Solar Eclipse and Airplane transit

Posted on 25/10/2022 by philipp

The partial solar eclipse on October 25th happened conveniently during lunch break, and the skies were perfectly clear. I opted for the big refractor (Astro-Physics 127mm f/8) combined with a 2x Nikon teleconverter in the hope to capture some detail in the form of sunspots on the solar disc.

I setup the camera to record a set of timelapse images, taking a picture every 20s. After I while I also setup the 60mm refractor to be able to observe the eclipse visually.

Shortly after maximum eclipse I noticed an airplane with contrail heading to the area of the sky where the sun was located. From past experience I thought that it will miss the sun (the apparent diameter of the sund and moon in the sky is only about half a thumb’s width at arm-length), but switched the camera to video and started recording.

Rosette Nebula

Posted on 02/02/2022 by philipp

I chose the Rosette nebula again as my target of choice when I wanted to test if I can improve on the image quality when using the 0,7x reducer.

The Rosette nebula is a large and relatively bright emission nebula in the constellation Monoceros. Various parts of the nebula have separate NGC numbers and the embedded star cluster itself is NGC2244

This wider view was taken with the Takahashi FS-60CB and shows the surrounding area of the sky.

Later I discovered that the reducer only provides a 10% reduction in focal length, while introducing quite a bit of vignetting.

Rosette Nebula, Nikon D750a, Optolong l-enhance Filter, Astro-Physics 127mm f/8 with 0.7x Reducer, 61x120s, ISO400, Blur Exterminator, Noise Exterminator

Milky Way above Piz Buin

Posted on 07/08/2021 by philipp

I had to wait quite a bit for the clouds to reveal this view of Vorarlberg’s highest peak, the Piz Buin (3312m). The image was taken at an elevation of 2650m in the Silvretta mountain range in Vorarlberg, Austria.

Nikon Z6, 20mm f/1.8, 15s at f/2.2, ISO3200

Auriga in H-alpha

Posted on 04/04/2021 by philipp

H-II nebulosity in central Orion

Posted on 02/03/2021 by philipp

Orion is not only home to the famous Orion and Horsehead nebula but it is also filled with lots of dust and faintly glowing hydrogen. The bright newborn stars of the area illuminate the interstellar gas and dust, creating a smoky, glowing background.

Takahashi FS-60CB, L-enhance filter, Nikon D750a, Vixen Polarie, 120x30s, ISO3200

The Rosette Nebula

Posted on 28/02/2021 by philipp

Region around the cone nebula

Posted on 27/02/2021 by philipp

During the last weeks southerly winds brought warm weather and Sahara dust to our skies. On Thursday the dust had settled enough to make the night clear enough to set up the small refractor again.

The Great Conjunction

Posted on 19/12/2020 by philipp

This december Jupiter and Saturns position in the sky are very close. This is a very rare event. I hiked above the fog to capture it before clouds rolled in for the next few days.

Wide angle image showing the fog covered Rhine Valley in Vorarlberg, the moon to the left and right above the clouds to the right Jupier and the much fainter Saturn.

Heart, Soul & California Nebula

Posted on 14/10/2020 by philipp

Surprisingly tonight the sky was reasonably clear, so I set up the Vixen Polarie with the Takahashi FS-60CB on top.

Heart & Soul nebula (IC1895 & IC1848) 240x30s, Nikon D750a, Takahashi FS-60CB, Vixen Polarie, l-enhance Filter

NGC7000 – The North America Nebula

Posted on 10/10/2020 by philipp

With the Z6 now my main camera for general photography I sent of my trusty Nikon D750 to modify it by filter removal. The camera is now still fully functional, but he color temperature settings are off, and red response has changed significantly. With the ongoing bad weather I was happy to have an evening with reasonably clear skies and set up the Baby Tak on the Vixen Polarie with the D750a using an L-enhance filter. While the camera capturing 30s exposures I used another scope on the big mount to photograph Mars.

Philipp Salzgeber photography

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