ROAST ::

May 25/26, and another lovely clear night. This time I didn’t stay up, but programmed a session with two targets: M57 again, the Ring Nebula in Lyra from 11pm to 1am, and a mosaic of the Veil Nebulas C33 and C34, which are parts of a large complex called the Cygnus Loop; 1am to 3:30am. This is the remnant of a supernova that exploded about 8,000 years ago. The parts shown here are the Eastern Veil on the left, aka NGC 6992, and the Western Veil on the right, aka the Witch’s Broom; collectively aka Filamentary Nebulae. The fainter bit at top right centre is Pickering’s Triangle. Click for enlarged view.

Details:
Target: C33,C34; 4-frame mosaic
Equipment: Dwarf Mini, Duo-Band filter
Integration: 39mins/frame (77×30secs, 3 failures; total 228 frames), gain 60
Conditions: Clear, Bortle 7
Processing: PhotoDesk equalisation, gamma

This ideally needs longer than 40 minutes per frame to get a better result, but it’s difficult at this time of year, with short nights.

Here’s a megastack of the Ring Nebula, combining the shots taken last night with those from 25 April:

Details:
Target: M57 megastack
Equipment: Dwarf Mini, Duo-Band filter
Integration: 2hrs 30mins (300×30secs, 3 failures), gain 60
Conditions: Clear, Bortle 7
Processing: PhotoDesk equalisation, gamma, x2 scaling

And finally, the Moon: