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M45 (2024-10-24)

I imaged the Pleiades with a Rokinon 135mm Lens

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I imaged the Pleiades with a Rokinon 135mm Lens

Less than 1 minute Minutes

Another perfect night for astrophotography showed up, with skies so clear it was impossible to resist the call of the cosmos. Equipped with my Rokinon 135mm f/2 lens, an OSC camera, a light pollution filter, the ASIAIR Plus and my trusty Celestron AVX mount I let my rigs run for few hours to capture the beautiful Pleiades (M45), in Taurus.

The Pleiades are a prominent open star cluster located in the constellation Taurus, with an approximate distance of 444 light-years and an apparent magnitude of 1.6, making them one of the brightest clusters visible to the naked eye.

The Rokinon 135mm lens, known for its excellent sharpness, low coma aberration and fast f/2 aperture, is consistently demonstrating to be an ideal choice for wide-field astrophotography.

To reduce the light pollution in my area (I live under a Bortle 7-8 sky), I used the Optolong L-Pro filter. This specialized filter effectively suppressed artificial light while preserving the natural colors of stars and nebulae.

I spent the first part of the night imaging another target, while waiting for M45 to be hight enough in the sky. I planned to capture a total of 1 hour subs. As usual, for post-processing I used PixInsight and GIMP.

Setup

Date: 2024-10-24
Location: My backyard in Richmond Hill, ON
Scope: Rokinon 135mm at F/2.8
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC PRO (cooled at -10 °C)
Filters: Optolong L-Pro 2″
Mount: Celestron AVX
Guiding camera: ZWO ASI224MC, IR-Cut filter, PHD2
Guide Scope: Orion Deluxe Mini 50mm Guide Scope
Software: ASIAIR Plus, PixInsight, BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GIMP
Total integration time: 60 minutes (30×120 secs.)
Calibration frames: 20 dark, 10 flat, 100 bias
M45 (2024-10-24)
M45 integration (2023-02-08)

Imaging the Pleiades from a light polluted sky

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Imaging the Pleiades from a light polluted sky

Less than 1 minute Reading time: Minutes

In the last few weeks I was actively chasing the green comet, but finally yesterday I decided to go back to something more traditional and I did some DSO imaging from my light polluted sky.

With Messier 45, the Pleiades, as my target, my goal was to capture the blue nebulosity that surrounds this magnificent star cluster.

My imaging setup was equipped with an Explore Scientific ED80CF APO 80mm triplet refractor and a cooled ZWO ASI533MC PRO OSC camera, making for a 60 minutes of total integration time. Despite the challenges posed by high clouds and the Moon, my trusty Optolong L-Pro light pollution filter did its job and delivered good results. Below you can see the detailed setup I used for this imaging session.

Date: 2023-02-08
Location: my driveway in Richmond Hill (ON)
Outside temperature: +1°C
Scope and camera: Explore Scientific ED80CF APO, ZWO ASI533MC PRO (cooled at -10 °C), Optolong L-Pro 2″
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Mount: Celestron AVX
Guiding: Orion Mini 50mm, ZWO ASI224MC, IR cut filter, PHD2
Software: NINA, PixInsight, NoiseXTerminator, BlurXTerminator, GIMP
Total integration time: 60 minutes (30×120 seconds)
Calibration frames: 20 dark, 10 flat, 100 bias
Size: 1.35 x 1.35 deg
Radius: 0.954 deg
Pixel scale: 4.05 arcsec/pixel

Here is the final image of the Pleiades, with its blue nebulosity that surrounds the cluster shining bright amidst the light pollution of the city.
 
Clear skies!
M45 integration (2023-02-08)
The Pleiades (2021-11-07)

The Pleiades with my APO refractor

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The Pleiades (Messier 45) with my APO refractor

Less than 1 minute Minutes
The Pleiades (Messier 45) captured with my backyard telescope. This open star cluster, located in Taurus, is made of hot blue and bright young stars and its distance is about 444 light-years.
According to the Greek mythology, the Pleiades were the seven daughters of the titan Atlas: Maia, Electra, Taygete, Alcyone, Celaeno, Sterope, and Merope. In Ancient Greece, the role of the Pleiades was that of companions and attendants to the goddess of the hunt, Artemis.
 
Date: 2021-11-07
Location: Richmond Hill (ON)
Scope: Explore Scientific ED80CF
Mount: Celestron CG-5
Camera: ASI533MC PRO (cooled at -10°C)
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme (narrowband filter)
Guide Scope: Orion 50mm mini + ASI224MC, PHD2
Software: NINA, PixInsight, GIMP
Total integration time: 15 minutes (5x180sec.), dark, flat, bias
 
 
Pleiades