Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky THIS IS A PERMANENT POST, NEW POSTS ARE AFTER THIS POST
21 December 2022 | 9:53 pm

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It took nearly twelve years to collect enough data for this high resolution gigapixel class mosaic image of the Milky Way.  Total exposure time used is around 1250 hours between 2009 and 2021.


" I can hear music in this composition, from the high sounds of sparcs and bubbles at left  all the way to a deep and massive sounds at right."


The final photo is about 100 000 pixels wide, it has 234 individual mosaic panels stitched together and 1,7 gigapixels. (Click for a large image) All the frames used are marked in this image. Since many of sub-images and mosaics are independent artworks it leads to a very complex mosaic structure. 


From Taurus to Cygnus
Click for a large image, it's really worth it! (7000 x 1300 pixels)

Image in mapped colors from the light emitted by an ionized elements, hydrogen = green, sulfur = red and oxygen = blue. NOTE, the apparent size of the Moon in a lower left corner. NOTE 2, there are two 1:1 scale enlargements from the full size original at both ends of the image

NEW, A HD-video from Germany shows my photo in full glory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-Z60eZ4yqM
(Video in Germany but images are the international language)


Close ups form the parts of the Grande Mosaic
Taurus side of the mosaic, https://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2021/02/a-new-mosaic-image-from-taurus-to.html



A closeup from large panorama to show the overall resolution
Click for a large image

The California Nebula, NGC 1499, can be seen at bottom left of the large mosaic image.
There are about 20 million individual stars visible in the whole mosaic image.



Orientation and details
Click for a large image








Imaging info

Image spans 125 x 22 degrees of  the Milky About 20 million individual stars are visible in my photo!

It took almost twelve years to finalize this mosaic image. The reason for a long time period is naturally the size of the mosaic and the fact, that image is very deep. Another reason is that I have soht most of the mosaic frames as an individual compositions and publish them as independent artworks. That leads to a kind of complex image set witch is partly overlapping with a lots of unimaged areas between and around frames. I have shot the missing data now and then during the years and last year I was able to publish many sub mosaic images as I got them ready first.

My processing workflow is very constant so very little tweaking was needed between the mosaic frames. Total exposure time is over 1250 hours. Some of the frames has more exposure time, than others. There are some extremely dim objects clearly visible in this composition, like a extremely dim supernova remnant W63, the Cygnus Shell. It lays about six degrees up from North America nebula and it can be seen as a pale blue ring. I spent about 100 hours for this SNR alone. An other large and faint supernova remnant in Cygnus can be seen at near right edge of the image. G65.5+5.7 is as large as more famous Veil nebula. There are over 60 exposure hours for this SNR alone.  (Veil SNR is just outside of the mosaic area for compositional reasons but can be seen in "Detail" image above.) 


The Mosaic Work, technical info

I have used several optical configurations for this mosaic image during the years. Up to 2014 I was using an old Meade LX200 GPS 12" scope, QHY9 astrocam, Canon EF 200mm f1.8 camera optics and baader narrowband filter set. After 2014 I have had 10-micron 1000 equatorial mount, Apogee Alta U16 astro camera, Tokina AT-x 200mm f2.8 camera lens and the Astrodon 50mm square narrowband filter set. I have shot many details with a longer focal length, before 2014 by using Meade 12" scope with reducer and after 2014 Celestron EDGE 11" and reducer. Quider camera has been Lodestar and Lodestar II.

I took my current toolset as a base tool since it has a relatively high resolution combined to a very large field of view. Also it collects photons very quickly since it's undersampled and I can have very dim background nebulosity visible in very short time (many times 30 min frame is enough)

I do all my mosaic work under the PhotoShop, Matching the separate panels by using stars as an indicator is kind of straight forward work. My processing has become so constant, that very little tweaking is needed between separate frames, just some minor levels, curves and color balance. 

I have used lots of longer focal length sub-frames in my mosaic to boost details. (See the mosaic map at top of the page) To match them with shorter focal length shots I developed a new method.

Firstly I upscale the short focal length frames about 25% to have more room for high resolution images.Then I match the high res photo to a mosaic by using the stars as an indicator. After that I remove all the tiny stars from the high res image. Next I separate stars from low res photo and merge the starless high res data to a starless low res frame. And finally I place the removed low res stars back at top of everything with zero data lost. Usually there are some optical distortions and it's seen especially in a star field. Now all my stars are coming from a same optical setup and I don't have any problems with distortions. (I'm using the same star removal technique as in my Tone Mapping Workflow)



Closeups from large panorama to show the overall resolution
Click for a large image

Image in mapped colors from the light emitted by an ionized elements, hydrogen = green, sulfur = red and oxygen = blue. 

A 1:3 resolution close up from the photo above
Click for a large image,

A closeup from the main image shows the Sharpless 124 at up and the Cocoon nebula with a dark gas stream at bottom.

Image details, https://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2020/01/ic-1396-wide-field-reprocessed.html

From Bubble to Cave Nebula
Image info, https://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2020/03/from-bubble-to-cave-nebula-area.html

The tulip nebula area
The Tulip Nebula, Sh2-101, can be seen at center right, there is also a black hole Cygnus X-1
The blog post with technical details can be seen here, https://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-tulip-nebula-in-cygnus-sh2-101.html

The supernova remnant G65.3+5.7

My Observatory,


Not an igloo, this is reality of astro photographing in Finland



Sharpless 114, a Cosmic Dragon, is now the Ukrainian Ironbelly
3 March 2022 | 2:02 pm



This cosmic photograph is dedicated to Ukrainian people and a deadly fight they are forced to. 

The whole world is now witnessing the barbaric actions of the brutal Russian dictator Putin. As an artist and astrophotographer, I thought about what I could do to help Ukraine and its people. All proceeds from the sale of this NFT will go to efforts supporting the Ukrainian people during this war.

I have renamed Sharpless 114, the Flying Dragon Nebula, to the Ukrainian Ironbelly, after a dragon seen in Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2


UKRAINIAN IRONBELLY
(Click for a large image)

 
Upper image, Flying Dragon nebula, Sharpless 114 (Sh2-114)
Bottom Image, Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon - as seen in Harry Potter Movie
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 
WB Studio Tour Entrance Claire Evans / Alamy Stock Photo


4K MOVIE,
SHARPLESS 114, THE UKRAINIAN IRONBELLY
4K movie, best seen as full screen


A story behind this artwork

Few days ago I was working with my new photo, showing a rarely imaged object Sharpless 114 in Eastern part of constellation Cygnus, the Swan. The official nickname for the object is the Flying Dragon Nebula. As I worked with this photo, I had a strong feeling that I have seen it before but I couldn't remember where.

I woke up in the middle of the night realizing that I have seen this nebula in the movie,  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2  (Yes, I'm a nerd)

There is a magical creature in a movie, a massive dragon called the Ukrainian Ironbelly. It turned out to be the creature that among other things, helped Ukrainians during the WW1 as a "wizarding air force" (Source Harry Potter Fandom Wiki)

I believe that this can be a great symbol for the Ukrainian fight against the Russian monsters.

This is also a great symbol for a modern version of Ukrainian Ironbelly, the Turkish made drone, Bayraktar-TB2, a most important weapon in war against Russians tanks in Ukraine. As a dragon, this drone is producing a steel melting "jet of fire" against murderess Russian main battle tanks and saves countless of Ukrainian lives as we speak.

This is an extremely personal art project to me as a Finnish citizen. We have a 1340 km (830 mi) common border with Russia and there is a huge risk that we might be the next victims of the brutal dictator of Russia.

All proceeds from the sale of this NFT will go to efforts supporting the Ukrainian people during this war.


History of Ukrainian Ironbelly by Harry Potter Fandom
Source: https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Ukrainian_Ironbelly

Ironbellies had been subject to constant observation by the Ukrainian wizarding authorities, ever since a particular Ironbelly carried off a sailing ship from the Black Sea in 1799. Thankfully, the boat was empty at the time.

In 1926, Newt Scamander mentioned to Jacob Kowalski that he had previously worked with Ukrainian Ironbellies during the First World War. In that same war, Ukrainian Ironbellies were also considered for use in a wizarding air force. The Ironbelly could produce jets of flame up to 3,560 degrees Fahrenheit (1960 degrees Celsius).


It does look like a dragon
(Click for a large image)




This artwork is also a symbol of the Bayraktar-TB2 drone, a modern version of Ukrainian Ironbelly. It has saved countless of Ukrainian lives from a barbaric attack of the brutal dictator Putin

This Turkish drone has saved countless of Ukrainian lives from a barbaric attack of the brutal dictator Putin


INFO about Sharpless 114, Sh2-114

Sh2-114 is a complex and unusual HII emission nebula. Its complex, wispy structure is likely the result of winds from hot, massive stars interacting with the magnetic fields in the interstellar medium. But very little is known about it. (Source, https://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/html/im1112.html)


Technical details of the photo

I have combined the old and new data by my new powerful imaging and processing method,
the VARES (VAriable RESolution imaging)

Processing workflow

Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Deconvolution with a CCDStack2 Positive Constraint, 21 iterations, added at 25% weight
Color combine in PS CS3
Levels and curves in PS CS3.

Imaging optics
Celestron Edge HD 1100 @ f7 with 0,7 focal reducer for Edge HD 1100 telescope

Mount
10-micron 1000

Cameras and filters
Imaging camera Apogee Alta U16 and Apogee seven slot filter wheel
Guider camera, Lodestar x2 and SXV-AOL



Astrodon filter, 5nm H-alpha
Astrodon filter, 3nm O-III
Astrodon filter, 3nm S-II

Exposure times
H-alpha, 9x 1200s = 3h
O-III, 3 x 1200s binned = 1h 
S-II,  3 x 1200s binned = 1h 

New Data

Imaging optics
Tokina AT-x f2.8 camera lens

Mount
10-micron 1000

Cameras and filters
Imaging camera Apogee Alta U16 and Apogee seven slot filter wheel
Guider camera, Lodestar x 2 and an old spotting scope of Meade LX200

Astrodon filters,
5nm H-alpha 3nm S-II and 3nm O-III

Exposure time

H-alpha, 15 x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 5 h
O-III, 1x 1200 s, binned 2x2 = 20 min.
S-II, 1 x 1200 s. binned 2x2 = 20 min.

Sharpless 114, orientation in Cygnus

The Sh2-114 is marked as white rectangle





Cederblad 214, the Cosmic Question Mark
27 February 2022 | 3:33 pm

I have published this photo back in February 2020 but I have done some reprocessing and repost this image now since this photo of Cosmic Question Mark has symbolic value to me. A cosmic curiosity is the very reason I'm doing this difficult, and sometimes frustrating, form of nature photographing art.

Cederblad 214, the Cosmic Question Mark
Click for a large image

Image info, technical data and more images of this object, https://tinyurl.com/yeykd3wc










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