Telescope: Meade 12” LX850 ACF @ f/8, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: ZWO ASI071 MC Pro, -10C, Gain 200

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

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

Exposure: 21x240sec, saved as FITS

Darks: 32x240s, saved as FITS

Flats: 32×0.02sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Bortle 8, poor transparency, haze, good seeing

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.3 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

This has got to be one of the most remarkable objects I have ever imaged. This small field, measuring about ½ degree wide, lies in the constellation of Lynx which is rising in the northeast this time of year. The field is sprinkled with galaxies as faint as magnitude 17 that appear as little smudges of various sizes and shapes. But the most remarkable object is the tiny red 15.2 magnitude ‘star’ at the center, only this isn’t a star, it’s a quasar; radiation from the accretion disk of a supermassive black hole at the core of an ancient galaxy that formed when the Universe was young. APM 08279+5255, the most distant object visible in amateur telescopes with an estimated distance of 12 billion light years, 87% of the way back towards the birth of the Universe itself! To put it in perspective the Universe is estimated to be 13.8 billion years old and the light from this object has been traveling for 12 billion of those years. The sun is young by comparison, only 4.6 billion years old. When the sun was born the light from this quasar had already been traveling for 7.4 billion years. The color is also fascinating. It appears red, but it’s not, it’s really a brilliant blue-white. This object is receding from us at such a great speed that its color has been red-shifted from blue, all the way across the visible spectrum to red.

APM 08279+5255 is currently well placed in the northeast after sunset and is high overhead by midnight. Although quite faint, APM 08279+5255 is certainly within the reach of large telescopes, even from suburban skies. This would make a fascinating visual target. It would be quite something to see 12 billion year old photons!

Telescope: Celestron Comet Catcher 5.5” f/3.6 Schmidt Newtonian, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: ZWO ASI294MC Pro, 0C; Gain: 200

Filter: Hutech IDAS LPS P2

Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm, Meade DSI Pro III, PHD

Exposure: 47x120sec saved as FITS

Darks: 32x120sec saved as FITS

Flats: 32×0.25sec Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, good transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.7 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

M31 is an iconic spiral in the constellation of Andromeda. Under dark skies it is easily visible to the naked eye and from urban skies it is an easy object for binoculars and small telescopes. At a distance of some 2 million light years, it is the farthest object easily visible to the naked eye. M31 also has several satellite galaxies, two of which are visible here. M32 is about as bright as the core of M31 and is located at the bottom center of this field. To the upper right is the much fainter M110. It is easy to be disappointed with the visual appearance of M31 since it is often shown in highly processed images such as the one I give here. However, the true appearance is quite beautiful in its own way. The core is relatively bright and almost stellar, surrounded by a soft luminous glow that I always think of as pearl. This gradually fades into the background sky.

: Meade 12” LX850 ACF @ f/8, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: ZWO ASI071 MC Pro, -10C, Gain 200

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

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

Exposure: 34x240sec, saved as FITS

Darks: 32x240s, saved as FITS

Flats: 32×0.02sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Bortle 8, poor transparency, haze, good seeing

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.2 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

NGC 1501 is a gorgeous planetary nebula in Camelopardalis. This is a great example of how well this telescope can perform when the seeing is good. This brings my check-out of this telescope to an end. Lesson learned; when the seeing is poor I may be better off using one of my faster wide field scopes, but when the seeing is good this telescope can do an excellent job capturing fine details in small targets.

NGC 1501 is currently well placed high in the northeast after sunset and it high overhead by 9 o’clock. Glowing faintly at magnitude 11.9 it can be a bit of a challenge, but shows well in a modest size telescope, say 10” or larger.

Telescope: Meade 12” LX850 ACF @ f/8, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: ZWO ASI071 MC Pro, -10C, Gain 200

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

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

Exposure: 40x240sec, saved as FITS

Darks: 32x240s, saved as FITS

Flats: 32×0.02sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Bortle 8, poor transparency, haze, good seeing

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.3 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

M82 is a close neighbor to the nearby spiral galaxy M81 which is located about ½ degree to the south. These two form an interacting pair and M82 bears the scars of a close encounter with M82 about 100 million years ago. The dark dust lanes that cut across the central region of the galaxy are very distinctive and are easily visible in modest telescopes. M82 was originally classified as an irregular galaxy, but detailed studies had shown that it is actually a spiral seen nearly edge-on.

M82 rises in the northeast early in the evening and is overhead after midnight. (Photo credit: John Graham, 1-9-2021)

Telescope: Meade 12” LX850 ACF @ f/8, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: ZWO ASI071 MC Pro, -10C, Gain 200

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

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

Exposure: 33x60sec, saved as FITS

Darks: 32x60s, saved as FITS

Flats: 32×0.02sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Bortle 8, poor transparency, haze, good seeing

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.5 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 a morning object, rising after midnight and is high overhead at dawn. This was the last image taken from my most recent all-nighter and I snuck it in first glow of dawn.

Telescope: Meade 12” LX850 ACF @ f/8, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: ZWO ASI071 MC Pro, -10C, Gain 200

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

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

Exposure: 32x240sec, saved as FITS

Darks: 32x240s, saved as FITS

Flats: 32×0.02sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Bortle 8, poor transparency, haze, good seeing

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.3 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

M51 is a large, beautiful face-on spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici. Visually from urban skies you will usually see only the cores of the two galaxies, but from dark skies the spiral structure of M51 becomes visible. The spiral arm that appears to connect M51 to the nearby companion (NGC 5195) is a bit of an illusion. The companion actually lies behind M51, and if you look closely you can see that the spiral arm is silhouetted against the background galaxy. Modern observations with radio telescope and computer modeling suggest that the companion has made at least two passes through the main disk of M51. During the first, it approached M51 from behind, passed through M51, swung around in an orbit that took it in front of M51, then back through the disk where it lies now behind M51. These passes set off bursts of star formation that gives the arms of M51 their beautiful blue color.

M57 is located below the handle of the Big Dipper and rises late in the evening. It is high overhead in the early morning. This the first evening that I have been able to use my 12” LX850 with reasonably good seeing. The detail in the core and spiral arms of M57 hints at what this telescope is capable of.

Telescope: Astro-Tech 8” f/8 Ritchey-Chretien, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: ZWO ASI071MC Pro, -10C, Gain 200, Baader Mk III MPCC

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, Meade DSI Pro II, PHD

Exposure: 20x180s, saved as FITS

Darks: 32x180s, saved as FITS

Flats: 32×0.2s, sky flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, Bortle 8, poor 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

NGC 654 is a beautiful little open cluster in Cassiopeia. A bit faint for small telescopes, but nicely condensed in modest size telescopes. I first spotted this little gem while star-hopping Cassiopeia with an 8” SCT.

NGC 654 is currently well placed high overhead after sunset. (Photo credit: John Graham, 11-12-2020)

Telescope: Astro-Tech 8” f/8 Ritchey-Chretien, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: ZWO ASI071MC Pro, -10C, Gain 200, Baader Mk III MPCC

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, Meade DSI Pro II, PHD

Exposure: 17x120s, saved as FITS

Darks: 32x120s, saved as FITS

Flats: 32×0.2s, sky flats taken at dusk

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

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.3 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

NGC457 is one of my favorite open clusters in just about any size telescope. It makes a fine target for binoculars and small telescopes and becomes a very rich field in larger scopes. The two bright distinctive foreground stars makes it fairly easy to locate. In a small telescope it is worth taking some time with this field. At first your eye may only see the two bright foreground stars and a few of the brighter stars of the cluster. As your eyes relax you may start to see some of the fainter background stars and the cluster will begin to blossom into a beautiful field of stardust.

NGC 457 is located high overhead after sunset.

Telescope: Astro-Tech 8” f/8 Ritchey-Chretien, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: ZWO ASI071MC Pro, -10C, Gain 200, Baader Mk III MPCC

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, Meade DSI Pro II, PHD

Exposure: 16x60s, saved as FITS

Darks: 32x60s, saved as FITS

Flats: 32×0.2s, sky flats taken at dusk

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

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.3 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

NGC 7686 is a nice open cluster in Andromeda that hosts two nice foreground stars.

NGC 7686 is located high overhead after sunset.

Close examination of the field centered on M32 showed that it also included several globular clusters associated with M31. M32 itself has no known globular clusters, while M31 has over 400. The Milky Way has 120 known globular clusters. The 7 globular clusters identified in this field are all in the range of Mv 15-16.

Neat stuff!