Ever wonder how small we are?

[Tracy]

Then these should emphasize the fact that we (humans) are a small blip on the scale of things the reality of life.

 

[Cedric]

Amazing Tracy. How long did it take you from taking the shot to the processing?

 

[Debashis]

OMG these are captured by you? Mind-blowing!! What device do you use to capture them? How much does it cost?

 

[Cory]

It's miraculous to sit there and think how big this universe could truly be and what's out there that we're not even aware of at this point in time.

 

[Tracy]

Amazing Tracy. How long did it take you from taking the shot to the processing?

Thanks... the first one has about 30 hours of capture time in it spread over multiple nights and the second about 20 hours. Simply stacking the images for them (near 1000) takes about 12 hours on my processing computer, even after upgrading it to 32GB RAM from the 16GB it had. Then another couple of hours working with PixInSight and the scripts to tweak them to where I liked the results. I really need to build a new dedicated processing machine, but then I think that $2500 could go towards another OTA or a better camera.

 

[Tracy]

OMG these are captured by you? Mind-blowing!! What device do you use to capture them? How much does it cost?

Yep, those are some of my more recent captures.
For these, I used my ZenithStar 103mm telescope, ASI533MM Pro astro camera with a filter wheel and the shipping ZWO filters (want to upgrade to Chroma, but once more... more money - about $2500-$3000).
As for the the cost... the rig that I use for those totals out to around $5500 in hardware. This is it before I put the Pegasus Falcon rotator on, the Intel NUC 11 mini PC or the Pegasus Power Box Advanced. And it's not really top end equipment. The telescope is an APO doublet, with triplet's and quads being better but substantially more expensive. They serve my needs currently for my entry level experience.

This is my smaller 72mm rig (recently purchased) mounted on an older mount (upgraded to the same as my big rig has recently).

It uses a color camera on it so no need for a filter wheel, but it does have a filter drawer. Have about $3000 invested with this rig, and it's a beginner level scope (mount and camera were the biggest costs).
Those trees in the background are pretty much like what surrounds my house on 3 sides, so I have a very limited sky to capture in, meaning I have to draw the captures out over multiple nights that the weather allows.

 

[Ravenfreak]

It really makes you wonder just how many planets are out there billions of light years away. Will humans ever be able to fully explore space? These are awesome images! I also believe we can't be the only lifeforms in the universe.

 

[Arantor]

The Total Perspective Vortex strikes again.