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Helix Nebula in H-alpha from Sydney

Deep H-alpha image of the Helix Nebula obtained from my backyard, 15 km from Sydney’s city centre.

This image combines the best 40 frames of the 82 frames I got the nights of 24-30 August, 7, 12 and 15 September 2020 using the ZWO ASI1600MM Pro and the H-alpha Baader 3.5nm ultra-narrow filter.

All frames had an exposition time of 900s (15 minutes), hence this image combines a total of 10 hours of telescope time!

Telescope: Skywatcher Black Diamond 80, f=600mm (f/7.5)

Equipment: I used the ZWO ASIAir to control the camera, the mount (Skywatcher AZ-EQ6) and the guiding system (ASI120MM + Orion 50mm finderscope). The H-alpha filter was in the ZWO filter drawer.

Processing: Data processed with Siril software. FITS converted on TIFF using NASA’s Fits Liberator considering a logarithmic function. Color / saturation / levels / contrast / smart sharpen with Photoshop.

I hope to get soon some data in broad-band filters to get the colours!

Full resolution image in my Flickr.

Credit: Ángel R. López-Sánchez (AAO-MQ).

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Posted on September 30, 2020 in Amateur, Astrophotography, Nebulae, Optical, Planetary Nebulae

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A test of the Eagle Nebula from Sydney

Posted on July 16, 2020 | Leave a comment

A test of the Eagle Nebula from Sydney

This is my first test image of the Eagle Nebula (M 16) using my amateur equipment from my backyard, 15 km North from Sydney’s city center, on 1st July 2020.

This image compiles 32 x 300s images (2 hours 40 minutes total integration time) obtained with my Skywatcher Black Diamond 80, an Orion X0.8 focal reducer (f/6), the ZWO ASI178MC camera and an OPTOLONG L-Pro filter.

I used the ZWO ASIAir to control the camera, the mount (Skywatcher AZ-EQ6) and the guiding system (ASI120MM + Orion 50mm finderscope).

Flats and darks included. Data processed with Siril software. Color / saturation / levels / contrast / smart sharpen with Photoshop.

Full resolution image in my Flickr.

Credit: Ángel R. López-Sánchez (AAO-MQ).

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Posted in Amateur, Astrophotography, Emission Nebula, Nebulae, Observation, Outreach

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Video: Understanding the colours of nebulae

Posted on July 5, 2020 | Leave a comment

Today I’ve released in my YouTube Channel the very first video of a series that seeks to connect professional astrophysics with amateur astronomy and outreach. This video, is entitled “Understanding the colours of the nebulae“, or why square brackets are important when naming metallic transitions in nebulae.

Do you know how profesional astrophysicists and amateur astronomers get vibrant colour images of nebulae? In this video I provide insights of the Physics behind these images. I emphasise why the ionic transitions of metallic elements (i.e., any element that is not hydrogen or helium) in nebulae must be written with brackets, as they are not recombination lines but collisional excited lines, that is, a kind of forbidden lines that only appear in extreme low-density gases because of the collision of ions with free electrons in the gas.

The video includes my subtitles in both English and Spanish.

An extended article about the video will be added here soon.

I hope you like it! And remember:

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Posted in Amateur, Astrophotography, Astrophysics, Emission Nebula, History of Astronomy, Nebulae, Observation, Outreach, Profesional, YouTube

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The Pearl Cluster from Sydney

The Pearl Cluster from Sydney

The Pearl Cluster (NGC 3766, Caldwell 97), in Centaurus, from my backyard, 15 km North from Sydney’s city center, on 4th June 2020.

This image compiles 30 x 180s images (1.5 hours total integration time) obtained with my Skywatcher Black Diamond 80, an Orion X0.8 focal reducer (f/6), the ZWO ASI178MC camera and an OPTOLONG L-Pro filter.

I used the ZWO ASIAir to control the camera, the mount (Skywatcher AZ-EQ6) and the guiding system (ASI120MM + Orion 50mm finderscope).

Flats and darks included. Data processed with Siril software. Color / saturation / levels / contrast / smart sharpen with Photoshop.

Full resolution image in my Flickr.

Credit: Ángel R. López-Sánchez (AAO-MQ).

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Posted on June 25, 2020 in Amateur, Astrophotography, Observation, Outreach, Stars, Stellar Clusters

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Astrophotos and Seasons in Macquarie University’s “The Lighthouse”

Posted on June 23, 2020 | 1 comment

Yes, I know this is another auto-publicity post, but that is also a way for me to keep track of all my appearances in media / news.

Today I’m very happy to share that my images and my… comments about the real (astronomical) beginning of the seasons  have appeared in this article of Macquarie University’s online newsletter “The Lighthouse”.

“The Lighthouse” is the online Macquarie University‘s Newsletter that aims to  showcase of world-changing research news, expert comment and data-backed opinion. 

I want to thank Virginia Tressider for preparing this beautiful article in a very short time. I hope that many of these articles will come in the nearby feature.

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Posted in Astrophotography, Outreach

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