mm f/3·5 lens |
Ditto the comments below. | Eta Carina region | Tri-colour Pentax 135mm f/3·5 lens |
I still don't think that colour images pick out the detail in the way that H-alpha images do - but I try anyway. | Musca | Tri-colour Pentax 135mm f/3·5 lens |
Two globulars and a "dark doodad". This shows the chromatic aberration in this lens, but it was cheap. | Vela SNR | H-alpha 6×15 minutes Pentax 135mm f/3·5 lens |
A large part of the Vela SNR fits in this image. This mosaic is made from this image, plus the NGC 2626 region image below. Makes a great finding chart. | NGC 6334/6357 region | H-alpha 5×15 minutes Pentax 135mm f/3·5 lens |
A couple of large object in Scorpius - NGC 6334 etc., and NGC 6357. I did make a tri-colour image of this region but it's just so boring compared to the H-alpha version. | NGC 2626 region | H-alpha 5×15 minutes Pentax 135mm f/3·5 lens |
RCW 32 takes centre stage, along with many friends. Difficult visual targets, but excellent in H-alpha. | M8 region | H-alpha 3×15 minutes Pentax 135mm f/3·5 lens |
M8, M20 (the blue reflection part doesn't show in H-alpha) and a host of NGC nebulae (and a couple of globular clusters, for good measure). | IC 2948 region | H-alpha 5×15 minutes Pentax 135mm f/3·5 lens |
The top-right of this frame adjoins the bottom-left of the image below, to complete this wonderful region. | Eta Carina region | H-alpha 6×15 minutes Pentax 135mm f/3·5 lens |
This has to be one of the most nebulous regions in the sky. It's a fantastic sight in binoculars, too. Apart from the Eta Carina nebula complex there are many other beautiful NGC objects here, most of them shown in close-up on this page. | NGC 3324 | [O III] 9×15 minutes 20cm f/4·5 + Baader CC |
I say [O III] but it was supposed to be H-alpha. I asked for the H-alpha filter; the FITS header says it was the H-alpha filter; but it's wasn't right. The next image I took showed almost no nebulosity, either, so I gave up. It wasn't until I was trying to focus the next evening that I realised that there was a problem with the filter wheel. Crap design. Imagine making a filter wheel that doesn't know where the wheel actually is. My design has an encoder. | IC 2948 | H-alpha 3×30 minutes 20cm f/4·5 + Baader CC |
Again, but this time with more aperture. The coma corrector wasn't quite square in the focuser due to the unfortunate alignment of the focuser's locking screws and the lens barrel's anti-drop-out cut-out. Must fix that. | NGC 3532 | Tri-colour 13cm f/6 refractor |
A large open cluster - so I thought I'd try to see if I could make the colours come out with this short (30:30:48 seconds) RGB shot. Not great. | NGC 3579/3603 | False-colour 13cm f/6 refractor |
False colour generated from the H-alpha shot below with [O III] and broad-band blue shots for the other channels. I also tried a different approach with the green channel synthesised from a combination of the H-alpha and [O III] frames, shown here. Hard to say which is better; they're both a bit peculiar. | NGC 5139 (Omega Cen.) |
tri-colour 13cm f/6 refractor |
This beautiful object fits nicely into the field of the AP130 and ST-10. Tri-colour exposures 5×5:5:8 minutes. | NGC 3579/3603 | LRGB 13cm f/6 refractor |
This region is also east of Eta Carina, but bright enough to be visible in a telescope (unlike near-by NGC 3572, shown below). 3×4:4:8 minutes. | NGC 3579/3603 | H-alpha 3×30 minute 13cm f/6 refractor |
The H-alpha - hence more detailed - view of the above nebula complex. | Vela SNR | H-alpha 3×1 hour 13cm f/6 refractor |
Another section of the Vela SNR. | NGC 3572 | Tri-colour 13cm f/6 refractor |
I propose calling this nebula the "ruby ring". 3×10:10:16 minutes. | NGC 3572 | H-alpha 4×1 hour 13cm f/6 refractor |
Another beauty in H-alpha. Quite faint this one, east of Eta Carina. Again, compare to the tri-colour above. | 2-part mosaic Vela SNR | H-alpha 2×(4×1 hour) 13cm f/6 refractor |
A section of the Vela SNR in H-alpha. Lots of detail. | Southern section Eta Carina nebula | tri-colour 13cm f/6 refractor |
Compare this tri-colour image (5×2:2:4 minutes) with the H-alpha shot below. While the colour image is nice, the fine detail is lost. It is there if you look carfully, but not as obvious as in the H-alpha shot below. | Southern section Eta Carina nebula | H-alpha 30 minute exposure 13cm f/6 refractor |
The main reason I like working in H-alpha is the amazing detail that is visible in objects. In colour, this detail is often lost - or hidden. Compare to the image above, taken with the same telescope but in colour. I prefer the H-alpha image. | NGC 2736 | H-alpha 3×60 minute exposures 13cm f/6 refractor |
Alas, I'd only just taken possession of the camera and the thing fogged up - hence the poor background, especially down the bottom of the frame (although lots of the other stuff is real!). Never happened with the Cookbook. And speaking of the Cookbook, compare it to this unfiltered image I took with my Cookbook several years ago (12×4 minutes, 20cm f/4·5 Newtonian). | M46 + NGC 2438 | Tri-colour 13cm f/6 refractor |
Just single short RGB exposures (2:2:4 minute) for this test shot. Acceptable. | IC 2948 | H-alpha 30 minute exposure 13cm f/6 refractor |
The AP130 is well suited to the ST-10's fine pixels. I've not pushed this image to show the faint detail, rather the fine detail. This close-up shows the delicious detail in the bright part of the nebula, plus the Bok globules. | 30 Dor | LRGB @ 1 minute exposures 12cm f/5 refractor |
First image with ST-10. I only had access to my old mount and telescope so I could only manage 60 second exposures for this LRGB shot of the LMC's most famous object. A good test of both CCD and the (more than 50 years old) telescope. |
