Deep-Sky Astro­photo­graphy

by Mar­tin Rusterholz

Cxielo Obser­vat­ory

CXIELO Obser­vat­ory is a remote-obser­vat­ory loc­ated in South­ern France and is a mem­ber of ROSA (Remote Obser­vat­or­ies South­ern Alps), foun­ded 2008 by Daniel Marquardt and Karel Teuwen. It is a rol­loff-roof obser­vat­ory host­ing an RCOS 14.5″ scope  and a Taka­hashi FSQ-106EDXIII car­ried by an ASA DDM85 mount. On both tele­scopes, a CCD cam­era with KAF-16803 sensor is used with Astro­don Gen2 LRGB and Ha (5nm), OIII (3nm) and SII (5nm) fil­ters. The dif­fer­ent focal length of the two teleso­pes res­ults in 40’x40’ and 3.5°x3.5° field of views.

Deep-Sky Astro­photo­graphy allows me to exper­i­ence the beauty of the sky. The pro­cessing of the images is like a med­it­a­tion for me – tak­ing the time to make the fine details of galax­ies and neb­u­lae vis­ible is a gift.

Port­fo­lio

Deep-Sky Astro­photo­graphy

“Look­ing at the nights sky is an exper­i­ence touch­ing every­body deeply inside some­thing com­mon to all human beings inde­pend­ent to the lan­guage spoken by the individuals”.

There­fore Deep-Sky Astro­photo­graphy is my passion.

ROSA Observatories Southern Alps

A few words about Cxielo

In sum­mer 2008, I was trav­el­ling for the first time to South­ern France at the place, where my friend Daniel Marquardt had built his remote obser­vat­ory. Help­ing him final­iz­ing the setup, the idea to build my own obser­vat­ory next to his dome came into my mind. Look­ing at the dark night­sky with the Milky­way touch­ing the hori­zon removed all my concerns.

Begin­ning 2009, the pre­par­a­tion of the ground and found­a­tion for my roll-off roof obser­vat­ory begun. Since March 2009, my obser­vat­ory is oper­a­tion­al and I am col­lect­ing photons whenev­er the sky is clear.

I am vis­it­ing the place mut­liple times a year for main­ten­ance of the install­a­tion and enyo­ing the nature and the night­sky. It became my second home.

Most Recent Images

NGC 4526

NGC 4526

RCW 105

RCW 105

South­ern Plei­ades (IC 2602)

South­ern Plei­ades (IC 2602)

But­ter­fly Cluster (M6)

But­ter­fly Cluster (M6)

Vela SNR

Vela SNR

Helix Neb­ula (NGC 7293)

Helix Neb­ula (NGC 7293)

Omega Cen­tauri

Omega Cen­tauri

Sil­ver Coin Galaxy (NGC253)

Sil­ver Coin Galaxy (NGC253)

R Coronae Aus­tral­is Neb­ula (Cald­well 68)

R Coronae Aus­tral­is Neb­ula (Cald­well 68)

Carina Neb­ula

Carina Neb­ula

NGC 4656

NGC 4656

Bubble Galaxy (NGC 3521)

Bubble Galaxy (NGC 3521)

Mir­ach’s Ghost (NGC 404)

Mir­ach’s Ghost (NGC 404)

Tiger­’s Eye Galaxy (NGC 2841)

Tiger­’s Eye Galaxy (NGC 2841)

M82 Cigar Galaxy

M82 Cigar Galaxy

G70.5+1.9 in Cygnus

G70.5+1.9 in Cygnus

Little Dumb­bell Neb­ula (M76)

Little Dumb­bell Neb­ula (M76)

W63 (SNR G82.2+5.3)

W63 (SNR G82.2+5.3)

M81 Bode’s Galaxy

M81 Bode’s Galaxy

M89 Galaxy

M89 Galaxy

M63 Sun­flower Galaxy

M63 Sun­flower Galaxy

Christ­mas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264)

Christ­mas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264)

W50 SNR in Aquila

W50 SNR in Aquila

M95 M96 in Leo

M95 M96 in Leo

Embryo Neb­ula (NGC 1333)

Embryo Neb­ula (NGC 1333)

Pick­er­ing’s Tri­angle in Cygnus

Pick­er­ing’s Tri­angle in Cygnus

LBN 380 Region in Cygnus

LBN 380 Region in Cygnus

Comet C/​2020 M3 (ATLAS)

Comet C/​​2020 M3 (ATLAS)

Sh2-129 and OU4 in Cepheus

Sh2-129 and OU4 in Cepheus

NGC 7000 and IC 5070 in Cygnus

NGC 7000 and IC 5070 in Cygnus

Melotte 15 in Cassiopeia

Melotte 15 in Cassiopeia

M92 in Hercules

M92 in Hercules

IC 1396 in Cepheus

IC 1396 in Cepheus

Rosette Neb­ula (Cald­well 49)

Rosette Neb­ula (Cald­well 49)

M100 in Coma Berenices

M100 in Coma Berenices

Sh2-188 in Cassiopeia

Sh2-188 in Cassiopeia

NGC 507 Galaxy Group in Pisces

NGC 507 Galaxy Group in Pisces

North­ern Logoon Neb­ula (NGC 7538)

North­ern Logoon Neb­ula (NGC 7538)

IC 59 and IC 63 in Cassiopeia

IC 59 and IC 63 in Cassiopeia

Comet 46P/​Wirtanen

Comet 46P/​​Wirtanen

M71 in Sagitta

M71 in Sagitta

Dumb­bell Neb­ula (M27)

Dumb­bell Neb­ula (M27)

Whirl­pool Galaxy (M51)

Whirl­pool Galaxy (M51)

Ori­on Region (H‑a)

Ori­on Region (H‑a)

M101 Pin­wheel Galaxy in Ursa Major

M101 Pin­wheel Galaxy in Ursa Major

Cali­for­nia Neb­ula (NGC 1499)

Cali­for­nia Neb­ula (NGC 1499)

CTA 1 (SNR G119.5+10.2)

CTA 1 (SNR G119.5+10.2)

3C 400.2 (SNR G053.6–02.2)

3C 400.2 (SNR G053.6–02.2)

Gamma Cygni Region

Gamma Cygni Region

AFGL 5173 in Orion

AFGL 5173 in Orion

NGC 4274 in Coma Berenices

NGC 4274 in Coma Berenices

Markari­an’s Chain in Virgo/​Com

Markari­an’s Chain in Virgo/​​Com

P Cygni Nebula

P Cygni Nebula

3C 58 (SN 1181) in Cassiopeia

3C 58 (SN 1181) in Cassiopeia

Kron­ber­ger 24 in Cygnus

Kron­ber­ger 24 in Cygnus

Kes 78 in Aquila

Kes 78 in Aquila

Leo II (PGC 34176) Dwarf Galaxy

Leo II (PGC 34176) Dwarf Galaxy

NGC 3486 in Leo Minor

NGC 3486 in Leo Minor

Whir­li­gig Galaxy (NGC 488) in Pisces

Whir­li­gig Galaxy (NGC 488) in Pisces

Sil­ver Streak Galaxy (NGC 4216)

Sil­ver Streak Galaxy (NGC 4216)

Sh2-132 in Cepheus

Sh2-132 in Cepheus

Simeis 147 in Taurus

Simeis 147 in Taurus

NGC 7822 and Cederblad 214

NGC 7822 and Cederblad 214

Little Veil Neb­ula in Cygnus

Little Veil Neb­ula in Cygnus

Pegas­us I Galaxy Cluster

Pegas­us I Galaxy Cluster

Seagull Neb­ula (IC 2177)

Seagull Neb­ula (IC 2177)

Pac­man Neb­ula NGC 281

Pac­man Neb­ula NGC 281

Comet C/​2014 Q2 Lovejoy

Comet C/​​2014 Q2 Lovejoy

Medusa Neb­ula

Medusa Neb­ula

Abell 28 in Ursa Major

Abell 28 in Ursa Major

NGC 3953  in Ursa Major

NGC 3953 in Ursa Major

NGC 6823 and NGC 6820

NGC 6823 and NGC 6820

Cat’s Eye Neb­ula (NGC 6543)

Cat’s Eye Neb­ula (NGC 6543)

NGC 3077 in Ursa Major

NGC 3077 in Ursa Major

Jones-Ember­son 1

Jones-Ember­­son 1

The Scare­crow IC 1613 in Cetus

The Scare­crow IC 1613 in Cetus

Bubble Neb­ula (NGC 7635)

Bubble Neb­ula (NGC 7635)

East­ern Veil Neb­ula (NGC 6992)

East­ern Veil Neb­ula (NGC 6992)

NGC 6822

NGC 6822

NGC 6946

NGC 6946

Abell 61

Abell 61

NGC 5907

NGC 5907

NGC 4051

NGC 4051

M106

M106

M78 (NGC 2068)

M78 (NGC 2068)

Owl Neb­ula (M97)

Owl Neb­ula (M97)

NGC 3344

NGC 3344

Thor’s Hel­met (NGC 2359)

Thor’s Hel­met (NGC 2359)

NGC 206

NGC 206

Cres­cent Neb­ula (NGC 6888)

Cres­cent Neb­ula (NGC 6888)

NGC 7741

NGC 7741

NGC 7640

NGC 7640

Ghost Neb­ula (vdB 141)

Ghost Neb­ula (vdB 141)

Abell 2151

Abell 2151

NGC 5746

NGC 5746

NGC 4214

NGC 4214

NGC 3718 and NGC 3729

NGC 3718 and NGC 3729

NGC 4244

NGC 4244

M88

M88

NGC 2903

NGC 2903

NGC 7814

NGC 7814

M77

M77

NGC 7479 (Cald­well 44)

NGC 7479 (Cald­well 44)

Pin­wheel Galaxy (M33)

Pin­wheel Galaxy (M33)

Perseus Len­ticular (NGC 1023)

Perseus Len­ticular (NGC 1023)

West­ern Veil Neb­ula (NGC 6960)

West­ern Veil Neb­ula (NGC 6960)

NGC 7331 and Stephan’s Quintet

NGC 7331 and Stephan’s Quintet

Great Pegas­us Cluster (M15)

Great Pegas­us Cluster (M15)

UFO Galaxy (NGC 2683)

UFO Galaxy (NGC 2683)

Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565)

Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565)

Little Pin­wheel Galaxy (NGC 3184)

Little Pin­wheel Galaxy (NGC 3184)

NGC 925

NGC 925

Perseus Galaxy Cluster (Abell 426)

Perseus Galaxy Cluster (Abell 426)

Fiddle­head Galaxy (NGC 772)

Fiddle­head Galaxy (NGC 772)

Phantom Galaxy (M74)

Phantom Galaxy (M74)

Ele­phant’s Trunk Neb­ula (IC 1396A)

Ele­phant’s Trunk Neb­ula (IC 1396A)

Pel­icane Neb­ula (IC 5067) in Cygnus

Pel­icane Neb­ula (IC 5067) in Cygnus

Croc’s Eye Galaxy (M94)

Croc’s Eye Galaxy (M94)

About Me

Hello, my name is Martin Rusterholz. I’m a Swiss amateur astrophotographer living near Zurich, the biggest town in Switzerland. My interest in astronomy started when I was 16. At that time, I built my first Newtonian telescope and mount. I studied physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) which was the only study including at least some aspects of astronomy and astrophysics. “Looking at the nights sky is an experience touching everybody deeply inside, something common to all human beings independent to the language spoken by the individuals”. Deep-sky astrophotography is my passion.

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