Deepsky Astrophotos Imaged from Singapore

[Arcturus]

Hi all,

As one of my first posts on this forum, I shall share some of my photos of deep sky objects that I have imaged from Singapore over the past month. Contrary to popular belief, the severe light pollution does not make astrophotography impossible, it merely makes it more difficult. Post processing, however, takes care of the background illumination caused by skyglow. The main effect that light pollution contributes is the loss of faint detail, which cannot be retrieved due to the skyfog limit being reached prematurely.

Without further ado, here are the images.

1.) M42, The Great Nebula in Orion, with the Running Man nebula to the left. Total exposure time is 1 hour.



2.) The Keyhole Nebula, part of the larger Grand Nebula in the southern constellation of Carina. Total exposure time is 1 hour.

3.) Omega Centauri globular cluster, the largest globular cluster in the milky way galaxy with a combined mass of over 4 million suns. Total exposure time is 45 minutes.

4.) The Flame and Horsehead nebula in the Alnitak Region in Orion. Total exposure time is 45 minutes.

All of the above images were taken with an 800mm FL f/4 Astrograph at Prime focus with either an unmodified Canon 600D or Full spectrum modified Canon 350D.

Cheers,
Ivan

 

[ArchRival]

Very impressive indeed.

The Orion Nebula is a difficult subject considering the high dynamic range. To get the 'bat' shape is easy, but to get the entire round shape and not overexpose the trapezium i imagine can be exceedingly difficult.

And to get the horse head without H-alpha filter in 45 minutes, that's quite surprising.

May I know which astrograph you are using? F/4 800mm sounds like a Newtonian.

 

[Arcturus]

Very impressive indeed.

The Orion Nebula is a difficult subject considering the high dynamic range. To get the 'bat' shape is easy, but to get the entire round shape and not overexpose the trapezium i imagine can be exceedingly difficult.

And to get the horse head without H-alpha filter in 45 minutes, that's quite surprising.

May I know which astrograph you are using? F/4 800mm sounds like a Newtonian.

Thank you.

In order not to overexpose the core, I did several iterations of layer masks during data stretching when bringing out the fainter details of the outer nebulosity. In fact, even with the layer masks, there is already some data clipping, as the four trapezium stars are blown out.

As for the horsehead, I used a modified DSLR, which according to what I've heard, has a H-alpha response 5 times greater than that of an unmodified DSLR. In fact, there are imagers in Singapore who have managed to capture the horsehead not only unfiltered, but also without a modified DSLR. I guess the excellent weather the past month has played a part, too =)

And yes, I use a Newtonian. To be exact, it's the TPO model. Collimation is always a pain when imaging at f/4 :sweatsm: I had to edit the stars on some of my images to keep them round.

 

[astrosg]

Very nice! Thanks for inspiring photographers to take up astrophotography even if they are based in Singapore.

 

[Arcturus]

Very nice! Thanks for inspiring photographers to take up astrophotography even if they are based in Singapore.

Thanks astrosg! You're everywhere :O

 

[Windcharm]

Wonderful shots. I wish to learn more about deepsky photography.

 

[Jin TK]

Helping my friend (also a friend of Arcturus) to post his Milky Way shot in Singapore on the early morning of 4 May 2014. Taken at a ulu place @ northwest Singapore.



Taken with Pentax K3 with DA35 2.4 lens. This is a photo stack of 4 x 30s subs, iso1,600, f/5.0. Each sub tracked with Pentax O-GPS1 Astrotracer.

 

[astrosg]

Milky Way in ... Singapore! Very nice!

 

[Arcturus]

Here's a new object to add to the list Messier 20 - The Trifid Nebula, framed with Messier 21 to the left, an open cluster of stars. Imaged with 30 minutes of total exposure at 800mm f/4 from Changi, Singapore.

 

[Arcturus]

Yet another object to add, also taken from the same night. The Lagoon Nebula, also known as Messier 8, in the constellation of Sagittarius. Total exposure is 45 minutes, at 800mm f/4. Taken from Changi, Singapore.

 

[Arcturus]

Messier 27: The Dumbbell Nebula. The Dumbbell Nebula is a planetary nebula, which is formed during the slow, gradual death of small to medium sized stars. As a star sheds its outer layers, the expanding gas that is ionised by the star's exposed core glows. Imaged from Changi, Singapore, with a total exposure of 20 minutes at 800mm f/4.

 

[Arcturus]

M31, the Great Andromeda Galaxy, with two of its satellite galaxies, M32 and M110. M31 contains about a trillion stars, and is located two million light years away. Imaged from Changi, Singapore. Total exposure is 50 minutes at 800mm f/4.

 

[astrosg]

Awesome astrophotos! Keep shooting!

 

[Arcturus]

Awesome astrophotos! Keep shooting!

Thanks astrosg!

 

[ArchRival]

Very impressive results.

May i know what camera you used for Andromeda? That galaxy is huge, and i imagine would be difficult to frame at 800mm fl.
And did you crop for the Trifid? Or is 800mm just fine for it?

800mm is not an easy focal length to work with. And the TPO tube is probably quite heavy and bulky as well.
I'd say this is an excellent effort with excellent results.

 

[Arcturus]

Very impressive results.

May i know what camera you used for Andromeda? That galaxy is huge, and i imagine would be difficult to frame at 800mm fl.
And did you crop for the Trifid? Or is 800mm just fine for it?

800mm is not an easy focal length to work with. And the TPO tube is probably quite heavy and bulky as well.
I'd say this is an excellent effort with excellent results.

Thank you. I'm using a Canon 600D, which has an APSC-sized sensor. I'm guessing I'ld need to halve the focal length to just about fit it in. Then again, the outer regions are probably too faint to capture from Singapore.

And yes, the Trifid is a cropped image. It's still a little small on a crop sensor at 800mm.

I'm planning to downsize from the 8" to a 6", considering I don't drive. It is indeed bulky, but compared to many other setups, it is still manageable. At 9kgs with all accessories attached, most mounts are capable of handling it.

 

[terenceleezy]

VERY VERY COOL