The Pelican Nebula with the Dwarf 3

This is a 4.5 hour integration of the Pelican Nebula, taken with a Dwarf 3 scope. Stacked and processed in Stellar Studio and Photoshop PS.

M 106. A 10-Hour Integration with the Seestar S50

This is a 10-hour integration if M 106 taken with the S50. Stacked and processed in Siril (VeraLux scripts and Cosmic Clarity). Tweaked in Affinity and Photoshop.

A 26 Hour Integration of M51 with the Seestar S 50

M 51 is a wonderful object for S50 imaging, and this image has a total integration time of just over 26 hours (20 second subs in EQ mode). It was stacked and processed in Siril with the Veralux and Cosmic Clarity scripts. Tweaks were made in Affinity Photo.

NGC 2244 with the Dwarf 3--A 6 hour integration.

This image is just over six hours of integration time on the Rosette Nebula. Stacked and processed in Siril with multiple VeraLux scripts with finak tweaking in Affinity. This image was taken with the Dwarf 3. Compare it with the last image I posted, captured with the Seestar S50.

NGC 2244 with the Seestar S50--a 6-hour integration

NCG 2244, the Satellite Cluster, is located in the Rosette Nebula. This image of the cluster's brightest stars is a 6-hour capture (20-second subs) with the S50. It was stacked an processed in Siril, with Cosmic Clarity and multiple VeraLux scripts. I tweaked contrast and brightness in Affinity Photo. If you click and zoom on this image, it shows a wealth of detail that the S50 captured--impressive for such a short total integration time. I also processed the image for a more "natural" look, resisting the tempation to boost the saturation and change hues 🙂

M42--12 hours with the Dwarf 3 scope

The Dwarf 3 is the perfect scope to capture detailed, wide views of the sky. This ability is particularly suited to large DSOs like the Orion Nebula. This image is a 12 hour integation on 60s subframes, stacked and procssed in Siril (with Varilux and Cosmic Clarity scripts). At 12 hours, the faint nebulosity surrounding M42 starts to become visible and the Dwarf does a fine job of capturing it. Click image to see the large version.

NGC 1333--20H with the Seestar S50 Bortle 8/9

NGC 1333. 20 hours total integration time under Bortle 8/9 skies. Processed in Siril with Veralux Hypermetric Stretch and cosmic clarity. Final tweaks in Affinity.

M 33 -- 2.5 hours with the Seestar S50

Last night, we had extremely clear and transparent skies here in Charlotte. Rather than drizze and stack it myself, I took the image below from a 4K raw FIT file stacked by the Seestar. The total integration time was 2.56 hours, with 20 second subs in EQ mode. I processed the image in Siril with Veralux and Cosmic Clarity. I adjusted saturation to bring out the many colors captired by the scope in Affinity 2.

NGC 1333 with the Seestar S50

This is a 12.5 hour integration of NGC 1333 under Bortle 8/9 skies. Given those conditions, this was a tough one, especially as it's a reflection nebula, so I couldn't use a narrowband filter. The light gradients on the stacked image were terrible, but I was able to remove them with Graxpert. Most of the processing was done in Siril--special thanks to the amazing Veralux script and Cosmic Clarity for really pulling out the detail and color. I tweaked the final image in Affinity 2.

16 hour integration of the Heart Nebula with the Dwarf 3 telescope

The Heart Nebula can be a challenging object due to its low surface brightness, especially in my neighborhood where I image under Bortle 8/9 skies. The total integration time for this image is 16 hours with 60-second subs captured in EQ mode with the duoband filter on the D3. I used Siril to stack and calibrate the images and to remove the light gradients. I then denoised in Graxpert and sharpened in Cosmic Clarity. The final result was tweaked in Affinity 2. Click the image to see it enlarged, which reveals lots of detail in the nebulosity.

25.5 Hours on M31 with Seestar S50

This image of M31 has a total of 25.5 hours of integration time. Being able to capture the galaxy without using a mosaic just one of the strengths of this little scope. I have hard time processing M31 and I'm never entirely satisfied with the result, inclusing this one. Captured with the D3 and processed in SIRIL, Graxpert, Cosmic Clarity and Affinity 2. I drizzled the individual frames x2.

Fine detail captured in the Horsehead Nebula by the Seestar S50

This is an 11-hour integaration on the Horsehead Nebula. It was processed in Siril, Graxpert, and Affinity 2. I'm surprised at the detail captured (click on the cropped image and you can see how much fine detail the Seestar captured in the nebulosity under the Horse's head). The Seestar never fails to impress me.

The Pelican Nebula with the Dwarf 3

This image is just over 2 hours of integration on the Pelican Nebula. It was taken in Bortle 8/9 skies under a full moon. I used Siril for stacking, stretching, and star processing, with tweaks in Cosmic Clarity, Graxpert, and Affinity 2.

An 8 Hour Integration of the Pelican Nebula with the Seestar S50

This is an 8-hour integration of the Pelican Nebula (EQ mode, 20s individual exposures). using the S50. The frames were stacked and star-processed in Siril with noise reduction and sharpening in Cosmic Clarity. FInal tweaking was done in Affinity 2.

18 hours on the Soul Nebula

Here’s another image of the Soul nebula. This image has a total of 18.3 hours of integration time. It was captured under Bortle 8/9 skies with at least 10 hours under nearly full and full moons. Skyglow and light gradients were big problems; the raw, stacked image did not have much promise. Processing brought out some detail and colors, but also lots of noise, despite the efforts of Graxpert to remove it 🙂. I think I’m done for this year on this object….

The Soul Nebula with the Dwarf 3

Just for fun, here’s 6 hours on the Soul Nebula with the Destf 3. I normally fo lots of post processing, but I thought I’d see what I could do using nothing but my phone. I stacked in Megastack and processed in Stellar Studio (both free packages that conecwith the scope).. I decided to take the stars out so the details in the nebula would be more visible. I then tweaked color and sharpness in Photoshop PS. The scope was in EQ mode with 60s individual exposures,

SH 2-132 The Lion Nebula. 10 Hours with the Seestar S50

Sh 2-132, the Lion Nebula is a great target at this time of year. This image has a total of 10 hours of integration time x 20s subs in EQ mode. The Lion Nebula is powered by two Wolf-Rayet stars which ionize the gas of the nebula and make it glow, raking it with intense interstellar winds. It's a little challenging to image and 10 hours is about the minimum needed to capture the finer details in the gas and dust that surround these stars.

Jupiter--The Wonder that is Digital Processing :)

I found an old image of Jupiter I took in 2022 on 12/25. It was captured with a QHY camera and my 5 inch MAK. The stacked image looked so unpromising that I didn't process it. But then I noticed it on my desktop and, just for fun, dropped it into Registax 6. I was pretty impressed what the wavelet functions pullled out. I maxed out every one of them, and the resulting image is surprisingly decent. It's quite a tribute to the venerable Registax software! I've presented before and after images here for comparison. I also performed auto color balance in Registax.

North America Nebula Mosaic

This is a 3 hour mosaic of the North America Nebula. Stacked on the D3 and processed in Stellar Studio Photoshop PS. Yet again, the D3 did an outstanding job.

The Heart and Soul Nebulas with the Dwarf 3

This is a 2.5 hour mosaic of the Heart and Soul Nebula. Stacked in Megastack and processed in Stellar Studio and Photoshop PS. This is the first time I’ve been able to capture both of these objects in a single imaging session.