M16 – The Eagle nebula

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M16 has become famous with the famous image of the Hubble telescope showing the pillars of creation. They are also visible in the center of the image below.

This was a first, quick test with the 0,75x reducer (27TVPH) – but I think focus was not good, so my judgement about the quality of the image the focuser delivers is not final yet.

The Eagle Nebula – M16 30x120s, Nikon D750, Astro-Physics 127mm f/8 with 0,75x reducer., reprocessed using using BlurXTerminator and Noise XTerminator
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NGC4565 – a springtime favourite

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NGC 4565 the Needle Galaxy, Astro-Physics 127mm f/8 refractor, QHY163c, Meade LXD650 mount, 30×180 sec., darks, flat, processed in Deep Sky Stacker, Fitswork, Photoshop and Lightroom

I find edge-on galaxies especially pleasing, I guess this is the reason while I return to NGC4565 so often.

While the images were captured, the Starlink satellites which launched yesterday passed almost through the Zenith. They were still very closely grouped, and changed dramatically in brightness when the culminated almost in the Zenith. Here are some images of that pass:

Soon after reaching their highest point in the sky, they entered Earth’s shadow and became unobservable.

10 days old moon through 72 year old telescope

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A late friend of mine owned a Zeiss AS 63mm lens, it took me a while to figure out all the details, as it is not mounted in the original cell, but in a custom machined one, and the tube loooks like it is self-built too.

In the process of establishing the quality of the lens I took these images with a QHY5L-IIc camera in prime focus configuration. As the conditions were very changeable because of passing clouds, the brightness of the images had to be adjusted individually, color saturation has been enhanced.

The first quarter moon, Zeiss AS 63mm f:840mm from 1948, QHY5L-IIc
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