A smaller telescope is needed to show all of this galaxy. This image also shows a bit more of the surrounding faint dust than the older version does. Scope: WO Star71 at f/4.9 Mount: AP Mach1 Camera: QSI583 Exposure: LRGB, 3 hrs 20 mins total
(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
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: […]
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 […]
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
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)