13 replies to this topic

[Sky King]

4-12-25    The Snake Nebula  B 72    

 

According to wiki:

 

The Snake Nebula (also known as Barnard 72) is a dark nebula in the Ophiuchus constellation. It is a small but readily apparent SP-shaped dust lane that snakes out in front of the Milky Way star clouds from the north-north-west edge of the bowl of the Pipe Nebula. Its thickness runs between 2′ and 3′ and runs around 6′ in the north-west / south-east orientation. A good view in a 4" to 6" telescope requires clear dark skies.

 

30 x 300s images with the Askar FRA300 Pro, ASI2400MC Pro and IDAS NBZ-II. 

 

Given this was up from 2-5am here, I wanted to make it part of the night's Asiair Plan Mode. The problem was that when trying to slew to B 72 in Preview, so I can add it from Sky Atlas to the Plan, the Asiair Plus said it wasn't up yet and wouldn't slew to it. It also isn't listed under "Objects" so I couldn't add it to the Plan that way. So then I searched around for another way to do this in Asiair.

 

My Asiair is on a tablet that I just use for Asiair, not internet, so I couldn't import the plan from Telescopius. Long story short I looked on Sky Safari 5 Plus and found NGC 6369 right by B 72, and Asiair has NGC's, so I loaded that into the Plan and went to bed. (This is what I call the shoemaker and the elves imaging.) Maybe someone knows a way to load Asiair's Plan Mode that solves this problem.

 

It's a cool object and will come back to it later for a better look.   

 

 

Edited by Sky King, 13 April 2025 - 01:05 PM.

[Kevin_Mace]

Good shot!  I love the Snake Nebula, and as you found and I have noticed many times, the "Sky View" in the ASIair is IMO one of the weakest aspects of the system.  It seems like a ripoff of Stellarium but isn't as functional as Stellarium.  There are many objects not in the system - and some very odd "names" for some things.  I've also had to use a nearby object to point to and then offset a bit.

[Sky King]

Good shot!  I love the Snake Nebula, and as you found and I have noticed many times, the "Sky View" in the ASIair is IMO one of the weakest aspects of the system.  It seems like a ripoff of Stellarium but isn't as functional as Stellarium.  There are many objects not in the system - and some very odd "names" for some things.  I've also had to use a nearby object to point to and then offset a bit.

True, and if it were like Sky Safari or Stellarium you could turn the clock ahead and get the view for a future event and load that into a Plan. 

 

Under Preview there's already a place to manually enter Ra and Dec. They would just need a button to "Add to Plan." In Plan mode there is an Import button that is supposed to take manual typed Ra and Dec's, but I couldn't get that to work either.

Edited by Sky King, 13 April 2025 - 02:22 PM.

[Zambiadarkskies]

Good stuff!  Such a star dense part of the sky.  I shot it last year with my rig as well as a 6Dii and 180mm lens.  The wider shot is my favourite, where one can clearly see the pipe and the snake and so many others.  

 

Yes, the ASI air planetarium is ridiculous.  I have never come across another planetarium software that doesn't let you change the time!  

[Kevin_Mace]

Sky King, your note above:

 

 In Plan mode there is an Import button that is supposed to take manual typed Ra and Dec's, but I couldn't get that to work either.

 

I do actually use that all the time.  I first use Telescopius to plan the shot or mosaic, then choose the export option in the mosaic settings, Copy CSV, and then paste that text from the clipboard into the import box in the sky view on the ASIair.  It's crucial that you include the header row ("Pane, RA, DEC, ...") when doing the import.  I use this for mosaics (doing them in Telescopius first where you have many options) or sometimes just for a single frame (1x1 mosaic) where framing is important for a non-identified object in the ASIair.

 

-Kevin

[Sky King]

Sky King, your note above:

 

 In Plan mode there is an Import button that is supposed to take manual typed Ra and Dec's, but I couldn't get that to work either.

 

I do actually use that all the time.  I first use Telescopius to plan the shot or mosaic, then choose the export option in the mosaic settings, Copy CSV, and then paste that text from the clipboard into the import box in the sky view on the ASIair.  It's crucial that you include the header row ("Pane, RA, DEC, ...") when doing the import.  I use this for mosaics (doing them in Telescopius first where you have many options) or sometimes just for a single frame (1x1 mosaic) where framing is important for a non-identified object in the ASIair.

 

-Kevin

Thanks! This would work but my tablet isn't connected to the internet and Asiair at the same time. I have a mini-pc and plan to go back to NINA and a bunch of other programs that could all be running, but Asiair is too easy for now. I keep waiting for that amazing Zwo firmware update that adds cool features, but all they seem to be adding is bugs. Asiair is fun most of the time. 

Edited by Sky King, 14 April 2025 - 12:46 PM.

[Sky King]

Good stuff!  Such a star dense part of the sky.  I shot it last year with my rig as well as a 6Dii and 180mm lens.  The wider shot is my favorite, where one can clearly see the pipe and the snake and so many others.  

 

I spent some time looking at this area after reading your note and The Pipe Nebula and the larger still Dark Horse Nebula are very expansive and rich. Thanks for pointing these out!

 

This video is amazing from ESO.  (ESO's telescopes for this video.  I would love to use this telescope for a night!  Even full Moon would be fine.  )

Edited by Sky King, 14 April 2025 - 10:53 PM.

[Zambiadarkskies]

I spent some time looking at this area after reading your note and The Pipe Nebula and the larger still Dark Horse Nebula are very expansive and rich. Thanks for pointing these out!

This video is amazing from ESO. (ESO's telescopes for this video. I would love to use this telescope for a night! Even full Moon would be fine. )

Here is the super wide field at 180mm with a full frame 6dmkii. The ESO have a very impressive planetarium and exhibition in Munich, Germany called "supernova" including lots about the telescopes I was there in February and it was fascinating!

Edited by Zambiadarkskies, 15 April 2025 - 01:15 AM.

[Sky King]

Here is the super wide field at 180mm with a full frame 6dmkii. The ESO have a very impressive planetarium and exhibition in Munich, Germany called "supernova" including lots about the telescopes I was there in February and it was fascinating!

Beautiful! Really nice! My Askar FMA135 should be worth a try. There's a lot of research with IR showing the star forming regions within the dark nebulae.

[Zambiadarkskies]

Beautiful! Really nice! My Askar FMA135 should be worth a try. There's a lot of research with IR showing the star forming regions within the dark nebulae.

Sorry, I just realized - I didn't mean to detract from your thread by posting my own image.  Just wanted to show you after your comments about looking at the area.  

 

Yes, the 135 would be amazing I reckon.  

[Sky King]

Sorry, I just realized - I didn't mean to detract from your thread by posting my own image.  Just wanted to show you after your comments about looking at the area.  

 

Yes, the 135 would be amazing I reckon.  

Actually I think you added to my thread! Your image has the Snake at the bottom center and puts it in the context of a wider field. And it's a great image!

 

I'm imaging from Bortle 9 and this time with a nearly full moon. I use a narrowband filter as a light pollution filter. Weird but seems to work.  

 

The IDAS NBZ-II actually lets through a lot of broadband, just enough. 

[killerkiko]

what an interesting target, and great image considering the conditions

[Sky King]

Went back for a better Snake, B72. Used the 8 EdgeHD with .7 reducer for 24 times 5-minute images (two hours total).

 

 

[Zambiadarkskies]

Went back for a better Snake, B72. Used the 8 EdgeHD with .7 reducer for 24 times 5-minute images (two hours total).

 

 

B72.jpg

Brilliant!