NGC 3198 (11-26-2010)

This galaxy in southern Ursa Major is about 35,000,000 light years away. Normally, I present galaxies in white against a black background. In this case, the waning moon was still 66% full and only about 20 degrees away from this galaxy. That's not the best condition for shooting a galaxy. But the camera was running. I could turn it off and go to sleep, or let it run and go to sleep. I decided to let it run on this object. The resulting image is noisy and does not show well at all in white on black. It's much better this way, black on white, and more of the galaxy is visible.

This is 38x4' with the Atik 16 through the AT8RC and the IDAS-LPS-P2 from the backyard in The Woodlands, TX.

NGC 2419 (11-5&6-2010)

NGC 2419 is a very distant globular cluster. It lies 300,000 light years away. If our galaxy were a frisbee, NGC 2419 would be at least two frisbee lengths beyond its edge! It was once thought to be free-floating in space, unconnected to any galaxy, but we now believe it is in orbit around our own Milky Way. NGC 2419 is the 5th most distant globular cluster from the sun. Source. The brightest stars in NGC 2419 are 17th magnitude.

This image is 28x5' with the AT8RC and the SXVF-H9C, from my backyard in The Woodlands. Actually, my last image of this was so fuzzy and faint that I have wanted to take another try. The prior image is posted here.

Here is a smaller version. Shrinking it a bit hides some of the noise and helps the star shapes in the cluster look more round:

NGC 1275 (11-5&6-10)

This not-so-deep image of this fascinating object (the brightest galaxy, in the lower part and just left of center) leaves much for the imagination. Here is a brighter rendition, through a much larger scope with much longer exposure; in fact, the best rendition I know of by an amateur. The galaxy is thought to harbor an active black hole and is combining with a smaller galaxy, giving NGC 1275 its unusual shape and other characteristics.

The galaxy cluster is called Abell 426, also called the Perseus Cluster. This is just the heart of it. What you are seeing is approximately 237 (give or take about 30) million light years away.

This image is just 2.25 hours of 5' exposures with the AT8RC and the SXVF-H9C.

M37 (10-29-2010)

This open cluster of stars is 4,150+-550 light years away in the constellation Auriga. It thus lies in the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy roughly looking out away from the galaxy's center. This image is 17x300" with the AT8RC (w/0.8x ff/fr, for a focal length of about 1300mm) and the SXVF-H9C. Here is a smaller version:

NGC 891 (10-29-2010)

This galaxy is 30 million light years away in the constellation Andromeda. This is image is 36x300" with the SXVF-H9C through the AT8RC (w/0.8x ff/fr, at about 1300mm). Captured in Neb2 and processed in Neb2, Maxim, & PS3.

NGC281 (10-29-2010): A Few Short Subs

This is just 4x300" with the AT8RC, 0.8x ff/fr, and the SXVF-H9C. The Pacman Nebula was high in the sky, and I wanted to test collimation, focus, exposure time, and tracking on something familiar. Generous noise reduction has been applied to the combined stack, and the image size has been reduced, also to decrease noise. The focal length is around 1300mm. There are still problems, as in the bottom left corner, but I am getting close. I think I know what I'm doing with collimation now, at least.

Albireo (9-15-10)

On some nights of imaging, nothing works. I took the AT8RC out to see what I could do with it. I couldn't do much. I did not have the optics aligned correctly, and I was getting flexure between the guide camera and imager. So it turned out none of my stars were round. I was tired, too, but I wanted to try. Clear nights don't come around often. This was the only shot all night that worked, and this only halfway. Only by shrinking it down could I hide the slightly out of shape stars. I did get one frame of M45, too, but just a single sub---not enough to post.

Albireo is the beak of Cygnus, the Swan. It is a beautiful pair of stars, one that many look for each time they go out in the summer to observe. Albireo is about 380 light years away. The two components may or may not revolve around each other. The brighter star is itself a double star, so if the two components seen here revolve around each other, then Albireo is a triple star system.

M19 (7-13-10)

There is little remarkable about this image, but I had never seen M19 before and so took this single frame of about 3 minutes length. M19 is about 28,000 light years distant in the constellation Ophiuchus. This was taken with the AT8RC at f/8.

NGC 6528 & NGC 6522 - The Sibling Globs

These two globular clusters appear together in the sky. In fact, they are together! The one on the right lies about 25,400 light years away, and the one on the left 25,700 lights years. They are near neighbors! Both are roughly 2,000 light years from the center of the galaxy. Source. What intrigues me is that they can be seen in a single view through the telescope. They light just north of the star which tips the spout of the teapot that is Sagittarius. It's as if they were two balls of steam puffed out of the teapot itself! Both are reddened and dimmed because they lie in the plane of the galaxy behind a great deal of dust. And, because they lie in the plane of the galaxy, they appear surrounded by stars.

This image is actually two panels combined, taken with the AT8RC through the SXVF-H9C at the scope's native f/8. Processing was done in Neb2, Maxim, and PS CS3 and Photoshop Elements 7 with a Carboni action for star color. Exposure time was a mere 5x3' for each panel.

Another M16 (7-13-10)

This M16 is 27x4' with the SXVF-H9C through the AT8RC at its native f/8. I still have funny star shapes, just a little. I think I have narrowed it down to slight miscollimation. No need to throw out the data, though. What a fascinating object! No filters on this one, either.

I'd be interested to know which of the two versions is preferred. The first image above is truer to actual colors, I believe. The second maximizes the Ha glow.

M27 (7-13-10)

This is M27, a large appearing planetary nebula sometimes called the Dumbbell Nebula. I've imaged it before. This image is 33x4' through the AT8RC at f/8 or 1624mm. No filter was used, and the weather was hazy. Processed in Nebulosity 2, Maxim DL 5, PS CS3, and Photoshop Elements 7.

Pluto in Barnard 92

The large patch of mostly starless night sky in this image is Barnard 92, a cloud of gas and dust that is nearer to us than almost all the stars in that direction and blocks the starlight otherwise visible. Of course, a few stars are nearer, which is why the patch is not completely devoid of stars. Also, the patch lies beyond our solar system. This image is proof of that fact, because it shows Pluto passing in front of the cloud!
The planet (or whatever Pluto is now considered) is marked. How do I know that is Pluto? Well, compare the image with this one I took two years ago of the same patch of sky. See that otherwise starlike object where it now is? I thought not. Nope, that's Pluto alright, just where Sky & Telescope predicted it would be.
The APOD for July 8, 2010, has a similar image of Pluto cruising in front of Barnard 92. It can be seen here. The APOD image was taken at about the same time as mine.

M16 - First Try

This is M16, but there was a problem. For some reason the stars are fan-shaped. I have shrunken the image so that it is not noticeable. I believe a light pollution filter that was not tightly bolted down inside the image train slipped loose and tipped slightly, causing the fan shapes. The M57 image below was taken an hour later with the same setup only tipped straight up toward the zenith. This is only 9x6' worth of data.

Anyway, this stunning nebula is my favorite. I hope to revisit it soon with a tied-down filter!

Ring of Power - M57, Again

This ring is real first light with the AT8RC. I wanted to test out a couple of reducers for it. The weather was clear until 1, and then it clouded over---for just 40 minutes. I was still set up, so I opened the software back up and found a target. This is 16 x 3' with the SXVF-H9C through the AT8RC, processed in Neb2, Maxim, and CS3.

M92 (4-14-10)

M92 is a globular cluster about 26-27,000 light years away in the constellation Hercules. Visual observers often look first for the great globular M13 in that constellation, as it is brighter and larger (it is closer). M92 appears more compact to me, but it too, like all its cousins, is a stunning sight.

This is another shot with the SXVF-H9C and the AT8RC, taken just before the M39 image. This is 17x5'. Bias subtracted but not flats (if you stretch this image you will see the dust donuts; I don't have a rubber band large enough to tie a t-shirt around this scope yet). Like M39, this image too has a bit of collimation or guiding error; I'm not sure which. Compare this image with my last image of M92.