M66

The upper image of M66 was taken the same night as M53, with the same equipment, and was processed using the same programs. It is nearly 23 minutes of 8-second exposures. M66 is about 35 million light years away. We find it in the constellation Leo. It has two bright companions in the sky, M65 and NGC 3628.

The lower image is also M66, hard to see though it may be. The lower image is the first deep sky image I ever obtained, just over a year ago. I could not believe how lucky I was to see, actually, light from a galaxy on my screen. Light from this image traveled for 35 million years, or reached 35 million light-years across space, to fall on my receptors. What a marvelous event! Of course, the much more detailed image above shows that information about the shape of the dust lanes in M66 also traveled 35 million miles, and I am just as delighted to see those details and happy that my equipment can record and decode such information.

I post both images for comparison. I have learned a few things in the past year. Both images were taken with the same camera on an unguided mount.

M53

Last night was the new moon, and the sky cleared off from midnight to around 3:30 a.m. Globular cluster M53, in the constellation Coma Berenices, was the last item I was able to image, around 3 a.m. What a beautiful sight, much better through the camera! (Please click on the image for a better view.)
This image is 160 6-second exposures (16 minutes total) stacked and stretched in Registax; its dead and hot pixels fixed in Paint; then cropped, sharpened, and flipped in HP Image Zone. Scope: Vixen R135S, at f/5.3. Camera: DSI Pro. Mount: LXD75. Location: The backyard.

NGC 1907

Last night the moon was shining through the trees, but I was able to observe the three large open clusters in Auriga---M38, M36, and M37 (M37 is such a stunning sight at 50x). While looking at M38, I was able to see NGC 1907 next door, but even in the XT8 it was only a patch of mist in the bright moonlight at 50x. I also noted nearby W. Struve 698, widely split at 50x and yellow-orange and white.

M63!

Despite finding my first Messier object (M13) at age 13, nearly 30 years ago (I wondered if I'd discovered a comet in my Edmund Astroscan), I have not yet made it through Messier's list in full. A few years ago, after I'd come to own optical aid again, I listed the ones I had missed. M63 was included in the list, but I checked that galaxy off on Saturday (March 8) night late, when I found it with a 100mm f/6 refractor from the backyard. There was M63, near a certain star, just where the nearby asterism pointed to it. In fact, even in the 100mm refractor, M63 at 75x was oval and its surface did not have a glow that was uniform across its face. I would say it was speckled. I noticed this only on the side nearest the star. I was only out for an hour, but I also observed M104, M65, M66, Gamma Leonis, Cor Caroli (easily resolved at 25x), Mizar & Alcor, and Xi UMa.

Venus, Mercury, and Luna II

Yesterday morning, March 5, I caught the view of Venus, Mercury, and the Moon together. This is a snapshot with the Sony DSC-75. Please click on the image for a complete view (and to see Mercury better). (I took some video, also. If I can figure out how to post that, I will.)

Venus, Mercury, and Luna

This morning was cloudless. In the east, just before sunup, Venus shone above the trees. Just above Venus, and a little to the south, was Mercury. This was a similar configuration to the morning of December 20, 2004, the date on which I first found Mercury in the sky with my own eyes! But this morning, a little south and much higher in the sky but still in the same view, was the waning crescent moon. It was a lovely sight.

Trapezium E

I routinely can spot stars E and F in the Trapezium through the XT8 and C8. On the night of Feb. 28, I spotted E through the 100mm f/6. I wasn't looking for it, really, but there it was.