The deep-sky imaging

Beyond the solar system there are many objects called generally deep-sky's. The deep-sky objects are star clusters, nebulas, galaxies and clusters of galaxies. To see the galleries now click here.

Beyond the boundaries of the solar system there is the real Universe, a huge space filled with giant bodies (the stars, some more than 100 times greater than the Sun), often part of groups called stellar clusters. The star clusters can be open or globular, according to their size, age and position on the galactic disk.
 

Star clusters are just 2 types of diffuse objects, but they are not the only.
Nebulas are enormous expanses of gas and dust which reflect, absorb or emit light. The large nebulas abound the galactic disk are the home for many stars and open clusters. Some small nebulas are, on the contrary, the last stage of a dying star; they are called planetary nebulas or supernova remnant depending on the mass of the star.
 

Nebulas and star clusters which we can observe and image in the sky all belong to the Milky Way, our galaxy, that is only one of billions of galaxies that fill in the entire Universe. Observable galaxies are tens of thousand; every galaxy is unique and different from the others.
 

Deep-sky imaging needs specifical devices, called CCD cameras. They are sophisticated digital cameras builted for astronomical applications, much more senstitives than webcams or any naturalistic device. Also the modern digital reflex (DLRS) are suitable for the deep.sky imaging, alalthough the results (aestetically and scientifically) are generally worse.
The technique is very different from the solar system imaging: in this case you need a series of long exposures, each of them must be carefully calibrated, then averaged together to obtain the final RAW image, which must be processed according to your personal taste and the scientific method.

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