NGC 281, the Pacman Nebula, in Cassiopeia, taken from home November 21, 2016, as part of testing of the Explore Scientific FCD100 102mm apo refractor. This is a stack of 5 x 6-minute exposures at f/7 with the ES field flattener, and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600. The bright star is Alpha Cassiopeiae, aka Schedir. North is to the left here, to produce a nice composition in portrait mode and with the “pacman” figure more obvious.
The Lambda Centauri complex, also known as the Running Chicken Nebula IC 2948 (at left) and above it the Pearl Cluster (NGC 3766). Just right of centre is the open cluster IC 2714 ad below it the small barely resolve cluster Mel 105. To the upper right is the nebula complex NGC 3576/81. This is a rich area of sky to explore with binoculars or a low-power telescope with exccellent contrasts between rich starfields and dark nebulas. This is a stack of 4 x 10 minute exposures at f/4.3 with the Borg 77mm astrograph (330mm focal length) and Canon 5D MkII at ISO 800. Taken from Coonabarabran, Australia, March 2014.
A deep exposure of Perseus, with Canon 5D MkII at ISO 800 and 50mm Sigma lens at f/2.8 for 5 x 4 minute exposures, plus 3 x 4min exposures with Kenko soft filter for star glows. Note the lanes of dark nebulosity. Pleiades are at bottom and M34 open cluster at top right.
