{"id":23512,"date":"2021-09-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=23512"},"modified":"2021-10-22T11:46:26","modified_gmt":"2021-10-22T11:46:26","slug":"gallery-your-pictures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/2021\/09\/16\/gallery-your-pictures\/","title":{"rendered":"Gallery: Your pictures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Your best photos submitted to the magazine this month<\/h4>\n\n

PHOTO OF THE MONTH<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

The Crescent Nebula<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n


Andy Weller, Sandy, Bedfordshire, 16\u201317 July 202<\/strong>1<\/p>\n\n

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Andy says: \u201cI\u2019ve only been doing astrophotography for a year, starting during lockdown \u2013 as many people did. This target always appealed to me because of its jarring resemblance to a human brain just hovering in space. <\/span>Its interesting layers of gasses give it an almost ghostly look and feel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

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Equipment: <\/strong>ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera, Celestron C11 <\/span>XLT Schmidt-Cassegrain, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount<\/p>\n\n

Exposure:<\/strong> 73x 4\u2019, gain 120<\/p>\n\n

Software: <\/strong>PixInsight, Affinity Photo, Topaz DeNoise<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Andy\u2019s top tips: \u201cThe 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. <\/span>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.<\/p>\n\n

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\u2019t be afraid to experiment; in the worst case scenario you just start again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

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Solar prominence <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Daniel Zoliro, Oklahoma, USA, 11 June 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Daniel says: \u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed the challenges of solar imaging.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

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Equipment:<\/strong> ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera, Astro- Tech AT115EDT apo refractor, DayStar Quark Chromosphere, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Exposure:<\/strong> 1,400 frames at 46fps <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Software:<\/strong> AutoStakkert!, Photoshop, PixInsight<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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The Milky Way over Maine<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Prashant Naik, Maine, USA, 10 June 2021<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Prashant says: <\/strong>\u201cThis panoramic arch is made up of 20 vertical frames stacked and blended together in Lightroom and Photoshop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Equipment: <\/strong>Nikon D810 DSLR, Nikkor 14\u201324mm lens, Induro CLT204 tripod<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Exposure:<\/strong> ISO 8000, f\/2.8, 15\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Software: <\/strong> Lightroom, Photoshop<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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Saturn<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Dmitry Ardashev, Zaprudnya, Russia, 26 July 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Dmitry says: \u201cI was pleasantly surprised by this photo\u2019s sharpness. At the time, Saturn was 15\u02da above the horizon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Equipment:<\/strong> ZWO ASI462MC camera, TS-Optics UNC 10-inch Newtonian, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Exposure: <\/strong>40,000 video frames at 25.88ms, best 3,000 stacked <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Software:<\/strong> FireCapture, AutoStakkert!, AstroSurface, Photoshop<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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The Heart and Soul Nebulae <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Simon Todd, Haywards Heath, November 2020\u2013February 2021<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Simon says: \u201cThis two-panel mosaic is the first I\u2019ve tried with this camera. I stacked each panel and then used the \u2018Mosaic Tool\u2019 in Astro Pixel Processor to merge them into a mosaic just short of 100 megapixels.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Equipment:<\/strong> ZWO ASI6200MC camera, SharpStar 15028HNT astrograph, Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro mount<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Exposure:<\/strong> 101x 300\u201d per panel <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Software:<\/strong> Sequence Generator Pro, APP (Astro Pixel Processor), PixInsight<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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The Sun at perihelion <\/strong>and aphelion<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Andrei Dumitriu, Bucharest, Romania, 2 January and 5 July 2021 .<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Andrei says: \u201cThe perihelion and aphelion dates printed in your January issue (in \u2018The Sky Guide\u2019 on page 44) inspired me to capture the 3 per cent size difference between the \u2018two\u2019 Suns. January\u2019s perihelion Sun is on the left and July\u2019s aphelion Sun is on the right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Equipment:<\/strong> ZWO ASI178MC camera, Orion ED80 apo refractor, Sky-Watcher Star Discovery mount <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Exposure: <\/strong>0.9ms, gain 0 (perihelion); 0.3ms, gain 97 (aphelion)<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Software:<\/strong> AutoStakkert!, RegiStax, Photoshop<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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Early Perseid passing close to Jupiter<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Steve Brown, Stokesley, North Yorkshire, 3 August 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Steve says: \u201cHaving had no luck catching early Perseid meteors, I repositioned my camera to take some shots of Jupiter. I\u2019d just hit the shutter release on a test shot when the meteor appeared, resulting in this very lucky capture.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Equipment:<\/strong> Canon 250D DSLR camera, Canon 50mm lens, Camlink TP-2800 tripod <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Exposure:<\/strong> ISO 1600 f\/2.0, 5\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Software:<\/strong> Photoshop<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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Mineral Moon <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Neil Corke, Moraira, Spain, 22 July 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Neil says: \u201cThis was my first attempt at astrophotography and I\u2019m really pleased with the result.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Equipment:<\/strong> ZWO ASI2600MM camera, Williams Optics FLT 132 apo refractor, Paramount MX mount <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Exposure:<\/strong> 300\u201d video <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Software:<\/strong> FireCapture, AutoStakkert!, PixInsight<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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The North America Nebula<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Rachael and Jonathan Wood, Doncaster, 15 June 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Rachael says: \u201cI\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Equipment:<\/strong> ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Evostar ED80, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Exposure: <\/strong>2h 10\u2019 total <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Software:<\/strong> Astro Pixel Processor, Photoshop<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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