Contributions of the group Astrophotography

Robins Egg NGC1360

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 21:41:20 +0000

This was a secondary target to fill in the night as the first target the Chinese Dragon stopped at 1:30am .

Chinese Dragon NGC6559

It is a little small but one I have wanted to take for a while so I used it as a more look see would have been better with the QHY183M . this is a very small planetary nebula seemingly all alone in space..

QHY268M 0c 5 nights 5 min 80 shots HaO , 30 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
QHYCFW3 and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
ZWOCAA rotator
MeLE Mini PC
SVBony 241 Pro Power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
QHY5L-II-M Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps

Chinese Dragon NGC6559

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 11:23:29 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

On the top of this is the lagoon nebula.

This took a while dealing with clouds but shows off the value of the Narrow band filters..

QHY268M 0c 5 nights 5 min 120 shots SHaO , 30 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
QHYCFW3 and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
ZWOCAA rotator
MeLE Mini PC
SVBony 241 Pro Power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
QHY5L-II-M Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps

...bis 2081 :-))

nobody@ipernity.com (Karin G.) — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 08:14:34 +0000

Karin G. has posted:

...warten auf den Mond

nobody@ipernity.com (Karin G.) — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:30:40 +0000

Karin G. has posted:

Prawn Nebula IC 4628

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 06:12:17 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

This was a very hard fought target. first and for most my old power distributor died, it just up and no longer worked. It was find a replacement. SVBony 241 Pro this gave me full power and the USB hub I had could be retired as it had fully functional USB hub on one side.

My first target with this camera I got some funny results and did not quite twig what was going on. That target you will not see till maybe next year to say at this point I was happy to have a new camera, I asked for a full refund.

This is the camera that was replaced from the USA night two at -10c all the very last shots of the night had squid ring on the photo. Carlos said sensor glass is frosted so to prove it I warmed the camera not for 10 min but for 20 min. Slowly but surely the squid rings got less and less.

Frost

So it was where do I go from here. I got in touch with the camera manufacture "what is going on". It seemed I was dumped out on my own. Then I hit on the idea, -10c why not try 0c summer temp shooting. you are looking at 3/4 of this shot coming from perfect 0c THE WHOLE Night shooting. I never got this from my original camera.

One thing I have learned Life is never meant to be easy you got to keep on your toes. The only thing constant is change and something going astray.

QHY268M -10c one night 5 min SHaO 20 odd shot each dumped 4 hours of data ,1 1/2 nights shooting at 0c whole nights data perfect, 20 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
QHYCFW3 and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
ZWOCAA rotator
MeLE Mini PC
SVBony 241 Pro Power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
QHY5L-II-M Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps

RCW133

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 06:51:57 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

This was a shot to take in three days of clear before the winter clouds and rain came in. As I was watching the images come in and stack I kept thinking I know this form. It took me two days of thinking (getting old) to work out yes this was so much the same as my high school arts lesson. The Girl with the Pearl Earring By Vermeer.

The face is turned a little differently but its almost Ghostly the similarity other than the missing star as an earring. The face is more profile than Vermeer's but so similar. Who ever said space has nothing to offer its boreing.

As this area is missing a lot of Oxygen this was shot as Ha SS.

QHY268M 0c 3 nights 5 min 120 shots SHa , 30 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
QHYCFW3 and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
ZWOCAA rotator
MeLE Mini PC
SVBony 241 Pro Power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
QHY5L-II-M Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps

NGC 6357 Lobster Nebula.

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:33:24 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

The SVBony has been a challenge I had equipment stoppage's where the Camera and Mount turned off. While the Pegasus ran from the one power supply SVBony would not I had to use two different power supplies for the mount and the camera. It also turned out the cable I was given with the unit was not capable of providing enough power as the wires where tooo thin. My original cable is a heavy cable so there is no drop in power but it required a different sized end to work.

Add to the power problem the EQMOD cable that runs the mount did not like being on the power unit hub for some reason, so I had to attach it back to the Mele straight not through the SVBony usb hub. I hope the next target has a few less problem's other than clouds and rain.

Contrast the Detail the the Filters bring out of the nebula compared to the single one shot camera above.

QHY268M 0c 5 nights 5 min 120 shots SHaO , 30 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
QHYCFW3 and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
ZWOCAA rotator
MeLE Mini PC
SVBony 241 Pro Power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
QHY5L-II-M Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps

NGC6188 Fighting Dragons Of Ara.

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Fri, 29 May 2026 11:58:32 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

I set out to show the Dragons Fighting no more back ground than the camera showed. This is a two panel panorama but that's as far as I got one night of data on each panel. We are about to get hit once in 5 year storm and nothing but clouds and rain for the next month Nothing is going to be added to these shots. camera train is inside in a box with Silica gel till the rains and clouds clear.

The shot was taken with Ha S O filters you can see the result on the right hand side but PixInsight have added a conversion to the shot so the Filters show as a Normal coloured camera Left side. All previous conversions lacked any detail and show a more washed out look and why I insisted on the Hubble shots of SHaO as it held all the detail true to the shot.

So the Left side is Ha S O and RGB stars converted to a normal colour camera rendition. The Right side is SHaO in the Hubble pallet RGB stars. So Which is a better look of a normal RGB camera or a Mono camera with filters as pure narrow band colours.

6 Panel panorama

QHY268M -10c one night 5 min SHaO 20 odd shot each , 20 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
QHYCFW3 and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
ZWOCAA rotator
MeLE Mini PC
Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
QHY5L-II-M Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps

Southern tadpoles. NGC3572

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Sat, 16 May 2026 08:37:26 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

Part of the Carina complex with the small Southern Tadpoles Center of shot. The northern Tadpoles are much larger and more numerus

www.skyatnightmagazine.com/astrophotography/nebulae/tadpole-nebula-ic-410

This was a place I did want to come back to to try and do them justice that a colour camera just can not do. If you look middle of the shot you can make out the Horse shoe shape in the wide angle shot of the whole area.

Carina Nebula Wide Field.

QHY183M -10c 4 days 5 min SHaO 70 odd shot each , 40 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
ZWOFW and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
MeLE Mini PC
Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
QHY5L-II-M Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps

Whirling Dervish NGC 3247

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 03:00:38 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

If you look into the Whirling Dervish of Turkey

www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1701421760530517

You cant mistake the shape and the movement there even has the arms up as well. The face is there but the hat is black not the beige colour.

QHY183M -10c 4 days 5 min SHaO 70 odd shot each , 40 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
ZWOFW and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
MeLE Mini PC
Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
ToupTek G3m Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps

Running Chicken Nebula IC 2944:- Do look as large as you can

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 06:39:22 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

This was pure trial.

The circles that showed up had to GO.

Standard QHY masks.

3Rd party filter masks all over the filter seat and hole this is the filters out so I could paint the interior, the small circles went as unlike the supplied masks they covered the whole of the hole no lights leaks down the side of the filters and a new interior paint job that reflected no light.

normal interior of the QHYFW contrast the new paint set as same angle

First show just how bright the inside of the filter wheel really is. I was told get some Musou Black and paint the two inside parts of the case.

A nights trial no small circles any where in the RGB stars or the Oii NB filter. But there remained a big circle in the middle. Musou Black Its an unearthly black to look at as it absorbs 98% of the light so no reflections

I raked my brain where is there a large circle. I could only find one just inside the top of the scope there is a 40mm Black plastic ring for the cover to sit on over the time it has got highly polished. Reflecting the light for the street lights or the moon down to the mirror. Only answer is Flock it a velvet like paper that is self adhesive.

I did each night remove the previous nights stacked files so I could see the result of the new work that was done. The end result was every one of the circles where no more. I cant wait till the 16th of this month I have till the 23 rd to shoot LRGB MOON free and see once and for all can I finally do a clean coloured photo from filters. Has all this work paid off the RGB shot it did showed no marks the stars in this shot showed no marks so it all looks very promising. stay tuned! This was A lot of thinking, a lot of clouds from the cyclone and the rain I brought the scope inside.

QHY268M -10c 4 days 5 min SHaO 70 odd shot each , 40 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
QHYCFW3 and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
ZWOCAA rotator
MeLE Mini PC
Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
ToupTek G3m Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps

The Emu Watching over us.

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 09:15:19 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

Well before the moon came up I saw this shot while I was on my own out in the landscape. The Emu in the Milky Way looking down at us as the milky way comes up on the Sagittarius Arm. This was only ever a TWO shot panorama more of the Sky than the ground but not forgetting the ground Lit by Low Level Lighting. Enjoy 1 am in the morning in the Black of night and the stars shining in the sky above.

D810 6400ISO 13sec
Samyang 14mm F2.4 @ 2.8

NGC 3522 The Wishing Well Cluster

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 08:12:47 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

On the far Left the Cluster is Suppose to look like coins in a Fountain. This is a target that has So many stars it takes over the nebulas. This was second fiddle to

As it ran from 1am to Dawn as a fill in. Carina is top right just out of view.

QHY268M -0c 6 days 5 min SHaO 100 odd shot each , 30 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
QHYCFW3 and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
ZWOCAA rotator
MeLE Mini PC
Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
ToupTek G3m Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps

NGC1928

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 06:01:44 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

In part why I did a 42 panel look at the LMC area there is just so much here to look at. You can see this in the middle of the shot below.

This is almost the Heart of the LMC cloud we see in the sky at Night. I make 100% no apologies for the Number of stars in the Shot I have only tried to lower there value rather than the number.
Top left is the area we see the most shots of the LMC Tarantula Nebula but by no means the total of the LMC area.

This was shot over 6 nights till about 1 am before the LMC got really to low to image.
Enjoy one of the jewels of our Southern skies a Little bit more past the Normal...
QHY268M -0c 6 days 5 min SHaO 100 odd shot each , 30 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
QHYCFW3 and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
ZWOCAA rotator
MeLE Mini PC
Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
ToupTek G3m Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps

Keel Nebula NGC3199

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 05:06:21 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

The Keel Nebula with filters show so much more detail than the straight colour shot . This is in the Hubble pallet S Ha O.

The ship has changed colour due to the area being strong in Oxygen to a blue boat. Still a boat sailing on a sea of stars though past the rocks.

QHY268M -0c 6 days 5 min SHaO 120 shot each , 30 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
QHYCFW3 and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
ZWOCAA rotator
MeLE Mini PC
Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
ToupTek G3m Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps

Den Sternen näher

nobody@ipernity.com (Mecklenburg-Foto (Reinhard L.)) — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 10:45:19 +0000

Mecklenburg-Foto (Reinhard L.) has posted:

Das Teleskop der Schweriner Sternwarte ist ein Coudé-Refraktor (150/2250) von Carl Zeiss Jena.

RCW 20 & 19 ( Bigger one)

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 09:41:49 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

In the plan below you can see these two top left area ,This is still in the Vela area and once again an area not that much imaged but I have to say like the image. This was the only glitch that happened in Nina since I have been Using it. that was one whole night Ha filter shot the whole night dispite the fact all the other filters where in the program in the equence. I over came this by night two no Ha was shot just Oiii Sii till they caught up. I turned out it was a glitch in the program it was not just me but a lot of others that where also affected world wide.

This is in the Hubble pallet one of the most usefull pallets you can use.This is still part of the Orion arm that we are on and our sun. As said if you can see Orion in the sky you are looking at our arm of the milky way.

This is half way between the two target did not work as well as I thought so only two nights. NGC2451 is a galaxy but it is over shadowed by the big star and the resultant spikes from the spider.

QHY268M -0c 4 days 5 min SHaO full nights., 30 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
QHYCFW3 and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
ZWOCAA rotator
MeLE Mini PC
Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
QHY5L-II-M Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps

Wind Swept Cosmic Mountains BBW 56

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:37:26 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

This was a look see wide in planning to see what is about, this formation as a surfer stood out as a shark fin. You are looking at an area that is not normaly imaged if I had not got out to a wide view I would never have seen it at all.

So I had to wait for this to come up, you are looking at a panorama of 3 vertical shot to get the whole mountain in. This is a very Hydrogen rich area hence all the red so this is in the pallet Ha Sii Sii all red components.

Mid way I got the remnants of a cyclone but dumping Clouds and rain down our way. So I got the chance to bring in the Scope to clean the Mirrors and then rebuild ready to shoot again.

This is the lining up with the camera that sits in the Focuser looking in (The Red part in the middle ) all the part are rebulit to match the circle of the bottom of the focuser. its worth noteing the mirror in the picture is eliptical not at all round you have to get the view round ( see shot below).... that is the black frame in the middle with a view of the main mirror in view and the red camera and sensor. The main big area of white is a A4 sheet of white paper so the small secondary mirror stands out.

QHY268M -0c 5 min S Ha and three full nights of data , 30 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
QHYCFW3 and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
ZWOCAA rotator
MeLE Mini PC
Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
QHY5L-II-M Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps

2025 + 2026 Accidental panorama Do look as large as you can.

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 08:49:52 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

The Gem Cluster NGC 3293 that is next to Carina. Originally taken as a fill in as the other shots got stopped at 2am by the palm tree this became a fill in.
Then the accident happened "what if" , my third shot with the QHY268M was of Gabriela Mistral area would they go together. PTGui put them straight together, so it meant a reedit so the two photos looked like they where taken to match. Then edit them both as one.

Differences between
2025 Feb is a horizontal shot, 2026 Jan is a rotated vertical shot.
Biggest is the dates a full year apart.
2025 is @-10 2026 is @ 0
2025 is the last taken with the Esatto focuser, 2026 Starpoint Australis SP3 focuser
And a trip to China for repairs.

Other wise every thing else is exactly the same. There is more data in the single shot than is in the shot in the panorama by two nights.
May be I should reedit with the full amount of data but as it was just a "what if" I went with what I had.

QHY268M -0c 4 days 5 min SHaO 2am to Nautical dawn and three full nights of data , 30 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
QHYCFW3 and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
ZWOCAA rotator
MeLE Mini PC
Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
QHY5L-II-M Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps

Gem Cluster NGC 3293

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 08:50:26 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

The Gem Cluster NGC 3293 that is next to Carina. Originally taken as a fill in as the other shots got stopped at 2am by the palm tree this became a fill in. To get a photo of better quality I had to add a further 3 Full nights data to the data that was gained from the fill in time shots. The wisps you see are quite amazing.

Do read the info on the accidental panorama below.

QHY268M -0c 4 days 5 min SHaO 2am to Nautical dawn and three full nights of data , 30 shots each RGB 1 min exposure.
QHYCFW3 and 7 Antlia filters LRGBSHaO
ZWOCAA rotator
MeLE Mini PC
Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box
Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser
Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned
SVbony 50MM Guide scope
QHY5L-II-M Guide camera
Guided PHD2, Nina
Pixinsight, Ps