Daily Archives: October 24, 2015

whirlpool_g

Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)

 in Galaxies / Gallery  tagged galaxy / whirlpool

The Whirlpool Galaxy is another very popular target for visual observers. It is about 23 million light years away from us in the constellation Canes Venatici.  There are actually two distinct galaxies pictured here and they are connected by a trail of stellar dust that is being pulled by gravity away from the smaller galaxy and into the larger one.Scope: AP 142 at f/7.5 Scope: AP142 at f/7.5 Mount: AP Mach1GTO Camera: QSI 583 at –15C Exposure: LRGB, 1.3 hrs L, RGB from older image

Bode’s and Cigar Galaxies (M81 and 82)

 in Galaxies / Gallery  tagged bode / cigar / galaxy

This pair of galaxies is a popular target for astronomers. Located in Ursa Major (the Big Dipper) and each about 12 million light years from Earth, the Cigar Galaxy is on the left and Bode’s on the right. This exposure includes hydrogen-alpha data, which produces the red “wings” on the Cigar and spots in Bode’s. This red portion is not visible to human observers, so the cigar shape is more apparent visually.  Scope: AT111EDT at f/5.6 Mount: AP Mach1GTO Camera: QSI 583 at –15C Exposure: (about 3 hours total)

Hercules Cluster (M13)

 in Gallery / Star Clusters  tagged cluster / hercules / star

M13 is a very popular target for visual observers because it is such an impressive sight. It contains hundreds of thousands of stars. As the name suggests, it is located in the constellation Hercules and is about 25,000 light years from Earth. I updated the previous version shot in late 2012. This new, sharper version was shot at a dark sky site (ITS) in August 2017. Scope: AT111EDT at f/5.7 Mount: AP Mach1 Camera: QSI 683wsg at –20C Exposure: LRGB, 3.1 hrs total

The Pleiades (aka Subaru or Seven Sisters, M45)

 in Gallery / Star Clusters  tagged cluster / image / picture / pleiades / seven sisters / stars

This open cluster of very bright, young stars is one of the best known objects in the night sky. It is significant in the mythology of many cultures, and therefore is known by many names. Yes, the Japanese automobile manufacturer takes its name and logo from the Japanese name for the cluster, Subaru. M45 is only about 400 light years from Earth – one of the nearest star clusters. It is located in the constellation Taurus. The stars themselves shine bright blue because they are so hot. The surrounding dust reflects this blue light to form the beautiful wispy structure. […]

Cave Nebula (Caldwell 9)

 in Gallery / Nebulae  tagged cave / nebula

The Cave Nebula is 2400 light-years distant in the constellation Cepheus.  It combines emission, reflection, and dark nebulosity in one striking image.  I had tried several times before to capture this object, but it never seemed to work until this attempt in September of 2013 at Goldendale, Washington (RGB data) and Wa-chur-ed Observatory (H-alpha data).  It is quite dim and requires quite long exposures, even for the RGB portion.  H-alpha data was captured later and added to enhance details in the red.  There are some fascinating small details in the image that are not easily seen in this small version. […]

Heart Nebula (IC1805)

 in Gallery / Nebulae  tagged heart / ic1805 / nebula

This is a re-processing of an image originally captured in September of 2012.  That version was combined with a second frame to form the image of the Heart Nebula in natural color (see Heart Nebula).  While the earlier version is close to natural color (pretty much all red), this one uses false color to bring out more detail, separating the H-alpha, O-3, and S-2 regions. The Heart is an emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia and about 7,500 light years from Earth. It does look like a heart, sort of. I suspect that the neighboring Soul Nebula (also about 7,500 […]

Swan (or Omega) Nebula (M17)

 in Gallery / Nebulae  tagged nebula / swan

The Swan or Omega Nebula is another emission nebula in Sagittarius, but a bit higher (further north) than the Lagoon and near the Eagle Nebula.  Like the Lagoon, it is very popular with visual observers because of its bright nebulosity and interesting shape.  Through a telescope you typically see just the brightest part of this image and it does look a bit like a swan. Scope: AT111EDT at f/5.6 Mount: AP Mach1 Camera: QSI683 Exposure: LRGB, 2.5 hrs total

Trifid Nebula (M20)

 in Gallery / Nebulae  tagged nebula / trifid

Very near the Lagoon Nebula is the Trifid Nebula (Messier 20).  The name comes from the apparent division into three lobes.  The Trifid also contains all three types of nebulosity:  The red is an emission nebula (mostly hydrogen), the blue area is a reflection nebula (dust reflecting light from nearby stars), and the dark areas all around it are “dark nebula” – dust that blocks the light from objects behind it. Captured at Pine Mountain Observatory near Bend, Oregon in RGB.  This image was captured after completing some scientific imaging with students Katie, Jaclyn, and Samara, who helped in capturing […]

Lagoon Nebula (M8)

 in Gallery / Nebulae  tagged lagoon / nebula

The Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8) in Sagittarius is a popular target for visual observers because it has both bright nebulosity and a nice star cluster.  Unfortunately, for most people in North America it never gets very high in the sky, so views are often compromised by haze and light pollution. This RGB image was captured at Pine Mountain Observatory near Bend, Oregon.  Scope: AP Starfire 142 at f/7.5 Mount: AP Mach1 Camera: QSI 583wsg at –15C Exposure: LRGB, 1 hr 5 mins total

Propeller Nebula

 in Gallery / Nebulae  tagged nebula / propeller

This is a case where the name of a nebula is pretty obvious.  The propeller is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus.  It is one of the more mysterious objects of this type.  In particular, we don’t have a clue how it became this shape! This is a narrowband image, captured at Wa-chur-ed Observatory in Hydrogen-alpha, Oxygen-III, and Sulfur-II.  Such images are generally somewhat “false” in color and this one has been tweaked in non-traditional ways to bring out as much detail as possible. Scope: AP Starfire 142 at f/7.5 Mount: AP Mach1 Camera: QSI 583wsg at –15C