North America Nebula - Astroimage

[Noel Carboni]

I'm not sure whether this is the right forum for an astroimage, but it's kind of a distant landscape... Okay, VERRRY distant. :) 1,800 light-years away in this case. ;)

I collaborate with a friend named Greg Parker who has built a very nice observatory. We make a lot of astroimages together. He is the hands-on guy, and he runs the observatory and equipment, capturing photons well into the night. I do the digital processing, turning the raw data into images that are as spectacular as I can. We have good subject material for that. :)

At the moment, we're breaking in some new optics we've just received. The following image was captured with a new Starizona Hyperstar 3 lens setup on a Celestron C11 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. Essentially the system is a 558mm f/2 (!!) lens on a full-color purpose-built astro camera, a Starlight Xpress SXVF-M25C.

This is a visual color image of the North America Nebula in the consteallation Cygnus, from 11 exposures totaling 36 minutes exposure time. Click on it to see a higher resolution image.

http://forum.ourdarkskies.com/gallery_images/1215226433/gallery_131_16_138683.jpg (http://forum.ourdarkskies.com/gallery_images/1211427088/gallery_131_7_132046.jpg)

-Noel

[Judd Patterson]

Noel, what a treat! This image has some great detail...and color! I can kind of see the resemblance to North America...including the big Gulf of Mexico. Is that a bright star for Miami? :) It sounds like this new setup will really provide you with some amazing photos to process...please continue to share with us!

[Julie Kenward]

I agree! I love to view the Nasa Photo-of-the-day and this is like getting a daily bonus! What an opportunity to know someone with an observatory! I'd stay on that man's good side if I was you.

Thanks so much for sharing this.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Noel,
This is cool...............I'll have to show this to my brother........as we are in the process of building a 13" telescope.........but i don't think we are going as far as your friend. We don't often get to see images like these so it really is a treat. I really like the brighter star bursts........feel they add to the overall image.

[Paul Marcellini]

Wow, its so crisp. Really cool image. I also like the brighter stars.

[Grady Weed]

Simple, pleasing, and just amazingly clear and clean.

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Absolute stunner. Fascinating to see such astro-images. Wish to see lots & lots of such images. Please share them...

[Michael Pancier]

that is stunning. where is the observatory? so hard to find dark sky nowadays esp. here in sofla.

[Noel Carboni]

Thanks, everyone. It's very nice of you to make such nice comments.

Greg's observatory is on the edge of the New Forest in the south of England. You can read more about it and what we're doing here: http://www.newforestobservatory.com

-Noel

[Robert Amoruso]

Noel,

This is the correct forum for this type of work here at BPN and we are glad to have you posting. I have admired you astrophotography for a few years now.

This is a great image - sure detail and sharpness. Compositionally, I would have like to see just a bit more room for the starburst on the right. Not sure though - having never done this type of photography - how easy it is to see that star's placement in the final image while making the multiple exposures.

[Noel Carboni]

Thanks. :) I'll share a secret with you: This is the first of 6 overlapping frames we're capturing to make a big mosaic of the whole area. The Pelican nebula is off to the right of the blue star on the upper-right, and so it will be more or less centered when all done.

-Noel

[Robert Amoruso]

Thanks. :) I'll share a secret with you: This is the first of 6 overlapping frames we're capturing to make a big mosaic of the whole area. The Pelican nebula is off to the right of the blue star on the upper-right, and so it will be more or less centered when all done.

-Noel

Sounds great Noel. Looking forward to seeing the final result.