New Andromeda

I was able to capture about 20- 30 sec images of Andromedia last night. Here's the results. You can begin to see some dust trails on the edges.

Eskimo Nebula

I got a couple hours clear sky before the moon came up tonight. Allowed me to test out the new guide scope (it works!) However the LPI imager isn't going to work out. Oh well save up my nickles and dimes and get a "starshoot" autoguider (maybe my birthday hint hint).
Since I had some darkness I shot for the Eskimo Nebula. Here's the results of 20 second images (18 stacked) final process in PS Elements. (click on image for a larger view)



(from Wikipedia)
The Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392), also known as the Clownface Nebula,[4] is a bipolar[2] double-shell[5] planetary nebula (PN). It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1787. The formation resembles a person's head surrounded by a parka hood. It is surrounded by gas that composed the outer layers of a Sun-like star. The visible inner filaments are ejected by strong wind of particles from the central star. The outer disk contains unusual light-year long orange filaments.

NGC 2392 lies more than 2,870 light-years away and is visible with a small telescope in the constellation of Gemini.

Blue Moon

You've heard the saying "Once in a blue moon" well it happened last night. Every 19 years we are treated to a "Blue Moon" on New Years eve. A blue moon is when we have 2 full moons in the same month. I was going to attempt to see how well my new Vixen guide scope worked last night since we finally had clear sky's but the moon was soooooo bright that it pretty much wiped everything out. So I just shot the moon. The first 4 of these are using the SW254N and the Meade DSI the others are using the Vixen 70 mm guide scope with a Meade LPI. Hope you enjoy!

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).

M71 & M92 Globular Clusters

I'm starting to use Nebulosity software for my capture process. The moon was full tonight so couldn't capture any nebulas so went for clusters instead. Here's my 1st attempts for both (20 ea 30 second images stacked).



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Messier 71 (also known as M71 or NGC 6838) is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagitta. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1746 and included by Charles Messier in his catalog of comet-like objects in 1780. It was also noted by Koehler at Dresden around 1775.

M71 is at a distance of about 12,000 light years away from Earth and spans some 27 light years across. The irregular variable star Z Sagittae is a member of this cluster.

M71 was long thought (until the 1970s) to be a densely packed open cluster and was classified as such by leading astronomers in the field of star cluster research due to its lacking a dense central compression , its stars having more "metals" than is usual for an ancient globular cluster, and further its lacking the RR Lyrae "cluster" variable stars that are common in most globulars. However, modern photometric photometry has detected a short "horizontal branch" in the H-R diagram of M71, which is characteristic of a globular cluster. The shortness of the branch explains the lacking of the RR Lyrae variables and is due to the globular's relatively young age of 9-10 billion years. The relative youth of this globular also explains the abundance of "metals" in its stars. Hence today, M71 is designated as a very loosely concentrated globular cluster, much like M68 in Hydra. M71 has a luminosity of around 13,200 suns.



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Messier 92 (also known as M92 or NGC 6341) is a globular cluster in the constellation Hercules. It was discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1777 and independently rediscovered by Charles Messier on March 18, 1781. M92 is at a distance of about 26,000 light-years away from Earth.

M92 is one of the brighter globular clusters in the northern hemisphere, but it is often overlooked by amateur astronomers because of its proximity to the even more spectacular Messier 13. It is visible to the naked eye under very good conditions. [2]