The complex region of NGC 6231 in the tail of Scorpius, with the brightest star cluster at lower right being NGC 6231 itself while the cluster at centre is NGC 6242. The nebula is IC 4628. The pair of bright stars at top are Mu 1 and 2 Scorpii. The colourful double star at bottom is Zeta 1 and 2 Scorpii. To the naked eye this area appears elongated and fuzzy, like a comet. It was mistaken for Comet Halley in 1986. This is a stack of 4 x 2-minute exposures with the 200mm lens at f/2.8 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 2500. Tracked on the AP 400 mount.
The pair of large open clusters, NGC 6633 at right in Ophiuchus and IC 4756 at left in Serpens, in a wide-field image simulating the field of binoculars. Taken July 24, 2012, from home with the Canon 5D MkII at ISO 800 and Canon L-series 200mm lens at f/3.5 for a stack of 5 x 3 minute exposures. Also known as the S-O Double Cluster.
The well-known North America Nebula (NGC 7000), with the smaller Pelican Nebula (IC 5067) to the right, in Cygnus, taken in the deep red light of hydrogen and rendered here in monochrome. This shows the rich detail and structure in the nebulas. This is a stack of 16 x 16-minute exposures with the Canon EOS Ra, on the SharpStar 94mm EDPH refractor with its f/4.5 flattener/reducer lens. The camera had a 12nm Astronomik clip-in H-a filter installed. The images were shot over two nights and with the Moon up for most exposures. Autoguided with the Lacerta MGEN3 stand-alone guider. In processsing I used Lumenzia 10 to create luminosity masks on Curves layers to bring out the nebulosity. An application of the Star XTerminator plug-in for Photoshop created a starless layer that was blended back in selectively to eliminate or suppress stars to help accentuate the nebulosity and structure, but without a fully starless image which often shows pockmarked artifacts where the stars were. A high pass filter further snapped up the dark lanes and streaks. A colour grade adds the slight blue tint for artistic effect. All stacking, alignment and blending with Photoshop 2022.
