Astrophotography from the Flagstaff trip

On the Flagstaff trip mentioned previously see (Some short term goals and Good to Stargaze), the skies were very clear and dark. I managed to get some photography done. The big challenge was the trees around our campsite. My solution was to “hide” the telescope near a trailhead that was near our campsite – yikes! It turned out okay, though.

The first night I captured M 8, M 16, and M 57. On the first night, I got my first ever 0 degrees deviation when polar aligning!

M 8, The Lagoon Nebula, from a stack of 61 exposures at 60 seconds, 60 gain, and the Duo-Band filter. Processed in Stellar Studio “auto”.

M 16, The Eagle Nebula, from a stack of 90 60-second exposures, 60 gain, Duo filter.

M 57, The Ring Nebula, from a stack of 136 60-second exposures, 60 gain, Duo filter. We definitely need a longer focal length scope for the ring nebula!

The second night I got M 20 and I tried to get C 6.

M 20, the Trifid Nebula. 65 exposures of 60 seconds and 60 gain, Duo-Band filter, Stellar Studio auto:

For C 6, The Cat’s Eye Nebula, I couldn’t find it in the Dwarf’s atlas. I ended up entering RA 17h 58m 18s; Dec 66 37m 56.9s. This is from a stack of 273 60-second exposures, 60 gain, duo filter, stellar studio “auto”. I don’t know if I aimed at the wrong spot, or if the Cat’s Eye is just too small for Wormwood to see. I’ll investigate more.

Update 2025-09-30: plate solving shows that this is the Cat’s Eye Nebula, so again, I need a longer focal length scope to do anything good with this subject.

Although the next night had excellent weather, I decided not to push my luck. Also, we needed to leave earlier the next morning, so I decided not to set up that night.