Every day our eyes catch the light of our memories – time spent with family, the journey to work, a special holiday, a beautiful sunset or a dark starlit night. Each image captured is a picture drawn in light – a photograph: only to be lost in our minds or forever forgotten. Nearly two hundred years ago a small group of amateur scientists achieved what had eluded mankind for centuries – the ability to capture a permanent record of an image seen by their own eyes – a moment in time frozen onto a surface. They had discovered Photography. They were the ‘Catchers of the Light’.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

My current astrophotography setup



Sky-Watcher EQ6 PRO

William Optics FLT110 triplet air-spaced APO lens TMB design

Dedicated TMB field flattener

SBIG ST10XME with CFW9

William Optics ZenithStar II 80mm Doublet ED

Meade DSI

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

My current astrophotography setup

Sunday, June 14, 2009

NGC 6823, NGC 6820 Open cluster and nebulosity in Vulpecula



NGC 6820 is an emission nebula that surrounds open cluster NGC 6823 in Vulpecula, near M27, the Dumbbell Nebula.

The most striking feature is the trunk-like pillar or dust and gas protruding from the east side of the nebula towards the open cluster, NGC 6823 in the west. The center of the open cluster is about two million years old and is predominantly represented by many young, bright blue stars. Outer parts of the cluster intimately involving pillars of emission nebula NGC 6820, contain even younger stars. The huge pillars of gas and dust are probably formed when surrounding gas and dust is pushed and eroded away by radiation from nearby stars. Remarkable dark globules of gas and dust are also visible in the nebula, much as is seen in the better known Eagle Nebula in Serpens or the Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius.

Open star cluster NGC 6823 is about 50 light years across and lies about 6000 light years away.

Ha 33x5min
W.O FLT110
SBIG ST10XME_CFW9_Astrodon Ha 5nm
EQ6Pro

Enhanced by Zemanta

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Sinus Iridum and Plato - color enhanced image

M106 rework



M106 is at a distance of about 22 to 25 million light-years away from Earth
Messier 106 (also known as NGC 4258) is a spiral galaxy about in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Mechain in 1781.It is also a Seyfert II galaxy, which means that due to x-rays and unusual emission lines detected, it is suspected that part of the galaxy is falling into a supermassive black hole in the center.[7] NGC 4217 is a possible companion galaxy of Messier 106.[6]

M106-NGC4248
PGC39615 mag:15,8 PGC2291799 mag:18.2
PGC2832111 mag:30,0
and many more...

W.O FLT110
4''flattener W.O TMB
Sbig ST10XME – sfw9 with Baader LRGB set
W.O ZenithStar 80II ED
Meade DSI I color
EQ6Pro

Total Exposure 5h20min
L:140min R:50 G:55 B:70
CcdSoft, CcdStack, MaximDL, PS2

28-2-2009
Kallithea
Athens
Hellas

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

NGC4631_NGC4656 rework



LRGB 5h25min
R:G:B 45:60:60 L:150
Imaging with:
FLT110 TMB Field Flattener ST10XME-CFW9 Baader LRGB filter set.
Guiding with:
ZS80ED DSI

14-16/4/2009
Kallithea
Athens
Greece

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

NGC 4725



NGC4725:mag 9.3 distance 41 million light years
NGC4712:mag 12.5
NGC4747:mag 13.2

LRGB 5h45min
R:G:B 40:40:40 L:225
Imaging with:
FLT110 TMB Field Flattener ST10XME-CFW9 Baader LRGB filter set.
Guiding with:
ZS80ED DSI

17-18/4/2009
Kallithea
Athens
Greece

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

M82 ...small

M82

Messier 82 (also known as NGC 3034 or the Cigar Galaxy) is the prototype[3] nearby starburst galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. The starburst galaxy is five times as bright as the whole Milky Way and one hundred times as bright as our galaxy's center.

This photo is taken under the full moon of Athens!!!

100min total exposure
20x5min lum

8''SCT (LX90 OTA only)
ST10XME
EQ6 Pro

Moon

This is a single 0.5sec exposure with 5nm Ha filter/ST10XME ccd Camera and 8''SCT (LX90 OTA only)
Mount EQ6 Pro

Friday, February 6, 2009

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Mare Humorum

Mare Humorum
17/05/2008

8'' LX90
Imagine Source DBK Color Firewire Planetary camera

Saturday, January 24, 2009

NGC 7000 California Nebula

A small part of the NGC7000
24/07/2008 Kallithea Athens Greece

Test shot 2x10min Ha 5nm Astrodon filter
William Optics FLT110
SBIG ST10XME
EQ6 Pro

Friday, January 23, 2009

NGC 6946 unfinished

Unfinished image
only 45 minutes total exposure from Athens Greece
19/7/2008

William Optics FLT110 with TMB flattener
SBIG ST10XME
EQ6PRO
ZenithStar 80 II ED
DSI and PHD GUIDING

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Light Pollution in Athens Greece

Night-time light emissions over Greece on 19/09/2001

Modelling of light pollution in suburban areas using remotely sensed
imagery and GIS


C. Chalkiasa,*, M. Petrakisb, B. Psilogloub, M. Lianoub

Department of Geography, Harokopio University
Institute of Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, Greece

Sunday, December 28, 2008

M81and M82

W.O FLT 110 4''TMB flattener
SBIG ST10XME

W.O ZS80 ED_ DSI color
Synta EQ6 Pro

Total exposure 245 min LRGB

22x5min Lum 9x5min each color

Kallithea
Athens
Hellas

Friday, December 26, 2008

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Friday, December 5, 2008

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The Flaming Star Nebula - IC 405 Full resolution

Ha (Ha+R)GB
Ha:80'(8x10') R:50'(10x5') G:50'(10x5') B:75'(15x5')
total exposure 255min

FLT110 ST10XME-CFW9 EQ6Pro
Astrodon Filters

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

NGC 891

FLT110 Sbig ST10XME

Lum (20x5min) 100min
RGB (7x5min) 35:35:35

Friday, August 29, 2008

NGC7331 and Stephan’s Quintet

FLT110 - Sbig ST10XME - EQ6Pro

Lum (18x5min+7x10min) 160min
RGB (8x5min) 40:40:40
Total exposure time 280min

Monday, August 18, 2008

Friday, August 15, 2008

Monday, August 11, 2008

NGC 281

W.0 FLT110 - EQ6Pro EQMod - ST10XME

W.O ZS80 - DSI - GPUSB - PHD Guiding

100min (10x10min) Ha 5nm Astrodon

Monday, August 4, 2008

NGC 6888 Crescent Nebula

W.0 FLT110 - EQ6Pro EQMod - ST10XME

W.O ZS80 - DSI - GPUSB - PHD Guiding

150min (15x10min) Ha


Kallithea
Athens
Hellas
3/8/2008

Sunday, August 3, 2008

NGC6992 - Eastern Veil

W.0 FLT110 - EQ6Pro EQMod - ST10XME

W.O ZS80 - DSI - GPUSB - PHD Guiding

120min (12x10min) Ha


Kallithea
Athens
Hellas
2-3/8/2008

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Andromeda Galaxy

FLT110-EQ6Pro-Sbig ST10XME-CFW9-Astrodon HaLRGB

L:145m (29x5) Ha:20min (1x20) R:25min(5x5) G:25min(5x5) B:25min(5x5)

Sunday, July 27, 2008

IC 5070

IC 5070 Pelikan Nebula

EQ6 Pro W.O FLT 110 SBIG ST10-XME Astrodon 5nm Ha

W.O ZS80 DSI-C PHDguiding EQMOD ver1.12 THE SKY Pro

160min ( 16x10min-Ha )


Kallithea

26-27/07/2008

Thursday, May 22, 2008

J Herschel crater


8'' LX90-DBK-PowerMate x2.5- Baader Ir-cut-Baader neodymium (moon-skyglow)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Mars

Mars 01/11/2008 21:41 UTC
Distance from Earth 0.65au
Illumination 98%
Angular diameter 14.4arcsec CM 27
8'' LX90 f/25
x2.5 PowerMate
Baader Ir-cut
DBK 21AF04
Kallithea
Athens
Hellas

http://www.buytelescopes.com/viewphoto.aspx?pid=16455