I couldn't let a night sky challenge go by without at least making an attempt at my favorite subject. Unfortunately, this challenge was scheduled around a full moon, which washes out faint objects, so I waited until the last clear night before the deadline. That happened to be a night with an excessive heat warning and bazillion percent humidity, so I spent four hours in a sauna.
The Trifid is one of the most interesting objects in the sky: a combination of emission nebula (the red part), reflection nebula (the blue part), and open cluster M21 in the bottom left corner. The nebula is a stellar nursery, and there are about 150 newborn and developing stars hidden in the dust.
The image was captured from the Westport Observatory using my own guided refractor (essentially an 805mm f/7 lens), and composed of 75 stacked frames at 90 seconds each. The bright moon and haze really washed out the frames, and it took a lot of Pixinsight and Photoshop voodoo to bring out the details. Next time, how about a night sky challenge when it actually gets dark?
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Next time when you do, ping me and I will drive up north. I haven't done these kind of things and WOULD love to do that and see how you do :)
Of course, anytime! I'm out shooting on most clear nights (four times so far this week), so whenever it's convenient for you. I'll give you a tour of the observatory, too.
Awesome!!!
Next time when you do, ping me and I will drive up north. I haven't done these kind of things and WOULD love to do that and see how you do :)
marvelous photograph(s) ... !! ..
i have looked into this type of photography and was overwhelmed by the technicalities of it ..
by the sounds of it you had quite a challenge getting the end result ..
congratulations on the blue ribbon .. worth the sauna and the frustration of shooting in less than ideal conditions .. :)
M20: The Trifid Nebula
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