It is the time of year to assemble my best images to produce next year’s unique 2022 Astro La Vista Observatory calendar.  I give these calendars to immediate neighbors and family, but I can accommodate other folks that might want a copy.  If you want to pre-order one, you can visit the Astro La Vista Observatory website.

https://astrolavistaobservatory.com/2021/08/20/unique-2022-calendar/

This  past year I have taken a number of Milky Way images from my home in Prescott, Az. as well as Borrego Springs, Ca. (including one of a metal art Serpent). In addition I have a few images that were processed from data that was acquired from the nice people at Insight Observatory that have access to a telescope in Chile.  I also had some Sunrises and Sunsets with beautiful terrain in the foreground.

The cover photo on the unique 2022 Astro La Vista Observatory calendar is an image of the Milky Way galactic center over the Astro La Vista Observatory that was taken from my back yard in early May, 2021. I used my Nikon D780 together with a Sigma Art 14mm f1.8 wide angle lens. One 4 minute untracked foreground shot was blended with five tracked 4 minute sky images at F2.8 and ISO 800. For tracking the sky movement I used the Move Shoot Move tracking mount. These were taken around the time of a New Moon between 3AM and 4AM. The sky glow is from Phoenix, which is roughly 90 miles South East from my location.

The January image is a 2 panel mosaic of Sunset at Fonts Point in Borrego Springs. This is a very popular spot for visitors to the Anza Borrego Desert State Park. In late February, 2020 the Full Moon was rising in the East at the same time as the Sun was setting in the West (See December’s image). For this Sunset image I used the Nikon D780 together with the Sigma Art 14mm f2.8 to produce two images that were merged to produce a two panel mosaic.

The Pencil Nebula was processed from data acquired by Gturgeon (Astrobin) on a 17” CDK telescope located in Chile. His raw images are available on a subscription basis. The Pencil Nebula is usually below the horizon in my location, so this was a way to work on image data that I was unable to obtain through my own telescopes. 

The “blood moon” image was the best one out of two hundred two second exposures that I took with my Nikon D780 matched with the Nikon AF VR Nikkor 80-400 f4.5-5.6 telephoto at 400mm and f5.6. Since we were battling clouds, this was a lucky shot. A blood moon is seen during a total lunar eclipse.

The May image is a photograph of Borrego Springs famous “Serpent.” A wealthy man owned a bunch of Borrego Springs real estate that he never developed. Instead he placed metal art on it throughout the town. The Serpent is one of the most famous pieces. It was not easy to find the Serpent after midnight in the dark sky of a new moon, but I soon located it with my trusty flash light. I took a bunch of images, but narrowed it down to one 4 minute image for the sky and one 4 minute image for the foreground. This was processed in Photoshop.

The June image for the unique 2020 Astro La Vista Observatory Calendar was taken at the Rams Hill Golf Course in Borrego Springs. Borrego Springs offers a bit of dark sky compared to the urban areas that are nearby. With the new moon, I thought I would give the Milky Way a try. This is an 8 panel mosaic of what is right in our back yard there. The 8 unguided 15 second image panels were taken with a Nikon D780 and a Sigma Art 28mm f1.4 lens shot at f1.8.

July offers a smoky Sunset near downtown Prescott, Az. One of the prime geological features of the Prescott Arizona landscape is Thumb Butte. I was visiting a friend and managed to capture this smoky sunset image of Thumb Butte within a few days of the Summer Solstice from their back patio with my Iphone. I did a photo merge of 10 images to come up with this final version.

The Cygnus region of the Milky Way is featured in the August image. The North American Nebula is a rather small feature that is located to the left of center just below the star Deneb in the photo. This is first light for a Sigma 28mm f1.4 lens that I acquired for Milky Way photography. Due to wind and ambient light, I was limited to one minute exposures on my SkyWatcher Star Adventurer mount. At the bottom right is the Phoenix. AZ light dome (90 miles S). Ten images were stacked in Lightroom. ISO 800, shot at f1.8.

The September image was processed from data I acquired from Insight Observatory which has a telescope in Chile. Insight Observatory proved to have some exciting material for the unique 2022 Astro La Vista Observatory Calendar. The Vela remnant is visible in the Southern Hemisphere. Here are some words about it from Insight Observatory…

“The Moon is the biggest single object in the night sky that’s visible to the eye alone. But many objects that are too faint to see are much bigger. The “Vela” nebula spans about 16 times the width of the Moon, almost the size of your fist held at arm’s length and it’s getting bigger all the time.“

This image represents a tiny piece of that very large Supernova remnant. Image acquisition by: Insight Observatory (Franck Jobard at Deep Sky Chile). Image processing by Jim Matzger (me).

The Tarantula Nebula was also processed from Insight data. Here is a little bit about the telescope:

”Insight Observatory’s affiliate remote telescope designated the Astronomical Telescope for Educational Outreach (ATEO-3) is a 12.5″ f/9 (2860mm focal length) Quasar Optics Ritchey Chretien owned and operated by Franck Jobard. This remote telescope is located at an elevation over 5990 ft at Deep Sky Chile remote telescope hosting in the dark skies of the Rio Hurtado Valley in Chile. The telescope is accessible remotely via the internet for conducting astronomical research projects for science education, the general public or accessing image sets from Starbase for image processing”

You can find out more about Insight Observatory at the link below:

https://astrolavistaobservatory.com/2021/08/20/unique-2022-calendar/

The “Running Chicken Nebula” was another fun project from Chile. I think it turned out pretty well, if I don’t say so myself. The final image brings us back to where we started, a full moon as seen from Fonts Point. Needless to say, the year involved photo shoots all over the place.

Order your unique Astro La Vista Observatory calendar at the Astro La Vista Observatory website. Astro La Vista wishes you a Happy New Year in 2022.

Astro La Vista, Baby!

www.astrolavistaobservatory.com