M96 (March 25, 2012)

M96 is between 26.4 and 56 million light years away, but estimates cluster around 35 million light years.  M96 is found in the constellation Leo, not far (well, relatively speaking) from M95.  The ring of M96 is quite faint.  It does not stand out well against my light-polluted sky.  But I am here for the exploration, after all, and this is what appears in my 2.26-hour set of exposures.  Enjoy!

Telescope: Orion 254mm f/4.7 Newtonian and Baader RCC1
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9, 17x8'
Filter: IDAS-LPS2
Guiding: SX Lodestar and SX OAG
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

NGC 4725 (March 25, 2012)

This beautiful galaxy is between 34 million and 71 million light years away, but most estimates are huddled around 41 million light years.  It is found, like M64, in the constellation Coma Berenices.  The galaxy is classified as an intermediate barred spiral, but you can see something like that.  It is peculiar, though, in that it appears to have just one spiral arm.  NGC 4725 is also classified as a Seyfert galaxy, which means that a spectrum taken of its nucleus appears to show bright light from certain ionized gases moving at great speeds both toward us and away from us.  An accretion disk around a very large black hole is a good explanation for this data, so one is suspected at NGC 4725's heart.

Telescope: Orion 10" f/4.7 Newtonian and Baader RCC1
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9, 17x8'
Filter: IDAS-LPS2
Guiding: SX Lodestar and SX OAG
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

M64 or NGC4826, the Black Eye Galaxy (March 23, 2012)

This galaxy, found in the constellation Coma Berenices, is between 13 and 25 million light years distant, though estimates average (and most are close to) about 17.3 million.  So this galaxy is a near neighbor.  It's distinctive feature is the group of dust clouds close to the center of the galaxy.

One study of this galaxy found that, near its center, the galaxy's gas and stars are moving in the same direction, but, if one moves to the outer regions, the gas moves in a direction opposite the stars!  Cite.  Because stars formed out of the galaxy's gas, some event must have occurred to cause this, perhaps the infall of a great deal of new gas, but coming from the opposite direction.

Telescope: Orion 10" f/4.7 Newtonian and Baader RCC1
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9, 24x8'
Filter: IDAS-LPS2
Guiding: SX Lodestar and SX OAG
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

M95 & SN 2012aw (March 23, 2012)

Finally, a clear night of imaging!  This is galaxy M95, between 29,000,000 and 42,000,000 light years from us, found in the constellation Leo.  The bright star just to the left of the nucleus is a supernova that was discovered March 16, 2012, and has been observed by professionals all this last week.

Amateur images like mine have been popping up all over the internet.  It's just an opportune time.  M95 reaches meridian around midnight this week, and that makes it ideal for folks like me to aim a telescope at it.  I tried to get an image of M95 last year on March 15.  It just happened that this week there was also a supernova exploding in the galaxy! How cool is that?

Final note: The galaxy on the far left of the large image is PGC 31984.

Telescope: Orion 10" f/4.7 Newtonian and Baader RCC1
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9, 56x4'
Filter: IDAS-LPS2
Guiding: SX Lodestar and SX OAG
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

Summer Triangle

Lately we have had clouds, clouds, and more clouds.  But early this morning I went for a walk, and as I made my first turn east and looked up between the trees, I saw that the clouds had parted.  A star shone brightly.  I guessed it was Vega.  Then I saw another bright star to the southeast, so I looked further north and saw another.  It was the summer triangle: Vega, Altair, and Deneb.  The surrounding clouds framed them nicely.  A hopeful sight and a sign that the summer constellations are on their way.