This is the California Nebula (aka NGC 1499) in Perseus, a classic red emission nebula emitting mostly at the red wavelength of hydrogen-alpha light but also with a strong hydrogen-beta emission line in the blue-green part of the spectrum. By contrast, below is the small blue reflection nebula known only as IC 348, a cloud of dust surrounding hot blue stars and reflecting their light. But the region also contains some dim red emission nebulosity. Also throughout the field are patches of yellow-brown dust that form obscuring dark nebulas. The main dark nebulas are Barnard 5 (above IC 348) and Barnard 4 below. This is a stack of 8 x 8 minute unfiltered exposures at ISO 800 blended with a stack of 9 x 15-minute exposures through an Optolong L-Enhance narrowband filter, to bring out the emission nebulas. All were with the Canon EOS Ra camera through the William Optics RedCat 51mm astrograph at f/4.9, equipped with the Starizona filter drawer. Autoguiding was with the Lacerta MGEN3 stand-alone autoguider on the Astro-Physics Mach 1 mount. All stacking, alignment and blending was with Photoshop. Luminosity masks applied with Lumenzia to do selective curves adjustments to various tonal ranges. Shot from home November 15, 2020.
The southern sky and Milky Way from Canopus (at lower right) up to the Carina Nebula at upper left, with the False Cross in the centre, made of stars from Vela and Carina. The Large Magellanic Cloud is at lower left. NGC 2516 is the large open cluster at centre. The large magenta nebula is the Gum Nebula in Vela. This is a stack of 4 x 2.5 minute exposures at f/2.8 with the 35mm Canon prime lens, and filter-modified Canon 5D Mark II at ISO 1600. Taken from Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia, April 2014. Star glows added with a separate exposure taken thru the Kenko Softon filter.
A mosaic of the amazingly rich area of Carina and Centaurus with their many superb nebulas and star clusters in this southernmost area of the Milky Way. The Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) is at upper right; the Running Chicken Nebula (IC 2948) is at lower left (aka the Lambda Centauri Nebula). The small red and magenta nebulas at centre are NGC 3603 and NGC 3576. The Southern Pleiades cluster (IC 2602) is at bottom right. The Pearl Cluster (NGC 3766) is above the Running Chicken at left. The cluster IC 2714 is to the right of the Chicken amid dark nebulas. The Gem Cluster (NGC 3324) is above and right of the Carina Nebula but small and unresolved here. The Football Cluster (NGC 3532) is top centre, though partly lost amid the rich starfield. This is a mosaic of three segments, taken with the camera in portrait orientation, stitched with Photoshop to make a square framing of the area. Each segment was a stack of 4 x 2-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the 200mm Canon L-series lens and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 2500. Tracked on the AP400 mount but unguided. Shot from Tibuc Gardens Cottage, Coonabarabran, Australia.
