Tag Archives: astrofotografie

Omega Centauri

20-inch ak3, NA, ak3, astrofotografie, astronomie, astronomy, astrophotography, centaurus, globular cluster, hakos, hakos guest farm, ias, ias observatory, ias observatory hakos, khomas, kugelsternhaufen, namibia, ngc, ngc5139, omega centauri, star, star cluster, stars, stern, sterne, sternhaufen, world, zentaur
NGC 5139 – Omega Centauri Globular Cluster – OSC v1

And one more. ;-) Of course, Omega Centauri aka NGC 5139 is a jewel in the southern sky and a go-to-target. So Omega Centauri’s photons were the “first light” for the ASI 2600 MC Duo on the AK3 astrograph, but I messed up focussing and had to redo it later.

All three globular clusters here in the blog were processed in PixInsight and Lightroom with the same color calibration and processing steps. Interestingly enough, their appearance varies quite a bit!

Also compare this with be previous image of Omega Centauri.

More details at Astrobin.

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Flickering Globular Cluster

20-inch ak3, NA, ak3, astrofotografie, astronomie, astronomy, astrophotography, globular cluster, hakos, hakos guest farm, ias, ias observatory, ias observatory hakos, khomas, kugelsternhaufen, m62, messier, namibia, ngc, ngc6266, ophiuchus, star, star cluster, stars, stern, sterne, sternhaufen, world
Messier 62 – Flickering Globular Cluster in Ophiuchus – OSC v2

Another globular cluster, only about 9 degrees from M4 towards the constellation Ophiuchus, Messier 62 or NGC 6266 against the dense background star field of the Milky Way.

More details at Astrobin.

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Spider Globular Cluster

20-inch ak3, NA, ak3, astrofotografie, astronomie, astronomy, astrophotography, globular cluster, hakos, hakos guest farm, ias, ias observatory, ias observatory hakos, khomas, kugelsternhaufen, m4, messier, namibia, ngc, ngc6121, scorpius, star, star cluster, stars, stern, sterne, sternhaufen, world
Messier 4 – Spider Globular Cluster in Scorpius – OSC v3

More processed OSC data with the ASI 2600 MC Duo and the IAS 20″ telescope AK3, featuring the globular cluster Messier 4 aka NGC 6121.

Notable change to my previously shown OSC workflow: I used “K2V star” as the white reference for SpectrophotometricColorCalibration. Standard “Average spiral galaxy” yielded stars, which were too “golden” for my taste, thus this bluer/colder rendition.

See also at Astrobin.

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Cometary Globules CG 8 and 9

astrofotografie, astronomie, astronomy, astrophotography, cg8, cg9, cometary globule, deep sky, emission nebula, emissionsnebel, puppis, star, stars, stern, sterne
CG 8 and 9 – Cometary Globules in Puppis – OSC v1

Continuing with the cometary globules, CG 8 and 9 were captured on-site at the IAS observatory Hakos with the 20″ Newtonian Astrograph AK3 and a new ASI 2600 MC Duo camera, which works quite nicely with this scope.

One more step on the long way to complete the CG catalog here. Most of the CGs are in Puppis, which meanwhile sets quite early in the southern hemisphere night.

Details at Astrobin.

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Partial Solar Eclipse 2025-03-29

astrofotografie, astronomie, astronomy, astrophotography, eclipse, finsternis, partial, partiell, solar eclipse, sonne, sonnenfinsternis, sonnenflecken, sun, sunspot, sunspots
Partial Solar Eclipse 2025-03-29 11:14 UT

Scattered clouds, but good views of the partial solar eclipse in-between at home in Cologne, Germany.

Telescope: Skywatcher Esprit 100/550 ED, Televue 2x
Camera: ASI2600MC Duo
Filter: Baader ASTF 100
Mount: Skywatcher AZ EQ6 GT
Image acquisition: SharpCap, 25 of 250 frames, 7 ms exposure at gain 0
Image processing: PixInsight, Lightroom

Cometary Globule CG 7

12-inch lacerta remote, NA, astrofotografie, astronomie, astronomy, astrophotography, cg7, cometary globule, dark nebula, hakos, hakos guest farm, ias, ias observatory, ias observatory hakos, khomas, namibia, planetarischer nebel, planetary nebula, vela, world
Cometary Globule CG 7 in Vela – LHaRGB v1

More strange creatures: lonely cometary globule CG 7 plowing through the dust clouds of Vela, as it seems. Maybe looking for the small planetary nebula NGC 2792? (Can you find it? If not, see the annotated image below.)

Also included in my growing catalog of CGs here.

More details at Astrobin.

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M81 Bode’s Galaxy and M82 Cigar Galaxy Revisited

astrofotografie, astronomie, astronomy, astrophotography, backyard, bodes galaxy, cigar galaxy, cologne, galaxy, köln, ngc, ngc3077, spiral galaxy, ursa major
M81 Bode’s Galaxy and M82 Cigar Galaxy in Ursa Major – LHaRGB v2

Old data revisited: 3 years ago, back in 2022, I collected a whopping 38 hours of data on Messier 81 and Messier 82, a nice field of view with lots of smaller galaxies for my Esprit 100ED APO at home. But I never managed to get to a satisfying rendition up until now. The new NoiseXTerminator version AI3 was released at just about the right time. Under suburban Bortle 5 skies, this massive amount of exposure time is really necessary to bring out the dust streaks.

More details at Astrobin.

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Cometary Globule CG5

12-inch lacerta remote, NA, astrofotografie, astronomie, astronomy, astrophotography, cg5, cometary globule, dark nebula, emission nebula, emissionsnebel, hakos, hakos guest farm, ias, ias observatory, ias observatory hakos, khomas, namibia, puppis, world
Cometary Globule CG 5 and Dark Friends in Puppis – LHaRGB v1

Still on the hunt for cometary globules, here’s CG5 trying to escape the evil clouds with tendrils already stretching in its direction … ;-)

Meanwhile, I created an extra page in the gallery with some information on CGs and the related astrophotography so far.

More details at Astrobin, as always.

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Cometary Globules CG3 and CG25

12-inch lacerta remote, NA, astrofotografie, astronomie, astronomy, astrophotography, cg25, cg3, cometary globule, dark nebula, emission nebula, emissionsnebel, galaxy, hakos, hakos guest farm, ias, ias observatory, ias observatory hakos, khomas, namibia, ngc, ngc2427, puppis, world
Cometary Globules CG 3 and CG 25, Galaxy NGC 2427 in Puppis – LHaRGB v2

Continuing the hunt for cometary globules, those strangely shaped dark clouds, mostly in the constellation of Puppis. This image shows CG3 and less prominent CG25 to the right, together with the spiral galaxy NGC 2427.

More details at Astrobin.

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