Orion

Orion H alpha 3 section  Mosaic.

This image of the constellation of Orion was taken under clear moonless sky conditions with stars visible down to about magnitude 5.

I was using an Atik 383 L mono CCD camera piggybacked on my ten inch reflector mounted on a Vixen Atlux mount, a 50mm camera lens, and an Astronomik H alpha filter attached to the front of the lens.

I captured 3 minute sub frames with matching dark frames and combined  them with flat field frames to reduce the effect of noise and vignetting in the final image. Each  section of this composition had a total exposure time of 60  minutes . The colour data however was taken from some  old data taken using the same camera and astronomik narrowband filters, Ha, O111, S11 and blue.

This mosaic contains Data from camera lenses and telescopes. 

The colour data was taken using a 35mm lens and a set of Astronomik narrowband filters, Ha, O111, S11 and blue.

The luminance data however is a composition of data using a 50mm lens combined with a 200mm lens and data from a four inch and three inch f/6.3 refractors.

This image reveals the Witch head nebula, Barnard's loop, the Horsehead nebula, the Flame nebula, the Orion nebula, the Running man nebula and M78. 

This 35mm lens shot contains combined data using 35mm lens , 50mm lens , 200mm lens and data from 80mm and 105 mm refractors. 

IC1848, IC1805 The Soul and Heart Nebulae.

These two patches of nebulosity lie in the constellation of Cassiopeia the Queen.

This image was taken using a 135mm lens, Astronomik filters attached to the front of the lens piggybacked on a ten inch reflector mounted on a Vixen Atlux mount with an Atik 383L mono CCD camera.

I captured three minute sub frames with matching dark frames and combined them with flat field frames to reduce the effect of noise and vignetting in the final image.

The total exposure time was 90 minutes using a H Alpha filter. 60 minutes using an O111 filter, 30 minutes using an S11 filter, and 12 minutes using each RGB filter.

The Soul and Heart nebulae

RGB + Hubble palette

Hubble palette

RGB

The Spaghetti nebula

The following two images of the Spaghetti nebula are compositions of data taken using a 135mm lens and a 80mm f/6.3 refractor.

Hubble palette

Simens 147, The Spaghetti Nebula.

Simens 147, The Spaghetti Nebula.

This large patch of nebulosity lies in the constellation of Taurus the bull.

Taken using a 135 mm lens with a set of Astronomik filters  attached in front, S11, HA, O111 and blue. The camera was an Atik 383L mono CCD camera piggybacked on a 10 inch reflector mounted on a Vixen Atlux mount. I captured 3 minute sub frames with matching dark frames and combined them with flat field frames to reduce the effect of noise and vignetting in the final image. 

The total exposure time was 25 minutes using an S11 filter, 30 minutes using an O111 filter, 72 minutes using a H Alpha filter and 10 minutes using a blue filter.

Hubble palette + RGB

Hubble Palette

RGB

RGB cropped

The Milky Way

In late September 2025 I drove my camper van to Roch in western Pembrokeshire. There was no moonlight and very little light pollution. The sky conditions were very clear with stars visible down to about magnitude 6.7.

I was using a Canon EOS 50D DSLR camera mounted on a Ioptron SkyTracker Pro mount. The camera was set on ISO 3200 with 30 second sub frames and matching 30 second dark frames to reduce the effect of noise in the final images.

The following images are a composition of four 30 second exposures averaged together.

IC 2118. The Witch Head Nebula.

IC 2118. The Witch Head Nebula.

This image of IC2118 contains additional data .

An extra 30 minutes using a blue filter , 45 minutes using an IDAS filter, 60 minutes using a HA filter and 60 minutes using an O111 filter .

 IC 2118. The Witch Head Nebula.

IC2118, The Witch Head Nebula.

This reflection nebula lies in the constellation of Eridanus.

Taken on two separate evenings one from the Gower peninsular and from Newport South Wales.

The data from the Gower was taken using a 200mm lens with filters attached to the front mounted on a Vixen DX mount and an Atik 383L mono CCD camera.

From Newport the data was taken using a 135 mm lens with a H Alpha filter, piggybacked on a ten inch reflector mounted on a Vixen Atlux mount.

I captured two minute sub frames with matching dark frames and combined them with flat field frames to reduce the effect of noise and vignetting in the final image.

The total exposure time was 60 minutes using an IDAS filter . 10 minutes using a red filter, 10 minutes using a green filter, 6 minutes using a blue filter and 45 minutes using a H Alpha filter.

 IC2118, The Witch Head Nebula.

NGC1499, The California Nebula.

This patch of nebulosity lies in the constellation of Perseus at a distance of about 1.500 light years. It is about 100 light years across and was discovered back in 1885 by Edward Barnard. 

This image was taken from the Gower peninsula in late August 2025 under very clear sky conditions with stars visible down to magnitude 6.5.

I was using an Atik 383L mono CCD camera, a 200mm lens, a Vixen DX mount and a set of Astronomik filters that was placed in front of the camera lens.

I captured two minute sub frames with matching dark frames and combined them with flat field frames to reduce the effect of noise and vignetting in the final image. The total exposure time was 2 hours and 14 minutes using a H Alpha filter, 1 hour using an S11 filter, 20 minutes using an O111 filter and 4 minutes using a blue filter.

Equipment used

Looking east towards Swansea

Sky conditions looking south west

The California Nebula.

Hubble Palette

RGB

Hubble Palette + RGB

NGC7292, The Helix Nebula.

This patch of nebulosity lies in the constellation of Aquarius  commonly named The Eye of God.

It is about 2 light years across at a distance of 650 light years.

In late August 2025 I drove to the Gower Peninsula looking for dark sky conditions. I was very lucky with  the weather. The sky was clear with stars visible down to about magnitude 6.5. Looking to the south the sky was superb however light pollution was visible looking towards the east from Swansea and Port Talbot. It was windy, therefore using the auto  guiding camera was not possible, however I managed to capture 60 second and 120 second sub frames on some exposures. 

I was using my four inch refractor mounted on a Vixen DX mount, an Atik 383L mono CCD camera, a set of Astronomik narrowband filters and a blue filter. After capturing my sub frames I captured some dark frames and took flat field frames in the predawn sky using a white shirt stretched over the front aperture of the telescope. This reduces the effect of noise and vignetting in the final image. The exposure time was 75 minutes using a H Alpha filter, 26 minutes using an S11 filter, 30 minutes using an O111 filter and 6 minutes using a blue filter.

The equipment used

The Sky conditions looking south south west

The Helix Nebula

Hubble palette

Hubble palette + RGB

RGB

Bi-colour

Reprocessed image: Hubble Palette + RGB

NGC6992, NGC6979, NGC6960, The Cygnus Loop.

NGC6992, NGC6979, NGC6960, The Cygnus Loop.

This area of the night sky is commonly named the Veil Nebula. It lies south east in the constellation of Cygnus the Swan.

I was using my ten inch reflector piggybacking an Atik 383L mono CCD camera with a 200mm F4 lens. Astronomik filters was placed in front of the lens mounted on a Vixen atlux mount.

I captured 2 minute sub frames with matching dark frames and combined them with flat field frames to reduce the effect of noise and vignetting in the final image.

The total exposure time was 60 minutes using a H Alpha filter, 30 minutes using an O111 filter, 30 minutes using an S11 filter and 6 minutes using a blue filter. 

Bi-colour image

Hubble Palette

Hubble Palette + RGB

RGB