One of the drop-dead gorgeous objects in the southern skies is the Great Carina Nebula, NGC 3372, of course. Imaged here in narrowband SHO colors with added RGB stars, using the new IAS remote telescope “Dieter”.
More details at Astrobin.
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With #3 recently discovered in the analysis during preparation of Gaia DR4 data, there are now 3 black holes in the Gaia catalog. Or more precise, 3 binary systems consisting of a companion star and a likely stellar-mass black hole.
So I took the opportunity to capture the corresponding starfields with the new IAS remote telescope “Dieter” at Hakos, Namibia. The images only show the companion stars, of course. ;-)
Regarding the BH3 image, at first I wasn’t sure whether I found the right object, as the catalog gives the coordinates RA=19h39m18.7115472s, DEC=+14d55m54.010992s and the read-out in Pixinsight showed ICRS RA=19h39m18.68s, DEC=+14d55m50.3s. But thanks to the discussion with Ulrich Bastian I found out that it is necessary to take into account the large proper motion of the object, which results in almost 4″ deviation in declination. Calculating the current position for 2024.5 with Astropy yields RA=19h39m18.66368537s DEC=+14d55m50.2085012s.
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Almost exactly 10 years ago, I photographed the magnificient Pavo Galaxy with the IAS 20 inch AK3, my first object with such a “big scope”. Here’s the result of June 2024, with much more exposure time on the very same telescope. I originally planned to use my QHY268M with the AK3, but this camera is now used at the new IAS remote telescope. So back to the roots with a ASI294MC Pro one-shot-color camera.
Image of the Day 2024-07-07 at Astrobin!
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The first light of the new IAS remote telescope at Hakos, Namibia. NGC 5139 aka Omega Centauri, the most massive known globular cluster in the Milky Way.
More details at Astrobin.
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“Second” light of the new IAS remote telescope at Hakos, Namibia, featuring IC 4628, the Prawn Nebula in Scorpius. (Actually taken while on-site in June. ;-)
Details at Astrobin.
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Star trail over the Terlingua Ranch Lodge. This image is a composite of the foreground landscape at dusk and 2 hours of starry night after the Moon set in the wee hours.
You don’t get this often: colorful aurora at 51° latitude, north-east of Cologne, Germany. A strong solar storm is currently impacting Earth.
Das sieht man auch nicht alle Tage: Polarlichter in allen Farben über den ganzen Himmel bei heimischer 51° Breite, nordöstlich von Köln. Ein massiver Sonnensturm trifft gerade auf die Erde.
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Different processing of the corona exposure series, using PixInsight’s FFTRegistration script to align the images, which worked rather well.
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Another image from the total solar eclipse of 08 Apr 2024, a highly processed HDR composite of the corona, using 13 x 2 exposures from 1/1000 to 4 s.
There was a bit of a focus problem which I noticed only when reviewing the telephoto frames. Thus, my TSE 2024 shots aren’t as sharp as they could be.
Location:
Pocahontas, Missouri, USA
Longitude 37° 29′ 56.412″ N, latitude 89° 38′ 34.074″ W, altitude 183 m (Xavier’s Google Maps tool)
Longitude 37° 29.9295′, latitude -89° 38.5659′, altitude 189 m (GPS reading Eclipse Orchestrator Pro)
Timezone CDT = UT – 5h
Again many, many thanks to the great local communicty, in particular Doris and Jim.
Circumstances (Eclipse Orchestrator Pro):
Duration 4m 08s
C1 – 17:42:01 UT – 12:42:01 CDT
C2 – 18:58:22 UT – 13:58:22 CDT – 13:58:22 camera time
C3 – 19:02:30 UT – 14:02:30 CDT – 14:02:29 camera time
C4 – 20:17:29 UT – 15:17:29 CDT – 15:17:29 camera time
Allsky view of the total solar eclipse.
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