deep space astrophotography
This page is an evolving work in progress and is not yet listed in the menu of this website. If you have stumbled upon it, please feel free to browse the text and images and do not hesitate to point out any typos and other errors. Thanks :)
"Every now and then I enjoy reaching beyond my basic equipment and the limited field of view from my urban backyard."
Using remote telescope access provides a wide range of location and equipment. It opens the window to additional observing and imaging experiences well beyond what I could access with my own gear and from my own urban backyard. From both an educational and artistic perspective, this provides exciting new challenges and opportunities to practice and expand my observational and astro-image processing skills. It is also just plain fun!
M33 • Triangulum Galaxy
SBIG STL-11000 3 CCD camera | Takahashi 150mm Refractortelescope | AstroCamp Observatory (Nerpio, Spain) | 44 minute exposure | Image data acquisition courtesy of Douglas Gardner (www.remote-astrophotography.com) | LRGB and Ha image processing by Bluespeck.ca (2021)
The Triangulum Galaxy (M33) is a spiral galaxy is located 2.73 million light-years (ly) from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. The Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, behind the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way. It is one of the most distant permanent objects that can be viewed with the naked eye (under the right dark sky conditions).
Astrometric annotations for above image courtesy of Astrometry.net
The Cygnus Wall
FLI Microline 16803 Camera | Planewave CDK 14 Telescope | Eastland County, Texas | 10 hour exposure | Image data acquisition courtesy of Remoteskies.net | Ha, SII & OIII image processing by Bluespeck.ca (2021)
The Cygnus Wall is a part of the North American Nebula (NGC 7000) in the constellation Cygnus. Located roughly 1900 light years (~11 quadrillion miles) away from Earth, the Wall portion of the nebula spans roughly 120 trillion miles across and exhibits the most concentrated star formations in the nebula. This emission nebula is made up of interstellar clouds of ionized hydrogen (HII) along with some ionized sulfur (SII) and oxygen (OIII).
NGC 7293 • Helix Nebula
Apogee U8300 Camera | Takahashi FSQ-106N Telescope | 5.1 hour exposure
Raw data acquisition courtesy of Remoteskies.net | LRGB image processing by Bluespeck.ca (2021)
Resembling a three dimensional flower, the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293 or Caldwell 63) is an expanding shell made up of dust, ionized material and molecular gas. This complex planetary nebula surrounds a dying white dwarf star. Located the constellation Aquarius, NGC 7293 is about 650 light years away and measures about 2.9 light years (about 17 trillion miles) across.
