Darth Vader's Galaxy NGC936

As a Star Wars fan, the object NGC 936 is realy cool. The galaxy looks like a Star Wars Empire (advanced) TIE fighter and was named Darth Vader's Galaxy. It's located in constellation Cetus and is about 60 million lightyears away from Earth. It forms a pair with NGC941. When comparing the field of view with SIMBAD we will find more then 160 galaxies aswell as Quasar 4C 01.11 with a redshift z=2.038.

Setting : Nikon D7500, TAL200K f/8.5, ZWO Mini Guidescope 30, guide camera ASI224MC.
Image : ISO400, Lights 12x90s; 4x300s, Darks, Flats, Bias and Dark Flats.

Software : N.I.N.A, PHD2, APP, CS4, DeNoise AI.

MAI-SSTV Experiment Dec 1 & 2

The Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI) is planning for a SSTV experiment session for December 1 and 2. Timings are listed below but could be changed :

    December 1 – Start: 12:10 UT. Stop: 19:10 UT
    December 2 – Start: 11:40 UT. Stop: 17:20 UT

SSTV mode is traditional PD120 and images will be transmitted on 145.800 MHz.

See also my previous blog on MAI experiment via this link

My Current Astrophotography Set Up

 

This flowchart is a visual of my current astrophotography set up. Starting from my mount untill processing of the astropictures. Still some learning to be done eg. the use of platesolving. 

Finding COM-ports in Windows 10

Windows10 environment: type "configuration" in search field (right of Windows Start). In the Click on devices and this will show the ports. If ports are not shown, click on view and enable "hidden devices". 

Veil Nebula NGC6960 RGB and H-alpha

The Veil Nebula (NGC6960) in constellation Cygnus is a supernova remnant. The cloud of ionised gas is located about 2400 lightyears away from Earth. Estimations when the supernova happened range between 5000 and 20000 years ago.
A picture was made of the Western Veil Nebula near star 52 Cygni. 

Setting : Nikon D7500 and TLAPO 80/480 f/6; RGB 7x600s ISO400 and H-Alpha 11x300 ISO1600 which results in a total exposure of 125 minutes. No darks, bias or flats.

Guiding Set up: N.I.N.A (Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy), EQMOD, Stellarium, PHD2 with guiding camera ASI224MC and guidescope ZWO 30 f/4.

Pictures are stacked using APP and final editing with CS4 and DeNoise AI. 

My blog picked up by Robots: 50.000 views in 5 days

End of October my blog was picked by a robot. Between October 26 and October 31my blog received 51.000 views. All views could be traced back from the US. After disabling the option for "robots" in the settings, my views went back to normal. In the meantime all settings are enabled again and the blog is performing as before. 

This means also that the blog is viewed more then 120.000 times :)

First steps to remote astrophotography: VNC and N.I.N.A

 

My set up with N.I.N.A and VNC

With the installation of VNC (Virtual Network Computing - VNC Server and VNC Viewer) I'm able to remotely operate my telescope. This means that my laptop with all related software is connected to the telescope (mount, camera, guiding,..) and remotely connected to a second laptop inside the house. 

In the meatime I'm making progress with N.I.N.A (Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy) and I'm able to use platesolving with pictures made earlier this week. 

Awaiting clear skies to have a real live session with all captured learnings.