Category: Astrophotography

More Astrophotography and a Couple of Others

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date February 16, 2024
2 Comments on More Astrophotography and a Couple of Others

The new moon has come and gone, and I had to deal with a lot of clouds, heavy dew, and cold. However, with the new filter I was able to take advantage of some good weather over the last few days and I had great results. Birding has remained extremely slow, nothing but the regular desert birds. I had nine photos printed for the Sonoran Desert Photo Show that is taking place in March. It is always interesting to see all the photos that are on display, I hope there is good turnout.

I tried this once before with the C8 but it is so dim that details were hard to catch when imaging at f6.3. The last couple of nights I used the 500f4 and the IDAS Nebula Booster filter and the results were amazing. This is the Medusa Nebula, or Sh-2 274 or Abell 21. It is a planetary nebula, what our sun will look like sometime in the distant future as it loses its outer layers of gas and transforms into a white dwarf. The Medusa Nebula is about 4 light years in diameter and 1500 light years distant toward the constellation Gemini.

Also done with the 500f4 and the new filter, the Cone Nebula, the Christmas Tree Cluster, and the Fox Fur Nebula. The faint nebula is approximately seven light-years long (with an apparent length of 10 arcminutes) and is 2,700 light-years away from Earth.

Thor’s Helmet with the new filter. I also used StarXterminator to remove the stars before processing. There are so many stars they overwhelm the image if they aren’t removed. I’ve never been able to get so much detail from the dimmer areas of this nebula.

This is the Seagull Nebula, a large emission nebula between the constellations Monoceros and Canis Major. I could not fit the entire nebula in the frame with the 500f4. I may have to try a mosaic someday. You may notice the prominent bluish arc in the lower center area. This is a bow shock from runaway star FN Canis Majoris.

I was at Highway Tank a couple of days ago and found this Least Sandpiper. Not exactly an exciting bird to see but it was the first one I’ve ever seen at Highway Tank. This bird puts my species total for Highway Tank at 120.

This is a Desert Orangetip, the Pima variety. The Desert Orangetip ranges widely from far west Texas to southern California and into Nevada. The eastern populations are yellow on the upper wing (Pima Orangetip) and western populations are white. One of the earliest spring flying butterflies, this one is nectaring on Fairy Duster.

Astrophotography Birding Flowers and Plants

February Update

It is hard to believe that it is already February. It is also hard to believe how much rain the Ajo area has been getting. The ground is soggy and the mountains are green. Barring an unwelcome spell of freezing temperatures, there should be another spectacular spring bloom of flowers. Already, some are showing up. Birding has been very slow but there are signs of migration, friends in town reported seeing a Rufous Hummingbird today!

I have added more time to the Dolphin Head, I’m up to about 6 hours of exposure now. Using the new duoband filter sure makes this pop out.

This is Ten-mile Wash a day after the heavy rain last week (January 22-23). Some areas around Ajo got nearly 4 inches. I’ve been coming to Ajo for almost 10 winters now and have never seen the wash with flowing water. This morning it was running again, after another inch of rain last night. Ten-mile Wash is about 1/2 mile from my camper.

This morning Vikki Jackson and I hiked up McGrady Wash. We saw one butterfly, this Sara Orangetip. Fortunately, it landed a few times and let me get some photos. It has been a long time since I have had any good butterfly photos to show! Some consider this to be one species within the Sara Orangetip complex, the Southwestern Orangetip.

A Canyon Wren that eventually came close enough for some photos.

We also found this flowering plant, *Pseudorontium cyathiferum*, common name Deep Canyon Snapdragon. It is the only species in the genus *Pseudorontium*. It is native to the deserts of northern Mexico and adjacent California and Arizona. I’ve never seen it before, apparently it is not very common in Arizona according to records in iNaturalist. The leaves are hairy and glandular, the flowers small.

Astrophotography

A Jellyfish and a Dolphin

No, I haven’t been to the coast. Just cruising around the Milky Way Galaxy with my 500 f4 lens. Despite the brightening moon, I’ve been having great success with the new IDAS Nebula Booster filter. This filter is a real game changer for me. It is like having a new astronomy camera, it is that good.

First up, the Jellyfish Nebula, IC 443. I have imaged this nebula many times in the past but always with marginal success. Part of the problem is the dense star field, StarXterminator helps with that. However, the IDAS filter also reduces light from stars, leaving mostly the very bright ones. It also allows me to do longer exposures, gathering more light from the two spectrum bands I want, OII and Ha, and less light that I don’t want. In this case, the nebula is mostly Ha. In the constellation Gemini, about 5000 light years from Earth, C 443 is most likely the remains of a supernova that occurred 30,000 – 35,000 years ago.

This one is just incredible, in my opinion. I’ve tried this before (with no filter) and could never get anything worth using. Not even close. This is the Dolphin Head Nebula, Sh2-308, locate about 8 degrees south of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Sh2-308 surrounds the Wolf–Rayet star EZ Canis Majoris, the bright star in the center of the nebula. This nebula is composed mostly of OII and some Ha, it is very faint. There is a larger Ha nebula that just starts to show in the upper left. In the lower right side of the Dolphin Head is the magnitude 4 star, Udra. The most amazing thing to me is I could do this in a bright moon and still get results like this. I am really looking forward to doing more with the IDAS Nebula Booster filter.

Astrophotography Birding

January Astro

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date January 15, 2024

Although I haven’t had many good nights for astrophotography, I do have a couple of images to show. I spent many hours on each one, including the taking of images and then the processing. It was so cold one night I just quit. Now, the weather is back to more normal temperatures but tonight looks like it will be too cloudy again. And the moon is getting bright but with my new nebula booster filter I can still shoot for another week or so, assuming I get any clear skies. As always, a larger image can be seen by opening in a new tab or window.

Harold Lower and his son Charles were amateur astronomers and skilled telescope makers in the 1930’s. Harold reported that by utilizing red-sensitive film and a deep-red filter, he and Charles had encountered considerable success in imaging dim emission nebulae. Among these objects was a previously unknown nebula in Orion which decades later was given the catalogue designation Sh2-261. In honor of its discoverers, this nebula is commonly known as Lower’s Nebula. I have read that this is a difficult nebula to image, but I tried it last night and am very happy with the results. It is found in the Orion constellation.

The Strawberry Nebula, Sh2-263, also located in the Orion constellation. This one took many hours of imaging to get this much signal. I could probably use a lot more. The nebula includes both emission and reflection nebulas. In our daily lives, we bask in the light of one star, look at all the stars in just this one image!

At Highway Tank a few days ago, this female Common Goldeneye and a Redhead were new species for me at this eBird hotspot. I didn’t get any good shots of the Redhead but the Common Goldeneye came out nice. I now have 119 species at Highway Tank.

Astrophotography Birding Mammals

A New Year

Since I’ve started using eBird for my bird sightings, I now have an easy way to tabulate all my sightings from last year. That’s assuming I remember to use it. I generated a report, and it came in at 262 species for 2023. However, I noticed that I did not report Sharp-tailed Grouse or Common Tern and I know I saw those species at some point in 2023. So, I probably missed a few other species too. That brings me to my New Years Resolution, do a better job of documenting my sightings and see how big of a list I can come up for 2024. Maybe this will give me some enthusiam for a birding trip to somewhere I can pick up lots of species, like south Texas or Florida. We will see. On the local scene, it has really cooled down here. I have not had many good nights for astro, lots of clouds.

I was birding in The Thicket a few days ago and I always check the tree where I saw a Gray Fox a few years ago. There was one there, again. It does not seem like a regularly used tree but if one keeps checking, sometimes it works out.

I have not seen many Sagebrush Sparrows this winter. I went out Pipeline Road a few days ago and found that area to be my best bet. Yesterday I had eight. I keep checking carefully for Bell’s Sparrow but so far, I have not found one.

I’ve been having unusually good luck with Kestrels this winter. Usually, I can’t get close enough for a good photo.

I have managed to get in about 2 hours on this scene in the constellation Auriga. There is a lot to look at here. On the left is the open star cluster M 38. To the right of M 38 is a smaller open star cluster, NGC 1907. The largest and brightest nebula is known as the Spider Nebula (IC 417) and the smaller one below is the Fly Nebula (NGC 1931). I want to put in a lot more time on this but for now, here it is.

Astrophotography Birding

Mid-December Update

It has been a long time since I posted anything, so here goes. I had some good nights for astrophotography. Birding has really slowed down, but I’m still taking photos. The most exciting birds have been a Herring Gull at the ponds, but it didn’t stay long enough for anyone to drive out to see it. And at Highway Tank, during a Cabeza Prieta Natural History Association field trip, we saw three Red Crossbills, a very rare bird for the Sonoran Desert. After three years of not catching a cold, flu or covid, I have now come down with something. I think it is a cold but can’t get tested for covid until tomorrow. At any rate, I don’t feel like doing much today.

Later this week it looks like very good chance for rain, and it is badly needed. Fingers crossed.

One afternoon I looked out and saw this Loggerhead Shrike perched on top of the astronomy mount. It let me get very close.

One of the three Red Crossills at Highway Tank.

A distant photo of all three, two males and a female. After getting a drink they flew south.

This is a dark nebula, Sh2-239. It is a star forming region in the Taurus Molecular Cloud. It takes a lot of exposure to capture these dark nebulas but I find them fascinating and worth the effort.

I’m not even sure this one has a name, but the dark nebula near the top is shown as B209 in Stellarium. The B stands for Barnard. The galaxy in the upper right is IC 359, which is what I had to use to find this dark nebula. Framing is always difficult because these dark nebulas are nearly invisible until the images are stacked and processed.

VdB 14 and 15, reflection nebulas in the constellation Camelopardalis. Both are illuminated by two super giant stars. These are very faint too, took me hours of exposure to get this much.

Here’s an easy one. I couldn’t resist it one night, the Horsehead Nebula. Compared to the nebulas above, this one is easy to do. Only about 2 hours of exposure and the processing is very fast. All of these astrophotos were taken with the 500f4 lens.

Astrophotography Birding

A New Bird for Lake Ajo

A few days ago, I stopped at the Ajo sewage ponds and counted all the birds for my eBird checklist. I was leaving when I took one last look and saw a gull that hadn’t been there before. A look through my binos revealed it was a Black-legged Kittiwake, quite a rare bird in Arizona and the first one ever recorded here at Ajo. Needless to say, quite a few birders made the trip out here to see it and it stayed all day, so they all got to see it. The following morning, it was gone.

The star of the show for one day, a Black-legged Kittiwake.

This Lincoln’s Sparrow posed nicely for me with a nice background. This was at Highway Tank.

A young Oregon Junco at the golf course.

Yesterday I saw two Prairie Falcons at Highway Tank, one chasing the other. Later I saw this one perched and it let me get fairly close.

A Desert Blond Tarantula that was out on a cool morning.

IC 410, popularly called the Tadpole Nebula. It is located in the constellation Auriga, about 12,400 light years out there. I used a new filter, the IDAS NBZ Nebula Booster, to create this image. It is a dual band filter that allows Ha and OII light waves to pass but it filters out moonlight and other light pollution, so I can still do astro on moonlit nights, as least for nebulas. It is not going to work on galaxies. It will only work with the 500f4 lens. In this case, this is the first time I’ve imaged this nebula and was able to really see the “tadpoles”.

The Heart Nebula, taken during a night with a bright moon, using the new filter. With this new filter and my new software, I’m seeing a big improvement in nebula photography.

Astrophotography Birding

Mid-November Update

I’m still here. It has been a while since I have updated anything. Birding has been good, and the weather has been fantastic. Last night it rained, reports vary but probably around .2 to .25 inches in the Ajo area. More rain is forecast for tonight.

The star of the show this fall, a Rufous-backed Robin at Bud Walker Park. It has been two years since I’ve seen one. This bird has been quite cooperative for photos too. A number of birders have traveled here to see it, some were successful others were not.

A Varied Thrush in the town plaza has been getting a lot of attention too. This bird has also been very cooperative for photos.

Kestrels don’t usually let me approach very close; this one was an exception. A female at the golf course, there seems to be more Kestrels around this winter than usual.

Also at the golf course, a Gilded Flicker posing in nice light.

This is Arp 273, pair of interacting galaxies nearly 300 million light years out there. Located in the constellation Andromeda, this is a very small and faint target, but I think it was worth the time I spent on it. They are also known as the Rose Galaxies.

NGC 660 is a rare polar ring galaxy. I copied this information from Wikipedia: NGC 660 is a peculiar and unique polar-ring galaxy located approximately 45 million light-years from Earth in the Pisces constellation. It is the only such galaxy having, as its host, a “late-type lenticular galaxy”. It was probably formed when two galaxies collided a billion years ago. However, it may have first started as a disk galaxy that captured matter from a passing galaxy. This material could have, over time, become “strung out” to form a rotating ring.

NGC 925 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the Triangulum constellation, about 30 million light years away. Although relatively large in the field of view, it is very faint. All of the galaxy photos I posted are taken with the C8 and a .63 reducer, so about 1200mm focal length.

Astrophotography Aurora Borealis Birding Insects

Heading South

I left my campsite yesterday and drove to Sidney, Nebraska. I’m in the Cabela’s RV Park. Today I’m aiming to make to it to Timpas and spending the night there. I would have been happy to stay where I was, but the weather is changing, a period of rain and cloudy weather is moving in.

Here is another image of STEVE from the geomagnetic storm that occurred Monday night. Spaceweather.com had several other reports and photos of STEVE. Mine was the only one from South Dakota. I was pretty excited to see this! I guess I won’t be seeing any more auroras now that I’m going south. Read more about STEVE at this LINK.

A few days ago, I was sorting things out in the truck when I noticed lots of small things hitting the truck. A closer look revealed that backswimmers, aquatic insects, were coming out of the sky onto the truck. I checked around the area and they were not coming down on the camper or anywhere else. I realized what was happening, the shiny, black truck looked like water to the backswimmers. There must have been a large hatch of them somewhere and they were looking for new areas to colonize. This is a photo of one I took some years back at the same place, genus Notonecta.

It took a few days, but I finally found a few Pygmy Nuthatches near camp.

A pair of Canada Jays (Gray Jays) in the top of a pine.

I probably shouldn’t even show this, it is not very good. This is Abell 85, an extremely faint supernova remnant near Cassiopeia. I spent three nights on this, gathering 6 hours of exposure. I could not even see it in any of my photos, and even after processing it was very faint. Without the new software that allows me to remove stars before processing, it would have been hopeless. Unless I decide to invest in a new astrophotography camera, I think these very faint objects will be off limits to me, it just isn’t worth the time.

Astrophotography Aurora Borealis

Northern Lights

Tonight, there was a major geomagnetic storm, and the auroras began as soon as it was dark enough to see them. It was not the best display I’ve seen in South Dakota, but the appearance of another phenomenon was completely unexpected and welcome! I took lots of photos but for now, I’m going to post only three. I wish this had happened when I was in Harding County, a couple of degrees further north might have made a big difference.