Blog

Sh2-132 The Lion Nebula

By John Chumack|2023-08-21T11:18:00+00:00August 21st, 2023|Tags: #ASIAIR, #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #discover, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #lionnebula, #natgeo, #nebula, #Sh2-132, #universe, #Universetoday, #ZWO, #ZWO294MC|

The last 6 months have been terrible with clouds & fire Smoke…but I still try to shoot something!!!

At least this nebula does look like it’s nickname.
The Lion Nebula Sh2-132 is a faint emission nebula(star formation region) in the constellations of Cepheus, near the border of Lacerta.
It’s distance is between 10,000 and 12,000 light years away.(1 Light year = approximately 5.8 Trillion Miles)
The components of this emission nebula are hydrogen and oxygen gases, which are stimulated to a high energy state by ultra violet light from nearby stars and subsequently re-emit the light.
The darker areas within the nebula are “dark nebulae,” which are dust clouds that obscure light.
Capture Details:
Celestron RASA 8inch F2.2, Software Bisque MyT Mount, ZWO 294MC Cooled Color Cmos Camera, ZWO ASI Air Plus via Ethernet to IPAD, Starizona NBZ UHS Filter, 26 x 300 second subs, 130 minute total integration time taken from my backyard observatory(bortle8), Dayton, Ohio on 08-13-2023.

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

Sharpless 171, NGC-7822 and Berkeley 59

By John Chumack|2023-08-10T11:30:48+00:00August 10th, 2023|Tags: #ASIAIR, #berkeley59, #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #nebula, #NGC7822, #sharpless171, #skyatnight, #universe, #Universetoday, #ZWO, #ZWO294MC, Cepheus|

NGC-7822 Emission Nebula in Cepheus
NGC 7822, also known as Cederblad 214 is a young star forming complex in the constellation of Cepheus.
The complex encompasses the emission region designated Sharpless 171 or LBN 589, and the young cluster of stars
named Berkeley 59. The complex is believed to be some 2,900 light-years away.
Its diameter is about 300 light years.
Captured with my RASA 8inch diameter F.2.2 Scope, Bisque MyT Mount, ZWO 294MC cooled Cmos Camera, Starizona NBZ UHS Filter, ASI Air Plus via Wi-Fi to I-Pad,
24 x 300 second Subs, total 2 hour total integration time from my backyard Observatory(bortle8) in Dayton, Ohio on 07-16-2023.

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

IC-1396 Emission Nebula with Mu Cephei and Dark Nebulae

By John Chumack|2023-08-05T22:27:29+00:00August 5th, 2023|Tags: #ASIAIR, #asiairplus, #asiweek, #celestron, #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #GalacticImages, #garnetstar, #JohnChumack, #mucephei, #natgeo, #nebula, #skyatnight, #universe, #Universetoday, #ZWO, #ZWO294MC, Astronomy, Astrophotography, Space|

IC-1396 A stunning emission nebula and “Dark” nebula. IC 1396 mixes glowing cosmic gas and dark dust clouds in the high and far off constellation of Cepheus.
This is a large and faint emission nebula, a star forming region that is over 100 light-years across, and is located about 2,400 light-years away from Earth.
Embedded is the star cluster Trumpler 37 near center, and the red super-giant star Mu Cephei, also known as the Garnet Star (at extreme upper right edge).
The nebula gets its power from the star HD206267 near the center of this image.

You can see the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula at the bottom center of this image as well as some nice dark nebula through out the FOV.

We had Fire/smoke haze for weeks and while dodging high thin clouds almost nightly, but I got enough clean data in between to finally put it together.

Celestron RASA 8 inch F2.2 scope, Bisque MyT Mount, ZWO 294 MC cooled Color Cmos Camera, ZWO ASI Air Plus, via Wi-Fi to I-Pad,
38 x 300 second Subs, 3 hours 10 minutes Total integration time. 07-29-2023 to 08-04-2023 from my backyard observatory(bortle8) in Dayton, Ohio.

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

Sh2-114 – The Flying Red Dragon Nebula in Cygnus

By John Chumack|2023-07-31T00:37:11+00:00July 31st, 2023|Tags: #ASIAIR, #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #nebula, #sh2-113, #sh2-114, #skyatnight, #theflyingreddragon, #universe, #Universetoday, #ZWO, #ZWO294MC, Astronomy, Astrophotography, Cygnus|

Sh2-114 The Flying Red Dragon Nebula in Cygnus, also known as LBN 347 and is embedded in the larger LBN 346 structure.
Some of the many objects in this FOV are Sh2-113, LBN 333, 67 Cygni, Planetary nebula PK 083-08.1, and several background PGC galaxies.
This was a really faint one,…no recorded magnitude could be found for this HII emission nebula.
This is a very faint but interesting Nebula hidden in this extremely rich star field located at 3,848 Light years from Earth in the Swan Constellation.
Some of the delicate structure looks similar to a (SNR) supernova remnant, but there are no recorded Supernova in this region.
Its complex, wispy structure is likely the result of winds from hot massive stars interacting with the magnetic fields in the interstellar medium.
But very little is known about it, So i decided to take a crack at it from my Backyard observatory(bortle8) in Dayton, Ohio on 07-29-2023.
Unfortunately, I had to toss out about half my image data due to thin cirrus clouds floating through my images last night,
but I still ended up with about 2 hours of usable data.
I did manage to stretch it enough to show a decent image.
Also a few faint galaxies are visible in the background as well.
RASA 8 inch F2.2 Telescope, Bisque MyT Mount, ZWO 294MC cooled Cmos Camera, Starizona NBZ UHS Filter, ASI Air Plus controlled via Wi-Fi to Ipad, 24 x 300sec subs, 2 hours total exp time.
Calibration & Processing via DSS, Pixinsight, and Adobe Raw CC 2023.

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

The Pelican Nebula – wide angle with a RASA 8

By John Chumack|2023-07-25T11:23:18+00:00July 25th, 2023|Tags: #ASIAIR, #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #GalacticImages, #IC5070, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #nebula, #pelicannebula, #RASA8, #skyatnight, #universe, #Universetoday, #ZWO, #ZWO294MC, Astronomy, Space|

Here is my shot taken while dodging fireworks & enduring the fire smoke /haze……
I see the vague Pelican head, but it looks more like a deer head profile facing right or pterodactyl head pointing left to me…what do you see???

The Pelican Nebula (also known as IC 5070 and IC 5067) is an H II star formation region associated with the North America Nebula in the constellation Cygnus.
Located about 1,800 light-years away, the Pelican is heavily studied because it has a particularly active mix of star formation and evolving gas clouds.

The light from young energetic stars is slowly transforming cold gas to hot and causing an ionization front gradually to advance outward.
Notice all the massive dark nebula present in this FOV?

I really like the large well defined mountains of gas and dust at the center.
Particularly dense filaments of cold gas are seen to still remain, and among these are two jets emitted from the Herbig–Haro object 555.

Capture details:
Celestron RASA 8″ F2.2 Scope, ZWO 294MC cooled Cmos Camera, Starizona NBZ UHS Filter, Bisque MyT Mount, ASI Air Plus via Wi-Fi,
24 x 300 sec. sub exposures, 120 min total integration time.
From my backyard Observatory in Dayton, Ohio(bortle8) on 07-03-2023
DSS, Pixinsight, and Adobe Raw 2023.

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

Sh2-119 The Clamshell Nebula, A Close-up shot!

By John Chumack|2023-07-13T11:23:33+00:00July 13th, 2023|Tags: #ASIAIR, #ChumackObservatories, #Clamshellnebula, #cosmos, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #nebula, #sh2-119, #skyatnight, #universe, #Universetoday, #ZWO, #ZWO294MC, Cygnus, Space|

Sh2-119 The Clamshell Nebula Complex in Cygnus, occasionally a star field is so overwhelming that it makes it very difficult to see all the fine details within the Nebula.
Sometimes I use software to remove the stars, this helps me to explore, and discover new things that could easily be missed in a star studded FOV.
In the version with all the stars visible, the bright star at center is 68 A Cygni.

I have included a “Starless” version so that you too can explore the nebula’s finer dark dust and structural details.
Put them both up full screen and explore the Clamshell Nebula!

Sharpless 119 is a glowing cloud of gas and dust (star formation region) located about 2,200 light years from Earth.
Celestron RASA 8 inch F2.2 Scope, Bisque MyT Mount, ZWO 294MC cooled Cmos Camera, Starizona NBZ UHS filter, ASI Air Plus, 24 x 300 sec. sub exposures, 2 hour total integration time on 07-12-2023. Captured from my backyard Observatory(bortle8) in Dayton, Ohio. Calibration, Stacking, & Processing in DSS, Pixinsight, Adobe Raw CC 2023, StarXTerminator.

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

NGC-6992 & NGC-6995 The Veil Nebula SNR (The Bat & Mosquito)

By John Chumack|2023-07-05T12:07:47+00:00July 5th, 2023|Tags: #ASIAIR, #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #cygnusloop, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #nebula, #NGC6992, #NGC6995, #skyatnight, #supernova, #supernovaremnant, #universe, #Universetoday, #veilnebula, #ZWO, #ZWO294MC, Astronomy, Space|

Here is my latest shot, now that the Canadian Fire/Smoke Haze has moved off to our East,
You should put this up full screen to see the finer details in the Supernova Remnant!!!

It’s a Supernova explosion from over 5,000 years ago,
The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus, located about 1, 470 light-years from Earth.
It constitutes the visible portions of the Cygnus Loop, a supernova remnant, many portions of which have acquired their own individual names and catalogue identifiers.

NGC-6992 & NGC-6995 The Eastern Veil Nebula SNR (Bat & Mosquito)

NGC6992 & NGC6995 The Eastern Veil Nebula in Cygnus, A beautiful Supernova Remnant
the left section known as the Bat, I had not previously noticed the small bright piece of the supernova remnant at the far left edge of this frame,
so I’m naming it the Mosquito, as it looks like the Bat is chasing it.

While I was dodging Fireworks and high clouds, and the nearly Full Moon that night, it finally cleared off long enough for me
to capture this image from my backyard observatory(bortle8) in Dayton, Ohio on 07-04-2023.
I was so happy to see that there was no fire smoke/haze over us for a change, lots of humidity and dew though.

My Capture details:
Celestron RASA 8 inch F2.2 Astrograph, Software Bisque MyT Robotic Mount, and ZWO 294MC Cooled Cmos Color Camera, ASI Air Plus via Wi-Fi to IPAD,
Starizona NBZ filter, 38 x 2 minute subs, 76 minute total exposure integration time. Calibration & Stacking in Deep Sky Stacker, Pixinsight, Adobe Raw CC 2023.

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

NGC-7000 The North America Nebula Complex – RASA 8

By John Chumack|2023-06-30T13:17:27+00:00June 30th, 2023|Tags: #ASIAIR, #asiweek, #celestron, #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #NGC7000, #northamericanebula, #RASA8, #skyatnight, #universe, #Universetoday, #ZWO, #ZWO294MC, Astronomy, Space|

Here is my latest close-up of the North America Nebula.
The North America Nebula Complex (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus,
close to Deneb.
Distance: 2,590 ± 80 light years from Earth.
Celestron RASA 8 Inch F2.2 Scope, Bisque MyT Mount, ZWO 294MC cooled Cmos Camera, Starizona NBZ filter. DSS, Pixinsight, Adobe Raw CC 2023.
51 x 1 minute subs, total exposure integration time was 51 minutes,
from my backyard observatory in Dayton, Ohio(bortle8) on 06-18-2023.

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

Veil Nebula SNR, Witches Broom, and Pickering’s Triangle with a RASA 8″

By John Chumack|2023-06-19T23:00:01+00:00June 19th, 2023|Tags: #celestrCon, #cosmos, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #ngc6960, #pickeringstriangle, #supernova, #supernovaremnant, #universe, #Universetoday, #veilnebula, #witchesbroom, #ygnus, Astronomy, Astrophotography, Space|

Looking through the Pea soup in Dayton Last night, I could only see about 9 stars visible, between light Pollution, fire smoke haze, and the poor transparency, I was pleasantly surprised to have gotten this nice image while testing my 8 inch scope out on the Veil Nebula Supernova Remnant Region. NGC6960 Veil Nebula, Witches Broom, and Pickering’s Triangle. 2,100 light years away from Earth.

Celestron RASA 8 inch diameter scope , ZWO 294MC cooled Cmos Camera, Starizona Filter drawer, IDAS NBZ Filter, 60 x 1 minute, no Auto-guiding, 60 min total, using Pro-track on Software Bisque MyT Robotic Mount. captured on 06-17-2023 from my (bortle8) backyard in Dayton, Ohio.

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

The Planet Venus on 06-10-2023 UV & IR Light

By John Chumack|2023-06-11T15:21:24+00:00June 11th, 2023|Tags: #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #QHYCCD, #skyatnight, #solarsystem, #universe, #Universetoday, Astronomy, Astrophotography, Planets, Space, Venus|

My latest shot of Venus
I captured the Planet Venus in UV(ultra-violet 320-380nm) & IR(infrared 850nm) & Green wavelengths,
showing the clouds tops structure of Sulfuric Acid Clouds in the Venusian atmosphere.
Venus is the second planet from the Sun and Earth’s closest planetary neighbor.

It’s distance is currently ~ 61 Million miles from Earth,
or 98,955,797 kilometers, equivalent to 0.661479 Astronomical Units.

Even though Mercury is closer to the Sun,
Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system. Its thick atmosphere is full of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, and it has clouds of sulfuric acid.
The Surface temperatures on Venus are about 900 degrees Fahrenheit (475 degrees Celsius) – hot enough to melt lead. The surface is a rusty color and it’s peppered with intensely crunched mountains and thousands of large volcanoes.

Captured on 06-10-2023 @ 01:38 UT from Dayton, Ohio. I was imaging at dusk, sky still blue, but needed to capture it before my neighbors trees covered it up. C-11 SCT telescope, F20 via a 2x Barlow, (5600mm), Software Bisque MyT Mount, QHY 290M uncooled Cmos Camera, ZWO 5 position filter wheel, Baader IR RGB UV filters, Fire_Capture Software, saved as SER video File, Stacked in Autostakkert, Wavelets in Regitaxs6, combined UV, IR & Green channels in Maxim DL., final in Adobe Raw CC 2023.

I captured 2000 frames for each channel in IR, UV, and standard RGB files, I then processed them all,
choosing the best filter channel combinations that best displayed the most cloud tops details visible during my imaging session.

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

Title