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My Latest { 73 images } Created 11 Jan 2013

This gallery presents a selection of my latest images, taken in the last few days and months, from home in Alberta, Canada and from other locations around the world. This gallery is presented in chronological order, with the newest images first.

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Comet C2022 E3 (ZTF) (Jan 24, 2023).jpg
Comet ZTF and the Dippers (28-70mm R...jpg
Orion's Belt and Sword (WO51mm RMod).jpg
Comet C2022 E3 (ZTF) (Jan 22, 2023).jpg
Moon, Venus & Saturn - Landscape...jpg
Venus & Saturn (Jan 21, 2023).jpg
Mars in Milky Way (28-70mm at 40mm R...jpg
Mars in Milky Way (28-70mm at 35mm R...jpg
$The rising Full "Wolf" Moon of January 6, 2023 over the Badlands of Horseshoe Canyon, near Drumheller, Alberta. The sequence demonstrates the changes in colour of the rising Moon from atmospheric absorption, and changes in its shape from atmospheric refraction. This night the Moon was full almost at the same time as it rose from my location. However, the Moon's high northerly declination — it was about 4° north of the ecliptic — meant that it rose far to the northeast and some 30 minutes before the Sun set, despite the Moon being opposite the Sun. As such, even for the last shot, with the Moon several Moon diameters in altitude, the Sun was still up and lighting the landscape. In fact, at that time the Sun broke through clouds in the southwest to light the foreground with warm light. In this blend, the ground and majority of the sky comes from the final image with the highest Moon and warmest landscape lighting. For the earlier shots the Moon came up in a very bright sky. And so, to better represent the scene, some of the sky coloration — the magentas and cyans — comes from earlier exposures blended in with broad-brush masks. Dark anti-crepuscular rays also added subtle sky colouration and bands of darker blue. This is a sequence of 9 images at an interval of 2.5 minutes, extracted from a set of 80 frames taken every 15 seconds with the camera on automatic exposure, as the sky and ground remained bright enough for an accurate meter reading. The first 8 Moons are masked and layered in with a Lighten blend mode. All images were the Canon R5 at ISO 125 and Canon RF100-400mm lens at 281mm and f/8. Most processing in Adobe Camera Raw with ground and sky masks. Glow and dynamic contrast filters added with ON1 Effects plug-in.$

Winter Moonrise Sequence (R5 RF100-4...jpg
Winter Moonrise in Crepuscular Rays ...jpg
Winter Moonrise over Badlands (R5 10...jpg
$This is the waxing gibbous Moon (11.7 days old) near reddish Mars (above the Moon), and with reddish Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluster below. All are set in a swirl of clouds, looking like they are in an interstellar nebula. Diffraction from ice crystals in the clouds adds the colourful corona around the Moon. This was the Moon-Mars conjunction of January 3, 2023. Mars was then about a month past opposition. This is a blend of 8 exposures, from 8 seconds to 1/500th second, to compress the high dynamic range in brightness and recreate the view more as the eye saw it. Exposures blended with luminosity masks created with Lumenzia. All frames were with the Canon RF100-400mm lens at 100mm and f/5.6, and on the Canon R5 at ISO 400. The camera was on a tracking mount to prevent the stars from trailing. Diffraction spikes added for artistic effect with AstronomyTools Actions. A mild Orton Glow added with Nik Collection/Color EFX.$

Moon, Mars and Hyades (Jan 3, 2023).jpg
$This is the waxing gibbous Moon (11.7 days old) near reddish Mars (at upper right), both set in a swirl of clouds, looking like they are in an interstellar nebula. Diffraction from ice crystals in the clouds adds the colourful corona around the Moon. This was the Moon-Mars conjunction of January 3, 2023. Mars was then about a month past opposition. This is a blend of 6 exposures, from 5 seconds to 1/200th second, to compress the high dynamic range in brightness and recreate the view more as the eye saw it. Exposures blended with luminosity masks. All were with the Canon RF100-400mm lens at 300mm and f/8, and on the Canon R5 at ISO 400. The camera was on a tracking mount to prevent the stars from trailing. Diffraction spikes on Mars added for artistic effect with AstronomyTools Actions. A mild Orton Glow added with Luminar Neo.$

Moon and Mars (Jan 3, 2023).jpg
Comet 2022 E3 ZTF in Corona Borealis.jpg
$The first quarter Moon near the planet Jupiter (at right) amid a hazy sky adding a colourful diffraction effect around the Moon — a lunar "corona." This is a blend of 6 exposures, from 8 seconds to 1/125th second, two stops apart, all at f/7.1 with the Canon RF100-400mm lens at 174mm and Canon R5 at ISO 400. Blended with luminosity masks to retain details on the disk of the Moon but with it set in the bright halo and moonlit sky. Jupiter at right mostly comes from the 2-second exposure, to minimize its trailing in this set of untracked camera-on-tripod exposures. The background sky and trailed stars come from the longest exposure. This was partly a test of this new lens as it was used here straight out of the box for the first time on this scene.$

Quarter Moon & Jupiter (Dec 29, ...jpg
Moon with Venus & Mercury at Chr...jpg
Two Geminids with Smoke Trains (Dec ...jpg
$The Local Group spiral galaxy, Messier 33 in Triangulum, with some of its star forming nebulas showing up as green-blue Oxygen III regions in its spiral arms. This is a stack of 30 x 6-minute exposures, with the Starfield Optics Géar115 f/7 apo refractor taken as part of testing the scope, with its 1x Adjustable Field Flattener for the scope's native 805mm focal length, and with the stock 45-megapixel Canon R5 at ISO 1600. Autoguided and dithered with the MGEN3 autoguider on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount. No dark frames or LENR applied on this chilly night in December 2022. Noise reduction with RC-Astro Noise XTerminator; star reduction with RC-Astro StarShrink. Galaxy details were enhanced with applications of: a masked High Pass Sharpen filter, Starizona's Galaxy Enhance action, and PhotoKemi Dark Details action. All stacking, alignment and processing in Photoshop.$

M33 Triangulum Galaxy (Géar115 R5 w...jpg
Geminid Meteor Shower 2022 (Untracke...jpg
Geminid Meteor Shower 2022 (Tracked ...jpg
$A close-up view of the reappearance of Mars from behind the disk of the Full Moon, during the December 7, 2022 occultation of Mars. Some of the dark mare areas covered in volcanic dust are visible on the disk of Mars, contrasting with the dark volcanic mare areas of the Moon. The region on the lunar limb that Mars is rising behind is the dark area called Mare Smythii. The main mare or "terra" region on Mars visible here is Mare Cimmerium. On the Moon's disk, Mare Crisium is at top, while below it is Mare Fecunditatis, with the prominent rayed crater Messier A. This is a crop in from a single frame, not a stack, grabbed from the 8K video file taken with a Canon R5 camera shooting through the Astro-Physics 130mm refractor with a 2X Barlow, for a focal length of 1560mm at f/12. This frame had the best sharpness of many, as the seeing conditions were quite blurry for most of the time. Colour grading of the Canon Log3 video file was with Pixelmator Pro's new video editing functions, which included doing the crop.$

Occultation of Mars Reappearance Clo...jpg
$A selfie of me observing Mars, the bright object at top, in Taurus, on a mild winter night from home on December 9, 2022. Mars was then two days past opposition and at its brightest. The waning gibbous Moon is the bright glow at left, lighting the sky blue and the snowy landscape below with sparkling moonlight. Orion is rising behind me, while Gemini is at far left. I am observing with the Astro-Physics 130mm EDT refractor, an almost vintage telescope now, purchased in 1993 and still one of the best made of its type. It is on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount. This is a blend of two exposures with the TTArtisan 21mm lens at f/2.8, one focused on me, and one focused on the stars, both with the Canon R6 at ISO 800 for 3.2 seconds. Diffraction spikes on Mars added for artistic effect with AstronomyTools actions.$

Observing Mars (Dec. 9, 2022).jpg
Mars Occultation Composite (Dec 7, 2...jpg
$Mars is about to be occulted by the Full Moon on December 7, 2022. This is ingress with the eastward moving (i.e. right to left here) Moon about to cover up Mars on the Moon's western limb. The sky had thin cloud adding the colourful halo, or "corona," around the Moon, so the sky is not black. Mars was at opposition this night and so was the Moon, so the Moon was full and Mars was at its brightest for this appearance in 2022. The size of the Martian disk was 17 arc seconds across this night and its magnitude was -1.8. Mars is twice the actual size of the Moon, but appears tiny here due to its greater distance — some 206 times farther away than the Moon. This night, the Moon was 397,000 kilometres away, near is apogee point, while Mars was 82 million kilometres away, a week after its closest approach. This is a single 1/80-second exposure — it is not an exposure blend or composite — with the Canon R5 camera at ISO 400 and on the Astro-Physics 130EDT refractor with a 2x Barlow for an effective focal length of 1560mm at f/12. I've processed the image for high contrast on the lunar disk (using a Subject mask in Camera Raw) to emphasize its lunar seas and bright ray structures, such as from the crater Tycho at bottom, a relatively recent impact. I also brought out the sky colours from the clouds for added effect.$

Full Moon and Mars at Occultation (D...jpg
$The red planet Mars in the winter sky lit by the waxing gibbous Moon, off frame at right. Mars is at centre, and nearly at its brightest for the year with it 4 days before its December 2022 opposition. It appears in Taurus, east of the Hyades and below the Pleiades, and above Orion. Sirius is rising at bottom just above the horizon. Procyon and Canis Minor is at lower left, with Castor and Pollux in Gemini above. At upper left is Capella in Auriga. The stars of Perseus at at top. Taken from home in Alberta, December 3, 2022, with the old rake as a foreground object. This is a stack of 4 images for the ground to reduce noise blended with one exposure for the sky, all 13 seconds at f/4 with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 16mm, on the Canon R5 at ISO 800. All untracked on a fixed tripod. Diffraction spikes added for artistic effect with Astronomy Tools actions.$

Mars in the Winter Sky (Dec 3, 2022).jpg
$The Local Group spiral galaxy, Messier 33 in Triangulum, with some of its star forming nebulas showing up as green-blue regions in its spiral arms. The field also contains some faint and much more distant 13th to 15th magnitude galaxies. This is a stack of 20 x 4-minute exposures, with the Starfield Optics Géar115 f/7 apo refractor taken as part of testing the scope, with its 0.8x Adjustable Reducer for f/5.6 and with the stock 45-megapixel Canon R5 at ISO 800. Autoguided and dithered with the MGEN3 autoguider on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount. No dark frames or LENR applied on this mild night in November. Noise reduction with RC-Astro Noise XTerminator. All stacking, alignment and processing in Photoshop.$

M33 Triangulum Galaxy (Géar115 R5).jpg
$The Pleiades, aka Messier 45, embedded in the dusty nebulosity the star cluster is passing through in Taurus. The dust clouds are illuminated by light from the hot young blue stars. This is a stack of just 12 x 4-minute exposures, as incoming Earth clouds spoiled some frames and prevented more exposures. Even so, some high haze hampered some of the images used in the final set. All were with the Starfield Optics Géar115 f/7 apo refractor taken as part of testing the scope, with its 0.8x Adjustable Reducer for f/5.6 and with the stock 45-megapixel Canon R5 at ISO 800. Autoguided and dithered with the MGEN3 autoguider on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount. No dark frames or LENR applied on this mild night in November. I brought out the faint dust clouds with the application of luminosity masks created with Lumenzia extension panel in Photoshop, plus an application of the Nebula Filter action from the Photokemi Star Tools action set on a separate stamped layer and blended into the final image. Noise reduction with RC-Astro Noise XTerminator. All stacking, alignment and processing in Photoshop.$

M45 Pleiades (Gear115 R5).jpg
Autumn Stars Rising at Lake Edith.jpg
$The constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, and the asterism of the Big Dipper low in the north over Lake Edith in Jasper National Park, on a clear autumn night. Arcturus is at left setting over Pyramid Mountain. Bands of airglow tint the sky, but also unfortunately, so does light pollution from the Park's service areas to the north of the townsite. This is a blend of a single tracked 2-minute exposure for the sky and water with the reflected stars, with a single untracked 4-minute exposure for the rest of the ground, both at f/2.8 with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 17mm and Canon R5 at ISO 800. I shot this October 16, 2022. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar Neo. Diffraction spikes on stars added with Astronomy Tools actions.$

Ursa Major over Lake Edith.jpg
$This is the totally eclipsed Moon of November 8, 2022 set in the stars of Aries, with the planet Uranus nearby, visible as the greenish star about three Moon diameters away from the Moon at the 10 o'clock position. Uranus was at oppostion the next night, November 9, at magnitude 5.6. I shot the set of images for this scene at about 3:28 a.m. MST, about 20 minutes after the start of this long totality, so the right (lunar eastern) limb of the Moon was still fairly bright. The field of view is about 7.6° by 5°. This is a blend of four exposures to compress the dynamic range and record the stars while maintaining the Moon more as the eye saw it. I blended a 5-second exposure at ISO 1600 for the stars, with 1-, 2-, and 5-second exposures at ISO 200 for the lunar disk, all with the Canon Ra on the SharpStar 61mm EDPH refractor with the Reducer/Flattener for f/4.6. The scope and camera were on the Star Adventurer tracker, turning at the sidereal rate for the long exposure for the stars but at the slower lunar rate for the shorter, lower ISO exposures for the Moon. Blending was with old-fashioned manual masking, not HDR routines or even luminosity masks. It was -25° C this night, and with several inches of snow having just fallen that day, so I kept the gear complexity to a minimum. However, using a 280mm focal length scope on the tracker was pushing it. Most long exposures for the starfield were trailed. I shot several sets of "HDR" exposures to be sure I got one that worked.$

Total Lunar Eclipse in Starfield (No...jpg
Total Lunar Eclipse - Wide View (Nov...jpg
Selfie Observing Nov 8, 2022 TLE.jpg
Sunbeams over Athabasca River.jpg
Milky Way over Pyramid Lake.jpg
Big Dipper over Pyramid Mountain.jpg
Peyto Lake at Night Panorama.jpg
Ursa Major over Peyto Lake in Twilig...jpg
Northern Sky Over Lake Edith.jpg
$NGC 281, aka the Pacman Nebula, in Cassiopeia, near the bright star Schedir (or Shedar), at right, and below Achird at top. Above and right of Achird is the small green planetary nebula Abell 2, while above and left of Achird is the small star cluster King 2. Below NGC 281 and Schedir is a small reflection nebula unmarked on any of the print and digital star atlases I have, including the very comprehensive Millenium Star Atlas and the Tri-Atlas. Some fainter reflection nebulosity lies to the left of NGC 281. This is a stack of 10 x 8 minute exposures at ISO 1600 through an IDAS NB1 dual narrowband filter, blended with a stack of 12 x 4 minute exposures at ISO 800, all with the Canon Ra on the Starfield Optics Géar90 apo refractor with the 0.8x Adjustable Flattener/Reducer for f/4.8. On the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount, autoguided and dithered with the Lacerta MGEN3 autoguider. All aligned, stacked and blended in Adobe Photoshop. An application of the Photokemi Star Tools Nebula Filter action helped bring out the faint nebulosity.$

NGC 281 Pacman Nebula (Géar90 Ra).jpg
$This is the small and sparse star cluster M29 (Messier 29) at centre in Cygnus the Swan. It barely stands out from the rich background Milky Way field in this long exposure. Above M29 is the IC 1318 complex of nebulosity around the bright star Gamma Cygni, aka Sadr. This is a stack of 12 x 4-minute exposures at ISO 800 with the Canon R5 and through the Starfield Optics Géar90 EDT refractor with its 0.8x Adjustable Reducer/Flattener for f/4.8. On the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount and autoguided and dithered with the Lacerta MGEN3 autoguider. The Canon R5 is a stock camera, not modified and no filter was employed here, but it picked up the nebulosity quite well.$

Messier 29 in Cygnus (Géar90 R5).jpg
$This is NGC 457, the ET or Owl Cluster in Cassiopeia, in a stack of images showing the total number of satellite trails recorded over the 36 minutes of total expposure time this night. By coincidence, the trails frame the main subject, but the number of satellites now above us make it nearly impossible to take a long exposure image, certainly at the start or end of a night, without recording at least one satellite trail, if not more, per image. Some of the parallel streaks could be Starlink satellites. This was from 51° north on a mid-October night, between 8:18 pm and 8:52 pm MDT. This is a stack of 12 x 3-minute exposures, stacked to add together, rather than average out, the trails. This was with the Starfield Géar90 apo refractor at f/4.8 with its Reducer/Flattener, and Canon Ra at ISO 1600.$

NGC 457 with Accumulated Satellite T...jpg
$A framing of the field around the bright white star Altair (lower left), and the orange giant star Tarazed above, with the dark nebula complex B142 (lower dark lane) and B143 (the top pair of dark lanes), together known as Barnard's E. These are all in Aquila. This is a stack of 12 x 4-minute exposures at ISO 800 with the Canon Ra camera, on the Starfield Optics Géar90 EDT f/6 refractor with its 0.8x Reducer/Flattener for f/4.8 effective. Taken from home October 23, 2022. On the AP Mach1 mount and autoguided and dithered with the Lacerta MGEN3 autoguider.$

Altair & Barnards E (Géar90 Ra).jpg
$This is NGC 457, the ET or Owl Cluster in Cassiopeia. The small cluster NGC 436 lies above the Owl. A faint planetary nebula, Simeis 22, is to the left, but is barely recorded here in these short unfiltered exposures. The field contains quite a few yellow giant stars. This is a stack of 12 x 3-minute exposures, stacked to average out the many satellite trails that appeared on the sub-frames. This was with the Starfield Géar90 apo refractor at f/4.8 with its Reducer/Flattener, and Canon Ra at ISO 1600. Autoguided and dithered with the Lacerta MGEN3 autoguider.$

NGC 457, ET Cluster (Géar90 Ra).jpg
Lake Louise by Night.jpg
Milky Way Over Lake Louise.jpg
Mount Cephren by Moonlight.jpg
Arcturus and Big Dipper at Cypress H...jpg
Milky Way Over the Athabasca River P...jpg
Reflected Moonrise at Crawling Lake ...jpg
Reflected Moonrise at Crawling Lake ...jpg
Hunter's Moonrise (Oct 8, 2022).jpg
Mercury at GEW at Dawn (Oct 7, 2022).jpg
Zodiacal Light at Dawn (Oct 7, 2022).jpg
Cassiopeia Clusters (SS76 R5).jpg
Cygnus & Cepheus Nebulosity (28-...jpg
Cygnus Nebulosity (28-70mm with Ha).jpg
$The small constellation of Sagitta the Arrow, in the Milky Way. The small globular cluster, Messier 71, is between Gamma Sagittae and Delta Sagittae. Below M71 is the very sparse star cluster Harvard 20. The emission nebula Sharpless 2-84 is supposedly at centre but does not show up here except perhaps as a dim blue area of reflection nebulosity, though there is some faint red emission nebulosity at lower right. This is a stack of 10 x 5-minute exposures through the SharpStar 61EDPH II refractor with its flattener/reducer at f/4.6 and the red-sensitive Canon Ra, though with no filter employed here. The mount was the little Star Adventurer GTi portable GoTo mount undergoing testing, and autoguided with the ZWO ASIAir and its little 30mm guidescope, with the Air also controlling the Ra and performing dithering moves between each exposure. The guiding worked very well. No darks or LENR were applied here, but the stacking averaged out the thermal noise hot pixels on this fairly warm autumn night, September 27, 2022. All stacking and alignment with Photoshop. A mild Orton Glow effect added with Luminar AI.$

Sagitta and M71 (SS61 Ra).jpg
$The famous Double Cluster (NGC 869, right and NGC 884, left) in Perseus, in a wide-field shot that includes the nearby stars clusters NGC 957 to the left, and Trumpler 2 at bottom left. The large and sparse cluster Stock 2, aka the Muscle Man Cluster, is at upper right. The field is filled with yellow supergiant stars. The field of view is similar to that of binoculars. This is a stack of 20 (!) x 3-minute exposures with the SharpStar 61EDPH II refractor with its reducer/flattener at f/4.5, and the Canon Ra at ISO 800. Autoguided with the MGENIII, on the Star Adventurer GTi mount taken as part of testing the mount. A slight camera tilt from the reducer's rotator mechanism being a bit loose produces slightly soft stars on the left side of the frame. Taken from home September 25, 2022.$

Double Cluster and Environs (SS61 Ra...jpg
$The colourful region in and around the Coathanger asterism in Vulpecula the Fox. The grouping is not a star cluster per se, though it is catalogued as one, Collinder 399. It is also known as Brocchi's Cluster. A true star cluster, NGC 6802, is located at the east (left) end of the Coathanger, as the small clump of stars. The area is also rich in faint nebulosity, notably: the Sharpless 2-83 reflection nebula complex above the Coathanger, and the small, round Sharpless 2-82 emission and reflection nebula below the Coathanger. The large area of red emission nebula at bottom right is not catalogued or labelled in any of the star atlases I have, including the Millenium Star Atlas and Uranometria. However, the small round red "nebula" on the bottom edge of the large nebula is actually a highly reddened globular cluster, Palomar 10. This area of the Milky Way is rich in dark nebulas and absorbing dust, yellowing the fields. This is a stack of 10 x 5-minute exposures through the SharpStar 61EDPH II refractor with its flattener/reducer at f/4.5 and the red-sensitive Canon Ra, though with no filter employed here. The mount was the little Star Adventurer GTi portable GoTo mount undergoing testing, and autoguided with the ZWO ASIAir and its little 30mm guidescope, with the Air also controlling the Ra and performing dithering moves between each exposure. The guiding worked very well. No darks or LENR were applied here, but the stacking averaged out the thermal noise hot pixels on this fairly warm autumn night, September 27, 2022. All stacking and alignment with Photoshop. A mild Orton Glow effect added with Luminar AI, plus an application of PK Actions Dark Detail Hard action (a form of high-pass sharpening), two somewhat opposing effects -- i.e. fine sharpening plus overall softening. But the result does punch up the nebulosity, as does some luminosity masked curves adjustment layers from TK Actions and Lumenzia. Noise reduction was with RC Astro's Noise XTerminator.$

Coathanger Cluster Cr399 (SS61 Ra).jpg
Perseus (85mm R5).jpg
Milky Way from Altair to Albireo (85...jpg
Milky Way in Aquila (85mm R5).jpg
Star Clusters in Serpens and Ophiuch...jpg
Milky Way in Sagitta and Vulpecula (...jpg
M31 and M33 Galaxies (85mm R5).jpg
Green and Red Aurora Mixing (Sept 26...jpg
Mars RIsing in an Aurora (Sept 26, 2...jpg
Aurora and Milky Way (Sept. 26, 2022...jpg
Green and Red Auroral Curtains (Sept...jpg
$This is the field in Vulpecula the Fox that contains the famous planetary nebula, the Dumbbell Nebula aka Messier 27, at left, but also the faint emission nebulas NGC 6820 at right and Sharpless 2-88 above it. The small star cluster below centre is NGC 6830. A small star cluster, NGC 6823, lies embedded in NGC 6820. The field is yellowed by the interstellar dust reddening distant objects. This is a blend of filtered and unfiltered stacks: 18 x 6-minutes at ISO 2500 through the IDAS NB1 dual narrowband filter, and 16 x 3-minutes at ISO 1000 with no filter, all through the SharpStar 61 EDPHII apo refractor at f/4.6 with its reducer/flattener, and with the red-sensitive Canon Ra, all on the Star Adventurer GTi mount/tracker, autoguided with the Lacerta MGENIII autoguider, taken as part of testing the mount. No darks or LENR applied here, but the autoguider applied some dithering offset between each frame, to cancel out thermal noise hot pixels when the sub-frames were aligned and stacked. Taken Sept. 24/25, 2022 from home in Alberta on a very clear cool night. Shooting and then blending filtered with unfiltered shots provides the best of both worlds: the reddish nebulosity set in a sky preserving natural coloured stars and background tints. Nebulosity was brought out with DM1 and DM2 luminosity masks created with the Lumenzia plug-in panel for Photoshop. Finishing touches with a Paint Contrast layer added with TK Actions panel, and a mild application of the Nebula Filter from the PhotoKemi action set both boosted the nebulosity a bit more. All stacking, aligning and blending done in Adobe Photoshop.$

M27 and NGC 6820 Area (SS61 Ra).jpg
$This is the complex of nebulosity that has become known as the Cosmic Question Mark, a good name as its official designations are confusing. The top arc is usually labelled as NGC 7822, and the middle region as Cederblad (Ced) 214. However, some charts and references label Ced214 as NGC 7822, as it is brighter and might have been the object William Herschel saw when amassing observations in the 18th century for his General Catalogue, in which he describes NGC 7822 as "eeF! and eeL!," meaning really really faint and large! The little "dot" of the question mark is the faint and photographic-only nebula Sharpless 2-170, surrounding a little cluster Stock 18 . The field is embedded in dust, indicated by the brownish-yellow tint of the background sky at centre, contrasting with the dust-free bluish starfields at top and bottom. Even the star clusters are yellowed, notably King 11 at top right and NGC 7762 embedded in the nebula at right above the bright star. The loose and sparse cluster Berkeley 59 lies embedded in Ced 214.. Most of the field lies in Cepheus but the lower bits of Ced214 and Sharpless 2-170 lie across the border in Cassiopeia. This is a blend of filtered and unfiltered stacks: 10 x 8-minutes at ISO 3200 through the IDAS NB1 dual narrowband filter, and 10 x 4-minutes at ISO 1600 with no filter, all through the SharpStar 61 EDPHII apo refractor at f/4.6 with its reducer/flattener, and with the red-sensitive Canon Ra, all on the Star Adventurer GTi mount/tracker, autoguided with the Lacerta MGENIII autoguider, taken as part of testing the mount. No darks or LENR applied here, but the autoguider applied some dithering offset between each frame, to largely cancel out thermal noise hot pixels when the sub-frames were aligned and stacked. Taken Sept. 21/22, 2022 from home in Alberta on a very clear cool night. Shooting and then blending filtered with unfiltered shots provides the best of both worlds: lots of reddish nebulosity set in a sky with natural$

NGC 7822 and Ced214 (SS61 Ra).jpg
Cygnus Nebulosity (135mm Ra).jpg
Cassiopeia & Perseus Clusters (1...jpg