Tag Archives: M16

Astrophotography Makeover: M101 and M16

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M101 with Supernova 2023xif – with and without BXT and NTX

M16 Eagle Nebula – with and without BXT and NXT

After learning about the powerful BlurXterminator (BXT) and NoiseXterminator (NXT) tools, I reprocessed my M101 and supernova and M16 images that I took from the glorious dark skies of Dell City, Texas earlier this summer.  I was amazed that so much detail can be found in images of objects thousands to millions of light years away taken by my small telescope.  

M16:

Camera geek info:

  • Canon EOS 60D in manual mode, 2 minute exposure, ISO 2000
  • Williams Optics Zenith Star 73 III APO telescope
  • Williams Optics Flat 73A
  • iOptron CEM40
  • Dell City, Texas Bortle 2-3 dark skies

Frames:

  • June 11, 2023
    • Run 1 
      • 6 2 minute lights
      • 31 0.02 second flats
      • 30 0.02 second flat darks
      • 31 2 minute darks
  • June 13, 2023 
    • Run 2
      • 88 2 minute lights
      • 30 0.02 second flats
      • 31 0.02 second flat darks
    • Run 3
      • 83 2 minute lights
      • 31 0.02 second flats
      • 30 0.02 second flat darks
      • 31 2 minute darks
  • 17 frames rejected for a total of 5 hours and 20 minutes of data

Processing geek info:

  • PixInsight
  • BlurXterminator
  • NoiseXterminator
  • StarXTerminator
  • Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch

M101:

Camera geek info:

  • Canon EOS 60D in manual mode, 2 minute exposure, ISO 1600 and ISO 2000
  • Williams Optics Zenith Star 73 III APO telescope
  • Williams Optics Flat 73A
  • iOptron CEM40
  • Dell City, Texas Bortle 2-3 dark skies

Frames:

  • June 10, 2023
    • Run 1 1600 ISO
      • 99 2 minute lights
      • 31 0.01 second flats
      • 20 0.01 second flat darks
    • Run 2 1600 ISO
      • 39 2 minute lights
      • 31 0.02 second flats
      • 30 0.02 second flat darks
      • 71 2 minute darks
  • June 11, 2023 2000 ISO
    • 151 2 minute lights
    • 31 0.02 second flats
    • 20 0.02 second flat darks
    • 31 2 minute darks
  • June 12, 2023 2000 ISO
    • 30 2 minute lights
    • 31 0.02 second flats
    • 30 0.02 second flat darks
    • 32 2 minute darks

Processing geek info:

  • PixInsight
  • BlurXterminator
  • NoiseXterminator
  • StarXterminator
  • Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch

Galaxy Under Construction: M16 Eagle Nebula and the Pillars of Creation

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This is M16 the Eagle Nebula from the constellation Serpens. It’s the home of the famous “Pillars of Creation” picture from the Hubble Space Telescope. If you zoom in … you can see the Pillars of Creation in this image. Pretty cool I could capture it with my small telescope with a little over 5 hours of data. Pretty amazing to think that these star forming regions are all around us … our galaxy is still under construction! And so, so beautiful.

M16 is an emission nebula of ionized hydrogen gas where star formation is taking place.  It is 5700 light years away from us, has apparent dimensions of 70 x 50 arcmin, and has an apparent magnitude of 6.4.  It’s a great target for a small telescope!

Camera geek info:

  • Canon EOS 60D in manual mode, 2 minute exposure, ISO 2000, custom white balance 3500K
  • Williams Optics Zenith Star 73 III APO telescope
  • Williams Optics Flat 73A
  • iOptron CEM40
  • Dell City, Texas Bortle 2-3 dark skies

Frames:

  • June 11, 2023
    • Run 1 
      • 6 2 minute lights
      • 31 0.02 second flats
      • 30 0.02 second flat darks
      • 31 2 minute darks
  • June 11, 2023 
    • Run 2
      • 88 2 minute lights
      • 30 0.02 second flats
      • 31 0.02 second flat darks
    • Run 3
      • 83 2 minute lights
      • 31 0.02 second flats
      • 30 0.02 second flat darks
      • 31 2 minute darks
  • 17 frames rejected for a total of 5 hours and 20 minutes of data

Processing geek info:

  • PixInsight
  • StarXTerminator
  • Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch