M78 The Reflection Nebula

Here's last nights attempt at M78 (The Reflection Nebula). Seeing was very poor so with that in consideration this didn't come out too bad.



(below is from Wikipedia)

The nebula Messier 78 (also known as M 78 or NGC 2068) is a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and included by Charles Messier in his catalog of comet-like objects that same year.

M78 is the brightest diffuse reflection nebula of a group of nebulae that include NGC 2064, NGC 2067 and NGC 2071. This group belongs to the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex and is about 1,600 light years distant from Earth. M78 is easily found in small telescopes as a hazy patch and involves two stars of 10th magnitude. These two stars, HD 38563A and HD 38563B, are responsible for making the cloud of dust in M78 visible by reflecting their light.

About 45 variable stars of the T Tauri type, young stars still in the process of formation as well as some 17 Herbig-Haro objects are known in M78.

M1 Crab Nebula

Here's my 1st attempt at the Crab Nebula. I was only able to get 10 second images so I stacked 40 of the best ones. (click on image for a larger view)



The Crab Nebula (catalogue designations M1, NGC 1952, Taurus A) is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of Taurus. The nebula was first observed by John Bevis in 1731, and corresponds to a bright supernova recorded by Chinese and Arab astronomers in 1054. At X-ray and gamma-ray energies above 30 KeV, the Crab is generally the strongest persistent source in the sky, with measured flux extending to above 1012 eV. Located at a distance of about 6,500 light-years (2 kpc) from Earth, the nebula has a diameter of 11 ly (3.4 pc) and expands at a rate of about 1,500 kilometers per second.

At the center of the nebula lies the Crab Pulsar, a rotating neutron star, which emits pulses of radiation from gamma rays to radio waves with a spin rate of 30.2 times per second. The nebula was the first astronomical object identified with a historical supernova explosion.

The nebula acts as a source of radiation for studying celestial bodies that occult it. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Sun's corona was mapped from observations of the Crab's radio waves passing through it, and more recently, the thickness of the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan was measured as it blocked out X-rays from the nebula.

Orion Nebula

Lots of new "toys" to try out. Some worked some didn't. I now have a "game pad" that will control the telescope. I makes doing my star alignments much easier. Now using EQMOD and Stellarium / Stellarium scope exclusively to operate the mount. I attempt to make my own Auto guider using the 9x50 viewfinder and an old LPI imager however that didn't work out. So after messing around for an hour or so I was able to get some 10 second images. Anything more developed "star trails" So I opted for shooting Orion since it is now prevalent in the sky and bright enough. Here's last nights attempt. (40 each 10 second images stacked).