The Flickr 500Mmf4Pais Image Generatr

The (nearly) Full Moon by m i k e h a w k i n s

I was able to sneak in these shots as the moon rose, just before it went up into the clouds.

The (nearly) Full Moon by m i k e h a w k i n s

I was able to sneak in these shots as the moon rose, just before it went up into the clouds.

Family Travel on Advanced Airlines by m i k e h a w k i n s

Advanced Airlines ABQ -> Angel Fire Flgiht

Family Travel on Advanced Airlines by m i k e h a w k i n s

Advanced Airlines ABQ -> Angel Fire Flgiht

Family Travel on Advanced Airlines by m i k e h a w k i n s

Advanced Airlines ABQ -> Angel Fire Flgiht

Landing at Angel Fire Airport by m i k e h a w k i n s

Advanced Airlines ABQ -> Angel Fire Flgiht

The Pleiades | M45 by m i k e h a w k i n s

The Pleiades, known as the Seven Sisters, Subaru or Messier 45 (M45), is an open star cluster in the Taurus constellation. It lies relatively close to us at ~439 light-years away from Earth. This cluster consists of many stars; its brightest shine vibrantly in our sky and is easily recognizable.

Astronomically, the Pleiades spans ~12 light-years and is about 100 million years old—young in stellar terms as dinosaurs went extinct ~45 million years before this cluster began to shine. One of the coolest things about the Pleiades is that it is a reflection nebula. Glowing clouds surround the stars due to dust reflecting the blue light of the bright, young stars.

Easily visible in the winter sky, the Pleiades are worth looking at with your naked eye, binoculars, or telescope.

Equipment:
SkyWatcher EQ6-R
Nikkor 500mm f/4 P AI-S at f/5.6
Sony a7rIII (unmodified)
ZWO 30mm Guide Scope
GPCAM2 Mono Camera

Acquisition:
Taos, NM: my front yard - Bortle 3
51 x 120-second exposures for 1 hour, 42 exposure time.
4 dark frames
15 flats frames
15 bias frames
Guided

Software:
SharpCap
PHD2
PixInsight
Photoshop
Lightroom

My a7rIII and adapted Nikon 500mm f/4 lens were mounted to my SkyWatcher EQ6-R mount using a vixen rail. The guidescope/camera was fixed to the front of the rail. I used SharpCap to achieve "excellent" polar alignment. I shot ISO 1600 at f/5.6. I took 120-second exposures using PHD2 with my guidescope to keep tracking accurately. I brought the lights/darks/flats/bias frames into PixInsight for stacking and aligning and then used: STF, Cropping, Dynamic Background Extraction, BlurXTerminator, plate solving, color correction, NoiseXTerminator, and then the galaxy was separated from the stars using StarXterminator, and both files processed and stretched separately and then recombined using PixelMath. That file was brought into Lightroom for Metadata and EXIF tags, light post-processing, and cropping. I used Photoshop to sharpen the final image.

The Double Cluster in Perseus by m i k e h a w k i n s

The Double Cluster in Perseus is a set of two open star clusters, h Persei and chi Persei. They lie close to Cassiopeia, which is easily recognizable by its distinctive M or W shape. Once you find Cassiopeia, scan between it and Perseus with your naked eyes or binoculars and you'll notice a glowing blob of light which is these groups of stars.

These clusters are approximately 7,500 light-years away. Each cluster contains several hundred stars, including young, hot supergiants that are thousands of times more bright than our Sun.

The Double Cluster is resides within the Perseus arm of the Milky Way galaxy, while our solar system is located in the Orion arm. Observing the Double Cluster means looking through our local spiral arm and into the next arm outward from the galactic center, which is just super cool!

Equipment:
SkyWatcher EQ6-R
Nikkor 500mm f/4 P AI-S at f/5.6
Sony a7rIII (unmodified)
ZWO 30mm Guide Scope
GPCAM2 Mono Camera

Acquisition:
Taos, NM: my front yard - Bortle 3
85 x 75-second exposures for 1 hour, 46 min, and 14 sec exposure time.
5 dark frames
15 flats frames
15 bias frames
Guided

Software:
SharpCap
PHD2
DeepSkyStacker
PixInsight
Photoshop
Lightroom

My a7rIII and adapted Canon FD 300mm f/4 L lens were mounted to my SkyWatcher EQ6-R mount using a vixen rail. The guidescope/camera were fixed to the front of the rail. I used SharpCap to achieve "excellent" polar alignment. I shot ISO 800 at f/5.6. I took 151" exposures using PHD2 with my guidescope to keep tracking accurately. I brought the lights/darks/flats/bias frames into PixInsight for stacking and aligning and then used: STF, Cropping, Dynamic Background Extraction, BlurXTerminator, plate solving, color correction, NoiseXTerminator, and then the galaxy was separated from the stars using StarXterminator, and both files processed and stretched separately and then recombined using PixelMath. That file was brought into Lightroom for Metadata and EXIF tags, light post-processing, and cropping. I used Photoshop to sharpen the final image.

Fraser McPhee Flying his Thorp T-18 by m i k e h a w k i n s

Angel Fire Airport

Fraser McPhee Flying his Thorp T-18 by m i k e h a w k i n s

Angel Fire Airport

Fraser McPhee Flying his Thorp T-18 by m i k e h a w k i n s

Angel Fire Airport

Fraser McPhee Flying his Thorp T-18 by m i k e h a w k i n s

Angel Fire Airport

Fraser McPhee Flying his Thorp T-18 by m i k e h a w k i n s

Angel Fire Airport

Fraser McPhee Flying his Thorp T-18 by m i k e h a w k i n s

Angel Fire Airport

An Indigo Bunting by m i k e h a w k i n s

I do my best to photograph birds on natural perches. However, when a rare (to this area) Indigo Bunting lands for a moment in the sun, I'll take the shot I can get!