All posts featuring astronomical photos
The Markarian’s Chain imaged under city skies captured with a 4 in refractor at 565 mm focal length, an ASI 533MC cooled astronomy camera, and an ASI 174MM guide camera. More than 10 galaxies are visible in this photo. Use the stars Denebola and Vindemiatrix to locate the galaxy chain.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Leo Triplet, three bright galaxies in the vicinity of Leo captured with a 4 in refractor at 565 mm focal length, an ASI 533MC cooled astronomy camera, with an ASI 174MM guide camera. The trio galaxies are bright and visible with small telescopes in relatively dark skies. Two bright stars in Leo can be used to easily find this galaxy group.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Eta Carinae Nebula (Carina Nebula) captured with a 4 in refractor at 565 mm focal length, an ASI 533MC cooled astronomy camera, dual band H-alpha and O-III filter, with an ASI 174MM guide camera. This target is particularly difficult to image since it is very low in my local horizon, only about 15 degrees elevation. It is relatively bright and easy to find due to the presence of nearby bright stars. Due to its low elevation, however, this target needs very clear skies to allow good contrast in the captured photo.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Flame and Horsehead Nebula in the constellation Orion captured with a 4 in refractor at 565 mm focal length, an ASI 533MC cooled astronomy camera, dual band H-alpha and O-III filter, with an ASI 174MM guide camera. One limitation of the DIY focal reducer used in this image is the internal reflection, most visible in bright stars. Also noticeable is the effect of stacking more images in reducing noise, as revealed in the stacking artifact on the right side of this image.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Hercules Globular Cluster (M13) captured with a 4 in refractor at 565 mm focal length, an ASI 533MC cooled astronomy camera, with an ASI 174MM guide camera. Tracking is done using a DIY tracker built using an Arduino and a stepper motor controller. Imaging done in NINA, guiding in PHD2, and processing in SIRIL. This is a bright and relatively easy to find target.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Here’s an image of Orion Nebula (M42) captured with a 4 in refractor at 565 mm focal length, an ASI 533MC cooled astronomy camera, dual band H-alpha and O-III filter, with an ASI 174MM guide camera. Tracking is done using a DIY tracker built using an Arduino and a stepper motor controller. Imaging done in NINA, guiding in PHD2, and processing in SIRIL.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Related link: M42 Orion Nebula with Vixen R114
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
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 1.7 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.
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
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
Milky Way imaged from a heavily light-polluted skies of Bacoor, Cavite, just 18 km from Manila. Taken with a Canon 1100D DSLR with kit lens on a DIY tracker. This photo is a stack of 5 frames at 90 seconds sub-exposure, for a total of 7.5 minutes, ISO 400, processed in IRIS.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Related link: How to Image the Milky Way
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Related link: Lunar Occultation of Jupiter
Night Sky in Focus | Astronomy and Amateur Radio © Anthony Urbano | Manila, Philippines
I’ve observed and photographed the moon’s earthshine, in which the crescent moon’s darker surface is illuminated not directly by the Sun, but by sunlight reflected off the Earth.
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 