Here is a 5 panel mosaic in Orion that I shot last week during 3 nights in my new observatory -- woo hoo! I especially enjoyed being out of the wind when it was 18 degrees.
I tried to shoot a mosaic of this last year, but the weather knocked me out (got a few subs, but could never complete it). So I am happy I finally got it.
A few things I noticed about this area...
There is a Ha ring of nebulosity around Rigel that I did not know about. I shot the Witch Head a couple of years ago w/o Ha (since the Witch is a reflection neb), but this time I used Ha in all panels since I was incorporating M42. I guess Rigel's stellar winds are carving out a bubble in the gas and exciting the Ha. Anybody know?
I also enjoyed all the cool galaxies that "litter" the area around the Witch.
FSQ 106EDX f/3.6
STL-11000M -25C
5 panels
HaLRGB 15,90,25,25,25 (per panel)
CCDStack, PixInsight, CS5
Bigger image seen here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neutronman/5245334825/
The last time there was a lunar eclipse on the Winter Solstice, Galileo was serving his "sentence" for being a naughty astronomer. Although I had grand plans to do all sorts of shooting of the eclipse, in the end I merely observed the beautiful sight, then took a few snaps with my Nikon D700 and 180mm lens as clouds began rolling in (right after totality).
