astroscotty87

[astroscotty87]

M33 (The Triangulum Galaxy). This beautiful spiral galaxy is located in the constellation of Triangulum.  With a diameter of over 50,000 light years it is the third largest galaxy in our local group. It is gravitationally bound to the most massive local galaxy, Andromeda and half the size of our own milky way.  This galaxy is quite busy with star formation. In fact, Triangulum might be producing stars at a rate ten times that of Andromeda. I probably could have stretched more detail out but I wanted to preserve the luminosity of the galaxy.

The image is a total of 56 light frames, 30 darks, 45 flats and 45 dark flats.

Equipment: William Optics GT71, AsiPro183 color camera, skywatcher eq6rpro, guided with the asi120mini guide camera.

#space #astrophotography #deepsky #universe #galaxy #williamoptics #asi #spaceporn #nightphotography #nightsky #outerspace #triangulum #triangulum galaxy

[astroscotty87]

NCG 6992, the Eastern Veil nebula, is a heated cloud of ionized gas.  Located in the constellation Cygnus it is part of a bigger cloud complex known as the Cygnus Loop.  This area is a supernova remnant with a composition of Hydrogen, oxygen and sulfer making it a perfect target for the optolong l-enhance filter.  The gas remaining in this area is from a star that violently exploded 7,000 years ago and is approximately 1,470 light years away from earth.

#space #deepspace #NASA #Astronomy #astrophotography #asi #skywatchereq6rpro #skywatcher #nebula #veil nebula #easternveil

[astroscotty87]

IC 1396 (The Elephant Trunk Nebula) is a large and relatively faint emmision nebula that spans a swatch of the sky 100 light years across in Cepheus.  Designated IC 1396A and also know as the Elephant’s Trunk nebula is located in the cloud.  About 2400 light years from us, the elephant’s trunk itself is approximately 20 lightyears across. Image is a result of 40x6minute subexposures, 20 darks, 40 flats and 40 dark flats.

#nebula #elephant's trunk nebula #space #deepspace #deepsky #NASA #astrophotography #asi #Astronomy #nightsky #universe #science

[astroscotty87]

The Iris Nebula (NGC7023) Is a bright reflection nebula in the constellation Cepheus. It sits 1300 light years from earth.  A reflection nebula is an interstellar cloud that would normally be a dark nebula if not for some source of illumination.  In the case of the Iris nebula, the flower shape is caused by a +7.4 magnitude star that has been designated as  SAO 19158.  Notice the dark gas blocking the stars in the backround.

#space #astrophotography #nasa #nightskyphotography #deepspace #nightsky #stars #williamoptics #asi #astronomy #night #nebula

[astroscotty87]

The Double Cluster contains two open star clusters. NGC869 and NCG884 reside in the constellation of Perseus. At a distance of 7,500 light years away this pair of clusters is visible to the naked eye.

#space #deepspace #astronomy #cosmos #doublecluster #perseus #stars #astrophotography #starcluster #science #nasa #nightsky #nightphotography

[astroscotty87]

The Horsehead and Flame Nebulae. Lot’s of room for improvement on this image.  Cloudy months in western PA obscured this amazing section of the orion constellation from me this winter. I would like to do a multiple night session on this region but I only had a few hours before it set over the neighbors roof. This image is only 2.5 hours of 6 minute subs.

#horsehead #horsehead nebula #flamenebula #nebula #wintersky #orion #astrophotography #space #deepspace #nasa #nightsky #nightskyphotography #stars

[astroscotty87]

This version of the Lunar surface is known as a “mineral moon” image. There are very slight color variations in the Moon’s soil. Careful post processing techniques in astrophotography bring detail that we can’t see to life. 

#moon #mineralmoon #luna #lunar surface #moonphotography #lunarsoil #space #outerpace #celestialbody #astrophotography #celestron #nasa #nightsky #nightskyphotography

[astroscotty87]

I think this is my best image of the moon to date. By stacking a few hundred shots you can remove any atmospheric turbulence giving you the clearest image possible.

#moon #astrophotography #Astronomy #luna #nightskyphotography #moonphotography #celestialbody #craters #NASA #moonimage #space #outerspace

[astroscotty87]

M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) lies about 2.5 million light years away in the constellation of Andromeda. It's approximated to have a radius of 110,000 light years. Our closest neighboring galaxy is headed directly towards us and will collide with our Milky Way in about 4.5 billion years. Amazingly, the distance between stars is so vast that there will be next to no stellar collisions. This was the second image taken with my GT71.

#andromeda #andromedagalaxy #space #deepspace #nightsky #nightskyphotography #astrophotography #astronomy #nasa #williamoptics #galaxy #stars #universe

[astroscotty87]

Markarian’s Chain is a beautiful stretch of galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. M84 and M86 (the large elliptical galaxies on the right) were the first two discovered by Charles Messier. The other galaxies in this arch were discovered later by William Herschel and are members of the NGC Catalogue. I had fun adding the annotations to the image.

Image Details: 50x360 light frames, 20 dark frames, and 60 flat/dark flat frames.

#space #deepspace #NASA #galaxies #astrophotography #asi #williamoptics #galaxy #galaxy cluster #virgo cluster #stars #nightskyphotography #nightsky #astronomy

[astroscotty87]

M 45.The Pleiades cluster is an open cluster containing hot B type stars that are visible to the naked eye! The stars have formed within the past 100 million years and are passing through a dust cloud which causes the reflection nebulae around them.  Also, its the Subaru logo.

Image details: 20x300s, 20 darks, 40 flats and 40 bias.

Gear: William Optics Gt71, Canon t3i, Skywatcher Eq6rPro and guided by Orion SSAG and 50mm guidescope.

#pleiades #subaru #williamoptics #star cluster #eq6rpro #canon #orion #astrophotography #deepsky #spaceporn #space #astronomy

[astroscotty87]

The Orion Nebula (m42) is the closest region of massive star formation to earth. The stellar wind from these young stars is what shapes the gas that surrounds them. Visible to the naked eye albeit not like this, it is the second fuzzy "star" in orions sword. The running man nebula is in the upper left. This was my first image with the ASI 183mcpro color camera. 

#m42 #orion nebula #williamoptics #gt71 #asi183mcpro #eq6rpro #spaceporn #space #asi #nebula #trapezium #outerspace #astronomy

[astroscotty87]

Thor’s Helmet (NGC2359) Is an emmision nebula in the constellation Canis Major. Approximately 11,970lyrs away and 30lyrs in size, this beauty is home to an extremely hot Wolf-rayet star. WR7 is believed to be in a brief pre-supernova state and it is the cause of the ionization and shape of this awesome nebula. 

#space #nebula #spaceporn #thorshelmet #astrophotography #deepspace #deepskyastrophotography #williamoptics #gt71 #astronomy

[astroscotty87]

First attempt at at the Rossette Nebula. This is an HII region in Monoceros. NGC 2244 is an open star cluster in the center of the nebulosity. The cluster was formed from the matter of the nebula and they ionize the surrounding gas making it glow. Solar winds from the cluster also interact and give it the “rose” shape. Someone told me once that it looks like a skull.

Image details: 30x300 lights, 20 darks, 60 flats and 60 dark flats

Gear: William Optics Gt71, ASI183McProColor, Eq6rPro, Orion 50mm guidescope, ASI120mini

#ASI #rossettenebula #space #astrophotography #spaceporn #williamoptics #gt71 #deepskyastrophotography #nebula #nasa #night #nightsky #cosmos #universe #space photography #science

[astroscotty87]

The Milky Way over  Maungatautari, New Zealand. My wife and I tied the knot in February 2020. We honeymooned on the north island of New Zealand at a small air bnb called “Punga Lodge”. This is the sky that got me back into this hobby. (I tried years ago and got out of it for some reason) This is a single 20 second exposure. The sky was incredibly dark and NZ is just generally an awesome place to visit. I highly recommend making the trip.

Equipment: Canon 6dmarkii, tripod, edited in Adobe Lightroom

#milky way #milkywayphotography #nightphotography #NewZealand #Maungatautari #canon #canonastrophotography #canon6dmarkii #pungalodge #nightskyphotography

[astroscotty87]

M13 “The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules” - A globular cluster is a spherical collection of stars, gravitationaly bound to each other, that orbit the core of a galaxy. This particular cluster is is approximately 145 lightyears in diameter. M13 contains several hundred thousand stars. It can be visible to the naked eye (depending on viewing conditions) but individual stars can’t be made out without the help of a telescope. It’s also worth noting that these stars are extremely old. Thought to be 12-13 billion years in age, they are almost as old as the universe itself! I don’t remember how much data was accumulated to create this image as it was shot in early summer 2020.

Equipment: Celestron 8se, Skywatcher EQ6RPro, CanonT3i, Edited in Adobe Photoshop

#celestron #celestron8se #skywatcher #skywatchereq6rpro #m13 #herculescluster #globularcluster #astrophotography #deepskyastrophotography #space #canon #canont3i