Galaxies


Pinwheel Galaxy (M101)

(Updated Dec. 2017) Also known as M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy is in Ursa Major (the Big Dipper) and about 21 million light years from Earth. It is a spiral galaxy, like the Milky Way, but is unusually asymmetric.  The smaller galaxy on the left side is NGC5474, and there is an even smaller one above M101, NGC5477. Scope: AT111EDT at f/5.7 Mount: AP Mach1GTO Camera: QSI 683 at –20C


Markarian’s Chain

Located in the constellation Virgo and part of the Virgo Cluster, Markarian’s chain is a grouping of galaxies that appear (from Earth) to form a curved line. In reality, many of the galaxies are gravitationally related, but others simply appear to be related to the others from our perspective. This image includes M84, M86, and many other identified galaxies. Captured in April of 2011 at Wa-chur-ed Observatory as part of the initial testing of the AT111EDT telescope. The Televue reducer/flattener was not a good match to this scope, so the corner stars are somewhat distorted. Scope: AT111EDT at f/5.6 Mount: […]


M106 and Neighbors

This image contains numerous galaxies, with M106 just being the largest one visible.  Several others are clearly visible in this small version of the image, and when you look at the original (full size) image many more galaxies, some just a few pixels in size, appear.  M106 is in the constellation Canes Venatici and is about 24 million light-years away. Captured in June of 2013 at Wa-chur-ed Observatory, this is one of the few LRGB images done from my home observatory.  Generally speaking, galaxies are too dim to be photographed in such light-polluted skies and this probably would have shown […]


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Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)

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)

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)


M106

Taken in June of 2013 at Wa-chur-ed Observatory, this is one of the few LRGB images done from my home observatory.  Generally speaking, galaxies are too dim to be photographed in such light-polluted skies and this probably would have shown more detail and color if I had done it at a dark sky site. Scope: AT111EDT at f/5.6 Mount: AP Mach1 GTO Camera: QSI 583 at –15C Exposure: LRGB, 4.5 hrs total


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Triangulum Galaxy

M33 is located in the Triangulum constellation. It is sometimes called the Pinwheel Galaxy, but that name is also used for M101, so Triangulum is preferred. It is about 2,700 light years from Earth. This image is a combination of LRGB data captured at a dark sky site and hydrogen-alpha data captured at Wa-chur-ed Observatory. The H-alpha data enhances the bright red regions. Scope: AP 142 at f/7.5 Mount: AP Mach1GTO Camera: QSI 583 at –15C Exposure: LRGB+H-a, 4 hrs 50 mins total


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Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

This was captured on the first night of the 2011 Oregon Star Party and there was smoke in the air, especially to the west. So I chose a bright target to the east, even though I couldn’t fit it all in the frame. Andromeda is a spiral galaxy that is fairly similar to our own Milky Way galaxy and our closest neighboring galaxy of similar size. Of course, “neighboring” may seem like a strange word to use, since it is over 2 million light years away! That means that this is actually a photograph of what Andromeda looked like 2 […]