IC349, Merope (August 26, 2011)

The little clump of gas just to the right of the bright star Merope (and below the diffraction spike) is being pushed away and scattered by the star's intense ultraviolet radiation.  Merope is one of the Pleiades (or Subaru, or Seven Sisters, or the stars in M45 in Messier's list).  The clump of gas that is IC349 is lit up because it reflects the light of Merope.  The broader nebulosity around the star is also a reflection of Merope's light.  My favorite image of IC349 is Roland Christian's, here.

Telescope: Orion 10" f/4.7 Newtonian and Baader RCC1
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9C, 3x10'
Filter: IDAS-LPS2
Guiding: SX Lodestar and SX OAG
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

NGC 891 (August 26, 2011)

This galaxy in Andromeda is interesting primarily because we see it nearly edge-on.  The combined light of the stars across the disk make the galaxy bright to us, and the dust lane cutting through the disk is prominent.   NGC 891 is between 14 and 41.1 million light years away, though most non-redshift estimates cluster around 32-39 million light years.  My favorite image of this object is Adam Block's (here).

Telescope: Orion 10" f/4.7 Newtonian and Baader RCC1
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9C, 16x10'
Filter: IDAS-LPS2
Guiding: SX Lodestar and SX OAG
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

Another M27, still not perfect (8-4-2011)

Here's yet another M27.  It looks fine except for a small amount of guiding error.  It's been a while since I have guided through the 10", and I was very tired, so I worked with the guiding for a while.  About the time I solved the problem (or came to believe I had solved it---everything was finally working well), the sky clouded over.  By that time, I had 88 minutes of M27, most of it showing slight signs of the guiding problem.

Telescope: Orion 10" f/4.7 Newtonian and Baader RCC1
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9C, 11x8'
Filter: IDAS-LPS2
Guiding: SX Lodestar and SX OAG
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

NGC7331 & "Companions" (7-30-2011)

This is NGC7331, a galaxy found in the constellation Pegasus.  NGC 7331 is between 21 and 52 million light years away.  The center of the galaxy is very bright; it can be seen with moderate-sized telescopes from the backyard.  I have seen it in an 8" reflector from my backyard.  I've always wanted a good image of it, though.  I took a minimal monochrome image of it two years ago that actually is a little deeper than this one (here), but this one was color and actually is about twice the exposure time at the same focal ration (f/5).  The small galaxies around NGC 7331 are sometimes called the Deer Lick group.  They are much further away--perhaps 300 million light years, very roughly (I overstated this distance in my earlier post).

This is still not the image I am hoping to take.  I'd like to use a longer focal length.  Maybe soon.  This group of galaxies in in season.  My favorite image of this group is Ken Crawford's, here.

Telescope: Orion 6" Imaging Newtonian and no coma corrector
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9C, 26x7'
Filter: IDAS-LPS2
Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

M27, H-alpha & color (July 2011)

This image is just 16 minutes (2x8') of H-alpha, taken with the Atik 16, combined with 160 minutes (20x6') of color from the SXVF-H9C.  The Orion ST120 was used to take the H-alpha, and the SV80ED the color.  The stacked H-alpha and color frames were then registered in Registax and combined in Photoshop.

Cocoon Nebula, IC 5146, SH2-125, Caldwell 19 (July 22 & 23, 2011)

This intriguing object features both emission nebula (red) and reflection nebula (blue or gray-brown).  The cluster of stars in the nebula is very young, and is just pushing the gas away from itself with ultraviolet light.  The blue-white stars' light is also reflected on the gas, but you may have to turn out the lights to see it.  The reflection nebula here is close in color to the light pollution near my house, and in order to control the light pollution I had to tone down the blue.  Most estimates put the Cocoon Nebula at about 4,000 light years.

Telescope: Stellarvue 80ED NHNG f/7 w/WO ff/fr 0.8 II (so effectively at f/5.6)
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9C, 56x8'
Filter: IDAS-LPS2
Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

IC1318B, near Sadr (7-1-2011)

This is another section of the nebula near Gamma Cygni, or Sadr.  I was looking for a last target before sunrise and was able to collect 72 minutes of decent data.

Telescope: Orion 120ST f/5 Achromat w/WO ff/fr 0.8 II (so effectively at f/4)
Camera & Exposure: Atik 16, 9x8'
Filter: Astronomik Profi 6nm H-alpha
Guiding: Borg 50mm, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX