Category: Wide field

Asteroids around IC443

5h exposure (Ha:30x600s)
Acquired from the 30th to the 31st of December 2019 with Samyang 135mm
From 09:56 pm to 04:22 am GMT+1


Setup: Samyang 135mm F/2, AZ-EQ6, QHY163m gain=100, QHYCFW2-M, AstroLink 4 mini, QHY5L2M. Software: APT, Stellarium scope, EQ MOD, PHD2

This image has mainly been acquired for future HOO/SHO mix. But the region is also located on the ecliptic plan giving some interest for looking at possible solar system objects. Let’s see if the Ha filter may have some influence on the detectivity of possible asteroids…

NGC7000 – HOO and SHO

11h50 exposure (Ha/OIII/SII:4h50/3h30/3h30 sub:300s)
Acquired on 3 nights of 2019 (08/25, 09/04 and 09/12)

NGC7000 large crop - SHO - 11h50 - ciel-de-nuit-en-vercors.fr
Setup: Samyang 135mm F/2 @F/2.8, AZ-EQ6, QHY163m gain=100, QHYCFW2-M, AstroLink 4 mini, QHY5L2M. Software: APT, Stellarium scope, EQ MOD, PHD2

This is an another famous target, very bright and very high in the summer sky: the North America nebula also named NGC7000. And this nebula is not alone on this image…

M8 and M20 – HOO and SHO

2h30 exposure (Ha/OIII/SII):3x10x300s)
Acquired on 3 nights of 2019 (08/25, 09/04 and 09/12)


Setup: Samyang 135mm F/2, AZ-EQ6, QHY163m gain=100, QHYCFW2-M, AstroLink 4 mini, QHY5L2M. Software: APT, Stellarium scope, EQ MOD, PHD2

Summer gives the opportunity to capture wide nebula in narrowband. The result is generally colorful but can also led to excess. Let me know what you prefer with these M8 (Lagoon) and M20 (Trifid) nebulas! HOO or SHO?

Asteroids in Virgo cluster

4h40 exposure (L:56x300s)
Acquired on the 28th of February 2019 with Samyang 135mm

Asteroids in Virgo cluster
Setup: Samyang 135mm F/2, AZ-EQ6, QHY163m gain=100, QHYCFW2-M, AstroLink 4 mini, QHY5L2M. Software: APT, Stellarium scope, EQ MOD, PHD2

This image is the result of 56 images stacked using the “Maximum” stacking mode of Deepskystacker. It contains many traces of solar system objets. Let’s see in this post the main characteristics of those objects using Aladin desktop, SkyBoT and  JPL Small-Body Database Browser.

Identify asteroids with Aladin and SkyBot

4h40 exposure (L:56x300s)
Acquired on the 28th of February 2019 with Samyang 135mm


Several asteroids in the field of Markarian chain. Samyang 135mm F/2 at F/2.8, QHY163m gain=100

This article depicts a method to identify asteroids on personal photos. This method uses Aladin Desktop software from Strasbourg astronomical Data Center and SkyBot (Sky Body Tracker) from IMCCE (Institut de Mecanique celeste et de calcul des ephemerides) / Paris Observatory. The last part of this article explains how to obtain the orbit as well as the mass of the asteroid using JPL Small-Body Database Browser of NASA.

Quasars in Virgo cluster

4h40 exposure (L:56x300s)
Acquired on the 28th of February 2019 with Samyang 135mm


Setup: Samyang 135mm F/2, AZ-EQ6, QHY163m gain=100, QHYCFW2-M, AstroLink 4 mini, QHY5L2M. Software: APT, Stellarium scope, EQ MOD, PHD2

In previous post was described a method to identify Quasars using Aladin Destop software.
The method is now applied on this wide field image (central part of Virgo galaxy cluster) which has been annotated accordingly in orange.