Your best photos submitted to the magazine this month
PHOTO OF THE MONTH
The Crescent Nebula
Andy Weller, Sandy, Bedfordshire, 16–17 July 2021
Andy says: “I’ve only been doing astrophotography for a year, starting during lockdown – as many people did. This target always appealed to me because of its jarring resemblance to a human brain just hovering in space. Its interesting layers of gasses give it an almost ghostly look and feel.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera, Celestron C11 XLT Schmidt-Cassegrain, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount
Exposure: 73x 4’, gain 120
Software: PixInsight, Affinity Photo, Topaz DeNoise
Andy’s top tips: “The Crescent Nebula is full of fine detail, so try to retain as much as possible while not allowing noise (unwanted artefacts) to dominate. I spent a good third of my time on noise reduction. Because of light pollution from LED streetlights, I used a 7nm dual-narrowband filter to capture the Ha (hydrogen-alpha) and OIII (oxygen) wavelengths, and I constructed shields around my scope to create shade.
I experimented with colours by splitting out and recombining the Red, Green and Blue channels until I struck upon the look and feel I wanted. Don’t be afraid to experiment; in the worst case scenario you just start again.”
Solar prominence
Daniel Zoliro, Oklahoma, USA, 11 June 2021
Daniel says: “I’ve enjoyed the challenges of solar imaging.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera, Astro- Tech AT115EDT apo refractor, DayStar Quark Chromosphere, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount
Exposure: 1,400 frames at 46fps
Software: AutoStakkert!, Photoshop, PixInsight
The Milky Way over Maine
Prashant Naik, Maine, USA, 10 June 2021
Prashant says: “This panoramic arch is made up of 20 vertical frames stacked and blended together in Lightroom and Photoshop.”
Equipment: Nikon D810 DSLR, Nikkor 14–24mm lens, Induro CLT204 tripod
Exposure: ISO 8000, f/2.8, 15”
Software: Lightroom, Photoshop
Saturn
Dmitry Ardashev, Zaprudnya, Russia, 26 July 2021
Dmitry says: “I was pleasantly surprised by this photo’s sharpness. At the time, Saturn was 15˚ above the horizon.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI462MC camera, TS-Optics UNC 10-inch Newtonian, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount
Exposure: 40,000 video frames at 25.88ms, best 3,000 stacked
Software: FireCapture, AutoStakkert!, AstroSurface, Photoshop
The Heart and Soul Nebulae
Simon Todd, Haywards Heath, November 2020–February 2021
Simon says: “This two-panel mosaic is the first I’ve tried with this camera. I stacked each panel and then used the ‘Mosaic Tool’ in Astro Pixel Processor to merge them into a mosaic just short of 100 megapixels.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI6200MC camera, SharpStar 15028HNT astrograph, Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro mount
Exposure: 101x 300” per panel
Software: Sequence Generator Pro, APP (Astro Pixel Processor), PixInsight
The Sun at perihelion and aphelion
Andrei Dumitriu, Bucharest, Romania, 2 January and 5 July 2021 .
Andrei says: “The perihelion and aphelion dates printed in your January issue (in ‘The Sky Guide’ on page 44) inspired me to capture the 3 per cent size difference between the ‘two’ Suns. January’s perihelion Sun is on the left and July’s aphelion Sun is on the right.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI178MC camera, Orion ED80 apo refractor, Sky-Watcher Star Discovery mount
Exposure: 0.9ms, gain 0 (perihelion); 0.3ms, gain 97 (aphelion)
Software: AutoStakkert!, RegiStax, Photoshop
Early Perseid passing close to Jupiter
Steve Brown, Stokesley, North Yorkshire, 3 August 2021
Steve says: “Having had no luck catching early Perseid meteors, I repositioned my camera to take some shots of Jupiter. I’d just hit the shutter release on a test shot when the meteor appeared, resulting in this very lucky capture.”
Equipment: Canon 250D DSLR camera, Canon 50mm lens, Camlink TP-2800 tripod
Exposure: ISO 1600 f/2.0, 5”
Software: Photoshop
Mineral Moon
Neil Corke, Moraira, Spain, 22 July 2021
Neil says: “This was my first attempt at astrophotography and I’m really pleased with the result.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI2600MM camera, Williams Optics FLT 132 apo refractor, Paramount MX mount
Exposure: 300” video
Software: FireCapture, AutoStakkert!, PixInsight
The North America Nebula
Rachael and Jonathan Wood, Doncaster, 15 June 2021
Rachael says: “I’m a fan of the Hubble Palette, so I used a one-shot camera and an L-eNhance filter to split Ha and OIII wavelengths into individual channels; then I colourised and combined them with a green made by blending the Ha and OIII layers.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Evostar ED80, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
Exposure: 2h 10’ total
Software: Astro Pixel Processor, Photoshop
The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula Callum Wingrove, London, 14 July 2021 Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera, SharpStar 94EDPH apo refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount 
The Rosette Nebula Richard Whitehead, Vermont and New Mexico, January and April 2021 Equipment: ZWO ASI6200MM Pro camera, Celestron 11-inch Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt astrograph, Celestron CGX mount 
Pickering’s Triangle Daniel Zoliro, Chouteau, Oklahoma, 17–22 June 2021 Equipment: ZWO ASI183MM Pro camera, Astro-Tech AT115EDT refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount 
Saturn and Jupiter over London Aidan Thomas Hay, Chelsea, London, 2 August 2021 Equipment: Samsung S20 smartphone 
‘Lunar V’ and ‘X’ Matt Wellard, Oakley, Hampshire, 16 July 2021 Equipment: iPhone 8 Plus, Meade ETX 105 Maksutov-Cassegrain 
The Western Veil Nebula Rob Johnson, Liverpool, 16–19 July 2021 Equipment: Atik 383L CCD camera, Teleskop Service 12-inch, f/5 Newtonian, Sky-Watcher EQ8 mount 
The Moon José Manuel Pérez Redondo, Catalonia, Spain, 16 July 2021 Equipment: QHY5 camera, Borg 76mm apo refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro mount 
The North America Nebula Carl Gough, Littlehampton, 8 May–2 June 2021 Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM camera, Orion 8-inch Ritchey-Chrétien, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount 
Plane transiting mineral Moon Soumyadeep Mukherjee, Kolkata, India, 21 July 2021 Equipment: Nikon D5600 DSLR, Sigma 150–600mm lens
ENTER TO WIN A PRIZE. HERE’S HOW:
Whether you’re a seasoned astrophotographer or a beginner, we’d love to see your images. Email them to contactus@skyatnightmagazine. com. Ts&Cs: www.immediate.co.uk/ terms-and-conditions
We’ve teamed up with Modern Astronomy to offer the winner of next month’s Gallery a Celestron Lens Pen, designed for quick and easy cleaning of telescope optics, eyepieces and camera lenses. It features a retractable brush and non-liquid cleaning element. www.modernastronomy.com • 020 8763 9953
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