Astrophotography & The Dark Shark Nebula

This video shows me capturing the Dark Shark Nebula, its a dim dark nebula target found in the constellation of Cepheus approx 650 light years away from earth. I hope you like the video and the final image and thanks to all of my subscribers. If you would like to see more of this kind of thing then please consider subscribing to my channel, if you havnt already! That would be much appreciated! Thanks and clear skies everyone!
Simon's Astro
• Astrophotography & The...

[@onewhostudies6856]

Love it. The set up, the chase, and the reveal!

[@SimonsAstro]

Thanks, much appreciated 👍

[@keanneferrer6505]

Nice image there Sir!

[@SimonsAstro]

Thank you very much keanne

[@DavesAstrophotography]

Great capture Simon, excellent shot! I haven't done this target, have to keep it in mind. Thanks, clear skies!

[@SimonsAstro]

Thanks Dave, it is a great target and will benefit from a dark sky, I’m bortle 4, and better still no moon would help👍 Clear skies!

[@avt_astro206]

Awesome Photos Simon!! Dark Nebula are Definitely Challenging to Process!

[@SimonsAstro]

Much appreciated Avanteesh!, you’re not wrong😀

[@PeteCroft1]

Great job Simon!

[@SimonsAstro]

Thanks Pete👍

[@Tony-Elliott]

Great image Simon you really managed to capture and bring out a lot of detail in such a dim object , Thanks for sharing your work mate

[@SimonsAstro]

Much appreciated Anthony, it is a dim object and with the moon getting brighter every night, it was a bit challenging! Cheers Clear skies!

[@AlanHowellphotovideo]

Wheeew, that's a nice'en! Great work Simon.

[@SimonsAstro]

Thanks Alan👍

[@Astrobloke]

Great capture mate and nice video. Not an easy target that so you did really well mate. Love the star colours you got too. Clear skies

[@SimonsAstro]

Thanks Glenn! It was your dark shark that inspired me to do this target 👍 Clear skies mate!

[@dumpydalekobservatory]

Nice image there Simon it turned out great.

[@SimonsAstro]

Many thanks! I’m pleased how it turned out!

[@IcemanAstro]

Super jealous of your 4 clear nights!! I so want to shoot this target myself, hopefully soon at the desert! Thanks for sharing your beautiful picture!

[@SimonsAstro]

Thanks so much Isaac, I’m really glad you liked it! We have had a good run lately 😀 I really hope you get a break in the weather and can get on this target! Clear skies mate!

[@lukomatico]

Bloody superb image Simon mate - I know you mentioned a while ago about thinking going mono but heck, this is so beautiful there seems no reason to swap haha!! 😀 Really happy the custom target trick worked bud, thanks for the shout-out too! 🙂 Keep it up! - you're really making some striking captures! - Clear skies!

[@SimonsAstro]

Hey Luke mate thanks so much, means a lot coming from you, the master!😀 Thanks for your tip too, you’re welcome on the shout out! I’m still thinking of going mono, but I’m concentrating on my next project, my wife caved in and agreed I can have the corner of the garden, and I’m building an observatory 😀 I’ll be putting out vids on my build from start to finish! So watch this space mate!!! Clear skies!

[@lukomatico]

@@SimonsAstro Oh mate!!! - That's AWESOME!!! I'm really so chuffed for you haha, can't wait to see your build progress matey 🙂 Good luck and clear skies!!

[@DSOImager]

Impressive image Simon, well done!

[@SimonsAstro]

Much appreciated James 👍

[@pei6426]

Great job with your image Simon! I am wanting to shoot this target myself. Since this is a large nebula I was surprised that you were able to fit the image so nicely on your larger telescope. In Stellarium it shows a good fit with my 60mm telescope with 360 focal length. I also have a 115mm telescope with a reducer down to 644 focal length but I think the target would be too large.

[@SimonsAstro]

Hey thanks @pei6426 This image was with the Esprit 120, reduced to 648mm at f5.6, a total of 9 hrs of one shot colour data using my zwo2600mc pro! Your 115mm scope reduced to 644 is very similar to mine, depending on your camera censor, it may well fit the frame nicely! Good luck with your image! Thanks for watching and clear skies!

[@Kroller9]

Nice video, and really impressive result! I have a asi air plus as well and never had any problems. Mine keeps shooting even if its to bright and still returns to the home position

[@SimonsAstro]

Hey thanks very much! Yeah the ASIAIR is great really, to be fair, I don’t have many problems, it’s probably me😀 Clear skies!

[@pnjunction5689]

Beautiful image, well done! I had some problems with the Asiair not returning to home position after capturing a sequence as well. You definitly have to pay attention that the rig doesn't bump into the tripod! I've now switched to a mini pc instead ;-)

[@SimonsAstro]

Thank you, much appreciated! Yeah the first time I used the ASIAIR I forget to enable the auto meridian flip function and return home function, luckily I was watching and avoided a collision! I like the simplicity of the app, however, I’m now building an observatory and will run Nina on a mini pc! Got a lot to learn! There will be observatory build videos soon! Clear skies!

[@LogansAstro]

That's a cracking image Simon!! Dark nebula I find hard to process but you have done a fantastic job on this.

[@SimonsAstro]

Much appreciated Logan, it was a bit of a challenge, but pleased how it turned out👍

[@tullyfisher]

Fantastic final image of the Dark Shark Nebula, Simon. Already saw the final image in your Instagram ..so it's really cool to see your video and some raw images as well. (By the way, I really like your setup with the 2600mc etc!) Looking forward seeing your Cygnus Loop next time. Clear skies.

[@SimonsAstro]

That’s really nice of you to say, thanks Tully. I am a fan of the Esprit and 2600mc, the Cygnus loop data is stuck on the ASIAIR pro mini card, I can’t seem to get it off! Have to look into that! Clear skies!

[@tullyfisher]

@@SimonsAstro Really great scope and camera combo! I hope you can save...or rather "release" the data from your card - wish you good luck, would be really sad to lose the data.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Hey Simon. Great video mate. You got a good run of nights there. I have done the save to ASI Air instead of to my memory stick a few times too. What a pain in a back side. Had a scratchy head moment the first time it happened🤔 Have to say, a fantastic final result. Love the little Galaxy capture on the right. Take it easy mate and clear skies!

[@SimonsAstro]

Hey Ben, thanks mate much appreciated! Yeah isn’t that a right pain in the arse when you forget that usb pen!! I tried to find out what that little galaxy was called, but no one seems to know!! Great tho, isn’t it!! I’ve been watching your obsey build with interest, my wife caved in and let me build an observatory in the corner of the garden! I shall be doing little vids on it like you are😀😀 Clear skies mate👍

[@CosmuzzAstro]

@@SimonsAstro Oh nice one mate, Planning permission approved then eh! Can't wait to see the videos. While on the subject, I'm hoping to get my part 3 video out in the next few days, in the middle of editing it.

[@SimonsAstro]

@@CosmuzzAstro I’ll be watching out for that then! I liked your approach with the separate ducts for different cables, even a fibre optic for the future! Great idea👍

[@AstroSoundscape]

This came out looking really great Simon! I've found these targets bit tricky to process but they give a really nice natural feel. Nice tip on the ASI Air favorites good tip for folks. 👍

[@SimonsAstro]

Thanks Ollie, this was a bit tricky, but I settled on this edit! Yeah that ASIAIR tip was curtesy of Luke, just passed it on😀 Cheers mate, clear skies!

[@cryptojihadi265]

WOW fantastic image! You even got a great shot of the galaxy that doesn't even show up on Stellarium. I was NOT expecting it to look that good, very clear, clean and lots of intricate nebulosity.

[@SimonsAstro]

Hey thanks very much! I’ve got to admit, I was surprised too how well the dark nebulosity showed up, and no one seems to know the name of that little galaxy!! Thanks for watching and commenting 👍

[@dgasparotto]

Nice result Simon! I recently shot 6 hours on LDN 1235 but I am having trouble processing it any tips would be helpful. I haven’t had any issues with my ASIAIR returning to home and shutting down but you do have to be careful about the rig hitting the tripod. Thanks for the tip on the database entry as I had the same issue and had to enter the coordinates manually but never knew about the “Add” command. When downloading the images I just use Wi-Fi to transfer the images to my laptop as no need to mess around with the usb stick. I have heard that after many plug in and removal the USB port can fail. Just connect via Wi-Fi to laptop and select “ network”, type in //ASIAIR and you will see the TF folders where the images are stored you can then transfer them to your laptop. Cheers, Dennis

[@SimonsAstro]

Thanks Dennis, glad you liked it & thanks for the sub👍 Tips for editing the dark shark🤔 More hours!! It really helps with editing the more hrs you can get on dark nebulae! I used Pixinsight, I didn’t do anything special, just basic stuff! It depends on what software you’re using! Glad I could help with the ASIAIR catalogue tip, got that from Lukomatico! Thanks for your tip on transferring data, I’ll try that next time👍 Clear skies!

[@JoesAstrophoto]

Stunning capture Simon! Great video as well, I really liked when you were showing the comparisons between subs at each 10 minute interval. I never would've thought 10 minutes would make such a difference. I can't believe the ASIAIR doesn't have the LDN catalog in it. That's strange to me.

[@SimonsAstro]

Thanks Joe much appreciated! Yeah those 10 min subs are unbelievable really, that just shows how little astronomical darkness we get this time of year! And the ASIAIR didn’t recognize the LDN catalog! Good job you can manually enter the coordinates! Clear skies!

[@piotr.czerski]

Really good image Simon! What is the Bortle class where you took this?

[@SimonsAstro]

Many thanks, I’m in a bortle 4 which does help a bit! Clear skies!

[@cryptojihadi265]

Thanks I just asked that and then saw your comment.