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

Camera: Full Spectrum Modified Nikon D810

Filter: GSO IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm, ASI290MM mini, PHD

Exposure: 28x20sec, ISO 200, saved as RAW

Darks: None (dithered every 4 images)

Flats: 32×1/50sec, tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, fair transparency

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

Stacking: Mean with a 1-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard Nikon, 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 currently rises in the northeast during the early evening.

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

Camera: Full Spectrum Modified Nikon D810

Filter: GSO IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm, ASI290MM mini, PHD

Exposure: 139x20sec, ISO 200, saved as RAW

Darks: None (dithered every 4 images)

Flats: 32×1/50sec, tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, fair transparency

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

Stacking: Mean with a 1-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard Nikon, Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

M51 is a beautiful face-on spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici, just south of Alkaid, the bright star that lies at the eastern end of the Big Dipper. 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 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 the face of the galaxy, swung around in an orbit that took it in front, and 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.

M51 currently rises in the northeast during the early evening.

Telescope: GSO 8” f/12 Classical Cassegrain @ f/12, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Canon EOS Ra, Baader Mk III MPCC

Filter: GSO IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm, ASI290MM mini, PHD

Exposure: 24x120sec, ISO 800, 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, poor transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.1 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 1-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard EOS, Deep Sky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop

M46 is one of several relatively bright open clusters that grace the evening sky in winter and early spring. This cluster also sports a beautiful little planetary nebula (NGC 2438) in the foreground. This little nebula looks quite stunning in a modest size telescope with the rich open cluster in the background. I first found M46 with my homemade 10” f/6.7 Newtonian during a Messier Marathon in 1978. I’ll never forget seeing the little planetary nebula in the foreground, it was so neat!

This is one of a series of images taken to evaluate using the GSO CC8 with a Baader Mk III MPCC and a full-frame DSLR for high resolution deepsky imaging. The initial results are quite encouraging.

M46 is currently well placed in the southeast at sunset.

Telescope: GSO 8” f/12 Classical Cassegrain @ f/12, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Canon EOS Ra, Baader Mk III MPCC

Filter: GSO IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm, ASI290MM mini, PHD

Exposure: 21x60sec, ISO 800, 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: 18.4 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 1-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard EOS, Deep Sky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop

M103 is one of several open clusters in Cassiopeia. It is small, rather sparse, and was once thought to be an asterism rather than a true cluster, but it has since been shown to be a distant open cluster. Located just 1.5 degrees northeast of delta Cassiopeia it is easy to find and makes a nice target for small telescopes.

M103 is currently in the northwest during the early evening.

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

Camera: Full Spectrum Modified Nikon D810

Filter: GSO IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: Williams Optics 50mm, ASI290MM mini, PHD

Exposure: 65x10sec, ISO 200, saved as RAW

Darks: None

Flats: 32×1/50sec, tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, poor transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.1 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 1-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard Nikon, Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

This is the first-light image taken with my new-to-me full spectrum modified Nikon D810. I had the usual first night out surprises that were quickly dealt with and I had just a few minutes to catch M42 before it reached the meridian, but I couldn’t resist using it as my first-light target. (I am limited to imaging on the east side of the meridian, so I gotta be quick to catch some targets in the early evening.) This turned out to be an incredibly fast system and exposures longer than 10 seconds would saturate the core and at 20 seconds and I was imaging skyglow. Also, the version of Backyard Nikon that I am running doesn’t support the LENR of the D810, so I was clicking off frames pretty quickly. This turned out to be the first target of 17 that I would visit before dawn with well over a thousand subs. I quickly processed this set to take a peek at how well it worked and I was very happy with the result given the poor transparency. We’ll see how the rest turned out!

This field shows the Great Nebula bracketed by NGC 1977 to the north and NGC 1980 to the south, forming the Sword of Orion. This is a wonderful region to explore with binoculars or a small telescope. Visually the nebula shows a soft gray and displays a wealth of fine detail. This is also a very rewarding region to photograph and even short exposures show a range of beautiful colors. The red of the Great Nebula is the emission of hydrogen set aglow by hot young stars within the nebula while the smoky blue/gray of M42 and the soft blue of NGC 1977 is starlight reflecting off of interstellar dust. The dark lanes are veils of dust in the foreground.

The Sword of Orion is currently well placed in the south as the sky darkens.