With all the smoke and clouds, I've only been able to do astrophotography 6 nights since April.

I finally had a couple of clear nights over the past week or so to finish up one more image.
This is the Heart Nebula, located 7500 light years from Earth. The nebula is lit from the ionizing radiation from the star cluster located in it's center. This star cluster is known as Melotte 15.

The image is a combination of:

150, 90 second Hydrogen Alpha Images
66, 90 second Oxygen III images
58, 90 second Sulfur II Images

For a total of 6.9 hours of imaging, the longest single image with my RASA 11 so far. This is also my first image that I used a powerful software package designed specifically for Astrophotography, called Pixinsight. It is a daunting program to learn and is very different than my normal Photoshop routine, but the final image is much cleaner, deeper and more detailed than I have ever made.

I need to upload it somewhere where you can see a larger version, this small sample takes a lot away from the real image.

[Gorgarath]

OK, I didn't see this when it was posted and I'm so glad it got dug back up to the first page. That's gorgeous.

[pkboy]

Very nice!

[Photogoof]

Breathtaking!

[Rondec]

This is truly amazing! Wonderful work!

[Serkevan]

I can't believe I didn't come across this earlier, this is simply jaw-dropping

[Colorado CJ]

Thanks everyone!

For those who have asked, I used a Celestron RASA 11" F2.2 Astrograph and a ZWO ASI183MM Pro Cooled mono camera to make this image.

Here is a link to a larger version. Wait for it to load, then you can click on it for a larger photo:

https://scontent-den4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/120159947_10218385083197781_76...e4&oe=5FDDED8D

[Flapentax]

with all the smoke and clouds, i've only been able to do astrophotography 6 nights since april.

I finally had a couple of clear nights over the past week or so to finish up one more image.
This is the heart nebula, located 7500 light years from earth. The nebula is lit from the ionizing radiation from the star cluster located in it's center. This star cluster is known as melotte 15.

The image is a combination of:

150, 90 second hydrogen alpha images
66, 90 second oxygen iii images
58, 90 second sulfur ii images

for a total of 6.9 hours of imaging, the longest single image with my rasa 11 so far. This is also my first image that i used a powerful software package designed specifically for astrophotography, called pixinsight. It is a daunting program to learn and is very different than my normal photoshop routine, but the final image is much cleaner, deeper and more detailed than i have ever made.

I need to upload it somewhere where you can see a larger version, this small sample takes a lot away from the real image.

wow great!!