M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, and Sixty-four Globular Clusters with the SV80ED (Nov. 30, 2011)

This image may be best observed by clicking on it, then right-clicking on the pop-up image and selecting "View Image."  You should be able to read the labels and see each individual, marked cluster.

This image of a central portion of the Andromeda Galaxy is only a combined 36 minutes of exposure (9x4').  I was testing to see what kind of exposures I will eventually need to take a real image of this amazing galaxy, the nearest major galaxy to our Milky Way.  After I calibrated and combined the images and began to stretch the histogram of the combined frame, I wondered if I might see some globular clusters around the galaxy.  I know that amateurs with large scopes often hunt them down.  Perhaps I could see a few, too?

A web search led me to Robert Gendler's amazing image of M31 in which he has labelled a bunch of globs.  I compared my image with his and found quite a few matches.  Going to the source of his labels, Paul W. Hodge's Atlas of the Andromeda Galaxy, I realized that I could see not just a few but very many.  I have not labelled all of those that I found, actually.  Some are too faint to see unless the image is blown up, and some are located near the center of the galaxy where Hodge's plates, or at least those found on the website, are too blurred or noisy to read.  But I have labelled sixty-four, many more than I thought I would find.

Not bad for 36 minutes through an 80mm scope.

Telescope: Stellarvue SV80ED NHNG f/7 w/WO ff/fr 0.8 II (so effectively at f/5.6)
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9C, 9x4'
Filter: IDAS-LPS2
Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

M45, Pleiades, (Six of) Seven Sisters, Subaru (Nov. 27 & 28, 2011)

This cluster is about 440 light years away in the constellation Taurus.  You can see at least six (some see more) of the stars with your eyes, without optical aid.  It's a cluster I always look for when I go out.  What the eyes do not show is the nebulosity.  The young cluster is passing through a cloud of gas and dust, and the light from the bright, blue-white stars is reflected back toward us.

Thanks to Dick Locke for processing suggestions.  Here is another rendition of the same data:

Telescope: Stellarvue SV80ED NHNG f/7 w/WO ff/fr 0.8 II (so effectively at f/5.6)
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9C, 69x10'
Filter: IDAS-LPS2
Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX