Your best photos submitted to the magazine this month
PHOTO OF THE MONTH
The Cygnus constellation
Jeffrey Horne, Nashville, USA, June 2020 and August 2021
Jeffrey says: “Last year I wanted to take a wide shot of Cygnus, with long sub exposures (20 minutes each) to see what kind of faint nebulosity I could pick up. I was so delighted by what I saw that I decided to reframe it this year as a two-panel mosaic that would show the region’s entirety. This image is a combination of last year’s data with this year’s.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro camera, Canon 50mm USM 1.4 lens, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount
Exposure: 40h 20’ total
Software: Astro Pixel Processor, PixInsight, Photoshop
Jeffrey’s top tips: “Shooting with a one-shot colour camera can be challenging in a city, but with enough forethought and integration time, you can get the results you want. I battle light pollution with dual-narrowband filters like the Optolong L-eXtreme, which allows me to do long exposures (20 minutes). To avoid over-exposed stars, I do a round of shorter exposures (60–90 seconds) with a broadband filter like the Optolong L-Pro. Using PixInsight’s Starnet++ feature I remove the stars from the image, then use ‘Layers’ in Photoshop to add the broadband stars to the narrowband nebula. This means you get the best of both worlds: faint nebulosity, and colourful and properly exposed stars.”
Pluto’s movement
Kfir Simon, remotely via Tivoli Farm, Namibia, 4–14 August 2021
Kfir says: “This is exactly how the dwarf planet Pluto was originally discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh – by comparing two (or more) images and ‘blinking’ them to see the movement.”
Equipment: FLI ProLine 16803 CCD camera, Phillip Keller 16-inch Hypergraph, ASA DDM 160 mount, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount
Exposure: 6x 3’
Software: Maxim DL, Photoshop
The Milky Way over Logan Rock
Simon Hudson, Treen, Cornwall, 29 August 2021
Simon says: “Logan Rock in Cornwall is a place I will return to again. It’s such a great spot for astrophotography.”
Equipment: Nikon D850 DSLR camera, Sigma 14–24mm lens, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer mount
Exposure: sky: ISO 2000, f/3.5, 2x 120”; foreground: ISO 2000, f/2.8, 2x 120”
Software: Photoshop
Close-up of globular cluster M3
Vitali Pelenjow, Kernen, near Stuttgart, Germany, March–May 2021
Vitali says: “It was fascinating to reveal the faint stars and tiny galaxies around this beautiful globular cluster as the telescope gathered more and more data.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI2400MC camera, Celestron 11-inch EdgeHD Schmidt-Cassegrain, 10 Micron GM1000 HPS mount
Exposure: 912x 180”
Software: PixInsight
The Perseids over the Geoneedle
Kevin McDonagh, Exmouth, Devon, 13 August 2021
Kevin says: “The forecast showed a window of opportunity free from cloud between 10pm and 12.15am. I took 456 shots and managed to capture these 13 meteors.”
Equipment: Canon 6D DSLR camera, 14mm Samyang lens, Manfrotto tripod
Exposure: ISO 3200, f/2.8, foreground: 1/60”, sky: 15”
Software: Lightroom, Photoshop
The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula in hydrogen-alpha
Michael Bate, Milton Keynes, 28 August 2021
Michael says: “This is probably the image I’m most proud of to date, having only recently started using an Ha (hydrogen-alpha) filter. I’m amazed at the details brought out in the huge column of interstellar gas and dust.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM camera, Sky- Watcher 200PDS Newtonian, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
Exposure: 15x 360”
Software: DeepSkyStacker, Affinity Photo
The Pinwheel Galaxy
Hannah and Joel Da Costa, Preston, 6 and 7 April 2021
Hannah and Joel says: “We bought our telescope just before lockdown last year. We think this is our best shot so far.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera, Celestron NexStar Evolution 6 Schmidt- Cassegrain
Exposure: 6.5h total
Software: APT, DeepSkyStacker, Photoshop, DeNoise AI
Jupiter with triple moon transit
Sona Shahani Shukla, New Delhi, India, 15 August 2021
Sona says: “This was a rare triple moon transit by (on the right) Ganymede, Europa and Callisto. I also captured Io emerging from the left limb.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI178MC camera, 8-inch Sky-Watcher 200P Dobsonian
Exposure: 5.49ms, gain 302, (4,835 frames captured at 76fps, stacked at 40%)
Software: SharpCap Pro, RegiStax, Photoshop, AutoStakkert!
The Lion Nebula
Emil Andronic, Bushey, Hertfordshire, 1 June–15 July 2021
Emil says: “A while ago I thought about capturing some targets that are a little out of the ordinary and the Lion Nebula was the first on my list. When the first sub rolled in, I was extremely pleased to see so much signal in a single 300-second sub-exposure.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI294MM Pro camera, Astro-Tech 106LE triplet refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount
Exposure: Ha 80x 300”, OIII 60x 300”, SII 50x 300”
Software: Astro Pixel Processor, PixInsight, Photoshop
Perseid meteor shower – Juan Miguel Sala, Moya, Cuenca, Spain, 13 August 2021 – Equipment: Nikon D850 DSLR, Sigma Art 14mm lens, Benro tripod 
Saturn – John Chumack, Dayton, Ohio, USA, 20 August 2021 – Equipment: ZWO ASI224MC camera, Celestron C11 Schmidt-Cassegrain 
The Eastern Veil Nebula – Ian Phillips, Weston-super-Mare, 18 July and 26 August 2021 – Equipment: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro mount 
Jupiter Opposition 2021 – Prabhu, Mleiha, UAE, 19 August 2021 – Equipment: ZWO ASI462MC camera, Celestron 11-inch EdgeHD Schmidt-Cassegrain 
The Bubble and Lobster Claw Nebulae – Martin Bracken & Rob Davis, Essex, July–August 2021 – Equipment: Bracken: ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount; Davis: ZWO ASI533MC camera, William Optics Zenithstar 61 refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ6R Pro mount 
The Perseids – Anita Bissett, Lowestoft, 13 August 2021 – Equipment: Canon 600D DSLR, Sigma 10–20 lens, fixed tripod 
The Milky Way – Peter Louer, Tenerife, 26 August 2021 – Equipment: Canon 600D DSLR, Canon 50mm lens, Sky-Watcher NEQ5 mount 
Mineral Moon – Fernando Oliveira de Menezes, São Paulo, Brazil, 16 August 2021 – Equipment: ZWO ASI6200MC camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 150ED refractor, iOptron CEM60-EC mount 
The Veil Nebulae – Vicki Pink, Southampton, August 2021 – Equipment: Altair Hypercam 269C camera, Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
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We’ve teamed up with Modern Astronomy to offer the winner of next month’s Gallery a Hama 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