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Waxing Crescent Moon – 4/26/2023 8:45 EDT

April 28, 2023 by

Waxing Crescent Moon – 4/26/2023 8:45 EDT

Telescope: Unitron 155c 4” f/15, Orion Atlas mount

Camera: QHY 367c Pro

Filter: 2” GSO IR Cut Filter

Exposure: 512x50msec, Gain 2800, Offset 50, -20C, saved as FITS/RAW16

Seeing: Poor, 2/5

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Sharp Cap Pro, Autostakkert, Registax, Nebulosity, Photoshop

This is quick image of the waxing crescent moon taken during twilight with my Unitron 155c and QHY 367c Pro full frame camera. This shows the exceptionally sharp image from the Unitron with no hint of chromatic aberrations. Wonderful scopes!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

NGC 3115 – the Spindle Galaxy in Sextans

April 8, 2023 by

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

Camera: QHY 367c Pro, -20C, Baader Mk III MPCC, GSO IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ZWO ASI120MM mini, PHD2

Exposure: 25x300sec, gain 2800, offset 50, saved as FITS, dithered every 2 images

Darks: 32, -20C, gain 2800, offset 50, saved as FITS

Flats: 64×0.3sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

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

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.3

Stacking: Average, 1 sigma clip

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

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

NGC 3115 is an edge-on lenticular galaxy in Sextans. Lenticular galaxies are similar to spiral galaxies in that they in the form of a broad, thin disk, however, the disk of a lenticular galaxy is smooth and relatively featureless without any clear spiral structure. Another feature of NGC 3115 is that it does not show a significant dust lane along the plane of the galaxy. NGC 3115 has apparently consumed nearly all of its interstellar matter and star birth has come to a stop and the galaxy is composed primarily of old stars. The absence of a dust lane gives the galaxy its characteristic shape and nickname; the Spindle Galaxy. NGC 3115 is one of two galaxies known as the Spindle, the other being NGC 5866 in Draco.

NGC 3115 is relatively small, but a fairly easy visible target and is currently well low in the southeast during the early evening.

Filed Under: Deepsky Imaging

Waxing Gibbous Moon – 9:30pm 4/2/2023 EDT

April 2, 2023 by

Telescope: Tasco 9F 60mm f/13.3 (800mm) Refractor

Camera: ZWO ASI 294MC, 1.25” to 0.965” adapter

Filter: GSO IR Cut Filter

Exposure: 512x6msec, Gain 200, saved as SER

Seeing: Good, 4/5

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: SharpCap Pro, AutoStakkert, Registax, Nebulosity, Photoshop

This 50 year old Tasco produces a sharp, high contrast image with little or no chromic aberration. The lightweight mount proved to be suitably stable and vibrations quickly damped, but like all lightweight mounts it takes a bit of a light touch. The slow motion controls in both altitude and azimuth were easy to use and effective. I chose to use my uncooled ASI294MC as is it a very lightweight color camera with a modest size chip and since there is no shutter there wasn’t a problem with vibrations. This does a fairly good job showing the excellent image quality and the lack of color fringing. Very nice!

Filed Under: Beginner Imaging, Solar System Imaging

M51 – The Whirlpool Galaxy in Canes Venatici

March 22, 2023 by
M51 – The Whirlpool Galaxy in Canes Venatici

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

Camera: QHY 367c Pro, -20C, Baader Mk III MPCC, GSO IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ZWO ASI120MM mini, PHD2

Exposure: 33x300sec, gain 2800, offset 50, saved as FITS, dithered every 2 images

Darks: 32, -20C, gain 2800, offset 50, saved as FITS

Flats: 64×0.3sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

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

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.5

Stacking: Average, 1 sigma clip

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

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

M51 is a beautiful face-on spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici, just south of Alkaid, the bright star that lies at the end of the Big Dipper’s handle. 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.

Filed Under: Deepsky Imaging

NGC 2261 – Hubble’s Variable Nebula in Monoceros

March 18, 2023 by
NGC 2261 – Hubble’s Variable Nebula in Monoceros

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

Camera: QHY 367c Pro, -20C, Baader Mk III MPCC, GSO IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ZWO ASI120MM mini, PHD2

Exposure: 6x300sec, gain 2800, offset 50, saved as FITS, dithered every 2 images

Darks: 32, -20C, gain 2800, offset 50, saved as FITS

Flats: 64×0.3sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

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

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.3

Stacking: Average, 1 sigma clip

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

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

Hubble’s Variable nebula is a small, bright, fan-shaped reflection nebula in Monoceros (the Unicorn). The bright tip of the nebula is not just a star, but a dense nebula hiding a binary star system at its core (R Mon). Clouds of dust are believed to orbit this system, casting shadows up onto the veil causing the overall brightness of the nebula to vary. Time lapse sequences spanning weeks of time show the shadows sweeping across the veil.

This was an interesting image set taken on the evening of February 26th. It was a partly cloudy evening with a lot of haze. I let y camera run until the nebula reached the meridian and sorted through them to find the usable subs. The results is pretty good for only 6 subs! Visually, NGC 2261 appears very much like a beautiful fan-shaped comet. In fact, it appears more like a comet than most faint comets! NGC 2261 is presently high in the east as the sky darkens.

Filed Under: Deepsky Imaging

DX Cancri – Red Dwarf Flare Star in Cancer

March 13, 2023 by
DX Cancri – Red Dwarf Flare Star in Cancer

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

Camera: QHY 367c Pro, -20C, Baader Mk III MPCC, GSO IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ZWO ASI120MM mini, PHD2

Exposure: 9x300sec, gain 2800, offset 50, saved as FITS, dithered every 2 images

Darks: 32, -20C, gain 2800, offset 50, saved as FITS

Flats: 64×0.3sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

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

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.3

Stacking: Average, 1 sigma clip

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

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

DX Cancri is a red dwarf flare star located 11.8 light years away in the direction of Cancer. DX Cancri has only 9% of the sun’s mass and 11% of its diameter and glows a deep red at magnitude 14.8. These lightweight, faint red stars are among the most common in the Milky Way. They are also amazingly long-lived. Because of their low mass they fuse hydrogen into helium at a relatively slow rate and do so very efficiency, resulting in a life span than can be measured in trillions of years. While they are long-lived, they are not necessarily stable. DX Cancri is a flare star, occasionally and unexpectedly brightening as much as five-fold in an event similar to a coronal mass ejection from the sun. Lastly only a few minutes these events are rare and difficult to observe.

This field measures about 0.6 x 0.9 degrees with north up and east to the right. Selected stars are labeled using the AAVSO format with the magnitude shown to the nearest 0.1 magnitude with the decimal omitted. For example, a magnitude 11.2 star is labeled 112.

Filed Under: Deepsky Imaging, Uncategorized

Nearly Full Worm Moon – 3/5/2023, 9:40pm EST

March 6, 2023 by
Nearly Full Worm Moon – 3/5/2023, 9:40pm EST

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

Camera: QHY 367c Pro, Baader Mk III MPCC

Filter: GSO IR Blocking Filter

Exposure: 64x15ms, gain 2000, offset 50, -20C, saved as FITS

Seeing: good, 4/5

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: SharpCap Pro, Nebulosity, Registax, Photoshop

This image of the nearly full Worm Moon was taken about 36 hours before the moon reached completely full on the morning of March 7th. The Worm Moon will be another example of a mini-moon with the moon being just a few days past apogee at a distance of 252,215 miles. This will make the moon a tad smaller and a tad fainter than an average full moon. Note how libration has rotated Mare Crisium nearly to the northeastern limb. That means that features along the southwestern limb are rotating into view. In the days following the full moon you may be able to glimpse the Mare Orientale impact basin and its ring mountains.

Filed Under: Solar System Imaging

NGC 2419 – Globular Cluster in Lynx

March 3, 2023 by
NGC 2419 – Globular Cluster in Lynx

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

Camera: QHY 367c Pro, -20C, Baader Mk III MPCC, GSO IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ZWO ASI120MM mini, PHD2

Exposure: 15x300sec, gain 2800, offset 50, saved as FITS, dithered every 2 images

Darks: 32, -20C, gain 2800, offset 50, saved as FITS

Flats: 64×0.3sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

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

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.6

Stacking: Average, 1 sigma clip

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

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

NGC 2419 is one of the most remote globular clusters orbiting the Milky Way at a distance of 300,000 light years out in the fringes of the globular cluster halo, that’s nearly twice as far as the Large Magellanic cloud! At one time it was believed that NGC 2419 was not gravitationally bound to the Milky Way and was nicknamed the Intergalactic Wanderer, however it has since been shown to be a member of the Milky Way family. Its great distance and the interstellar dust between here and there contributes to the cluster’s beautiful soft color. Note the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 2424 in the upper left corner of this field.

Filed Under: Deepsky Imaging

M79 – Globular Cluster in Lepus

March 1, 2023 by
M79 – Globular Cluster in Lepus

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

Camera: QHY 367c Pro, -20C, Baader Mk III MPCC, GSO IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ZWO ASI120MM mini, PHD2

Exposure: 9x300sec, gain 2800, offset 50, saved as FITS, dithered every 2 images

Darks: 32, -20C, gain 2800, offset 50, saved as FITS

Flats: 64×0.3sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

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

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.3

Stacking: Average, 1 sigma clip

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

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

M79 is one of the few globular clusters in the northern hemisphere’s winter sky. Although relatively bright (Mv 7.7), M79 can be a bit of a challenge for backyard observers as it hides low in the south and is often obscured by skyglow. Interestingly, there is some speculation that M79 may not be a native to the Milky Way, but instead it may be associated with the Canis Major dwarf galaxy which is currently passing very close to our galaxy.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

NGC 2903 – Spiral Galaxy in Leo

February 24, 2023 by
NGC 2903 – Spiral Galaxy in Leo

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

Camera: QHY 367c Pro, -20C, Baader Mk III MPCC, GSO IR Blocking Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ZWO ASI120MM mini, PHD2

Exposure: 23x300sec, gain 2800, offset 50, saved as FITS, dithered every 2 images

Darks: 32, -20C, gain 2800, offset 50, saved as FITS

Flats: 64×0.3sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

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

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.6

Stacking: Average, 1 sigma clip

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

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

NGC 2903 is a fairly bright (Mv 9.0) galaxy located just south of the head of Leo (the Lion). The galaxy is 20.5 million light years away and is 80,000 light years across, making it a little slammer than the Milky Way. I first spotted this galaxy while star-hopping around Leo and Cancer. It is an easy target in an 8” scope where I was able to clearly see the core and bar. The sweeping arms are gorgeous in the photograph, but they are not visible from my backyard.

NGC 2903 is currently well-placed rising in the east during the early evening. (Photo credit: John Graham, 2/13/2023)

Filed Under: Deepsky Imaging
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