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 Phillips
Recent posts
Sun 2021-05-11
Single image with QHY168C with black polymer filter
More lunar features for the ASE Lunar-100
Added to the ASE Lunar 100 Project
| Object ID | Aristarchus, Schroter’s Valley, Babbage, J. Herschel, Gassendi, Mare Humorum, Schickard, Sinus Iridum, Grimaldi (2021-04-25) |
| Details | 2021-04-24 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC |
| Exposure(s) | 60s .ser videos |
| Capture | FireCapture |
| Processing | Autostakkert 3, Registax, Photoshop |
Lunar features for the ASE Lunar-100
Added to the ASE Lunar 100 Project
| Object ID | Clavius, Copernicus, Davy, Alphonsus and Plato |
| Details | 2021-04-21 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC |
| Exposure(s) | 60s .ser videos |
| Capture | FireCapture |
| Processing | Autostakkert 3, Registax, Photoshop |
Crescent Moon 2021-04-15
Single shot, QHY168C
Sun 2021-04-14 12-22-53UT
Single image with QHY168C with new black polymer filter
Eartshine 2021-04-14
I’ve got really far behind posting on my own website as the ASE stuff got in the way.
C3 NGC 4236
Added more data to this one but still very tricky. More horrible gradients to deal with. The IDAS P2 LP filter is no longer doing it’s job with the change in LP sources round here. Have now bought the IDAS D3 to see if that is any better as it deals more with LED lighting.
| Object ID | C3 NGC 4236 Draco |
| Details | Mag. 10.5 Size 121′.9 × 7′.2 2021-04-12 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 20x180s, 25x300s 10/50 gain/offset darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoise AI |
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 |