The Known Universe
I do enjoy these wonderful educational presentations. Putting things into perspective is one of the key things this video is all about. Kinda like holding a baby. Please check out this video from American Museum of Natural History.
Less is more...
In digital astrophotography, the key is to capture more signal to overcome the noise. You know noise when you see it and I am not going into a deep technical explanation of how it originates and what it is, but I know it when I see it.
I started astrophotography with the 350D and saw noise, especially color noise, that I knew had to be dealt with by traditional noise reduction methods. Those methods involve subtracting dark frames from the light frames.
Later I began using the Canon 450D and noticed a huge difference in noise. There was hardly any to speak of, even after moderate stretching of the data. This led me to experiment with a new way of optimizing the data without utilizing dark frame subtraction. That new technique is detailed in the archived webinar under the "digital photography education" tab.
Now comes the 500D and thankfully dedicated astronomers like Gary Honis put together bench testing of cameras so we know how they will perform. The 500D has even lower noise than the 450D and offers those ultra-high levels of ISO up to 6400. Now this will be exciting and is why I am ordering one soon.
Here is a link to Gary's test. This is a new day in DSLR photography, one that I hope will see the end to autoguiding as well as dark frame subtraction. Enjoy the new day!
Astro-gear!
Like astronomy gear? Scopes and mounts? Check out these equipment reviews on Sky and Telescope from the Astroimage Conference.
Test of iPhone app
I hope to blog regularly from the winter star party next month. I plan on using an app provided by my web host and so this is a test of that interface. The attached image is from our church choir practice tonight. It is a two panel pano constructed on the iPhone. I hope to be able to upload video but not sure about all of the details. Take care
On-Line Education Webinar is now posted...
Recently, two fellow astro-imagers joined me for a webinar where we discussed utilizing Adobe Light Room for processing RGB astronomical images. What a wonderful way to share information and provide education in today's world. This archived webinar serves as an example of the new on-line educational services I am providing. You can now access this highly customized one-on-one training from the comfort of your digital darkroom. You and I will share applications and discuss ways to optimize your landscape or astronomical images in real-time. It is a wonderful way to achieve your vision of the final image you captured in the field or under the stars.
For more information on the services and to see the webinar, please go to Purchase, Digital Photography Education from the main menu.
I hope you enjoy the presentation and simply email me if you would like to schedule a one-hour on-line session today.
The Herschel 400 Astronomical League Project is underway
It’s not too late to join. We are about 30 objects into the Herschel 400. Hope to get another session in soon. Please subscribe to the YouTube channel so you get notifications on LIVE STREAMS.
Angels in Monoceros: The Monoceros M2 Complex
The Monoceros R2 molecular complex (often shortened to Mon R2) is a massive giant molecular cloud and one of the nearest active star-forming regions to Earth. It's a dynamic stellar nursery embedded in dense gas and dust, where new stars—particularly massive ones—are actively being born.
Key Facts
Location: Southwestern part of the constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn), near the border with Orion. It's part of the larger Orion-Monoceros cloud complex.
Distance: Approximately 2,400–2,700 light-years (around 830 parsecs).
Size and Structure: The main dense core is relatively compact (a few light-years across), but the overall molecular cloud and associated nebulae span a wide area—reflection nebulae alone stretch up to about 2° in the sky. It's situated well below the galactic plane, which makes it stand out in certain observations.
Age and Activity: Star formation here began roughly 6–10 million years ago. It hosts an OB association (young, hot, massive B- and A-type stars) that illuminates surrounding dust, creating prominent reflection nebulae with bluish hues. There's also significant emission from ionized gas (red glows) and dark nebulae that appear as shadowy silhouettes blocking background light.
Notable Features:
A central hub of massive star formation with embedded clusters, molecular outflows, and HII regions.
Infrared observations (like those from VISTA or 2MASS) penetrate the dust to reveal hidden young stars and protoplanetary disks.
It's a key site for studying early stellar evolution, variability in young stellar objects (YSOs), and the interplay between massive stars and their natal clouds.
The most famous and photogenic part of Mon R2 is the region around NGC 2170 (the Angel Nebula), a striking reflection nebula with wing-like dust structures, glowing blue from scattered starlight, mixed with red emission and dark lanes. Wider views of the complex reveal a richer tapestry of colorful gas, dust filaments, and star clusters.
Credit: GROK 2/28/26
Click on image for larger view.
New Astro Camera: OM-3
Join me for a LIVE conversation about this new astro camera coming to the market. Is this the best option for you? How does it compare to other options? https://www.earthandskyphoto.com Correction: when discussing Bulb mode with Canon, I incorrectly said it had a limit of 30”. I meant to say manual exposure has a max of 30”. In bulb, you need to use a remote control or app for exposure time control. The problem is you can’t set exposure time for stills in the camera menu. I was made aware that Olympus no longer owns the OM system. It is owned by Japanese industrial Partners, a private equity firm. For content on the OM-3 for astrophotography, please see Ben Chapell’s Narrow Band channel. https://youtube.com/@TheNarrowbandChannel?si=GcWY-BM9skG9LPhY
Jeff's Blog
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