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

NGC7000. The North America Nebula.

NGC7000. The North America Nebula.

This patch of nebulosity lies about one degree from the bright star Deneb in the constellation of Cygnus the Swan. From a dark sky site it can be seen with the naked eye covering an area of sky about the size of the full moon.

The conditions were very warm and  humid  with poor transparency. Stars were only visible down to about magnitude 3.5  to mag 4 with bright moonlight to contend with rising in the east.

I was using my ten inch reflector piggybacking my Atik 383L mono CCD camera with a 200mm F4 lens,  Astronomik  filters were  placed in front  of the lens 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. Thet total exposure time was 40 minutes using a H Alpha filter, 30 minutes using an O111 filter, 20 minutes using an S11 filter  and ten minute for each RGB filter.

RGB

Hubble Palette

Hubble Palette + RGB

NGC1396, Sh2-129. The Elephant trunk and Flying Bat Nebulae.

These two patches of nebulosity lie in the constellation of Cepheus the King.

I was using an Atik 383L mono CCD camera piggybacked on my ten inch reflector mounted on a Vixen Atlux mount with a 135mm lens. I attached narrowband filters to the front of the lens and captured two minute sub frames. I then combined them with matching dark frames with flat field frames to reduce the effect of noise and vignetting in the final image.

The total exposure time was 56 minutes using a H Alpha filter, 46 minutes using an O111 filter, 16 minutes using an S11 filter and 6 minutes using a blue filter.

Hubble Palette

RGB

Hubble Palette + RGB

Mosaic image