#earliestlight

[jzholloway-sncastro]

Cygnus Mosaic - Sadr Region This was my first attempt at a mosaic and I stumbled on to the fact that I could actually do it by accident. My setup isn't perfect for mosaics - full frame mirrorless camera has a lot of vignetting and unflat corners (leading to bad stars in the corners), but I really wanted to try it. Luckily, I got enough clear nights to get enough panels to make it happen. With 21 hours and 20 mins of total integration, this is officially my most time in one image. Each panel is roughly 4 hours worth of data with the Sadr Region panel having 6.5 hours and the panel right below the Tulip Nebula having 3 hours and 20 min. Processing was a real pain, due mostly to my imaging setup but also random light gradients from being in Bortle 8. It's not perfect by any means, but I am happy with the result (doesn't mean I won't be working on trying to make it better!) . 21 hours, 20 min integration Dark, flat, dark flat and bias calibration frames Bortle8 . Stacked in DeepSkyStacker, stretched in Siril, combined in Astro Pixel Processor, final processing in Photoshop . Radian Raptor 61 Canon EOS Ra Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro ZWO 30mm f4 MiniScope (guide) ZWO asi224mc (guide) Pegasus Powerbox Advanced . . . #astrophotography #astronomy #photography #highpointscientific #OPTeam #myOPTgear #agenaastro #earliestlight #Cygnus #sadr #crescentnubula #propellernebula #tulipnebula #milkyway #stars #nebula #cosmos #space #nightsky #nasa #canonphotography #radiantraptor61 #rhodeisland #mosaic #astrophoto #spacephoto #ig_spaceimage #ig_astrophotography #nature #narrowband (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/CfZQJIpLyla/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[thewickwheat]

Hi!! So your art is amazing and in the post you said you have a ffxiv sidevlog and I'd love to follow you there if you're comfortable with that

Its no issue at all!

My FFXIV sideblog is @earliestlight

I've retweeted some posts from there before, so you can find it that way too!

[jzholloway-sncastro]

North American & Pelican Nebula Better stars make better images.... here is a reprocess of last year's data plus an additional 30 min taken this year. The 30 min didn't add much, but better processing tequniques did. Learning how to effectively use star removal for processing has been a nemesis of mine, until now . 1 - With stars 2 - starless (this time my fav!) . 45 x 240s (6-5-2021) 7 x 300s (6-6-2021) 20 x 360s (9-11-2021) 6 x 300s (6-21-2022) 800 ISO - Bortle 8 . Radian Raptor 61 Canon EOS Ra Optolong L-eNhanced Filter Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro ZWO 30mm f4 MiniScope (guide) ZWO asi224mc (guide) . @optcorp @canonusa @radiantelescopes @optolongfilter @provjournal . #astronomy #astrophotography  #OPTeam #myOPTgear  #highpointscientific #agenaastro  #earliestlight #astromaniacmag  #ngc7000 #northamericannebula  #pelicannebula #optolongfilter #cygnus #space #cosmos #milkyway  #Nebula #stars #canonphotography  #radiantelescopes #ig_spaceimage  #ig_astrophotography #rhodeisland  #nature #beauty #red #telescope  #optolonglenhance #hpscollections  #nightsky (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf1JejWOr1I/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jzholloway-sncastro]

The Orion Nebula & Running Man | M42 & sh2-279 - Providence, RI . Taking old data and reprocessing it with newer techniques to bring out more detail and clarity is a very satisfying (and potentially frustrating) experience. This is data that I took that I was not able to combine with other data without a lot of weird artifacts. This led me to just processing it and leaving it be. Going back, I was able to keep the core muted more while brining out more dust and color. All processing here was done with Photoshop, using DeepSkyStacker to stack the data. . First imagecis starless, next with stars and lastly an inverted image. . Meade Series 6000 80mm Triplet APO Canon EOS Ra Astro-Tech 0.8 Reducer Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro ZWO 30mm f4 MiniScope (guide) ZWO ASI224MC (guide) . @meadeinstruments @canonusa @oriontelescopes @provjournal . . . #astronomy #astrophotography #astrophoto  #highpointscientific #earliestlight #ShotOnCanon #photography #OPTeam #m42#orion #orionnebula #runningman #nebula #starcluster #stars #galaxy #milkyway  #cosmos #ig_spaceimage  #ig_astrophotography  #igworldclub_astrophotography #space  #spacephoto #science #nightphotography  #nightsky #meadeinstruments  #canonphotography #rhodeisland (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/CcNYxnTu72N/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jzholloway-sncastro]

The Iris Nebula - A reprocess of my data taken in June of last year, this time utilizing Pixinsight before bringing it into Photoshop to finish it up. I have processed this data from scratch many times but for the first time I am really happy with how it came out. . Full resolution at astrobin, link in Bio or here: https://www.astrobin.com/9xgznc/D/ . 161 x 180s (8h 3m) Dark, flat, dark flat, and bias calibration frames 800 ISO - Bortle 8 . Meade Series 6000 80mm Triplet APO Canon EOS Ra Optolong L-Pro filter Ho-Tech Field Flattener Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro ZWO 30mm f4 MiniScope (guide) ZWO asi120mm-mini (guide) Pegasus Powerbox Advanced . @meadeinstruments @canonusa @optolongfilter @provjournal . . . #astronomy #astrophotography #highpointscientific #OPTeam #myOPTgear #agenaastro #astromaniacmag #earliestlight #photography #cepheus #iris #irisnebula #ngc7023 #lbn487 #nebula #reflection #darknebula #space #spacephoto #nasa #cosmos #milkyway #starcluster #stars #nightphotography #photography #photooftheday #apod #canonphotography #rhodeisland (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci2N-_COHec/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jzholloway-sncastro]

Moon - 7-7-2022 - 60% Waxing Gibbous I haven't taken or posted moon pictures in awhile, but I wanted to take my Nikon "point and shoot" back out and give it a go. My first attempt was on July 4th, and those came out alright, but with these I reworked my processing workflow to get a result I qas a lot happier with. . 1 - Mineral Moon Palette 2 - Normal Processing 3 - Inverted . 24 x 1/250s F6.5 - 200 ISO 2000mm zoom setting Dark frames used for calibration Stacked in AutoStakkert (DeepSkyStacker used to create master dark), processed in Photoshop 2022 Providence, RI - Bortle 8 . Nikon CoolPix P950 Tripod F/8.0 . . @nikonusa . . #astronomy #astrophotography  #astrophoto #highpointscientific  #earliestlight #OPTeam #moon  #agenaastro #nikonusa  #nikonphotography #nikonp950  #lunarphotography #lunarbeauty #nature#photography #photooftheday #apod #nasamoon #nasa #igworldclub_astrophotography  #ig_spaceimage #ig_astrophotography  #cosmos #milkyway #space  #spacephoto #solarsystem #luna  #rhodeisland #providenceri (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/CfymId5uUpA/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jzholloway-sncastro]

The Elephant's Trunk Nebula - IC 1396 As a very popular, and large area for astrophotographers, of course I gave it a go last year, but was disappointed with how my processing ended up. With that said, if you follow my Instagram, you know I have been going back and reprocessing data I have taken with much better and cleaner results. This is just under 2 hours of data taken last year under a moon at around 45% luminosity. This year I plan on taking images under much darker skies! I am really happy with my new technique for removing stars so I can process the nebulosity separately and then add the stars back in (I can also process the stars!) . Link to full resolution at astrobin in bio . 19x360s Dark, flat, dark flat, and bias frames ISO 800 - Bortle 8 - 18° C / 75% RH Moon at 45% Providence, RI - Bortle 8 . Radian Raptor 61mm Canon EOS Ra Optolong L-eNhanced Filter Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro ZWO 30mm f4 MiniScope (guide) ZWO asi224mc (guide) . @radiantelescopes @optcorp @canonusa @provjournal . . . #astronomy #astrophotography #astrophoto  #highpointscientific #OPTeam #earliestlight  #agenaastro #astromaniacmag  #elephantstrunk #nebula #canonphotography  #radiantraptor61 #stars #cosmos #nasa  #apod #milkyway #yourESA #Cepheus  #nightskyphotography #nightsky  #cityastronomy #ig_astrophotography #space  #photooftheday #photography #rhodeisland  #optolonglenhance #CanonFavPic #optolongfilter (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf9kOxJJR5o/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jzholloway-sncastro]

Rosette Nebula - NGC 2244 It has been a while since I have taken any new data (that will change soon), but I found an image I took that I had not posted before. All of my previous Rosette Nebula data was taken with the Meade 80mm Triplet, but this was taken with the Radian Raptor 61. I only got 90 min worth of data on the target, and it was more of a test to see what field of view I could get with the raptor. Due to issues with my previous laptop, I was never able to get any more data. . Radian Raptor 61 Canon EOS Ra Optolong L-eNhanced Filter Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro ZWO 30mm f4 MiniScope (guide) ZWO asi224mc (guide) . 18 x 300s (800 ISO) Dark, flat, bias and dark flats calibration frames Bortle 8 - Providence, RI . . . #astronomy #astrophotography #astrophoto #highpointscientific #OPTeam #myOPTgear #earliestlight #agenaastro #astromaniacmag #ngc2244 #rose #rosettenebula #Nebula #stars #starcluster #photooftheday #photography #space #cosmos #milkyway #monoceros #canoneosra #canonphotography #radiantelescopes #radianraptor #igworldclub_astrophotography #ig_spaceimage #ig_astrophotography #telescope #rhodeisland (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/CdyCQZTrd5Y/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jzholloway-sncastro]

A reprocess of my Sadr Region & Crescent Nebula data from last Summer - Sadr is the second brightest star in the constellation Cygnus, second only to Deneb. Like Deneb, it is surrounded by beautiful nebula! With this particular image, I processed it in Astro Pixel Processor by extracting the narrowband color channels - Ha, Oii and Sii (Ha-Oiii Mono) and then combining them to create an image in a simulated SHO, aka "Hubble Palette." Since I am using a color camera, it is not a true SHO image, but since I am using a dual narrow band filter, it is a pretty accurate representation. I have had three clear nights within the last week and I feel truly blessed (and tired) because of it. Hopefully it continues! . @radiantelescopes @optcorp @canonusa @optolongfilter . 46 x 300s 20 darks; 50 flats, dark flats, & biases 800 ISO - Bortle 8 . Radian Raptor 61 Canon EOS Ra Optolong L-eNhanced Filter Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro ZWO 30mm f4 MiniScope (guide) ZWO ASI224MC (guide) . . . #astrophotography #astrophoto #astronomy  #highpointscientific #ShotOnCanon  #earliestlight #OPTeam #agenaastro #sadr  #cygnus #crescent #crescentnubula  #sadrregion #nebula #stars #starcluster  #ig_spaceimage  #igworldclub_astrophotography  #ig_astrophotography #space #spacephoto  #milkyway #cosmos #photography  #photooftheday #apod #nightsky  #nightphotography #canonphotography  #rhodeisland (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce4QyHPJbOa/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jzholloway-sncastro]

Nebulae in Cassiopeia - Simulated SHO Palette . I have been going back and reprocessing some data taken earlier in the year, both traditionally and in different ways as well. I should be up and shooting again around the beginning of the year! Taken from the pristine bortle 8 skies of Providence, RI. . 36 x 300s Dark, flat, bias and dark flat frames 800 ISO - Bortle 8 . Radian Raptor 61 Canon EOS Ra Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro Optolong L-eNhanced Filter ZWO 30mm f4 MiniScope (guide) ZWO asi224mc (guide) Pegasus Powerbox Advanced . . . #astronomy #astrophotography #astrophoto  #highpointscientific #OPTeam #myOPTgear  #agenaastro #astromaniacmag #earliestlight  #Cassiopeia #bubblenebula #lobsterclaw  #m52 #cavenebula #v1405cas #starcluster  #stars #nebula #Nova #cosmos #milkyway  #space #science #ig_spaceimage  #ig_astrophotography #rhodeisland  #CanonFavPic #canonphotography  #radiantelescopes #photography (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/hollowayjared/p/CXYhPnPrqfn/?utm_medium=tumblr

[jzholloway-sncastro]

The Cygnus Loop - Sh2-103 I've been wanting to go back andxdo this target again since I did it last summer. Last year I did it with the L-eNhance filterxby Optolong, but this year I shot it using the L-eXtreme. Since I used the Canon EOS Ra I kept the exposures at 300s. . Full resolution and details at Astrobin, link in Bio or here: https://www.astrobin.com/c0uzq6/ . 168 x 300s (14 hours) 800 ISO Dark, flat, bias and dark flat calibration frames used Stacked in DeepSkyStacker and processed in Photoshop Providence, RI - Bortle 8 . @radiantelescopes Raptor 61mm @canonusa EOS Ra @optolongfilter L-eXtreme Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro ZWO 30mm f4 MiniScope (guide) ZWO asi224mc (guide) Pegasus Powerbox Advanced . @provjournal . . . #astrophotography #astronomy #astrophoto #highpointscientific #agenaastro #OPTeam #myOPTgear #astromaniacmag #earliestlight #cygnusloop #veilnebula #sharpless103 #cygnus #igworldclub_astrophotography #ig_spaceimage #ig_astrophotography #space #spaceimage #milkyway #stars #nebula #optolonglextreme #supernova #rhodeisland #astrobackyard #backyardastronomy #optolongfilter #apod #photography #photooftheday (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/CiIDeTfOxup/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jzholloway-sncastro]

68 Cygni & NGC 7000 - 2 Panel Mosaic The North American Nebula (NGC 7000), along with the Pelican Nebula, is a popular summertime astrophotography target. Much less popular is its neighbor, the star 68 Cygni and the surrounding dust clouds. With my success doing mosaics with the Sadr Region of Sadr, I decided to attempt coupling 68 Cygni with some pre-existing data taken of the North American Nebula. I had some issues trying to use one stack of my data from last year, so I cut it out completely and used 3.5 hours of data along with 5 hours of 68 Cygni data taken on July, 3 - 4, 2022. So, instead of 10.5 hours of integration I ended up with 8.5. Not nearly as big or as time consuming as my Sadr Mosaic, this felt more challenging in processing due to the amount of stars, dark nebula regions and intense reds. Clipping the shadows / blacks was a real issue and difficult to avoid while trying to bring out some vibrance in the nebula. . NGC 7000 45 x 240s 7 x 300s - 68 Cygni 60 x 300s - Darks, flats, dark flats and biases used for calibration Providence, RI - Bortle 8 . #astrophotography #astronomy #phototography #highpointscientific #OPTeam #myOPTgear #agenaastro #earliestlight #astromaniacmag #spaceimage #space #cosmos #nebula #mosaic #68cygni #ngc7000 #ic5070 #pelicannebula #northamericannebula #milkyway #stars #darknebula #nasa #apod #ig_spaceimage #ig_astrophotography #rhodeisland #providenceri #canonphotography #cygnus (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cfq3V7KO4ef/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jzholloway-sncastro]

Jellyfish & Monkey Head Nebulae - During my last full session of image taking last year, I pointed my telescope at a familiar target as well as a new one... at the same time. Being able to get a wider field of view by using the Radian Raptor 61 opened up a lot of really neat imaging opportunities. Having captured the Jellyfish Nebula before. I wanted to get it in a wider fov and by doing so, I was able to include the Monkey Head Nebula in the frame. I had never captured this object before. One neat fact is that the Jellyfish Nebula is located in the Gemini constellation while the Monkey Head Nebula is located in Orion . 40 x 360s Dark, flat, bias and dark flat frames 800 ISO - Bortle 8 . Radian Raptor 61 Canon EOS Ra Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro Optolong L-eNhanced Filter ZWO 30mm f4 MiniScope (guide) ZWO asi224mc (guide) Pegasus Powerbox Advanced . @meadeinstruments @canonusa @provjournal @rimonthly . . #astronomy #astrophotography #OPTeam #myOPTgear #highpointscientific #earliestlight #agenaastro #astromaniacmag #jellyfishnebula #monkeyheadnebula #Gemini #ic443 #ngc2174 #Orion #Nebula #stars #space #science #NASA #apod #photography #photooftheday #canonphotography #radiantelescopes #ig_spaceimage #ig_astrophotography #science #rhodeisland #backyardastronomy #deepspace (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZWtSFzrHzm/?utm_medium=tumblr

[jzholloway-sncastro]

The Pleiades - Messier 45 This was the last target I was able to get before my old laptop died last November. I was able to salvage it with some stock flats and dark flats I took while trying to test a different way to take flats. I didn't like the results of those tests BUT it enabled me to salvage the hour and a half I spent on this target. Now that I am up an running again, I look forward to going after the Pleiades again this Fall! . 45 x 120s Dark, flat, dark flats and bias frames used for calibration 800 ISO - Bortle 8 . Radian Raptor 61 Canon EOS Ra Optolong L-Pro Filter Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro ZWO 30mm f4 MiniScope (guide) ZWO ASI224MC (guide) . . . #astrophotography #astronomy #astrophoto #photography #highpointscientific #agenaastro #OPTeam #myOPTgear #earliestlight #pleiades #messier45 #m45 #Taurus #sevensisters #starcluster #nebula #space #nightsky #cosmos #milkyway #stars #ig_spaceimage #ig_astrophotography #canoneosra #canonphotography #IAmSkyWatcher #rhodeisland #apod #photooftheday #telescope (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/CfG4vxBOlfD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jzholloway-sncastro]

North American & Pelican Nebula - Wanted to go back and attempt some new palette options since I am using a duo-band filter with the L-eNhanced. I extracted Ha & Oiii channels in Astro Pixel Processor, and then used the Extract Ha-Oiii Mono option to give a luminance, or in this case, simulate a substitute for a Sii channel. I used the HOss blending method - assigning the Ha and Oiii extractions to the Red Channel, then the Ha-Oiii extraction to both the Green and Blue channels. This was all done in APP. I then processed the image in Photoshop. I like this palette option as it feels a bit more muted but can still be vibrant, while showing off a little more detail. . 45 x 240s (6-5-2021) 7 x 300s (6-6-2021) 20 x 360s (9-11-2021) 6 x 300s (6-21-2022) 800 ISO - Bortle 8 . Radian Raptor 61 Canon EOS Ra Optolong L-eNhanced Filter Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro ZWO 30mm f4 MiniScope (guide) ZWO asi224mc (guide) . @optcorp @canonusa @radiantelescopes @optolongfilter @provjournal . #astronomy #astrophotography  #OPTeam #myOPTgear  #highpointscientific #agenaastro  #earliestlight #astromaniacmag  #ngc7000 #northamericannebula  #pelicannebula #optolongfilter #cygnus #space #cosmos #milkyway  #Nebula #stars #canonphotography  #radiantelescopes #ig_spaceimage  #ig_astrophotography #rhodeisland  #nature #beauty #HOss #telescope  #optolonglenhance #optolongfilter #nightsky (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgEaZLiufOi/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jzholloway-sncastro]

The Christmas Tree Cluster & Cone Nebula Last year I had a plan to post an image of this on Christmas day but I was thwarted by having Covid-19 for a month and a hospital stay the week of Christmas. I did eventually capture this target at the beginning of the year, but I wanted a slightly wider perspective over my 480mm. I captured it, along with the Rosette Nebula in March at 180mm, but that was a little too wide to get it how I wanted. Splitting the difference, he it is at 275mm. For all those who celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas! . 35 x 360s Dark, flat, bias and dark flat calibration frames ISO 800 - Bortle 8 from Providence, RI . Radian Raptor 61 Canon EOS Ra Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro ZWO 30mm f4 MiniScope (guide) ZWO asi224mc (guide) Pegasus Powerbox Advanced . @canonusa @radiantelescopes @provjournal @rimonthly . . . #astronomy #astrophotography #astrophoto  #highpointscientific #ShotOnCanon #OPTeam #earliestlight #ngc2264 #conenebula  #Christmas #christmastree #nebula  #starcluster #stars #ig_spaceimage  #ig_astrophotography  #ig_worldclub_astrophotography #milkyway  #cosmos #space #spacephoto #nightsky  #nightphotography #photography #apod  #astromaniacmag #meadeinstruments  #rhodeisland (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/CX8voAcLltx/?utm_medium=tumblr