I reprocessed the data obtained in Namibia, processed a few times before.
Csillagtúra 2016. november 22.
Az időjárás hosszú szünetre kényszerítette az égi barangolást, de most – 2016 november 22-én – úgy tűnik, derült lesz az ég.
Miután kiértünk az észlelőhelyre, természetesen a tájékozódással kezdjük. A Göncölök közül a nagyobbik lehet, hogy elvesződik majd a város fényében, de helyette megismerkedünk a Cassiopeiával – amely bár kevésbé ismert, legalább annyira jellegzetes az északi pólus körül, mint a Dél Keresztje a déli égbolton.
Búcsúzunk a nyári csillagképektől, melyek közül a Hattyú és a Sas uralja a nyugati égboltrészt, a legfényesebb csillag pedig a Lant csillagkép Vegája. Ezen a környéken vizsgálódott a Kepler űrtávcső és kerített elő százszámra naprendszeren kívüli bolygókat. Kis szerencsével a Tejút derengése is kivehető lesz. Az őszi ég csillagképei közül a Pegazus-Androméda-Cassiopeia egyazon mondakörbe tartoznak. Az Andromédában van a legtávolabbi, szabad szemmel még könnyen látható objektum: a Tejútnál valamivel nagyobb Androméda galaxis. Ködös csillagocskának tűnik, fénye két és fél millió évig utazott, hogy a szemünkbe érjen. A téli csillagképek közül a Bika vérben forgó szeme az ég talán legismertebb nyílt halmazához irányít: a Fiastyúkot nem lehet eltéveszteni.
A csillagtúra ingyenes, viszont fontos a szabályzat ismerete és tudomásulvétele. Az iménti linken van térkép is. A túra innen indul (1) 
46.751560, 23.544787 és a gyaloglás után itt (2) 46.739040, 23.554714 zajlik. A városba az (1)-es pontba vagy a McDonald's-hoz (3) térünk vissza.
46.751560, 23.544787 és a gyaloglás után itt (2) 46.739040, 23.554714 zajlik. A városba az (1)-es pontba vagy a McDonald's-hoz (3) térünk vissza.Cometa falsă, cadru larg
The False Comet, at 50mm
Regiunea nucleului Căii Lactee este, evident, una dintre cele mai bogate zone de pe cer. Astfel, cometa falsă – care nu este un obiect de sine stătător -, apare și ea în mai multe postări sau poze. Date tehnice: Canon 1100D mod, 35x135sec, ISO 800, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II la f/4. Datorită câmpului de stele foarte dens, mi-am folosit și programul care elimină stelele ca ele să fie repuse la loc cu impactul dorit, accentuând formele mari în loc de granulația omniprezentă.
Centaurus, Crux, Carina
Two pictures this time, both featuring Crux. Differences in processing technics and regarding the invested amount of time are visible.
alpha and beta Centauri, the Coalsack and Crux, 20x240s, ISO 800, 50 mm, F/5
The Coalsack, Crux and the Carina Nebula, 43x135s, ISO 800, 50 mm, F/4
M6, M7
The Milky Way around M6 and M7
An image of the Milky Way around open clusters M6 and M7. Many other deep sky objects are also visible. Of particular beauty is the pair on the left formed by a star, G Sco and a globular cluster, NGC 6441. Hints of red nebulosities are also visible.
Canon EF 200mm f2.8L II USM at F/4, Canon 1100D mod, 60×180 sec, ISO 800, HEQ5 pro.
The raws were taken on two nights during my expedition in May of 2016, Namibia.
Centaurus A, ω Centauri
Cen A, ω Cen
Liniștea deșertului are un farmec aparte. Lângă instrumente, stăteam într-un scaun sau fotoliu care semăna cu o sferă tăiată în două, foarte mare, solid și stabil, fiind posibil să mă întind sau să mă ghemuiesc după plac. Astfel puteam sta într-o poziție în care aveam întregul câmp vizual umplut de Calea Lactee, cu nucleul în mijloc, acesta aflându-se la zenit, o imagine simetrică, luminosă, cum spuneam mai demult, o frumusețe inumană. Oarecum copleșit de această priveliște, totuși, simți că ești: acasă. Multe nopți am petrecut așa într-o solitudine relativă, ceilalți colegi având instrumentele amplasate la 10-20 metri, trecerea timpului fiind marcată de zgomotul oglinzii și al obturatorului și de zâmzetul foarte subtil al monturii. Echipat cu un binoclu, mai aruncam câte o privire, mai mult poetică decât astronomică – așa mi-a venit ideea să pozez o pereche neobișnuită. (tovább…)
Rosette Nebula (Caldwell 49), 2016-10-16 processing
Rosette Nebula (as processed on 2016-10-16)
I used the old raw material as described in this post, but this time I used the new program described here. This is the result.
From wikipedia: The Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237, 2238, 2239, and 2246) is a diffuse nebula in Monoceros. It has an overall magnitude of 6.0 and is 4900 light-years from Earth. The Rosette Nebula, over 100 light-years in diameter, has an associated star cluster and possesses many Bok globules in its dark areas. It was independently discovered in the 1880s by Lewis Swift (early 1880s) and Edward Emerson Barnard (1883) as they hunted for comets.
I also looked up the small open cluster on the lower right of the frame, it is NGC 2236. It is about 9600 light years away, ie about twenty times further than the Pleiades.
Canon 1100D mod, obi de 200mm F/2.8 la F/4, 20×150 sec, ISO 800, EQ3, Dângău Mare, Cluj, 2016-04-03
Heart and Soul revisited
Heart and Soul nebulae, processed on 2016-10-15
In the camp at the Rotunda Pass, my plan was to acquire hours of light on the Heart and Soul, but the sky thought otherwise. I squeezed out about 8 fair exposures, 4 being with good and 4 with decent transparency (ie less contrast). So the instruments: Canon 1100D mod, 8×3 minutes, ISO 1600 at 200mm F/4 on the HEQ5 mount. I reprocessed the picture with the new star removal tool I developed a few days ago.
The Gamma Cygni Region revisited
The gamma Cygni region, reprocessed on 2016-10-14
I wasn’t satisfied with the outcome of my star handling program so I rewrote it. The goal was to obtain an image that is as technically accurate as possible, while contains less artifacts and it is more appealing than the original.
I recorded with the Canon 1100D mod 21×150 sec, ISO 1600, with the lens Canon EF 200mm f2.8L II USM dialed to F/4, mounted on the HEQ5. The main feature is the red glow of the ionized hydrogen region around γ Cygni (the brightest star in the frame) with dramatic gaps caused by clouds of dark nebulae. The Crescent Nebula is also there. The object is also known as NGC 6888, Caldwell 27, Sharpless 105, and is a nebula blown by the Wolf-Rayet star WR 136 (HD 192163) expected to go supernova in the next 100k years.
How I handle the stars
Veil Nebula, about 4 hours
This post is outdated, this is the new article.
A dense starfield can be the amateur astronomer’s nightmare for it can effectively hide the faint nebula behind it. The more errors add up, the less is reveiled of the target. Why? Because the stars that are supposed to be pointlike get big, lens errors blow up the stars, bad seeing blows up the stars, any amount of dew on the lens or fog spoil the stars while the nebula is still there. So I thought of something: what if I could tune the volume of the stars. Another train of thought arose from an image artifact I keep getting – a panda eye like feature, ie a dark ring around the pointlike luminous stars. These two problems amazingly have almost the same solution: throw out the stars and use the remaining context. The point being aesthetics and not science, I started to brew a software.
