All posts featuring astronomical photos
Orion Nebula M42 imaged with an ASI 533 cooled astronomy camera, a ZWO dual-band filter, and a 210 mm focal length f/4 Tamron lens, for a total of 19 minutes exposure. Tracked and guided using an ASI 174 guide camera and DIY tracker. This image was stacked and processed in SIRIL.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Andromeda Galaxy M31 imaged in September 2021 with a Celestron Travel Scope 70, UV-IR cut filter, and an ASI 533 astronomy camera, guided with a DIY off-axis guider (OAG) and an ASI 174MM guide camera. A total of 25 minutes exposure stacked and processed in SIRIL without calibration frames.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Pleiades M45 imaged in September 2021 with a Celestron Travel Scope 70 , UV-IR cut filter, and an ASI 533 astronomy camera, guided with a DIY off-axis guider (OAG) and an ASI 174MM guide camera. A total of 10 minutes exposure stacked and processed in SIRIL without calibration frames.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Related link: Eastern Veil Nebula
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Triangulum Galaxy M33 imaged in September 2021 with a Sky-Watcher Equinox 100ED, UV-IR cut filter, and an ASI 533 astronomy camera at 565 mm focal length (using a 0.63x DIY focal reducer, guided with a DIY off-axis guider (OAG) and an ASI 174MM guide camera. A total of 10 minutes exposure stacked and processed in SIRIL without calibration frames.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Related link: Eastern Veil Nebula
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Lagoon Nebula M8 imaged in September 2021 with a Sky-Watcher Equinox 100ED, UV-IR cut filter, and an ASI 533 astronomy camera at 565 mm focal length (using a 0.63x DIY focal reducer, guided with a DIY off-axis guider (OAG) and an ASI 174MM guide camera. A total of 20 minutes exposure stacked and processed in SIRIL without calibration frames.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Related link: Eastern Veil Nebula
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Trifid Nebula M20 imaged in September 2021 with a Sky-Watcher Equinox 100ED, UV-IR cut filter, and an ASI 533 astronomy camera at 565 mm focal length (using a 0.63x DIY focal reducer, guided with a DIY off-axis guider (OAG) and an ASI 174MM guide camera. A total of 30 minutes exposure stacked and processed in SIRIL without calibration frames.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Related link: Eastern Veil Nebula
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Sun imaged with a 4 inch f/5.65 refractor, a Baader ND 5.0 solar filter, UV-IR cut filter, and an ASI 533 camera.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
After having recently modified my telescope by installing a DIY 0.63x focal reducer, which involves cutting the optical tube assembly and reattaching the focuser, I took a test shot with the moon to determine if the optical elements are properly aligned (collimated) and whether or not the reducer lens introduces color (chromatic) aberration. The image appears sharp, and I did not notice any chromatic aberration (no chromatic aberration reduction applied on this image, not even RGB alignment). To further check proper collimation, I will need to perform a star test soon.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
The Horsehead Nebula (IC 434) imaged in September 2021 with a Sky-Watcher Equinox 100ED, ZWO duo nebula filter, and an ASI 533 astronomy camera at 565 mm focal length (using a 0.63x DIY focal reducer, guided with a DIY off-axis guider (OAG) and an ASI 174MM guide camera. A total of 20 minutes exposure stacked and processed in SIRIL without calibration frames.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Related link: Eastern Veil Nebula
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Helix Nebula imaged in September 2021 with a Sky-Watcher Equinox 100ED, ZWO duo nebula filter, and an ASI 533 astronomy camera at 565 mm focal length (using a 0.63x DIY focal reducer, guided with a DIY off-axis guider (OAG) and an ASI 174MM guide camera. A total of 38 minutes exposure stacked and processed in SIRIL without calibration frames.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
First light image of a DIY off-axis guider OAG fitted to a Sky-Watcher Equinox 100ED using an ASI 174MM as a guide camera, imaging at 565 mm focal length (0.63x DIY focal reducer). This image was taken in September 2021 with an ASI 533 cooled astronomy camera and a ZWO duo nebula filter, for a total of 2.4 hours. Stacked and processed in SIRIL without calibration frames.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Related link: Western Veil Nebula
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
When you look at Jupiter through a telescope, you usually see four moons lined up with the planet. From time to time, a moon may pass in front of Jupiter’s disc in an event called a transit. A transit is a rare event since it occurs only when at least one moon lines up with Earth and Jupiter. On August 15, 2021, however, three of Jupiter’s four largest moons—Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—passed in front of Jupiter, a very rare event which I have observed and captured using a small telescope.
Related link: View all posts about transit
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Clavius crater imaged with a Sky-Watcher 4 in f/9 refractor, 25 mm eyepiece, and an ASI 533 camera. Registering and stacking done in SIRIL.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
First light image of a DIY 0.63x focal reducer fitted to a Sky-Watcher Equinox 100ED. This image was taken in September 2021 with an ASI 533 cooled astronomy camera and a ZWO duo nebula filter, for a total of 14 minutes, tracked and unguided. Stacked and processed in SIRIL without calibration frames.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Related link: Veil Nebula (wide-field)
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Copernicus crater and the Montes Apenninus mountain range imaged with a Sky-Watcher 4 in f/9 refractor, 25 mm eyepiece, and an ASI 533 camera.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
The best time to image and observe Jupiter (and Saturn or any other outer planet) is during opposition, when the planet, as viewed from Earth, is opposite the Sun (as the Sun sets in the west, the planet rises in the east), hence, the term opposition. Two conditions favorable to imaging happen during opposition: (1) Jupiter and Earth will be at their closest point in their orbits around the Sun, thus, making the planet appear largest when observed from Earth, and (2) Since the Sun is opposite Jupiter as viewed from the Earth, the planet is well-illuminated, thus, faster exposures can be taken resulting to sharper images. The Jupiter photo below was taken on August 7, two weeks before the 2021 opposition.
August is particularly rainy (and stormy) in the Philippines, and we seldom get treated with clear skies at this month.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
In eyepiece projection, an image is projected onto the camera’s sensor using an eyepiece. In this Saturn photo, I used a 4 in f/9 refractor and a 25 mm eyepiece to project an image onto the sensor of ASI 533 astronomy camera. The magnification of the image depends on the focal length of the telescope, the focal length of the eyepiece, and separation between the eyepiece and the camera’s sensor. While longer telescopes, higher-power eyepieces, and wider separation between the eyepiece and the camera will produce more magnified images, the amount of detail that can be resolved will still depend on the aperture or the diameter of the telescope’s objective mirror or lens.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
The Galilean moons may sometimes cross the disc of Jupiter as viewed from the Earth in an event called a transit. This image of the moon Io transiting Jupiter was taken on August 8, 2021, from Bacoor, Cavite, using a 4-inch f/9 refracting telescope and an ASI 533 astronomy camera.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
This is probably my sharpest moon capture to date, taken with a ZWO ASI 533 camera and Sky-Watcher 100ED 4 inch f/9 refractor. This is a stack of 800 frames from a 25-second video, which I had to cut short since the file size is already 6 gig! Registered and stacked in SIRIL.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
A filter such as a dual band Oxygen III (OIII) and H-alpha filter inserted along the optical train lets the light from the nebula (and the stars) pass through, but block out everything else, particularly light pollution. This image was taken in Bacoor, Cavite in July 2021, with an ASI 533 cooled astronomy camera and a 50 mm f/4 Tamron lens (at 210 mm focal length), with 27 frames of 240 seconds sub-exposure, for a total of 1.8 hours of exposure, tracked and guided using a DIY tracker. Only light and flat frames were used in this image, no darks and bias frames. This image was stacked and processed in SIRIL.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Night Sky in Focus 