#williamopticsz61

M42, the Great Orion Nebula, and to its left the bluish reflection nebula known as The Running Man, NGC 1977. This is one of the images I took with my “short” telescope out dark sky camping a week ago. However I had forgot one crucial cable which meant I could not use my auto guiding system so instead of taking five minute exposures I had to take a lot of 30 second exposures — 3.75 hours worth. Despite that, it still turned out alright methinks. #williamopticsz61 #williamoptics #zwocameras #asiairpro #asi183mcpro #orionnebula #m42 #astro #astrophotography #astronomy #clayhausphotography (at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument) https://www.instagram.com/p/CWhiaM7rFHk/?utm_medium=tumblr

❤️ Raw image of C/2020 F3, NEOWISE, from my backyard taken no less than 30 minutes ago. Isn’t as clear as the early morning risers but hopefully will get a brighter look later in the week when it becomes more visible at the twilight hours. Canon Rebel T3i Astronomik CLS-CCD Sky Guider Pro Z61 Pegasus Astro Powerbox (dew heater) Single shot 15” sub Astro Photography Tool Pocket Powerbox DeepSkyStacker Photoshop Photo Credit: @relaxed_astronomer #telescope #moon #canon #williamopticsz61 #space # universe #darkskies #astronomy #nighttime #astrophotography #telescopes #williamoptics #williamopticsz61 #night #neowise #comet https://www.instagram.com/p/CCm6A8Tjhxy/?igshid=1hpf0ooemc5dt

Sh2-129, the Flying Bat Nebula, Is a huge Hii nebula located in the constellation Cepheus, the King. If you Google this object, and I do encourage you to do so, you will likely see images with a pale blue cylindrical nebula embedded in the field of red. That is the recently discovered Squid nebula. It takes many more hours than the five hours of integration time I have gathered here as well as different equipment to expose that elusive nebula. You see no hint of it here. In the center of this red field you do see a bright white star which is actually the triple star system that is igniting and driving all of this nebulosity. This is an object I will surely return to together even more data. And perhaps with the right equipment attempt to resolve the Squid nebula. #clayhausphotography #nebula #williamopticsz61 #asi2600mcpro #astropixelprocessor #pixinsight #astrophotography #astrophotographer #astronomy https://www.instagram.com/p/CinG5EBLXWa/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

IC405, the Flaming Star Nebula. The conditions have not been great lately...actually kinda krappy: high clouds, high humidity, lots of frost, lots of dew...it is what it is. This image is just over 2 hours of light capture. About 1500 light years distant, the emission nebula is powered by the central star which is believed to have originally formed in the constellation of Orion. Mahalo. #clayhausphotography #astro #astrophotography #williamopticsz61 #nebula #zwo #zwoasi #asiairpro #asi2600mcpro https://www.instagram.com/p/CYrLSW4l8bV/?utm_medium=tumblr

M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, revisited. This is my third attempt to capture the "Queen of the Heavens" and I still believe there is room for much improvement. That will come as i get better with both the imaging and the processing of astrophotography. This is 5.5 hours of capture in a dark sky location in the Utah West Desert. #andromedagalaxy #andromeda #clayhausphotography #williamoptics #williamopticsz61 #galaxy https://www.instagram.com/p/CUIkowyLPFl/?utm_medium=tumblr

The Cocoon Nebula. Identified, depending upon the catalog, as IC 5146, Caldwell 19, and Sh 2-125 is both a reflection and emission nebula as well as a star cluster identified as Collinder 470. Additionally, surrounding and trailing the bright nebula is the dark nebula Barnard 168 (partially seen here and pointing downward extending out of the frame). This all is located about 2500 light years away in the constellation Cygnus. As the name implies, reflection nebulae are clouds of interstellar dust that are illuminated by a nearby star or group of stars. In this case the central star seen here is acting as the prime illuminator. It was formed about 100,000 years ago. In addition, gases are also be ionized, giving off much of the red color here and that is acting as an emission nebula. Dark nebulae, otherwise known as absorption nebulae, are comprised of thick molecular clouds of interstellar dust that obscure the stars behind them, yielding a visual sense of inky blackness. Speaking of clouds, this was captured a couple of weeks ago before clouds of wildfire smoke from California and Oregon descended upon us. #williamopticsz61 #williamoptics #asi #asi183mcpro #asiairpro #optolonglextreme #optolong #clayhausphotography #bortle8 #bortlescale https://www.instagram.com/p/CTUetMSF2xv/?utm_medium=tumblr

Clear skies last night: M56 in a very starry field. M56 is a globular cluster ~ 33,000 light-years away from us. It is around 84 light-years across and contains approximately the equivalency of 230,000 solar masses. Astronomers hypothesize that the cluster may have been "acquired" during the merger of a dwarf galaxy eons ago. This image is the result of 217 minutes worth of data capture. #williamopticsz61 #zwo #zwoasi #zwoasi183mcpro #clayhausphotography https://www.instagram.com/p/CQCiYVph-P5/?utm_medium=tumblr

M31 or more commonly known as the Andromeda Galaxy. This is 40 minutes of data taken on August 7th. I used the William Optics Zenithstar 61 and my Nikon D5300. I used an Orion Sirius EQ-G as my mount. Processed in PixInsight. SQM was 19.9. #williamoptics #williamopticsz61 #orionsirius #astrophotography #atphotography #andromedagalaxy