Mike Shapiro

SH2-129 and Ou-4 The Flying Bat and Squid nebulae
Located about 2300 light years away, the Flying Bat is a large nebula composed mainly of hydrogen gas, spanning about 50 light years OU-4, the Squid nebula, is a remarkably unique looking structure, composed of oxygen III (OIII) It is so faint, that it was only discovered recently, in 2011
This image comprises about 30 hours of data shot over the past few years, with about 10 hours added a few weeks ago
Captured using the ASIAIR Pro, Celestron RASA 8, ASI 294 MC Pro and NBZ filter Guiding with ZWO mini guidescope and ASI 224 Skywatcher Eq6r-Pro mount
Calibrated and stacked in Astropixel Processor Processed in Photoshop
Bortle 8
#astronomy #astrophotography #universe #universetoday #nasa #science #space #spaceart #spacephotography #celestron #celestrontelescope #zwoasi #asiweek #highpointscientific #optcorp #agenaastro #astropixelprocessor #universityofmichigan #aapod2 #bbcskyatnightmag #skyandtelescopemag #astromaniacmag #universe_view_screen

IC-63 The Ghost of Cassiopeia
This spooky target is created by the ionizing radiation of the massive and incredibly powerful variable star, Gamma Cassiopeia
The ionizing radiation causes the hydrogen alpha within the nebula to emit visible light (as an emission nebula) Interestingly, the blue light is created from light reflected from the incredibly bright Gamma Cassiopeia star (acting as a reflection nebula)
This image is about 7 hours of data shot at F2 using the Celestron RASA 8, ASI294 MC pro and NBZ filter Captured using the ASIAIR Pro Guiding with ZWO mini guidescope and ASI224 Eq6r Pro mount
Calibrated and stacked using Astropixel Processor Processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop
Bortle 8
#ASIWEEK #astrophotography #astronomy #science #nebula #astronomyphotography #deepspace #nasa #stars #zwoasi #michiganphotographer #celestrontelescope #celestron #astropixelprocessor #pixinsight #astromaniacmag #bbcskyatnightmag #universe_view_screen #passioneastrophotografia #rootcanaldocs

Wishing a merry Christmas to all who celebrate and a year filled with joy and happiness!
Presenting the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293)
Often referred to as the "Eye of Sauron", the Helix Nebula is a planetary nebula that formed when the central star shed its outer shell Located relatively close at 650 light years away in the constellation Aquarius, its age is estimated to be only 10,600 years
About 12 hours of integration shot at F2 using the RASA 8, ASI 294 MC Pro and NBZ filter Captured using the ASIAIR Pro Guiding with ZWO mini guide scope and ASI 224 Eq6r Pro mount
Stacked and calibrated using Astropixel Processor, processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop
Bortle 8

As the skies this winter have been horribly cloudy, it has been a while since I've been able to capture enough data to put a new image together So I'm super excited to post an image of one of my favorite targets
M51 - The Whirplool Galaxy
Located about 23 5 million light years away in the constellation Canes Venatici, it can be found just to the southwest of the eastern most star of the Big Dipper
This image represents about 7 hours of data shot yesterday morning
Captured using the Celestron RASA 8, ASI 294 MC pro, Antlia Triband RGB filter ASIAIR Pro Guiding with ZWO mini guide scope and ASI 224 Eq6r Pro mount
Calibrated and stacked in Astropixel Processor Processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop
Bortle 8
#space #astronomy #astrophotography #celestron #celestronuniverse #celestronrasa #zwoasi #asiweek #galaxy #spacephotography #university of michigan #michiganphotographer #aapod2

M31 - The Andromeda Galaxy
Our sister galaxy, which lies about 2 5 million light years distant, is a gorgeous spiral Dark dust bands, along with multiple deep red nebulae can be seen throughout the galaxy
My latest version of one of my favorite targets represents about 20 5 hours' worth of data shot over the last few years
Celestron RASA 8, ASI 294 MC Pro, Antlia triband RGB filter, Celestron LP filter and NBZ filter Captured with the ASIAIR Pro Guiding with ZWO mini guide scope and ASI 224 Eq6r-Pro mount
Calibrated and stacked in Astropixel Processor and processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop
Bortle 8
#asiweek #astronomy #astrophotography #michiganphotographer #space #spaceart #nasa #science #deepspace #aapod2 #zwoasi #celestron #galaxy #universeviewscreen #highpointscientific #agenaastro #astropixelprocessor

It's been a busy few weeks since the eclipse, so I finally had a chance to finish processing my photos from the solar eclipse and to put them together into a little montage
In order to make sure I had the ability to enjoy the day, I programmed an autorun sequence on the Asiair plus - 85 images at varying exposures, ranging from 100 usec to 2 second exposures The diamond ring effect, along with Bailey's Beads and solar prominences were 100 usec The central picture, featuring the incredible corona and earthshine on the moon, was 125 msec
Shot in Findlay, OH with the WO Zenithstar 73, ASI 294 MC Pro Captured with the Asiair Plus Skywatcher Solarquest mount Processed in Astropixel Processor, Pixinsight and Photoshop
#totalsolareclipse2024 #eclipse #astronomy #astrophotography #michiganphotography #zwoasi #astropixelprocessor

A few images from tonight’s aurorae! Some of the best views were likely blocked by trees, but it was still spectacular!
I remember seeing the aurora borealis a few times as a young boy in Calgary, but never in Michigan and certainly not like tonight I’m thrilled so many people could experience this
These were shot with my Pentax dSLR from home
#michigan #michiganphotographer #auroraborealis #nightsky #astrophotography

M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy
Located about 21 million light years away, M101 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major (commonly known as the Big Dipper)
This image comprises about 12 hours' worth of data shot using the Celestron RASA 8, ASI 294 MC Pro and Antlia Triband RGB filter
Data was collected using the ASIAIR Plus Guiding with ZWO mini guide scope and ASI 224 Eq6r-Pro mount
Data was calibrated and stacked using Astropixel Processor, processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop
Bortle 8
#astrophotography #astronomy #space #galaxy #science #michigan #nightphotography #zwoasi #celestron #highpointscientific #bbcskyatnightmag #skyandtelescopemag

NGC 7000 - The North American Nebula
My first nebula of the 2024 spring/summer season, the image is comprised of about 4 hours of data
Located about 2600 light years away in the constellation Cygnus, the nebula bears an uncanny resemblance to the North American continent It is a very large area, spanning about 10 lunar diameters in the sky!
Shot at F2 using the Celestron RASA 8, ASI 294 MC Pro and Antlia triband RGB filter Guiding with ZWO mini guide scope and ASI 224 Eq6r-Pro mount Data captured with the ASIAIR Plus
Data was calibrated and stacked in #astropixelprocessor, then processed in #pixinsight and #Photoshop
Bortle 8
#astrophotography #astronony #umich #umichastro #michiganphotographer #science #space #spaceart #naturephotography #aapod2 #highpointscientific #agenaastro #optcorp #zwoasi #celestron #celestrontelescope #rootcanaldocs #antliafilters

🌌 About 12 million light years away, M81 (Bode’s Galaxy) and M82 (the Cigar Galaxy) lie in the constellation Ursa Major This stunning spiral and irregular galaxy duo was captured in about 12 hours of exposure with the Celestron RASA 8 and Celestron Light Pollution Reduction filter by Mike (@astroshap) ⁠
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#Celestron #RASA8 #Astrophotography #M81 #M82 #BodesGalaxy #CigarGalaxy #UrsaMajor #DeepSpace