Nebula are clouds of interstellar gas that can either emit or reflect light. Usually these objects are imaged in narrow-band, but RGB is included for star colours.

On 17 February 2019, after having received a new GM3000 mount, I took a 1200s Ha sub of the horsehead nebula, using the SkyWatcher Esprit 150ED APO and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool camera, to see if the mount was properly functioning. This sub was that nice that I decided to fill in the colour with some additional data (see figure 1). A total of 1 hours and 30 minutes of data was collected:

Processing done in APP, post-processing in PSP.

Click here for the full image.

On 1 and 2 March 2021 I pointed the scope to IC410, better known as the Tadpoles Nebula, a reflection nebula in the constellation of Auriga at a distance of 12,000 lightyears from earth.

Imaged with the SkyWatcher Esprit 150ED and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool, unguided on the GM3000HPS mount. In total 108 narrow-band subs: 36 x 300s for H-alpha, O-iii and S-ii, so a total of 540 minutes (9 hours) data.

Processing in APP, PSP, Topaz Denoise, again PSP and Siril (for SCNR).

Click here for the full image.

On 20, 21, 22 and 23 August 2019 I spent some 17 hours of imaging on the narrowband object IC5070, better known as the The Pelican Nebula (see figure 3), in the constellation of Cygnus. A total of 311 subs of varying length in R, G, B, Ha, O-iii and S-ii was collected:

Altogether this is 17 hours and 20 minutes of data. The three brightest stars are (in descending order of brightness) 57 Cyg, 56 Cyg, and V1794 Cyg.

Processing was done in APP using a Hubble-palette (Ha: 100% green, O-iii: 100% blue, S-ii: 100% red) with the L-sliders on respectively 80, 65 and 30%. A slight post-processing was done in PSP (adding contrast, changing the hue slightly to get more reddish tints in it).

Click here for the full image.

On 8 and 18 August and 2 September 2020 I spent just under 11 hours of imaging on the narrowband object Sharpless 155, better known as The Cave Nebula (see figure 4), in the constellation of Cepheus. A total of 227 subs of varying length in L, R, G, B, Ha, O-iii and S-ii was collected:

Click here for the full image, which can also be found in World Wide Telescope.

Altogether this is 10 hours and 47 minutes of data. The central bright star is HD 216945, the bright star in the blue reflection nebula vdB 155 is HD 216629.

Processing of figure 4 was done in APP using a Hubble-palette with the L-sliders for the narrowband layers on 50%, that of the luminance layer on 100%. Post-processing was done in PSP.

In addition the data was also processed using HSO-palette, the full image of which can be found here.

Another nice object in the constellation of Cygnus is the Cygnus Wall. Huge clouds of hydrogen form a massive wall against a backdrop of oxygen. At the right dark clouds in which star formation takes place obscure distant objects. The Wall was imaged on three consecutive nights in August (24^th - 26^th). A total of 13 hours and 25 minutes of data was collected:

Click here for the full image.

At a distance of 2400 light years in the constellation of Cepheus a concentration of interstellar gas and dust called the Elephant Trunk nebula can be found.

On 28 February and 2, 3, 6 and 24 March and 21 and 23 April 2021 this object was imaged in LRGB, H-alpha, O-iii and S-ii for 23 hours:

Processing done in APP, post-processing in PSP, Topaz Denoise AI and Siril (SCNR).

Click here for the full image.

Jones-1 was discovered only recently, in 1941, by Rebecca Jones (The blue magnitude 15.25 star in the centre has the following J2000 coordinates: RA: 23h35m53.32, DEC: +30°28′06.4″). She not only discovered Jones-1, but also Jones-Emberson-1 that I recorded earlier (see below). Jones-1 (also known as PK_104-29.1, PN_Jn1 and PNG104.2-29.6) is located 2300 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation of Pegasus.

The image was taken on 13 and 19 November and 12 December 2022 with the SkyWatcher Esprit 150ED, ZWO EFW with ZWO RGB and H-alpha, O-iii and S-ii filters, and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool camera.

Processing in APP (stack, combine, light pollution correction and star color), Siril (green noise correction), Topaz (noise reduction) and PSP (histogram stretch, saturation).

The following data was collected to produce adjacent image:

A total of 23 hours and 21 minutes of data was collected.

Click here for the full image.

During 9 nights in April 2020 I imaged Jones-Emberson-1, better known as the headphones nebula. The nebula is also known under its catalogue name PK 164+31.1. This planetary nebula in the constellation of Lynx is located at a distance of 1600 light-year from earth. It was discovered by Rebecca Jones in collaboration with Richard M. Emberson in 1939. The nebula has a magnitude of 14, while the central blue-white dwarf.

The following data was collected to produce adjacent image:

In total this equals 46 hours and 20 minutes. Re-processed in September 2022 using PSP and Topaz.

Click here for the full image.

The first attempt to shoot a deep sky object in full colour was on 4 November 2018 with M27, better known as the Dumbbell Nebula, using the SkyWatcher Esprit 150ED APO and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool camera (see figure 10). On a single night 2 hours and 20 minutes of data was collected:

The image is the result of RGB, Ha, O-III and S-II, luminance was not used. In the processing all components were given a weight factor 1. Finally the image was cropped to 66% and given additional 35% colour saturation and 15% contrast. The flats were not perfect as can be seen when opening the original image.

The brightest star (left side of the image) is 14 Vulpeculae in the constellation of Vulpecula.

Click here for the full image.

Using the same dataset I decided in 2024 to give this planetary nebula another go to see if with my current processing skills I would arrive at a better result. The data is still quite limited and suffers from issues I had with the original narrow-band filters and the fact that during the imaging I had not yet applied filter masks to the filter wheel. As a result the corners have some background-colour issues, while the bright star (14 Vulpeculae) at the left has a terrible halo.

Still the outcome is much more pleasing to the eye.

The original image is here.

On 27 February 2019 I took some images of Messier 42, better known as the Orion Nebula (see figure 12), using the SkyWatcher Esprit 150ED APO and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool camera. A total of 1 hour and 50 minutes of data was collected:

Processing done in APP, post-processing in PSP.

Click here for the full image.

The first clear night of 2024, January 7, was only clear until midnight, but still good for four and a half hours of data. The second night another four and a half hours were added to collect up to nine hours of data from M45, better known as the Pleiades, but also known as the Seven Sisters. Imaging was done with the SkyWatcher Esprit 80ED, ZWO EFW with ZWO LRGB filters and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool in LRGB, with four and a half hours of luminance (30s subs) and an hour and a half per R, G and B (60s subs). Everything unguided as always.

Processing done in APP, post-processing in PSP and Topaz.

The Pleiades (Ancient Greek (αἱ Πλειάδες hai Pleiádes) were seven nymphs from Greek mythology, the daughters of the Titan Atlas and the Oceanide Pleione.

The stars of the constellation are actually grouped together at a distance of 440 light-years from Earth. This star group was known even in prehistoric times, as has become clear thanks to the Nebra sky disc from the 16^th century BCE.

Reflection nebulae and interstellar dust are present around the stars, as can be seen here.

Click here for the full image.

On 13 and 14 December 2018 data was collected from M57, better known as the ring nebula (see figure 14), using the SkyWatcher Esprit 150ED APO and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool camera. With 10 subs of 120 seconds per colour data was acquired in L, R, G, B, H-Alpha and O-III. Apart from luminance, which was added at 70% level all channels were combined at 100%. Once combined 60% saturation and 15% contrast were added, while green was slightly reduced (-5%). Finally the image was cropped to 45%. In contrast to M27 the flats were now much better.

Click here for the full image.

During three nights in March and April 2021 the Owl nebula was imaged. M106 can be found in the constellation Ursa Major. The distance to this planetary nebula is approximately 2030 light years. It was discovered in 1781 by astronomer and surveyor Pierre Méchain, well known as the surveyor who, together with colleague Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre measured the Paris meridian between Dunkirk and Barcelona in order to define the length of the metre.

A total of 12 and a half hour of light was collected.

Processing in APP, post-processing in PSP.

Click here for the full image.

The 2022-2023 season started great with four clear nights in August. On the 8th, 10th, 11th and 12th NGC281, better known as the Pacman Nebula, was imaged using the SkyWatcher Esprit 150ED and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool. A total of 18 hours and 54 minutes of data was collected:

This nebula can be found in the constellation of Cassiopeia at a distance of approximately 9200 light-years and was discovered by Edward Emerson Barnard in August 1883.

Processing done in APP (Hubble palette), post-processing in Siril, PSP and Topaz Denoise AI.

Click here for the full image.

March 2022 was a month with a large amount of clear nights. One of the objects imaged in that period was NGC1491, also known as the Fossil Footprint Nebula. The object was discovered by William Herschel in 1790 and is a bright nebula in the constellation Perseus at a distance of about 9800 lightyears from Earth.

The subs were taken on 19 and 25 March and 16 and 17 April 2022 using the SkyWatcher Esprit 150ED APO and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool camera. A total of 20 hours and 36 minutes of data was collected:

Processing done in APP (H-alpha used as 50% lum, O-iii multiplied with a factor 4), post-processing in Siril, PSP and Topaz Denoise AI.

Click here for the full image.

On 26 and 27 February 2021 I took some images of NGC 2174, better known as the Monkey Head Nebula (see figure 14), an emission nebula above the left arm of Orion at a distance of approximately 6400 lightyears from Earth.

The subs were taken using the SkyWatcher Esprit 150ED APO and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool camera. A total of 9 hours of data was collected:

Processing done in APP, post-processing in PSP and Topaz Denoise AI.

Click here for the full image.

The night from 11 to 12 February 2021 was the first of that year, although the night before we had a clear spell of a few hours, just enough to collect a single hour of luminance data on this object. So the following night another hour luminance, 28 x 120s RGB and 20 x 300s H-Alpha was collected, a total of 6 hours and 28 minutes. A week later, on 18 February, another 25 minutes luminance, 40 minutes H-alpha and 140 minutes O-iii was added:

Processing was done in APP.

NGC 2264 consists of multiple objects: the Cone Nebula, Stellar Snowflake Cluster, Christmas Tree Cluster and the Fox Fur Nebula. The group has a distance of 2600 light-years from earth.

A full version can be found here.

In the nights of 10, 18 and 23 March 2022 I have been imaging NGC 6543, better known as the Cat's Eye Nebula. It is a planetary nebula with a very attractive shape.

A total of 215 subs of 420s each in Ha, O-iii and S-ii were shot, making the total integration time 25 hours and 5 minutes.

Processing in APP, post-processing in PSP, Topaz and Siril.

Click here for the full image.

During five nights in September 2020 I have been imaging three objects from the New General Catalogue: NGC 660 and the two shown here, NGC 6820 and NGC 6823. The former is the small reflection nebula at the upper left in the open cluster NGC 6823 that fills the image here. They are located in Vulpecula at a distance of 6.000 light-years from Earth. It was due to the low altitude of NGC 660 at the start of the night and the low altitude of NGC 6820/NGC 6823 at the end that I decided to combine them.

A total of 134 subs of 300s each in Ha, O-iii and S-ii was collected, making the total integration time 11 hours and 10 minutes.

Processing in APP, post-processing in PSP, Topaz and Siril.

Click here for the full image.

After having spent two nights on NGC 7380 another two clear nights on 14 and 15 May 2019 allowed collecting data, this time from NGC6888, better known as the Crescent Nebula (see figure 22). A total of 150 subs of 120s each in Ha, O-iii and S-ii was collected.

Processing in APP, post-processing in PSP.

Click here for the full image.

After having finished the subs for Cygnus Wall I started taking subs for NGC7129, a reflection nebula in Cepheus constellation at a distance of about 3300 light-years. The first were taken during the early hours of 27 August 2019, followed by another session on 29/30 August. Then weather took a turn for the worst and it was not until 5 September that the skies cleared a bit. That clearance was just enough to gather just of two and a half hours of red and green, but the much needed additional blue had to wait until the skies clear again. That took a while, but on 30 October the skies cleared again. Another session was done on the next clear occasion, which was on 4 December. Then it became clouded until March 2020. On 21, 24, 26, 27 and 31 March a significant amount of luminance was added to finalise the image.

A total of 44 hours, 12 minutes and 20 seconds integration time was spent on this reflection nebula:

Captured with the Esprit 150ED in combination with the ZWO EFW filter wheel, ZWO LRGB filters and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool camera @ -20°C. Processing in APP 1.078, post-processing in PSP.

Click here for the full image.

See it in World Wide Telescope

On the edge of winter 2018-2019 imaging period we had two nice clear nights on 12 and 13 May 2019 with some 3 hours of imaging period per night (based on minimum solar altitude of -16°). I decided to use that for a narrowband object, NGC7380, better known as the The Wizard Nebula (see figure 24). A total of 150 subs of 120s each in Ha, O-iii and S-ii was collected.

Processing in APP, post-processing in PSP.

Click here for the full image.

Over the years my imaging and processing skills have improved a lot. To see if that can be backed by an example I decided to re-image the Wizzard Nebula on 28 October 2021. This time I used 420s subs as that should result in an optimal signal to noise ratio for the Bortle 5/6 skies I work under. Apart from the NB-filters (this time the new version of ZWO filters were used) the same equipment was used as in 2019.

A total of 60 subs of 420s each in Ha, O-iii and S-ii was collected.

Processing in APP, post-processing in PSP, Topaz Denoise and Siril.

Click here for the full image.

In May 2020, at the end of the 2019-2020 imaging season, I photographed the Bubble Nebula. It all started with a test with new ZWO 36mm unmounted H-alpha and S-ii filters. I had replaced the old one as those produced strong halos around bright objects.

The Bubble Nebula is located in Cassiopeia at a distance of 7100 light years. From the image resolution of 0.72"/px and the dimensions of the bubble its diameter can be calculated as 6.8 light years.

In total the image contains just over 7 hours of integration time:

Click here for the full image.

The first full clear nights in 2023 arrived around the turn of February to March. On 28 February and 1 and 2 March NGC 7822, a gas nebula in Cepheus at a distance of 2900 lightyears, was imaged using the SkyWatcher Esprit 80ED, ZWO filters and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool, in narrowband. A total of 18 hours and 36 minutes of integration time was pent on this target:

Capturing done in NINA, processing in APP, Siril, PSP and Topaz.

Click here for the full image.

On the nights beginning on 13, 18, and 20 August 2022, I collected some data from Sh2-112, an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus at about 5,670 light-years from Earth. Captured unguided with the SkyWatcher Esprit 150ED, ZWO filters and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool, in narrowband. A total of 11 hours and 5 minutes of integration time was pent on this target:

Capturing done in NINA, processing in APP, Siril, PSP and Topaz.

Click here for the full image.

On the nights beginning on 5, 6, and 7 September 2023, I collected some data from Sh2-115, an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus at about 7,500 light-years from Earth. The image also shows the small blue region Sh2-116, initially thought to be a planetary nebula, but now considered to be an active HII region.

Captured unguided with the SkyWatcher Esprit 80ED, ZWO filters and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool, in narrowband. A total of 19 hours and 43 minutes of integration time was spent on this target:

Capturing done in NINA, processing in APP, Siril, PSP and Topaz.

Click here for the full image.

In March and April 2022 one of the objects I imaged was Sh2-170, also known as the Small Rosette Nebula, a reflection nebula in the constellation Perseus at a distance of about 7500 lightyears from Earth.

The subs were taken on 19 and 25 March and 16 and 17 April 2022 using the SkyWatcher Esprit 150ED APO and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool camera. A total of 16 hours and 57 minutes of data was collected:

Processing done in APP (H-alpha used as 10% lum), post-processing in Siril, PSP and Topaz Denoise AI.

Click here for the full image.

On April 2, 2023, I was excited to work on a new narrowband object: Sh2-174, also known as the Valentine Rose Nebula. The nebula is located in the constellation Cepheus at a distance of 980 light years from Earth. It is one of the oldest planetary nebulae and is said to be special because the white dwarf is not located in the centre of the nebula. The white dwarf can be seen just to the left of the bright orange star at the centre of the bright blue part of the nebula. At magnitude 14.7, this is a difficult nebula to photograph, especially from a Bortle 5-6 location.

Imaging was done on April 2, 13, 29, May 13 and August 10 and 19 with the SkyWatcher Esprit 150ED, ZWO ASI EFW with ZWO narrowband filters and a ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool. All subs are 7 minutes and imaged unguided. A total of 28 hours and 42 minutes of integration time was pent on this target:

Capturing done in NINA, processing in APP, PSP and Topaz.

Click here for the full image.

On the nights beginning on 10 and 26 January 2024, I collected some data from Sh2-261, better known as Lower's Nebula, an emission nebula in the constellation Orion (just north of Betelgeuze) at about 3,000 light-years from Earth. The nebula is named after Harold and Charles Lower who discovered it in 1939.

Captured unguided with the SkyWatcher Esprit 150ED, ZWO filters and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool, in narrowband. A total of 16 hours and 27 minutes of integration time was spent on this target:

Capturing done in NINA, processing in APP, Siril, PSP and Topaz.

Click here for the full image.

On 6 and 7 November 2020 I imaged a section of the Soul Nebula in LRGB and NB using the SkyWatcher Esprit 150ED and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool. This section is the higher right ascension part (about two thirds) of the nebula around HIP 13924, the rest of the nebula is left of this image.

In total the image contains 18 hours and 19 minutes of integration time:

Click here for the full image.

I started imaging the Tulip Nebula on 14 September 2019 in narrow band only. On 20 September the skies cleared again and two other nights of narrow band followed. At that moment I had collected 11 ours of narrow band, to which I wanted to add some RGB for the star colours. For this last bit I had to be patient: it was not until 30 October before the skies cleared again, but that night I used for NCG7129. The following night the job on the Tulip Nebula could finally be finished.

In total the image contains nearly 16 hours of integration time:

Click here for the full image.