Collecting  Photons

Cederblad 214 - NGC 7822 (Cepheus)

This area is not imaged very often, but it is extremely rich in emission and dark nebulae. The field is depicted with the north on the right side, and it is about 3° 10' by 2° 10'. Ced 214 is the roundish patch left of center. The field is decorated by several orange late-spectral type stars. The star cluster immediately left of center is Berk 69.  Canon 350D, 71x8' iso 800, Megrez 80, 384 mm.

The supernova remnant Ctb-1 (Cassiopeia)

A large but extremely faint soap bubble: it required over 15 hrs of combined HαRGB integration. ASA 10", STL11000.

IC 59 - IC 63 (Cassiopeia)

A very interesting set of nebulae illuminated by γ Cassiopeia, about 1.3 parsec away from the clouds. Light is produced by a complex mechanisms that includes ionisation, reflection and molecular fluorescence, and this explains the intricate hues of the area. Furthermore, the backdrop is provided by a dim but pervasive reflection nebula (Van de Bergh 5), which becomes more visible as the faint back drop on the right against which one can distinguish some dark streaks. ASA 10", 350D, 78x8' in 4 nights. See here, for an older shot (350D, 36x8' iso 400, C8, f6.3).

NGC 281 "Pacman Nebula" (Cassiopeia)

A compact nebula 2 degrees east of α Cassiopeia. It shows a wonderful interplay of bright and dark clouds nearby its centre. Modified Canon 350D, 32x8' exposure, C8, f6.3.

NGC 281 "Pacman Nebula" (Cassiopeia)

An Hα shot through the ASA astrograph. The negative, equalised version of the image demonstrate the large extension of this object to the north-west. 23x16'.

VdB 9 and 7 in Cassiopeia

A beautiful interplay of reflection nebulae and dust in Cassiopeia.

IC 1805 (Cassiopeia)

A close up with the Megrez 80. Modified Canon 350D, 68x8' exposures, Iso 800. Processing as in the following picture.

IC 1848 (Cassiopeia)

In the lower right corner the small and elongated shape of the galaxy Maffei 2 is visible. Maffei 1 and 2 have been discovered by the Italian astronomer  during a survey in red light. These galaxies are strongly reddened by dust absorption, and, in fact, it appears remarkably red.  Modified Canon 350D, 79x8' exposures, Iso 800. Click here for a detailed description of processing.

IC 1848 (Cassiopeia)

ASA 10" STL 11000. LRGB, About 8.6 hrs in three nights.

IC 1805 (Cassiopeia)

The glowing center of IC 1805 seen closer with the ASA 10". See link for details and for a narrow band image. Hα 15x16' RGB 32x8'.

IC 348 and parts of Barnard 3, 4 (Perseus)

First light image from the new remote observatory. This is the area at the edge of the large dark nebula complex catalogued by Barnard as B3, 4. Above center, nearby the glare of Omicron Persei, there is the cluster IC 348 that is immersed in the dust. Indeed all its members are heavily reddened. Several luminescent clouds can be seen everywhere in the field, especially on a bright monitor, or in a dark room: in this image there is not even a single pixel of empty space! Processing was directed at preserving as much as possible the wonderful colours of the reddened stars.

See links for details.

IC 348 and parts of Barnard 3, 4 (Perseus)

A narrower field taken with the modified DSRL. ASA 10". Canon 350D, 102x4' in two nights.

NGC 1333 (VdB 17), VdB 12, VdB 13 (Perseus)

ASA 10" STL 11000. LRGB, Over 17 hrs in four nights.

NGC 1333 parts of Barnard 3, 4 (Perseus)

A field near by in the middle of another Barnard cloud. Indeed most stars appear remarkably reddened by the dust. The reflection nebula (VdB 17) surround the B-type central star (m 10.47) that shine a light on the entire cloud.  Left of it are visible some very red globules, containing young stars tightly embedded in dust.

North is left. ASA 10". Canon 350D, 139x4' in three nights.

Vdb 18 and NGC 1342 (Perseus)

As fasr as I can tell this is the only published image of this splendid field. ASA 10" STL 11000. LRGB, about 13.5 hrs in four nights.

HαRGB California Nebula (Perseus)

An RGB data (29x8') completed with the narrowband Hα (24x8' plus 13x16') for a total integration of over 10 hours in 3 nights. Canon 350D, Megrez 80, f 4.8. This picture is deeper, has better contrast in the nebula and tighter stars. See here for the Hα image only. Published on Coelum. The RGB only image was pubished on the February 2007 issue of "Le Stelle".

VdB 16 in Aries

This field is immediately south and partially overlaps with the NGC1333 wide field above. Here we are at the edges with the large molecular cloud of Perseus. This is a marvellous field of dust and reflection nebulae: see link for details and for a finder chart.

IC 405 "The Flaming Star" (Auriga)

A marvellous and complex nebulosity surrounding the star AE Aurigae. One of the best known example of nebulosity where gas and dust occupies different volumes, as witnessed by the striking colour distribution. This picture is only the central part of a large structure several square degree wide. Modified Canon 350D, 30x8' exposure, iso 800, C8 f6.3. Published on the January 2006 issue of "Le Stelle".

IC 405 "The Flaming Star" (Auriga)

Here comes the wide field. Modified Canon 350D, 29x4' exposures (for the brightest stars) plus 74x8'. Altogether this sums up to about 12 hours in two windy but very transparent nights. Megrez 80 super apo, 384 mm focal. See here for the Hα only image. Published on the August 2007 issue of Nuovo Orione.

IC 1893 (Auriga)

A close up with the ASA astrograph.

VdB 27 and CED 30 (Taurus)

Dust lanes and multicoour reflection nebulae in the midst of the Taurus molecular cloud.

The Pleiades (Taurus)

A two part mosaic, LRGB composite.

Simeis 147 (Taurus)

One of the great wonders of the sky: the supernova remnant in Taurus. HαRGB with the Megrez 80 triplet and the STL11000. Over 18 hours of combined integration.

NGC 2174 - NGC 2175 (Orionis)

A star cluster (2175) and the associated nebula. This is an interesting object, with several patches of reflection nebulae, glowing in bluish light. ASA 10", 51x8'. An older shot made through the C8 is available here.

IC 443 - IC 444 (Gemini)

IC 443 is a beautiful supernova remnant placed in a crowded area of the winter Milky Way. IC 444 is the irregular patch of reflection nebulosity (8.0'x4.0'). The bright orange star on the right is η Geminorum. This is a late star (spectral type MIII) and a semi-regular variable. Furthermore, it is also an occultation binary and a long-period spectroscopic binary. A major difficulty in processing a picture of an area like this is that, since it is filled with dim nebulosity, it is rather tricky to perform an accurate subtraction of the sky gradient. This problem can be overcome by using a narrow band filter to capture the nebula background. The image is the composition of 12 hours of RGB data with 12 hours  of Hα data collected in 7 nights. The RGB data provided the star colours and the reflection nebulosity. Megrez super-apo, 80 mm f 6.0 and TV 0.8 field flattener. Published on the October 2007 issue of Sky and Telescope.

IC 443 (Gemini)

A close up with the Newtonian astrograph. Processing included deconvolving the nebula only and several layers of masked tunings to expand the dynamics of the underlying nebula while protecting luminance and colours of the bright star field. The trained eye can find two asteroid traces. ASA 10", 350D, 43x8'. Dedicated to Emanuele: the first photo since he arrived upon us.

IC 2218 "The Witch Head Nebula" (Eridanus)

A gigantic (160'X60') reflection nebula west of Rigel. This is only the brightest section of the complex that extends for several degres in the north-south direction. Rigel illuminates this field and, indeed, the cloud is at its brightest on the side facing the star. H-LRGB composite. APOD on January 17, 2012.

Wide field image of the Witch Head Nebula

18 hrs of integration for the ghost of Rigel

Sh2-261 (Orion)

A lovely nebula in a rich starfield at the top of the winter hunter. The three bright blue stars are from the upper left 72, 69, 67 (ν) Orioni. Notice the lovely colour contrast with some of the brightest red-orange stars (mostly K-M spectral type). The nebula itself is surrounded by several knots of dark clouds, the most notable runs between 72 and 69 Ori. 60x8' subframes with the Megrez apo in two nights (November 2007).

Orion and the Barnard loop

This frame is occupied by an entire catalogue of deep sky objects. This image took four nights and three different instruments.

Details about the shot and processing are on the link together with more images coming from the central part of Orion.

Multiband M42 (Orion)

This is a composite image containing RGB (35x4'; 20x1'; 10x8"), Hα (58x8; 16x1' 16x14") and OIII (26x8'; 32x1'; 19x8") data for a total exposure of almost 15 hours (in 7 nights). Each data set includes the summation of three different exposure times to cover the entire dynamic range of the nebula. The reflection nebula NGC 1977 north of the main body of M42 has been supplemented with 42x4' exposures made with the C8. Canon 350D, Megrez 80, f 4.8. Published on Coelum (January 2008).

NGC 2068 - M78 NGC 2071 (Orion)

A large complex of reflection and dark nebulae north of Alnitak. At the bottom right of the picture nearby a prominent double star there is a small knot of nebulosity. This is the McNeil nebula, discovered in January 2004 by the amateur astronomer Jan Mc Neil. In 2006 I was the first to notice its disappearing. Read here the story. The nebula appeared again in 2009 when this picture was shot. ASA 10", f3.6. The first light image of the new STL 11000. L (bin 1) 32x8': RGB (bin 2) 13x8'; Ha (bin 2) 16x16' for a grand total of almost 14 hrs. An old shot with the same scope and with the modified Canon 350D, 42x8' in two nights offers and interesting comparison.

NGC 2068 - M78 NGC 2071 (Orion)

A wide field image of the M78 area. An earlier take of this area was shot right after the disapparition of the McNeil nebula, an event that occurred at the beginning of 2006. See here for further details. Canon 350D, Megrez fluo triplet 80 mm f4.8, RGB 44x8'; Ha 42x16' at iso 800. A grand total of 17 hours in 5 nights. Published on the March 2008 issue of "Le Stelle" and on the April 2008 issue of Nuovo Orione.

VdB 67, 68 69 and 72 (Monoceros)

An incredible field due east of the Orion Nebula. It collects an incredible variety of reflection and emission nebulae over a dusty background. ASA 10", f3.6 STL 11000. LHαRGB composite.

The Cone Nebula and friends

My most recent (2012) attempt at this area: a three part mosaic including the Cone Nebula and a fantastic region of dust and reflection nebulae on the west side.

IC 447 et al. (Monoceros)

A wonderful group of reflection nebulae immediately west of the Cone nebula. IC447 is the large blue patch that contains two smaller nebulae inside: VdB 77 and VdB 78. North of this another bright nebulae: IC446.  Left from there three more reflections: the much fainter VdB 78 and finally NGC 2247 and NGC 2245.

ASA 10". Canon 350D, 67x8' in three nights.

IC 447 et al. (Monoceros)

Cone nebula (Monoceros).

H LRGB composition.

In total about 10 hr of integration. ASA 10" f3.6, SBIG STL 11000, Baader filters.

NGC 2237 "Rosetta nebula"  (Monoceros)

This wide field image cover the area between the Cone nebula and the Rosetta. The bluish patch of the reflection nebula IC 447 (see above picture) can be seen right of the Cone. So far this has been one of my most complicated shot. This image includes five separate data sets taken with two different instruments in a period ranging more than one year.

The wide field image has been taken with the Canon 135 mm L lens closed at f2.8 for the RGB data set (75x4')  and at f 3.1 for the Ha set (21x16'). The Cone nebula and the Rosetta field have been supplemented with Hα frames taken with the Megrez super Apo, 21x16' and 41x16' respectively. Finally,  I throw in some OIII on the Rosetta field (30x16'). This is a grand total of 34 hours of exposure.

NGC 2237 "Rosetta nebula"  (Monoceros)

An entire page dedicated to images of one of my very favourite objects.

NGC 2327 "Seagull nebula" (Canis Major/Monoceros)

Archaeology warning! This is a chemical shot.

A wide field image the Eagle nebula. I shot two frames of this subject, but one had some development artefact, and only the central area was usable. This image has been obtained by over imposing the two frames for the central area to improve the details of the Eagle head and using only the good frame for the remaining of the picture. There are several open clusters carrying a NGC designation on this picture. M50 is near the top of the frame. NGC 2335 and NGC 2343 are nearby the nebula head. NGC 2345 is south of the nebula. The field is 4° 12' by 6° 9'. 2x40' exposure, 300 mm f4. Kodak 2415 and deep red filter.

NGC 2327 "Seagull nebula" (Canis Major/Monoceros)

A close up of the Eagle nebula (north to the left). Megrez 80 and the Astronomik narrow band filter.