more views from Moroccan skies
Although Moroccan astrophotographer
Aziz Kaeouach has been an astronomy amateur since he was 12 , he only began practicinge planetary astrophotography in 2016 and deep sky astrophotography in 2017 . His first detection of an asteroid ( NOGUSHI ) was in 2018 . Many of his astrophotographs have been selected as APODs ( Astro Photo Of the Day ) or AAPODs ( Amateur Astronomy Picture of the Day ). He won the ZWO contest of 2020 ( ASIWEEK # 06 ) and recently won the Photon d ’ Or contest of October 2021 . Aziz is co-founder of the international group of collaborative astrophotographers NHO ( Northern Hemisphere Observatory ). He is also co-founder of the first robotic Moroccan Astrophotographers Observatory ( MAO ) in Benslimane and co-director of the robotic Al Akhawayn Astronomical Observatory ( AAO ) in Ifrane and most recently founded the amateur HAO observatory in Oukaimeden , Marrakech ( Z02 ). Kaeouach holds a diploma of higher studies ( DES , Diplôme des Etudes Supérieures ) from the Royal Institute of Territorial Administration ( IRAT ), Morocco ( 2005 ). His bachelor degree is in private Law ( 2002 ).
IMAGES COURTESY OF Aziz Kaeouach
Right , this image by astrophotographer Aziz Kaeouach captures the Eagle Nebula ( IC 4703 ) where the famous Pillars of Creation are located about 5500 light-years away . At the center of the nebula is the open cluster M16 responsible for the ionization of the surrounding molecular clouds . Technical data : APO Astrophysic 130mm ; Astrophysic Mach 1 mount ; Asi 1600 pro mc cooled ; 7x36mm filter wheel ; Ha 84x300s : 7 h ; O3 64x300s : 5 h 20 min ; RGB 30x3x30s : 1 h 30 min ; Full integration : 13 h 50 min ; Acquisition : sharpcap and Nina ; Treatment : pixinsight ; Location : AAO ; Date : June 2021 .
Above left , NGC 2244 is a young open star cluster with an age of about 8 million years . These young stars produce ultraviolet radiations that ionizes nearby gases including hydrogen , oxygen and sulphur . The resulting spectacle is a complex gas cloud about 120 light-years in size called the Rosette Nebula catalogued Caldwell 49 . Technical details : Apo askar Fra 400 to F / 5.6 ; iOptron cem60 ec mount ; Zwo asi 1600 mm cooled pro ; 133x300s HA : 11h05min ; 115x300s O3 : 9h35min ; 30x3x60s RGB or 1h30min ; Total integration : 22h10min ; DOF : 27 / 101 / 27 ; Acquisition date : February 2021 ; Location : Ben Slimane MAO Observatory , Morocco . Above right , Located about 10,000 light years from home towards the Cassiopeia constellation , these are the filamentary remnants of a supernova that have a shell shape , part of which is doubly ionized oxygen ( in blue ) while the rest ( in red ) is essentially ionized hydrogen . Technical details : Apo Takahashi FSQ 85 at F / D 5.3 ; iOptron 60 cem ec mount ; Asi 2600 mm pro ; 6nm astronomik filters ; Acquisition sampling : 1.7 arcsec ; 92 x 600s HA i . e . 15 h 20 min ; 181 x 600s O3 i . e . 30 h 10 min ; 3 x 30 x 60s RGB i . e . 1 h 30 min ; Total integration : 47 h ; DOF : 31 / 149 / 25 ; Date : August 2021 ; Location : HAO4 observatory of Oukaimeden , Morocco .
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