The long-period variable star, Mira, in Cetus, here at right about a month after maximum brightness, when it was about magnitude 3. The star spends most of its roughly 330-day period too faint to see with the unaided eye. Mira is also Omicron Ceti. It was named Mire, Latin for “wonderful” by Johannes Hevelius in his Historiola Mirae Stellae (1662). The blue star at left is Delta Ceti. I shot this Nov. 25, 2019, about a month after Mira’s predicted peak on Oct. 24, 2019. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira for more information about Mira. This is a stack of 6 exposures, each 2 minutes with the Canon 200mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 1600, tracked with the LighTrack II tracker. An additional exposure through the Kenko Softon A filter and layered in adds the star glows.
A telescopic view of the colourful stars near Alpha Persei, aka Mirfak, known as the Perseus OB Association. The large “cluster” contains a mix of bright, young blue stars and yellow stars as well. This is a stack of 5 x 4-minute exposures with the A&M 105mm apo refractor and Hotech field flattener for f/6.2 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 1600. I added an Orton-style glow effect using Luminar to add the star glows to accentuate the colours. The field is about 3° by 2°.
A closeup of Mirfak in Persus, taken in moonlight, with the 130mm f/6 apo refractor with the Hotech field flattener. Moonlight added the blue sky background. It is surrounded by stars of the Perseus OB Association. This is a stack of six 2-minute exposures. All with the Canon 6D MkII at ISO 800. Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools actions.
