Did you know it’s possible to do casual astrophotography with the Canon EF 50 mm f/1.8? Simply point the Nifty-Fifty in the direction of the Milky Way, slap a Hydrogen-alpha filter on and voila: tons of nebulae in a single shot!
Here I captured a whole lot of familiar faces while I was waiting for Orion to rise later in the evening.
Just to name a few: Cosmic Question Mark (Sh2-171), Gamma Cassiopeia Nebula (IC59 and IC63), Pac-Man (NGC 281), Phantom of the Opera (Sh2-173), Garlic Nebula (CTB-1), Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635), Lobster Claw Nebula (Sh2-157), Cave Nebula (Sh2-155). Full NGC/Sh2 annotation below.
Technical details:
Date: 22 November 2021
Location: Herent, Belgium (Bortle 7)
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-C
Exposure: 13 x 600sec (2.2 hours total)
Filters: Astrodon Ha 3nm
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R
Guide camera: ZWO ASI120MM
Accessories: ZWO EFW-8
Software: Sequence Generator Pro, PixInsight
1 hour of exposure on the Heart and Soul nebulae (6 x 600 sec) did not look too bad either.
My goal was to see if I could capture the much fainter nebula complex on the left side of the Soul Nebula. It is just visible with a simple stretch, and obvious in a starless tone map. There’s also supposed to be some very faint H-alpha around the Double Cluster, but I’m not sure I got any of the real structure in my data.
I also shot a few R, G and B frames (3 x 180 sec each) to evaluate how the Canon EF 50 mm f/1.8 lens would perform in broadband. This was combined with the H-alpha and some older OIII data from my other telescopes to create a composite HaOIII-RGB image of the entire region. The H-alpha is less pronounced in the second version, and balanced more towards the OIII.
The area around Chi Auriga was also high in the sky and a good candidate for the 50 mm while waiting for Orion on another night.
Again many famous but also a lesser known objects now in a single photo: Flaming Star (IC 405), Tadpoles (IC 417), The Spider (IC 417) and the Fly (NGC 1931), The Spaghetti Nebula (Sh2-240), and several nice open clusters.
Technical details:
Date: 08 Dec 2021
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-C
Exposure: 25 x 600sec (4.2 hours total)
Filters: Astrodon Ha 3nm
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R
Guide camera: ZWO ASI120MM
Accessories: ZWO EFW-8
Software: Sequence Generator Pro, PixInsight
Finally, two nights were dedicated to shooting the Orion nebula with this lens. Data from my first night was basically not usable because the Moon was too close to my target.
The other night was Moonless, but I got surprised again by my neighbor’s rooftop. The field of view is so wide!! This position would be no problem for my other telescopes.
I wanted to include both the Angelfish Nebula (Sh2-264) and Barnard’s Loop in my final composition. That was just a little too tight for the field of view with my 50 mm, so I planned a 2-panel mosaic.
The total exposure is 12 x 300 sec per panel in H-alpha, I couldn’t get much more with the horizon restrictions around my backyard.
Technical details:
Date: 08 December 2021
Telescope: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II @f/4
Location: Herent, Belgium (Bortle 7)
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-C
Exposure: 12 x 300sec per panel (2 hours total)
Filters: Astrodon Ha 3nm
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R
Guide camera: ZWO ASI120MM
Accessories: ZWO EFW-8
Software: Sequence Generator Pro, PixInsight
Astro Virus 
Looks good! Can’t wait to see the final image of it!
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