Beautiful Digital Images of the Cosmos
Here is a slideshow of astronomical digital images recently captured at KPO, and historical images. The observatory contains many types of optical equipment, cameras, and computer systems to allow us to capture our beautiful digital images of the night sky.
The main instrument in the observatory is the KPO 18″ Reflector, a standard Newtonian reflecting telescope with an original Coulter 18″ F/4.5 parabolic mirror.
IC1396 - The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula SHO
NGC 2359 - Thor's Helmet HSO
IC 443 - Jellyfish Nebula HSO
NGC 2174 - Monkeyhead Nebula HSO
IC 405 - Flaming Star Nebula (RGBHOS)
NGC 2244 - Rosette Nebula
IC 2177 - Seagull Nebula (HOS)
NGC 2264 - The Christmas Tree Cluster
NGC 2024 - Flame Nebula and Horsehead Region
M33 HaRGB
IC 1848 - The Soul Nebula
NGC 7000 SHO
NGC 1499 California Nebula
NGC6992 - The Eastern Veil Nebula
M31 - The Andromeda Galaxy
IC 1805 - The Heart Nebula
NGC 281 - The PacMan Nebula
Milky Way over Capitol Reef 1
Milky Way over Capitol Reef 3
Milky Way over Capitol Reef 4
Our custom Sky Sentinel control and imaging software drives the telescope to locate deep sky object targets. It also uses electronic images, from the cameras mounted on the guide scopes, to provide an electronic optical lock during image acquisition. This allows the imaging camera to collect image data while keeping the target object perfectly stationary over a period of hours. The telescope, robotic mount, control electronics, and software were all designed and made by David Hearn.
We use Canon DSLR cameras and Astronomik light pollution reduction filters to capture our images. We stack and process our image data in software called “StarTools”. The image capture sessions are automated by software called “Nebulosity” which runs on the imaging computer. Both the imaging and telescope control computers are older Macintosh systems.