NGC 281 Bi-Color (September 2012)

Full resolution link here.

Here is the Pacman Nebula again, a closer view.  The H-alpha data shown earlier this month falls naturally in the red part of the spectrum.  To this I have added OIII.  Ionized oxygen is green, but it is weaker than the H-alpha.  In this image, I have used H-alpha for red, OIII for blue; I combined this data (20% Ha, 80% OIII) to create a third data set, which I used for green.  This is a slightly false color, but I think it is easy on the eyes and shows the data well.

Telescope: Orion 254mm f/4.7 Newtonian and Astro-Tech Coma Corrector (eff. at f/5.17)
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9 (H-alpha: 1x900" + 12x1200"; OIII: 15x1200"), T-shirt flats
Filter: Astronomik 12nm Ha and 12nm OIII
Guiding: SX Lodestar and SX OAG
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Registar, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, with M32 and M110 (Sept. 19, 2012)

Full resolution image link.

Behold the great Andromeda Galaxy!  In this image, you also see galaxies M32 (the small one, upper left) and M110 (the larger one, lower right).  M32 and M110 are satellite galaxies of M31.  Also visible at lower left is a large group of young stars in the spiral arm or ring of the large galaxy.  That group and the outer areas of the galaxy are bluer because the stars in them are younger and hotter than the stars in the galaxy's central bulge.

Telescope: SV80ED (and William Optics 0.8x II fr/ff (eff. at f/5.6))
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9C (47x420"), Alnitak Flat-man flats
Filter: Hutech IDAS-LPS2
Guiding: Meade DSI Pro & Hutech 50mm
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

Merope, AT111EDT First Light (Sept. 20, 2012)

Link to full resolution image.

Here is a closeup on Merope, one of the Pleiades (also known as Subaru or Seven Sisters, or M45).  The Pleiades are passing through a cloud of dust.  Reflected starlight from the group shines on the dust in blue.  Because the cluster of stars is only about 390-440 light years distant, it appears as a cluster to anyone looking up in a dark sky at the constellation Taurus.

This is first light with an AT111EDT.  I am the second owner, but the scope was well cared-for.  I am excited to fit this scope out for convenient imaging as a replacement for the 6" Newtonian.

Telescope: Astro-Tech AT111EDT (and William Optics 0.8x II fr/ff (eff. at f/5.6))
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9C (35x240"), Alnitak Flat-man flats
Filter: Hutech IDAS-LPS2
Guiding: Meade DSI Pro & Hutech 50mm
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

IC 1590 & NGC 281 (Sept. 6, 2012)

Link to the full resolution image.

I've always wanted to get closer to the cluster at the center of this nebula.  A clear night this week presented an opportunity.  I had some trouble with the 254mm Orion Newtonian early on: a poorly installed dew heater was warping the secondary.  When I realized what the problem was and shut off the dew heater, the field quickly flattened out.  By that time, NGC 281 was just coming over the trees.  This is my first image of the nebula with the big Newt, and the first time I've shot H-alpha through the big scope.  I don't think it will be the last time.  This is also first light since installing a Protostar tubeliner inside the scope.

NGC 281 and the open cluster in the center of the image, IC 1590, are about 9,500 light years away.  The nebula is bright because the stars in it are bright.  The nebula is an emission nebula, which means that the gas of the nebula (hydrogen in this image) is excited by the ultraviolet light of the stars in the cluster.  The cluster and nebula are a package deal.

What I like about this nebula in particular are the clumps of gas and dust in front of it.  The clumps are being worn away by starlight, but several of them stand out against the face of the cloud, including the long river near the cluster and several little globules in the upper right.

It's a grand sight!  I recommend clicking on the full resolution link above, toggling F11, and panning about.

Telescope: Orion 254mm f/4.7 Newtonian and Astro-Tech Coma Corrector (eff. at f/5.17)
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9 (1x900" + 12x1200"), T-shirt flats
Filter: Astronomik 12nm Ha
Guiding: SX Lodestar and SX OAG
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX

Testing a TSA-102 (September 2012)

I am fortunate to have a friend with a Takahashi TSA-102.  I asked her advice regarding the scope, and she offered to let me borrow it. No kidding.  Taking up this very generous offer, I was pleased a few nights ago to gather 20x4' hours worth of data in Cygnus.  I wasn't even sure where the scope was pointing.  I just wanted to see what the image looked like and how the processing went.

Behold!  What I like most about this scope is the shape of the stars.  Wow!  They are perfect.  The colors are also nice.  This image was gathered with the SXVF-H9C and a Celestron LPR filter that happened to be lying about.  I did not bother to calibrate the color, as I do not where this is yet.  But the contrasting colors are easy to see.

Link to the full resolution image.

NGC 185, M51, M16 - Smalls

We've had clouds and clouds lately.  I'm starting to chew on old data.  Two are new images to the blog, however.

This is NGC 185, a satellite galaxy of the great Andromeda Galaxy, M31.  NGC 185 appears to be full of older, yellow stars and not much action, but a dark lane also appears across the galaxy's face.  Astronomers looking very closely have discovered blue star clusters in the galaxy.  There is new stellar life there yet!  I believe I took this image with the Orion ED80 in January, 2010.

M51 is a spiral galaxy that is best positioned for imaging in winter and spring.  This is a re-process of data gathered with the Orion 10" f/4.7 Newtonian in March of 2011.

This is my last data from Three Rivers.  The nebula is M16, the Eagle Nebula.  The eagle shape is hard to see in the image, as the data is not deep.  But if you look closely you can see in the heart of the nebulosity the pillars of creation made famous by the Hubble Space Telescope.  This image was shot with the SV80ED, mounted on the EM-10, unguided.  It is a stack of forty 3-minute images.

All of these images were taken with the SXVF-H9C.

vdb152 or Ced 201, in Cepheus (19 July 2012)

A full resolution version is here.

Cederblad 201 or van den Bergh 152 (the nebula is listed in at least these catalogs) consists mostly of a long, wide trail of gas and dust, but the end of it is bathed in the reflected starlight of the bright, blue star passing by.   Imaging this nebula was one reason to go to the Three Rivers Foundation site.  This kind of dim starlight reflection and the dusty red-brown gas behind it can only be captured well and quickly from a very dark site.

This image is only 5x20'.  It was taken very early in the morning on the 20th of July.  I thought I was going to get some more time the next night, but clouds moved in.  So I was able to get no more luminance and took no color data.  Fortunately, there are many images of vdb152 around the web.  The color data you see above was donated generously by Bob Fera.  The Feras' lovely image, which I think has the best color balance of any for this object, can be found here (just scroll down through the great images till you find it).  Through the magic of Registar and Photoshop, I can superimpose just the color from the Feras' image over my own grayscale image.  Thanks to the Feras.

Here is my data in grayscale:

A full resolution version is here.

The optics on the 6" have gone slightly out of alignment.  It is time to take the scope apart and put it back together squarely.

Telescope: Orion 6" f/5 Imaging Newtonian and Astro-Tech Coma Corrector (eff. at f/5.5)
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9 (5x1200'), Alnitak Flat-man flats
Filter: Astronomik Lum
Guiding: SX Lodestar and SX OAG
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Registar, Photoshop CS3
Location: 3RF's Comanche Springs Astronomy Campus, Crowell, TX