[graaja]

Recently BAS (Bangalore Astronomy Society) and IIA (Indian Institute of Astrophysics) organized a trip to Hanle, the first dark sky reserve of India. A team of 15 astrophotographers and visual observers (9 from Bangalore, 3 from Coimbatore, 1 from Pune, 1 from Delhi and 1 from Kolkatta) took part in this trip. I, my daughter and a friend and fellow astrophotographer Obulichandran joined this group from Coimbatore. I shipped all the heavy equipment like the mount, tripod and counterweights by air cargo and hand carried the optics and cameras by flight. We had planned for 5 nights in Hanle. But due to the delay in retreat of monsoon, we had 4 nights washed out due to clouds, with only one clear night in Hanle. I did some photography in Leh as well on the way back and salvaged a few more pictures. Out of the 14 planned targets, I could only get 4 in full quality. I managed to salvage a few more with low integration times.

I am writing a detailed travelogue documenting the trip. This should go live in a day or two.

Before posting the pictures and exposure details, below is the list of equipment and software used to shoot and process these targets.

Equipment:

EQ6-R Pro German Equatorial Mount
William Optics GT81 APO triplet refractor telescope
William Optics 50mm guide scope
ZWO ASI2600MC Pro cooled colour camera with an APS-C sensor
ZWO ASI224 guide camera
ZWO EAF – Electronic Auto Focuser
Intel NUC Mini PC controlling the equipment

Software:

N.I.N.A for image acquisition (Image composition, slewing and centering the target, auto focus, plate solving, and exposure control)
PHD2 for guiding (through N.I.N.A)
Pixinsight for calibration, stacking and post-processing.
Lightroom and Windows Photo Editor for final touch-ups

First, let me post the 4 good images I managed followed by the average images that I could salvage with lower integration times.

Jelly Fish Nebula (IC 443)

IC 443 (also known as the Jellyfish Nebula and Sharpless 248 (Sh2-248)) is a galactic supernova remnant in the constellation Gemini. Its distance is roughly 5,000 light years from Earth and it is roughly 70 light years in size. NASA’s latest research estimates the age of this supernova remnant to be tens of thousands of years, which aligns with previous work that estimated IC 443 to be about 30,000 years old. IC 443’s true age remains in question, as other scientists have inferred much younger ages of about 3,000 years.

Exposure (2:25 hours total integration time)
Lights - 29 x 300 seconds
Darks - 25
Flats – 25



North American and Pelican Nebulae:

The Pelican Nebula (also known as IC 5070 and IC 5067) is an H II region associated with the North America Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The gaseous contortions of this emission nebula bear a resemblance to a pelican, giving rise to its name. The Pelican Nebula is located nearby first magnitude star Deneb, and is divided from its more prominent neighbour, the North America Nebula, by a foreground molecular cloud filled with dark dust.

The North America Nebula (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, close to Deneb (the tail of the swan and its brightest star). The shape of the nebula resembles that of the continent of North America, complete with a prominent Gulf of Mexico.
The distances to the North America and Pelican nebulae were controversial, because there are few precise methods for determining how far away an HII region lies. Until 2020, most astronomers accepted a value of 2,000 light years, though estimates ranged from 1,500 to 3,000 light years.[10]

But in 2020, the Gaia astrometry spacecraft measured the distances to 395 stars lying within the HII region, giving the North America and Pelican nebulae a distance of 2,590 light years. The entire HII region Sh2-117 is estimated to be 140 light years across, and the North America nebula stretches 90 light years

Exposure (2:51 hours total integration time)
Lights - 57 x 180 seconds
Darks - 25
Flats – 25



The Triangulum Galaxy (M33 / NGC 598):

The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy 2.73 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. It is catalogued as Messier 33 or NGC 598. With a diameter of 61,100 light-years, the Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, behind the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way. It is one of the most distant permanent objects that can be viewed with the naked eye.

The galaxy is the smallest spiral galaxy in the Local Group, and is believed to be a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy or on its rebound into the latter due to their interactions, velocities, and proximity to one another in the night sky. It also has an H II nucleus.

Exposure (2:18 hours total integration time)
Lights - 46 x 180 seconds
Darks - 25
Flats – 25



The Eastern Veil Nebula (NGC6992):

The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus. It constitutes the visible portions of the Cygnus Loop, a supernova remnant, many portions of which have acquired their own individual names and catalogue identifiers. The portion I have shot is identified as the Eastern Veil or NGC6992.

The source supernova was a star 20 times more massive than the Sun which exploded between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago. At the time of explosion, the supernova would have appeared brighter than Venus in the sky, and visible in daytime. The remnants have since expanded to cover an area of the sky roughly 3 degrees in diameter (about 6 times the diameter, and 36 times the area, of the full Moon). While previous distance estimates have ranged from 1200 to 5800 light-years, a recent determination of 2400 light-years is based on direct astrometric measurements.

The red hues in this image are from ionized hydrogen content of gas clouds that emit light in the H-alpha wavelength, while the cyan hues are from oxygen ions.

Exposure (2:00 hours total integration time)
Lights - 24 x 300 seconds
Darks - 25
Flats – 25



Notice the uncanny resemblance to the creature from the movie "Alien"

[graaja]

Below are the images salvaged from lower integration times.

The Iris Nebula (NGC 7023)

The Iris Nebula (also known as NGC 7023 and Caldwell 4) is a bright reflection nebula in the constellation Cepheus. This means that its color comes from the scattered light of its central star, which lies nestled in the abundant star fields of the constellation Cepheus. Located some 1,400 light-years away from Earth, the Iris Nebula’s glowing gaseous petals stretch roughly 6 light-years across. This nebula is of particular interest to scientists because of its colors. Reflection nebulae glow because they are made up of extremely tiny particles of solid matter, up to 10 or even 100 times smaller than dust particles on Earth. These particles diffuse the light around them, giving the nebula a second-hand glow that’s typically bluish (like our sky). While the Iris Nebula appears predominantly blue, it includes large filaments of deep red, indicating the presence of an unknown chemical compound likely based on hydrocarbons.

Exposure (30 minutes total integration time)
Lights - 6 x 300 seconds
Darks - 25
Flats – 25



The Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635) and M52 Open Cluster

NGC 7635, also known as the Bubble Nebula, Sharpless 162, or Caldwell 11, is an H II region[1] emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. It lies close to the direction of the open cluster Messier 52, which can also be seen in this picture. The "bubble" is created by the stellar wind from a massive hot, 8.7 magnitude young central star, SAO 20575. The nebula is near a giant molecular cloud which contains the expansion of the bubble nebula while itself being excited by the hot central star, causing it to glow.

Exposure (50 minutes total integration time)
Lights - 10 x 300 seconds
Darks - 25
Flats – 25



Witch-Head Nebula (IC 2118)

IC 2118 (also known as Witch Head Nebula due to its shape) is an extremely faint reflection nebula believed to be an ancient supernova remnant or gas cloud illuminated by nearby supergiant star Rigel in the constellation of Orion. It lies in the Orion constellation, about 900 light-years from Earth. The nature of the dust particles, reflecting blue light better than red, is a factor in giving the Witch Head its blue color. Radio observations show substantial carbon monoxide emission throughout parts of IC 2118, an indicator of the presence of molecular clouds and star formation in the nebula. In fact candidates for pre-main sequence stars and some classic T-Tauri stars have been found deep within the nebula.

Exposure (35 minutes total integration time)
Lights - 7 x 300 seconds
Darks - 25
Flats – 25



The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293)

The Helix Nebula is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Aquarius. This object is one of the closest to the Earth of all the bright planetary nebulae. It is situated about 694 light years from earth and has a radius of 2.87 light years. This is a relatively young nebula at an age of 10,600 years. This nebula is also called the "Eye of God"

This target is a little small for the focal length I am shooting at, and because of this it is heavily cropped.

Exposure (2:03 hours total integration time)
Lights - 41 x 180 seconds
Darks - 25
Flats – 25

[graaja]

I made a few timelapse videos for this trip.

Timelapse video of the dry runs for assmbly and disassembly of the equipment and sending by air cargo.

https://youtu.be/SKrH_lEHi6c

Timelapse video of equipment setup in Hanle.

https://youtu.be/QxBHKYYAAT0

Timelapse video of astrophotography in Leh.

https://youtu.be/Z2hpVFGjSWw

[V.Narayan]

Graaja, my friend I cannot over express my admiration for your skill and knowledge and those mind blowing photographs you click.🙏🏼 All of us are richer in awareness and knowledge thanks to you. The quality of your work can give National Geographic a run for its money.

These photographs of galaxies far away which you share remind us of how insignificant we are with all our petty problems and prejudices and how grand is the majesty of the Creator. May the forces of the Universe be with you.

Keep it flowing.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Graaja, my friend I cannot over express my admiration for your skill and knowledge and those mind blowing photographs you click.🙏🏼 All of us are richer in awareness and knowledge thanks to you. The quality of your work can give National Geographic a run for its money.

Thank you so much for the kind words

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

These photographs of galaxies far away which you share remind us of how insignificant we are with all our petty problems and prejudices and how grand is the majesty of the Creator.

Totally agree. When we see the size and age of these celestial objects and the time the light has taken to reach us, it makes us feel so insignificant in both space and time!

[Speedshift]

No adjectives can vaguely describe the beauty of these photographs. Reminds me how small we are and how less we know.

Thank you so much for sharing your work here.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by Speedshift

No adjectives can vaguely describe the beauty of these photographs. Reminds me how small we are and how less we know.

Thank you so much for sharing your work here.

Thank you so much for the kind words

[SN88]

Mind blowing!! Cannot fathom the depth of the universe honestly. It is beyond my understanding of reality..
We might just be a mistake in the grand scheme of things and a mistake so irrelevant that it does not even matter to what lies there!!

Truly, your passion and your drive towards doing what you love in these busy lives of ours is really commendable.

Cheers!!

[coolmel]

Breath taking pics good sir! Instantly tells us how insignificant we are. I am a photographer myself. Coming to think of this, please do watch the Arecibo-Puerto Rico documentary. You'll love it. Cheers and crack on!

[graaja]

Originally Posted by SN88

Mind blowing!! Cannot fathom the depth of the universe honestly...

Thank you so much for the kind words!

Originally Posted by coolmel

Breath taking pics good sir! Instantly tells us how insignificant we are. I am a photographer myself. Coming to think of this, please do watch the Arecibo-Puerto Rico documentary. You'll love it. Cheers and crack on!

Thank you so much for the kind words. I will check out the documentary.

[caffeineAM]

What kind of Air Cargo service did you use? From Mumbai we do some astro trips once in a while or so, but are limited by what you can carry commercially. There's always extra security checks (sir there's some large metal in your bag - counter weights). So the EQ6 only makes it to drivable places nearby.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by caffeineAM

What kind of Air Cargo service did you use? From Mumbai we do some astro trips once in a while or so, but are limited by what you can carry commercially. There's always extra security checks (sir there's some large metal in your bag - counter weights). So the EQ6 only makes it to drivable places nearby.

We used GoAir air cargo service. They only asked us to remove any batteries in the package. Otherwise there was no other restrictions. You have to visit the air cargo section of the airport. You will find counters for all airlines. Depending on the connectivity, one or more of them will definitely be able to transport your equipment.

[am1m]

How clear will the ISS be when viewed through one of these- a Celestron AstroMaster 130?

Next week, will be heading back to a location where I can get very good views of the ISS, with very little ambient light and virtually no building obstruction (near a beach, basically). I've already had some great long sightings of the ISS across the evening sky earlier this month with the naked eye. My friend has one of these telescopes and I was wondering how much more detail we could see if we used that for the next sighting opportunities. The website says this scope has a 33x magnification and that the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn are visible with this model, so I guess we should be able to see the solar panels of the ISS pretty clearly?

(Thanks in advance for any replies!)

[graaja]

Originally Posted by am1m

How clear will the ISS be when viewed through one of these- a Celestron AstroMaster 130?

Next week, will be heading back to a location where I can get very good views of the ISS, with very little ambient light and virtually no building obstruction (near a beach, basically). I've already had some great long sightings of the ISS across the evening sky earlier this month with the naked eye. My friend has one of these telescopes and I was wondering how much more detail we could see if we used that for the next sighting opportunities. The website says this scope has a 33x magnification and that the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn are visible with this model, so I guess we should be able to see the solar panels of the ISS pretty clearly?

(Thanks in advance for any replies!)

It should be possible to resolve the details of the ISS through the scope. The problem would be to track it. ISS moves too fast for a telescope and will need some sort of tracking to keep it inside the field of view. With manual tracking, there will be too much shake to be able to view it clearly. But if you connect a camera and shoot a video at a high frame rate and manually track the telescope, some of the frames will have clear view of the ISS. I have seen many people get very clear picture of the ISS including its stucture this way. Not sure if anyone has tracked it for visual observation and resolved the details.

[Jeroen]

As I took the garbage bin outside to be collected tomorrow morning I noticed something on the right of the moon. Did not look like a star. Based on what I had read here, I thought maybe ISS? Looked it up, I was looking at Jupiter which happens to be visible here! Pretty cool!

Jeroen