Telescope: Celestron C9.25 @ f/10, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: QHY 168c, -20C

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ASI290MM Mini, PHD2

Exposure: 48x240sec saved as FITS

Darks: 32x240sec saved as FITS

Flats: 64x10sec, LED tracing tablet

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, fair transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.6 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: SharpCap Pro, Deep Sky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop

M27, the Dumbbell nebula, is an expanding shell of gas that was ejected from a sun-like star as it exhausted its hydrogen fuel. Swollen into a red giant, the star shed its outer shell while its core collapsed into a white dwarf. Fierce UV radiation from the collapsed core sets the surrounds gas aglow with the blue/green light of doubly ionized oxygen. The diameter of the nebula is about 1 light-year with an estimated age of 9,800 years. Located between Sagitta and Cygnus, M27 is fairly easy to find with a small telescope. Visually, it shows two lobes connected by a neck of nebulosity, giving the nebula its characteristic dumbbell shape.

M27 is currently well placed in the northeast as twilight darkens and is visible for most of the night.

Telescope: Celestron C9.25 @ f/10, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: QHY 168c, -10C

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ASI290MM Mini, PHD2

Exposure: 15x120sec saved as FITS

Darks: 32x120sec saved as FITS

Flats: 32x10sec, LED tracing tablet

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, fair transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.5 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: SharpCap Pro, Deep Sky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop

Visually, the Ring appears as a ghostly smoke ring about the size of Jupiter. The nebula itself is not actually a ring, but more likely a torus or a short hour-glass, we just happen to the looking down the long axis, giving the nebula its characteristic shape.

M57 is currently well placed rising in the northeast as twilight darkens and is visible for most of the night.

Telescope: Meade SN10 at f/4, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: QHY 168c, -10: Deepsky Default; Gain: 4, Offset 30

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm, ASI290MM Mini, PHD2

Exposure: 5x240sec saved as FITS

Darks: 32x240sec saved as FITS

Flats: 32×0.25sec, tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, poor transparency, clouds

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.4 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

What I found remarkable about this image is that it is the product of only 5 subs! This particular evening unexpectedly turned cloudy and I was able to salvage only 5 usable source images. Pretty neat!

M104, the Sombrero Galaxy, is a barred spiral that we view from with 6 degrees of edge-on. The galaxy shows a prominent dust lane and a large central bulge that gives it an interesting 3D appearance and its characteristic shape. The galaxy itself is fairly large with an estimated diameter of 130,000 light years and hosts a super-massive black hole in its core with mass on the order of 1 billion suns. Visually, M104 is relatively condensed and bright with the dust lane forming a dark boundary across the southern edge of the core.

M104 is currently well placed in the south as the sky darkens.

Telescope: Celestron C9.25 @ f/10, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: QHY 168c, -20C

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ASI290MM Mini, PHD2

Exposure: 30x120sec saved as FITS

Darks: 32x120sec saved as FITS

Flats: 64x10sec, LED tracing tablet

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, fair transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.6 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: SharpCap Pro, Deep Sky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop

NGC 6229 is the 3^rd globular cluster in Hercules along with the much larger and brighter M13 and M92. I found this little gem while star-hopping around Hercules northward towards Draco and it has become one of my favorite star-hopping destinations. Small and faint, NGC6229 is easy to locate once you’ve spotted the two 8^th magnitude stars just to the right (west) of the cluster. The late spring and early summer sky hosts several beautiful globular clusters in a broad swath from Hercules in the north to across Bootes and Ophiuchus to the south, and on to Scorpio, and Sagittarius in the southeast. It is neat to hop from one to another to appreciate how different they can be from one another.

NGC 6229 is currently well placed in the northeast as twilight darkens and is visible for most of the night.

Telescope: Celestron C9.25 @ f/10, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: QHY 168c, -10C

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ASI290MM Mini, PHD2

Exposure: 126x30sec saved as TIFFs

Darks: 32x30sec saved as TIFFs

Flats: 32×0.050sec, tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, poor transparency, bright moonlight, clouds

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 17.0 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: SharpCap Pro, Deep Sky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop

M92 is the ‘other’ globular cluster in Hercules. M92 lies to the northeast of the popular M13 globular cluster in a relatively lonely patch of sky making it a bit harder to locate, but well worth the effort. Interestingly, M92 is listed as being fainter than M13 (Mv 6.4 for M92 vs. 5.8 for M13), but I find the core of M92 to be a tad brighter than M13. This is likely the result the apparent size of M13 being larger than M92 giving M13 a higher total integrated brightness.

This is one of 5 images that I took under fairly poor conditions to evaluate my C9.25 for deepsky imaging in its native f/10 focal length. Although not as good as a modern Edge or ACF Schmidt Cassegrain, it does fairly well with an APS-c sensor. I’m seriously thinking about using the C9.25 for high resolution deepsky imaging.

M92 is currently well placed, high in the northeast after sunset.

Telescope: Celestron C9.25 @ f/10, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: QHY 168c, -10C

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ASI290MM Mini, PHD2

Exposure: 104x30sec saved as TIFFs

Darks: 32x30sec saved as TIFFs

Flats: 32×0.050sec, tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, poor transparency, bright moonlight, clouds

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 17.0 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

This is M13, the Great Cluster in Hercules. If you look carefully at M13 you can see a dust lane to the lower left of the cluster. This is a very unusual feature for a globular cluster and it is not clear if this is actually associated with M13 or simply lies in our line of sight.

This is one of 5 images that I took under fairly poor conditions to evaluate my C9.25 for deepsky imaging in its native f/10 focal length. Although not as good as a modern Edge or ACF Schmidt Cassegrain, it does fairly well with an APS-c sensor.

M13 is currently well placed, high in the northeast after sunset

Telescope: Celestron C9.25 @ f/10, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: QHY 168c, 0C

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ASI290MM Mini, PHD2

Exposure: 80x30sec saved as TIFFs

Darks: 32x30sec saved as TIFFs

Flats: 32×0.050sec, tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, fair transparency, bright moonlight

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 17.8 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

M3 is a beautiful example of a globular cluster in a relatively lonely stretch of sky. The cluster is a member of the galactic halo and spends much of its time orbiting well outside the plane of the galaxy. It is presently 33,000 light years away from us, 40,000 light years from the galactic core, and 33,000 light years ‘above’ the galactic plane. Home to about 500,000 stars, M3 is relatively young as globular clusters go with an estimated age of 8 billion years.

M3 is currently well placed, high overhead as the sky darkens.

Telescope: Meade SN10 at f/4, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: QHY 168c, -10: Deepsky Default; Gain: 4, Offset 30

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm, ASI290MM Mini, PHD2

Exposure: 17x240sec saved as FITS

Darks: 32x240sec saved as FITS

Flats: 32×0.25sec, tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, fair transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.4 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

M20, the Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius is one of a series of nebula that grace the southern Milky Way as seen from mid northern latitudes. The red is a tenuous cloud of hydrogen set aglow by stars embedded in it, the blue is dust in the background reflecting starlight and the dark lanes are vast streamers of dust in the foreground. Being near the Milky Way this field is crowded with faint stars, accept near the nebula. This shows that the nebula is in the foreground, blocking the light from the faint distant stars in the background. Visually, I find M20 to be quite a challenge from my backyard. The bright double star at its core makes a good guidepost lying near the confluence of the dark dust lanes.

M20 rises in the southeast shortly before midnight and rises to the south during the early morning hours.

Telescope: Meade SN10 at f/4, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: QHY 168c, -10: Deepsky Default; Gain: 4, Offset 30

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm, ASI290MM Mini, PHD2

Exposure: 27x240sec saved as FITS

Darks: 32x240sec saved as FITS

Flats: 32×0.25sec, tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, fair transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.6 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

At the center of this field is what appears to be a small, faint, elliptical galaxy surrounded by a cluster of faint stars. However, this galaxy appears small only because of its great distance; 1.04 billion light years! This is IC 1101, one of the largest galaxies known. This supergiant lies at the center of the Abell 2029 galaxy cluster in Virgo. The faint stars that appear to form a cluster around the galaxy are actually satellite galaxies of IC 1101. The galaxy itself is approximately 420,000 light years across with a halo that spans nearly 4 million light years and is home to about 100 trillion suns. Recent studies suggest that the core of IC 1101 is relatively sparse having the been hollowed out by the galaxy’s supermassive black hole.

IC 1101 is currently low in the southeast after sunset and is high in the south by midnight.

Telescope: Astro-Tech RC8 @ f/8, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Baader modified Nikon D610, Baader Mk III MPCC

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, Starlight Xpress Super Star, PHD2

Exposure: 10x120sec, ISO 400, saved as RAW

Darks: Internal (Long Exposure Noise Reduction On)

Flats: 32×1/25sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, Bortle 8, fair transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.6 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard Nikon, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

M64 is a beautiful spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices and is an easy target for small telescopes. It has a very soft spiral structure with a distinctive dust lane that gives it its nickname; the Black Eye Galaxy. Interestingly, the interstellar gas in the outer region of the galaxy is rotating in the opposite direction to the stars and gas in the inner regions, the scars of a collision with another galaxy a long time ago.

This target definitely needs more subs, but I lost about hald of the source images to passing clouds. I hope to get another chance yet this year, but I may have to wait until next year to try again. So much to try, so few clear nights.

M64 is currently well placed high in the northeast after sunset.