M20 Trifid Nebula (dslr)

Here's the latest Trifid Nebula capture. SW 254N, EQ5pro, guided, Canon 350d unmodified:

from Wikipedia:
The Trifid Nebula (catalogued as Messier 20 or M20 and as NGC 6514) is an H II region located in Sagittarius. Its name means 'divided into three lobes'. The object is an unusual combination of an open cluster of stars, an emission nebula (the lower, red portion), a reflection nebula (the upper, blue portion) and a dark nebula (the apparent 'gaps' within the emission nebula that cause the trifid appearance; these are also designated Barnard 85). Viewed through a small telescope, the Trifid Nebula is a bright and colorful object, and is thus a perennial favorite of amateur astronomers.^[2]

M8 The Lagoon Nebula

Here's my attempt at the Lagoon from last night. SW 254N, EQ5 pro, guided, Canon 350d, 5 minute images, 6 each.

M16 Eagle Nebula

From Wikipedia:

The Eagle Nebula (catalogued as Messier 16 or M16, and as NGC 6611) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens, discovered by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux in 1745-46. Its name derives from its shape which is resemblant of an eagle. It is the subject of the famous "Pillars of Creation" photograph by the Hubble Space Telescope, which shows pillars of star-forming gas and dust within the nebula.


6 each 5 minute images: Canon xt (un modified), SkyWatcher 254N 10" newtonian, SW EQ5pro, guided.

M57 the Ring Nebula

I have been doing some major mount alignment, getting it dialed in so the autoguider doesn't have to do quite so much work. I have started using PHD to fine tune the polar alignment and also have changed the position of my OTA so as to help eliminate some of the weight issues. Last night I finally got things dialed in so figured I would attempt to image something. Here's a 16 minute (8 x 2 min)  guided image using my Canon XT (unmodified). I used my doghouse flat panel to take my flats, this time I used the 5 led tap light to illuminate the panel. Very little post processing was done to this image so I'm really happy about how things are working now.

M13 with DSLR

I attempted to capture the M13 Hercules Cluster last night after changing my method of taking flat frames. I now use a white panel at the end of the dog house as my flat capture point. It seemed to work much better and faster than the 't-shirt' method I was using before.

Anyway. Here's my attempt. 4 each 2 minute images ISO 1600 Canon 350d un-modified.

Coma Cluster

You may need to zoom in on this image a bit. But if you look closely the majority of the 'stars' are not really stars at all. They are galaxies!

from Wikipedia:


The Coma Cluster (Abell 1656) is a large cluster of galaxies that contains over 1,000 identified galaxies.^[2][3] Along with the Leo Cluster (Abell 1367), it is one of the two major clusters comprising the Coma Supercluster.^[4] It is located in and takes its name from the constellation Coma Berenices.
The cluster's mean distance from Earth is 99 Mpc (321 million light years).^[3][5][6] Its ten brightest spiral galaxies have apparent magnitudes of 12–14 that are observable with amateur telescopes larger than 20 cm.^{[citation needed]} The central region is dominated by two giant elliptical galaxies: NGC 4874 and NGC 4889.^[7] The cluster is within a few degrees of the north galactic pole on the sky. Most of the galaxies that inhabit the central portion of the Coma Cluster are ellipticals. Both dwarf, as well as giant ellipticals, are found in abundance in the Coma Cluster.^[8]

M102

I was doing some testing of my guiding setup and a new 'light shield' last night so decided to add the my Messier list (up to 34 now).