NGC 2174, the Monkey Head Nebula (1-2011)

I was able to take OIII subs this week. Combined with the Ha and mapped to more or less natural color, the nebula now looks like this. The OIII subs were 24x7' taken with the Atik 16 through the 120mm + WO 0.8x II ff/fr = f/4 achromat and Astronomik Ha [+NII] and OIII filters. Here is the OIII data:

Abell 5 or PK 141-7.1 (1-25-2011)

This rather dim planetary nebula in the constellation Perseus was right overhead when I began a set of 17x7" sub-exposures with the 120mm + WO 0.8x II ff/fr = f/4 achromatic astrograph. Taken through an Astronomik 12nm Ha filter. The galaxy at upper left shining so brightly in Ha is PGC10824.

NGC 3193, 3190, and 3187 (1-1-2011)

This is (at least) three of the galaxies in Hickson 44, a galaxy group in Leo (from the Hickson catalog). I have always thought this trio intriguing because of the different shapes shown (and also because it would fit in my small camera field). NGC 3193, upper left, is an elliptical galaxy that is nearly featureless. NGC 3190, by contrast, is a spiral galaxy that we see almost edge-on. It sports a prominent dust lane and smaller dust lanes branching off on the left. To the right of NGC 3190 is NGC 3187, also a spiral galaxy whose shape has been disrupted by other galaxies in the group, probably including NGC 3185, not pictured here. Most recent estimates put this group of galaxies about 80 million light years from us. Cite. My favorite image of the group is here.

This image was taken on my first night out with the Orion 10" newt. Camera was the Atik 16. An IDAS LPS2 filter was also used. The image is just 22x2'. The background is bright because I did not have enough signal yet (in just 44 minutes of exposure) from the galaxies to cut out skyglow noise.