https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto Wed, 11 Nov 2026 11:43:09 -0400 Wed, 11 Nov 2026 11:43:09 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Zenphoto RSS Generator https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M42+Orion+Nebula_signed.jpeg Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

The Orion Nebula (M42, NGC 1976) is a diffuse emission nebula in the constellation Orion and the closest large region of massive star formation to Earth, at a distance of roughly 1,300-1,350 light-years. It is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye and spans about 25 light-years, powered by the intense ultraviolet radiation of the young Trapezium star cluster embedded at its heart. The nebula's...

Total image time was 3 hours and 37 minutes.

Moon Phase	Waning Gibbous
Camera	Seestar S30
Optics	150 mm focal length, f/5, 30 mm aperture (APO triplet)
Filter	LP
Binning	1.x1.
Stacking	StackingWizard, 225 of 251 frames stacked
Date	2025-12-08
AstroWizard Processing	Crop GraXpert background extraction (0.5) Color calibration True-color mapping BlurXTerminator (0.6) NoiseXTerminator (linear, 0.9) Stretch (deep) Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (x4) Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (starless) Star removal (StarXTerminator) Darken background (x2) Saturation adjustment (x5) Contrast (pop) adjustment (x8) Curves adjustment (x6) Star recombination (screen blend) Lighten background (x3) Color recalibration

Date: October 27, 2026 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M42+Orion+Nebula_signed.jpeg Mon, 08 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M8_DSW_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-60.00s_FILTER-LP_RGB_drizzle_2x_%281%29.jpg Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

Moon Phase	Last Quarter
Camera	Seestar S30
Optics	150 mm focal length, f/5, 30 mm aperture (APO triplet)
Filter	LP
Date	2026-07-06
PixInsight Processing	Fast Integration Drizzle Integration Dynamic Crop BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution) GraXpert (gradient removal) Spectrophotometric Color Calibration Multiscale Adaptive Stretch NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)

Date: October 27, 2026 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M8_DSW_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-60.00s_FILTER-LP_RGB_drizzle_2x_%281%29.jpg Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0300 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=S30_M8_27x60_BIN-1_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-60.00s_FILTER-LP_RGB_drizzle_2x.jpg Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

Moon Phase	Last Quarter
Camera	Seestar S30
Optics	150 mm focal length, f/5, 30 mm aperture (APO triplet)
Filter	LP
Date	2026-07-06
PixInsight Processing	Image Integration (x2) Fast Integration Drizzle Integration (x2) Dynamic Crop BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution) GraXpert (gradient removal) Spectrophotometric Color Calibration NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise) Multiscale Adaptive Stretch Multiscale Linear Transform

Date: October 27, 2026 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=S30_M8_27x60_BIN-1_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-60.00s_FILTER-LP_RGB_drizzle_2x.jpg Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0300 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M16_DSW__BIN-1_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-10.00s_FILTER-LP_RGB_drizzle_2x.jpg Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

The Eagle Nebula is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation of Serpens. Alternatively, it is catalogued as Messier 16, M16, or NGC 6611, and sometimes referred to as the Star Queen Nebula. This cluster discovered by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux in 1745–46. Both the "Eagle" and the "Star Queen" refer to visual impressions of the dark silhouette near the center of the nebula, an area made famous as the "Pillars of Creation" imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. The nebula contains several active star-forming gas and dust regions, including the aforementioned Pillars of Creation. The Eagle Nebula lies in the Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Nebula]

Moon Phase	Last Quarter
Camera	Seestar S30
Optics	150 mm focal length, f/5, 30 mm aperture (APO triplet)
Filter	LP
Date	2026-08-07
PixInsight Processing	Fast Integration Drizzle Integration Dynamic Crop BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution) Spectrophotometric Color Calibration NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise) Multiscale Adaptive Stretch

Date: October 27, 2026 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M16_DSW__BIN-1_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-10.00s_FILTER-LP_RGB_drizzle_2x.jpg Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0300 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M31_S30_230x30_IRCUT_ADBE.jpg Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

Messier 11 (NGC 6705), the Wild Duck Cluster, is a rich open star cluster in the constellation Scutum, lying about 6,100 light-years away, making it one of the most distant open clusters in the Messier catalog still visible to the naked eye. It is unusually dense and populous for an open cluster, containing roughly 2,900 stars and estimated to be about 316 million years old. Its brighter stars form a distinctive V- or wedge-shaped pattern in small telescopes, resembling a flock of ducks in flight, which gives the cluster its common name. Set against the rich star fields of the Scutum Star Cloud, M11 makes an excellent broadband target, with tight, colorful stars standing out sharply against the dense Milky Way backdrop.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Duck_Cluster]

Moon Phase	Waning Crescent
Camera	Seestar S30
Optics	150 mm focal length, f/5, 30 mm aperture (APO triplet)
Date	2026-07-09
PixInsight Processing	Image Integration (x2) Drizzle Integration BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution) Dynamic Crop GraXpert (gradient removal) Spectrophotometric Color Calibration NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise) (x2) Multiscale Adaptive Stretch (x2) Background Neutralization Dynamic Background Extraction Curves Transformation (x3)

Date: October 27, 2026 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M31_S30_230x30_IRCUT_ADBE.jpg Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0300 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M11_39x60_BIN-1_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-60.00s_FILTER-IRCUT_RGB_drizzle_2x.jpg Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

Messier 11 (NGC 6705), the Wild Duck Cluster, is a rich open star cluster in the constellation Scutum, lying about 6,100 light-years away, making it one of the most distant open clusters in the Messier catalog still visible to the naked eye. It is unusually dense and populous for an open cluster, containing roughly 2,900 stars and estimated to be about 316 million years old. Its brighter stars form a distinctive V- or wedge-shaped pattern in small telescopes, resembling a flock of ducks in flight, which gives the cluster its common name. Set against the rich star fields of the Scutum Star Cloud, M11 makes an excellent broadband target, with tight, colorful stars standing out sharply against the dense Milky Way backdrop.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Duck_Cluster]

Total image time was 13 minutes.

Moon Phase	Waning Crescent
Camera	Seestar S30
Optics	150 mm focal length, f/5, 30 mm aperture (APO triplet)
Filter	IRCUT
Binning	1x1
Date	2026-07-09
PixInsight Processing	Image Integration (x2) Drizzle Integration BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution) Dynamic Crop GraXpert (gradient removal) Spectrophotometric Color Calibration NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise) Multiscale Adaptive Stretch

Date: October 27, 2026 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M11_39x60_BIN-1_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-60.00s_FILTER-IRCUT_RGB_drizzle_2x.jpg Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0300 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M11_39x60_BIN-1_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-60.00s_FILTER-IRCUT_RGB_drizzle_2x+crop.jpg Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

Messier 11 (NGC 6705), the Wild Duck Cluster, is a rich open star cluster in the constellation Scutum, lying about 6,100 light-years away, making it one of the most distant open clusters in the Messier catalog still visible to the naked eye. It is unusually dense and populous for an open cluster, containing roughly 2,900 stars and estimated to be about 316 million years old. Its brighter stars form a distinctive V- or wedge-shaped pattern in small telescopes, resembling a flock of ducks in flight, which gives the cluster its common name. Set against the rich star fields of the Scutum Star Cloud, M11 makes an excellent broadband target, with tight, colorful stars standing out sharply against the dense Milky Way backdrop.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Duck_Cluster]

Total image time was 13 minutes.

Moon Phase	Waning Crescent
Camera	Seestar S30
Optics	150 mm focal length, f/5, 30 mm aperture (APO triplet)
Filter	IRCUT
Binning	1x1
Date	2026-07-09
PixInsight Processing	Image Integration (x2) Drizzle Integration BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution) Dynamic Crop GraXpert (gradient removal) Spectrophotometric Color Calibration NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise) Multiscale Adaptive Stretch

Date: October 27, 2026 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M11_39x60_BIN-1_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-60.00s_FILTER-IRCUT_RGB_drizzle_2x+crop.jpg Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0300 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M_31_wizardstack_233f.jpg Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31, NGC 224) is the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way, located about 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is a large spiral galaxy, with a disk spanning roughly 200,000 light-years or more, making it substantially larger than our own galaxy. Seen from Earth at a steep inclination rather than face-on, M31 displays sweeping dust lanes across its disk and a bright central bulge, and is one of the few galaxies visible to the naked eye as a faint smudge under dark skies. Its satellite galaxies M32 and M110 are typically visible in the same wide-field frame. M31 and the Milky Way are gravitationally bound and expected to merge in roughly four to five billion years.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Galaxy]

Total image time was 39 minutes.

Moon Phase	Waning Gibbous
Camera	Seestar S30
Optics	150 mm focal length, f/5, 30 mm aperture (APO triplet)
Filter	IRCUT
Binning	1x1
Stacking	StackingWizard, 233 frames
Date	2025-12-09

Date: October 27, 2026 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M_31_wizardstack_233f.jpg Tue, 09 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M13_25x60_masterLight_BIN-1_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-60.00s_FILTER-IRCUT_RGB_drizzle_2x+crop.jpg Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

Messier 13 (NGC 6205), the Great Hercules Cluster, is the brightest globular cluster visible from the northern hemisphere, located in the constellation Hercules. Distance estimates commonly range from about 22,000 to 25,000 light-years, and the cluster spans roughly 145 light-years, containing several hundred thousand stars, many of them among the oldest in the Milky Way at 11-12 billion years of age. Under sufficiently dark skies it is faintly visible to the naked eye as a hazy patch. M13 is a rewarding target for revealing a dense, resolved core of individual stars, requiring good seeing and sufficient focal length/resolution to avoid the core stars blending into an unresolved blob, with the cluster's characteristic “propeller” dust lanes sometimes visible in deep images.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_13]

Total image time was 8 minutes.

Moon Phase	Waning Crescent
Camera	Seestar S30
Optics	150 mm focal length, f/5, 30 mm aperture (APO triplet)
Filter	IRCUT
Binning	1x1
Date	2026-07-09
PixInsight Processing	Image Integration (x2) Drizzle Integration BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution) Dynamic Crop GraXpert (gradient removal) Spectrophotometric Color Calibration NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise) Multiscale Adaptive Stretch

Date: October 27, 2026 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M13_25x60_masterLight_BIN-1_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-60.00s_FILTER-IRCUT_RGB_drizzle_2x+crop.jpg Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0300 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M_13_wizardstack_55f.jpg Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

Messier 13 (NGC 6205), the Great Hercules Cluster, is the brightest globular cluster visible from the northern hemisphere, located in the constellation Hercules. Distance estimates commonly range from about 22,000 to 25,000 light-years, and the cluster spans roughly 145 light-years, containing several hundred thousand stars, many of them among the oldest in the Milky Way at 11-12 billion years of age. Under sufficiently dark skies it is faintly visible to the naked eye as a hazy patch. M13 is a rewarding target for revealing a dense, resolved core of individual stars, requiring good seeing and sufficient focal length/resolution to avoid the core stars blending into an unresolved blob, with the cluster's characteristic “propeller” dust lanes sometimes visible in deep images.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_13]

Total image time was 9 minutes.

Moon Phase	Waning Crescent
Camera	Seestar S30
Optics	150 mm focal length, f/5, 30 mm aperture (APO triplet)
Filter	IRCUT
Binning	1x1
Stacking	StackingWizard, 55 frames
Date	2026-07-09

Date: October 27, 2026 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=S30.alb&image=M_13_wizardstack_55f.jpg Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0300