Starship Asterisk*

I had the amazing experience of watching the April 8th solar eclipse from the pristine skies of Maine. To capture the high dynamic range of the solar corona, I photographed totality at many different exposures using a DSLR camera and refractor telescope. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/536496612...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53265742430_e9cda29f18.jpg Heart and Soul Nebulae This is a widefield view of the Heart and Soul Nebulae in the constellation Cassiopeia. Captured from Bortle Class 8-9 city skies over three nights in dual narrowband (H-alpha and O III). 164x300 sec Equipment: ZW...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53265742430_e9cda29f18.jpg Heart and Soul Nebulae This is a widefield view of the Heart and Soul Nebulae in the constellation Cassiopeia. Captured from Bortle Class 8-9 city skies over three nights in dual narrowband (H-alpha and O III). 164x300 sec Equipment: ZW...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53239002946_93f3bce895.jpg Orion's Dream This is the dreamlike Orion constellation, featuring the Great Orion Nebula and Horsehead/Flame Nebulae, that I captured from Bortle Class 8-9 city skies in dual narrowband. Night 1 (9/30/23): 17x300 sec Night 2 (10/1/23):...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53210417407_d247a98ffe.jpg Sadr Region, Butterfly Nebula, and Crescent Nebula This is the beautiful emission around Sadr (including the Butterfly and Crescent nebulae), that I captured from Bortle Class 8-9 city skies in narrowband. Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC Pro Ro...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53159605967_2385015eaf.jpg Solar System in One Week My photos of our Solar System from this week: the Blue Supermoon, Saturn at opposition (with Titan, Rhea, and Iapetus), and Jupiter with its four Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto). I represent t...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53154488947_a371e2fb57.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53155067506_093e43f983.jpg Blue Supermoon Rising in Chicago I captured the second full moon of August right as it aligned with the antennas atop the John Hancock Center, the fifth tallest building in ...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53126796943_a029bf34e1.jpg Western Veil Nebula 52x300 sec Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC Pro SVBONY SV503 80ED refractor with focal reducer Optolong L-Ultimate 2" filter Star Adventurer GTi, ZWO 30mm f/4 guidescope, ASI120MM Mini guidecamera, ASIAIR Pro Processing:...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53119059507_743fde9716.jpg Iris Nebula Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC Pro Optolong UV/IR Cut Filter Svbony SV503 80ED 80mm refractor Star Adventurer GTi, ZWO 30mm f/4 guidescope, ASI120MM Mini guidecamera, ASIAIR Pro 31x300 sec light; flat/bias/dark frames Software: Ast...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53091255316_5d40857861.jpg Lion Nebula SH2-132 The Lion Nebula shot over two nights in dual narrowband (H-alpha and O III). Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC Pro Optolong L-Ultimate 2" filter Svbony SV503 80ED 80mm refractor Star Adventurer GTi, ZWO 30mm f/4 guidescop...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53064159639_e7cd919400.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53064559579_9b429e4ac8_w.jpg Bubble Nebula and M52 I would like to share this picture of the Bubble Nebula and M52 (and a bit of the Lobster Claw Nebula) I captured from my backyard. Shot with an OSC ...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53053597299_4bb8cbbe1f.jpg Veil Nebula in Cygnus Widefield shot of the Veil Nebula in the Cygnus constellation. I captured this target from Bortle Class 8-9 city skies with a 135mm f/2 lens, ZWO ASI533MC color camera, and dual-band (H-alpha and O-iii emission) fi...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53044738855_cbcb207127.jpg IC 1396 Elephant's Trunk Nebula I captured the Elephant's Trunk Nebula over two nights from Bortle Class 8-9 skies, using a Samyang 135mm f/2 lens, ZWO ASI533MC color camera, and dual-band (H-alpha and O-iii emission) filter. The total ...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53023425555_c534158ea1.jpg Sadr Region, Butterfly Nebula, and Crescent Nebula Captured from Bortle Class 8-9 city skies with a ZWO ASI533MC camera, 135mm f/2 lens, and dual-band (H-alpha and O-iii emission) filter, with an integration time of one hour. Location: ...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53009990813_3895d60292.jpg Stars and Fireflies Here's another composite picture from my recent trip to a dark sky park, where I combine the blinking of thousands of fireflies and the Milky Way core rising over the forest. It was a magical sight to witness! Locati...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52999047809_ae43363e8f.jpg The famous Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula. Captured from Bortle Class 8-9 city skies with an 80mm doublet refractor and dual-band (H-alpha and O-iii emission) filter, with an integration time of approximately four hours. Locati...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52986867697_087b6c38da.jpg Dance of Fireflies in the Core of the Milky Way While visiting a dark sky park this weekend to see the Milky Way core rise in the summer night sky, I got a rare treat: an uncountable number of fireflies had recently emerged in the centr...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52968463335_877b82e8e2.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52967488342_b77f62bcc7.jpg The North America Nebula with the Cygnus Wall. Captured from Bortle Class 8-9 city skies with an 80mm doublet refractor and dual-band (H-alpha and O-iii emission) filter, wi...

Plane transiting Strawberry Moon

Equipment: Orion XT8, Nikon 1 J1
Location: Des Plaines, Illinois
Date: June 3, 2023
Copyright Imran Sultan

Strawberry Mineral Moon

equipment: Orion XT8 dobsonian, Nikon 1 J1 mirrorless
processing: PIPP, Autostakkert (top 30% of about 60 frames), Registax, Photoshop

location: Des Plaines, Illinois
date: May 28, 2023

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52879706815_3f4751bbd8.jpg Flower Moon on a cloudy night The May full moon on a cloudy night. This picture is a composite of a stacked image edited to bring out the colors and details of the "mineral moon," and a longer exposure showing the moonlit clou...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52879329466_a32a44be1c.jpg The Shark Nebula and Surrounding Interstellar Medium I captured a widefield shot of the amazing interstellar gas and dust in the Cepheus constellation, prominently featuring the Shark Nebula. The picture represents nearly 2.5 hours of i...

Alignment https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52779563877_21d5f50da0.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52780347809_b9cf879fae.jpg I had the pleasure of viewing the planetary alignment this week shortly after the sun set into Lake Michigan. In this photo I captured the Moon, three planets, and ...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52760376352_7358bd719b.jpg starless version https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52761168319_d9c3a361c7.jpg Integrated Flux Nebula near M81 and M82 Location: Animas, New Mexico Date: December 20, 2022 Canon Rebel T5i, Samyang 135mm f/2 lens at f/2.8 59x300 sec Sta...

The crescent moon with the Da Vinci Glow The full resolution image is available here on my website. I combined photos at two different exposures (taken in the early morning of August 22, 2022 from Des Plaines, Illinois) to create this "HDR" image of the crescent moon. The unlit side of th...