Forthimage: Amateur Astronomy from Edinburgh
This website is a place where I can post my images purely for the fun of it. You can find more information about the equipment I use on the About/Equipment page. To give me something to aim for, I have set up pages to get as many Messier and Lunar 100 objects as I can. The Deep Sky page is for objects not in Messier’s catalogue and includes some more recent lists such as the Caldwell and Finest NGC catalogues.
Light pollution is a serious problem for amateur astronomy here on the edge of Edinburgh, Scotland, so this is a battle of photons vs sodium! Please come back and visit as the site develops, I make lots of mistakes, the weather gets worse and the skies get brighter.
I am currently President and Webmaster of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh and some of my pictures are displayed on their Flickr page. I also contribute data to the HOYS citizen science project, ExoClock and the BAA Mars section.
Mark
Recent posts
C5 The Hidden Galaxy
Another go a this for the ASE Caldwell Project. A really tricky one this. Hidden in the dust from our own galaxy, this would actually be naked eye brightness if not obscured. From two sets of data but still challenging.
| Object ID | C4 NGC7023 Iris Nebula |
| Details | Mag. 9.1 Size 21.4′ x 20.9′ 2021-04-11 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian, MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 25 x 240s, 14x180s darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz Denoise AI |
C4 NGC7023 Iris Nebula
Another for the ASE Caldwell Project. Horrible gradient to deal with but background is messed around with to bring out all the dust around it. Makes the rest of the background messy though.
| Object ID | C4 NGC7023 Iris Nebula |
| Details | Mag. 6.8 Size 18′ x 18′ 2021-04-09 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian, MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 25 x 240s darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz Denoise AI |
M81 Bode’s Galaxy
Windy but guiding was excellent, <0.5″
| Object ID | M81 Bode’s Galaxy |
| Details | Mag. 6.9 2021-04-08 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian, MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 25 x 240s darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz Denoise AI |
M63 Sunflower Galaxy
Stormy night with only 9 subs rescued
| Object ID | M63 Sunflower Galaxy |
| Details | Mag. 9.3 Size 12.6′ x 7.2′ 2021-04-05 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian, MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 9 x 240s darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz Denoise AI |
NGC 4631 Whale Galaxy
One for the ASE Caldwell Project
| Object ID | NGC 4631 Whale Galaxy |
| Details | Mag. 9.8 Size 15.5′ x 2.7′ 2021-04-03 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian, MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 30 x 240s darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz Denoise AI |
IC 1848 Soul Music
Well the Soul Nebula Mosaic anyway. 5 panes in the end. First 4 panes (see below) should have done it but I suspect platesolving failed and I had to do another pane the next night. APP is brilliant at stitching together and blending in panes – even from different sessions.
| Object ID | IC 1848 Soul Nebula |
| Details | Size 150′ x 75′ 2021-04-01 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian, MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C Tri-band filter |
| Exposure(s) | 9x300s per pane darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz Denoise AI |
C24 NGC 1275 Perseus A
For the ASE Caldwell project. Loads of galaxies in this image.
| Object ID | NGC 457 C13 Owl Cluster |
| Details | Mag. 11.6 2021-03-30 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian, MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 20x180s darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz Denoise AI |
C13 NGC 457 Owl Cluster
For the ASE Caldwell project
| Object ID | NGC 457 C13 Owl Cluster |
| Details | Mag. 6.4 2021-03-30 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian, MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 10x180s darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop |
HOYS milestone – over 500 images
I have now uploaded over 500 images to the HOYS project. I am named as a co-author on one HOYS paper with another in the works. I built the HOYS website too.
I wrote an article on how I automate my HOYS data processing as much as possible.
C10 NGC 663
Another nice Open Cluster in Cassiopeia
| Object ID | C10 NGC 663 Cassiopeia |
| Details | Mag. 7.1 Size 16′ |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 10x180s 10/50 gain/offset darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoise AI |
C8 NGC 559
Nice Open Cluster in Cassiopeia
| Object ID | C8 NGC 559 Cassiopeia |
| Details | Mag. 9.5 Size 7′ |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 10x180s 10/50 gain/offset darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoise AI |
C5 IC 342 Hidden Galaxy
Another tricky one. Needs to be much deeper and more subs.
| Object ID | C5 IC 342 Hidden Galaxy Camelopardalis |
| Details | Mag. 9.1 Size 21′.4 × 20′.9 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 14x180s 10/50 gain/offset darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoise AI |
C3 NGC 4236
Pretty tricky one this
| Object ID | C3 NGC 4236 Draco |
| Details | Mag. 10.5 Size 121′.9 × 7′.2 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 20x180s 10/50 gain/offset darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoise AI |
M101 Pinwheel Galaxy
| Object ID | M101 Ursa Major |
| Details | Mag. 7.8 Size 28′.8 × 26′.9 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 30x180s 10/50 gain/offset darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoise AI |
M51 Whirlpool Galaxy
Didn’t expect to get too much out of this because of the high wispy cloud and only got 9 subs, but not too bad.
| Object ID | M51 Canes Venatici |
| Details | Mag. 8.4 Size 11.2′ x 6.9′ |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 29x180s 10/50 gain/offset darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoise AI |
Sun 2021-03-17AR2810
Quick single shot
| Object ID | Sun AR2810 |
| Details | 2021-03-17 12:07:27 UT |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian Stopped down to 180mm (because of solar filter) Baader Solar Film Also still had IDAS P2 |
| Camera | QHY168C |
| Exposure(s) | 0.002s |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | SiriL (demosaic and FITS -> TIF) Photoshop |
Sun 2021-02-26 AR2804
Quick single shot
| Object ID | Sun AR2804 |
| Details | 2021-02-26 11:27:39 UT |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian Stopped down to 180mm (because of solar filter) Baader Solar Film Also still had IDAS P2 |
| Camera | QHY168C |
| Exposure(s) | 0.006s |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | Nebulosity (demosaic and FITS -> TIF) Photoshop |
M95, M96
| Object ID | M95, M96 Leo |
| Details | 2021-02-14 Mag. 11.4 // 10.1 Size 3.1’x2.9′ // 7.6’x5.2′ |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 15x240ss 2/20 gain/offset darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz Denoise AI |
KELT-2Ab
First results using CMOS camera. Was an ExoClock ALERT.
A difficult and very large dataset (33 Gb). Results are inconclusive and need verification.
Helped debug HOPS v3.0 during the process.
| Object ID | KELT-2Ab |
| Details | Predicted: Rp/Rs 0.0722 ± 0.0018 DepthR 6.86 mmag Duration 5.18 hours |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian, MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C Clear |
| Exposure(s) | 1176 x 17s |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | HOPS 3.0 |