This has been a while coming. Laptop problems, weather, building work....So the data has been collected between October and December. Normal settings. No darks, no dark flats, no lights.....and no artefacts??? Not sure about why.
The fish head is looking down, btw!
IC 1795 is an area of gas and dust and also a star forming region in the northern constellation Cassiopeia.
IC 1795 is an extension of the larger Heart nebula or IC 1805.
Removal of the focal reducer, addition of the Revelation x2 Barlow , et voila, F20 SCT!
Tryin gto get to grips with focussing, plus not really sure how much 'seeing' changes. Targets so far are Saturn, Jupiter and Sunspots.
Imaging using Sharpcap, around 1000 frames/2 minutes of avi, then using Autostakkart /Registax.
Jupiter, with Io just coming into view at the top, with the shadow of Io right on the top edge.
30 odd mins of L and around 10 each of RGB
Ten thousand years ago, before the dawn of recorded human history, a new light must suddenly have appeared in the night sky and faded after a few weeks. Today we know this light was an exploding star and record the colorful expanding cloud as the Veil Nebula. Pictured above is the west end of the Veil Nebula known technically as NGC 6960, but less formally as the Witch's Broom Nebula. The rampaging gas gains its colors by impacting and exciting existing nearby gas.
I left the telescope collecting images of M15 to try and improve on the earlier picture. When I went to turn it off just around midnight, I saw that Jupiter was no visible. So, 2000 frames in L, 1000 in each of R,G and B. Processed in Registax and combined in Photoshop.
It looks like the Great Red Spot is just visible on the lower edge.
The Eagle Nebula, now with 23 mins in R,G and B and 60 in L.
What with the loss of night and then murky weather, this is the first image I have collected in months. Based on 11 mins L (!) and single frames of R and G and two frames of B.
The Eagle Nebula (catalogued as Messier 16 or M16, and as NGC 6611, and also known as the Star Queen Nebula and The Spire) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens, discovered by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux in 1745–46. Both the "Eagle" and the "Star Queen" refer to visual impressions of the dark silhouette near the center of the nebula, an area made famous as the "Pillars of Creation" imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. The nebula contains several active star-forming gas and dust regions, including the aforementioned Pillars of Creation. The Eagle Nebula lies in the Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way.
Moon was gibbous so pretty bright. Nice clear night though.
L: 3hrs 17 min , 102 x 114s, 139 gain, 1x1
RGB: around an hour each, 30 x 114s, 139 gain, 1x1
Wikipedia:M101 is a large galaxy, with a diameter of 170,000 light-years. By comparison, the Milky Way has a diameter of 100,000 light-years. It has around a trillion stars, twice the number in the Milky Way. It has a disk mass on the order of 100 billion solar masses, along with a small central bulge of about 3 billion solar masses. Its characteristics can be compared to those of Andromeda Galaxy.
M101 has a high population of H II regions, many of which are very large and bright. H II regions usually accompany the enormous clouds of high density molecular hydrogen gas contracting under their own gravitational force where stars form. H II regions are ionized by large numbers of extremely bright and hot young stars; those in M101 are capable of creating hot superbubbles. In a 1990 study, 1264 H II regions were cataloged in the galaxy. Three are prominent enough to receive New General Catalogue numbers—NGC 5461, NGC 5462, and NGC 5471.
M101 is asymmetrical due to the tidal forces from interactions with its companion galaxies. These gravitational interactions compress interstellar hydrogen gas, which then triggers strong star formation activity in M101's spiral arms that can be detected in ultraviolet images.
These images were captured on 17th April, the last ones using my old Bahtinov mask. The sky went very murky around midnight, hence the abbreviated data.
L: 34 x 114 s (1 hr), 139 gain, 1x1
RGB: approx 11 x 114 (20mins), 139 gain, 1x1
Wikipedia: NGC 5907 (also known as Knife Edge Galaxy or Splinter Galaxy) is a spiral galaxy located approximately 50 million light years from Earth. It has an anomalously low metallicity and few detectable giant stars, being apparently composed almost entirely of dwarf stars.It is a member of the NGC 5866 Group.
NGC 5907 has long been considered a prototypical example of a warped spiral in relative isolation. In 2006, an international team of astronomers announced the presence of an extended tidal stream surrounding the galaxy that challenges this picture and suggests the gravitational perturbations induced by the stream progenitor may be the cause for the warp.
NGC 5907 is also known as NGC 5906. This second NGC number refers to a fainter part of the galaxy lying west of the dust lane that was recorded by astronomer and physicist George Johnstone Stoney on April 13, 1850.
I have bought a new bahtinov mask in order to try and improve the focus. The mask was 3D printed and has finer slits than my old (home made) one. The diffracted image of the star was definitely sharper and I was able to get a point of focus where the value wobbled around the 'in focus' value.
L : 74 x 114 s (2hrs 20min) , 139 gain, 1x1
R: 23 x 114 s (41min), 139 gain, 1x1
G:23 x 114 s (41min), 139 gain, 1x1
B:25 x 114 s (45min), 139 gain, 1x1
Wikipedia:
NGC 5866 (also called the Spindle Galaxy or Messier 102) is a relatively bright lenticular galaxy in the constellation Draco. NGC 5866 was most likely discovered by Pierre Méchain or Charles Messier in 1781, and independently found by William Herschel in 1788. Measured orbital velocities of its globular cluster system[5] imply that dark matter makes up only 34±45% of the mass within 5 effective radii; a notable paucity.
One of the most outstanding features of NGC 5866 is the extended dust disk, which is seen almost exactly edge-on. This dust lane is highly unusual for a lenticular galaxy. The dust in most lenticular galaxies is generally found only near the nucleus and generally follows the light profile of the galaxies' bulges. This dust disk may contain a ring-like structure, although the shape of this structure is difficult to determine given the edge-on orientation of the galaxy. It is also possible that the galaxy is a spiral galaxy that was misclassified as a lenticular galaxy because of its edge-on orientation, in which case the dust lane would not be too unusual.
NGC 5866 is one of the brightest galaxies in the NGC 5866 Group, a small galaxy group that also includes the spiral galaxies NGC 5879 and NGC 5907. This group may actually be a subclump at the northwest end of a large, elongated structure that comprises the M51 Group and the M101 Group, although most sources distinguish the three groups as separate entities.
These were imaged across two nights, trying ot get subs from 9pm till 5 am on both. Usual settings, with L being 3 times the total for RG and B, all at 1x1, bias 139 and 114s subs.
NGC 4526 L:3hr 11 min RGB around 1 hr
M98 : L 3hr 27 min RGB around 1hr 10 min
104 x 114 s
The main difference from recent images is that I have added a focal corrector again, so instead of being at F10, the scope is at F6.3, images should be flatter with less coma and a larger FOV.
Wikipedia: NGC 4526 (also listed as NGC 4560) is a lenticular galaxy located approximately 55 million light-years from the Solar System in the Virgo constellation and discovered on 13 April 1784 by William Herschel.
The galaxy is seen nearly edge-on. The morphological classification is SAB(s)0°,which indicates a lenticular structure with a weak bar across the center and pure spiral arms without a ring. It belongs to the Virgo cluster and is one of the brightest known lenticular galaxies.
The inner nucleus of this galaxy displays a rise in stellar orbital motion that indicates the presence of a central dark mass. The best fit model for the motion of molecular gas in the core region suggests there is a supermassive black hole with about 4.5+4.2−3.0×108 (450 million) times the mass of the Sun. This is the first object to have its black-hole mass estimated by measuring the rotation of gas molecules around its centre with an Astronomical interferometer (in this case the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy).
Wikipedia: Messier 98, M98 or NGC 4192, is an intermediate spiral galaxy about 44.4 million light-years away in slightly northerly Coma Berenices, about 6° to the east of the bright star Denebola (Beta Leonis). It was discovered by French astronomer Pierre Méchain on 1781, along with nearby M99 and M100, and was catalogued by compatriot Charles Messier 29 days later in his Catalogue des Nébuleuses & des amas d'Étoiles. It has a blueshift, denoting ignoring of its fast other movement (vectors of proper motion), it is approaching at about 140 km/s.
The morphological classification of this galaxy is SAB(s)ab, which indicates it is a spiral galaxy that displays mixed barred and non-barred features with intermediate to tightly wound arms and no ring. It is highly inclined to the line of sight at an angle of 74° and has a maximum rotation velocity of 236 km/s.The combined mass of the stars in this galaxy is an estimated 76 billion (7.6 × 1010) times the mass of the Sun. It contains about 4.3 billion solar masses of neutral hydrogen and 85 million solar masses in dust. The nucleus is active, displaying characteristics of a "transition" type object. That is, it shows properties of a LINER-type galaxy intermixed with an H II region around the nucleus.
The weather forecast was dry overnight so I had a go at collecting data from Dusk till dawn. I collected around 3 hours in L, and an hour each in R, g and B. Lost quite a lot of frames to poor guiding in the early stage, plus DSS rejected a few too. Subs were 115 s at a gain of 139, all at 1x1.
Wikipedia: NGC 4216 is one of the largest and brightest spiral galaxies of the Virgo Cluster, with an absolute magnitude that has been estimated to be −22 (i.e.: brighter than the Andromeda Galaxy), and like most spiral galaxies of this cluster shows a deficiency of neutral hydrogen that's concentrated within the galaxy's optical disk and has a low surface density for a galaxy of its type. This explains why NGC 4216 is considered an anaemic galaxy by some authors, also with a low star formation activity for a galaxy of its type.[5] In fact, the galaxy's disk shows pillar-like structures that may have been caused by interactions with the intracluster medium of Virgo and/or with nearby galaxies.
In NGC 4216's halo, besides a rich system of globular clusters with a number of them estimated in around 700 (nearly five times more than the Milky Way), two stellar streams that are interpreted as two satellite galaxies being disrupted and absorbed by this galaxy are present.
NGC 4216 seems to be in a place of the Virgo cluster where dwarf galaxies are being destroyed/accreted at a high rate, with it suffering many interactions with these type of galaxies.
Over a couple of nights I have used the camera as an enhanced eye, looking at all sorts of objects (Messier objects, open clusters, galaxies, etc.). One that I had not seen before and took my fancy for a photo target was MEssier 46, which has in the space between us and it, a planetary nebula.
As my usual, not enough subs, especially in colour (8 min or thereabouts), plus 30 in L.
PRoblems again with DSS not detecting enough stars; didn't have many lights anyway and lost most of the R, G and B when stacking. Hence, very noisy image. Maybe I should use the lens corrector and make a smaller FOV?
Over a couple of nights I took subs of Barnard 33 The Horsehead Nebula in Orion and Messier 66, one of the members of the Leo Triplet of galaxies. Both images have around 100 mins on La,d 30 each of R, G and B.
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| Barnard 33 The Horsehead Nebula in Orion |
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| M66 in Leo |
Wikipedia: Messier 66 or M66, also known as NGC 3627, is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the southern, equatorial half of Leo. It was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messieron March 1, 1780, who described it as "very long and very faint". This galaxy is a member of a small group of galaxies that includes M65 and NGC 3628, known as the Leo Triplet, or the M66 Group.
A beautifully clear, moonless night. Last session I had imaged Bode's Nebula, so I though I would do its companion, M82 tonight. Around 32 mins in RG and B and 102 mins in L, all at 1x1, gain 139.
Wikipedia:
Messier 82 (also known as NGC 3034, Cigar Galaxy or M82) is a starburst galaxy approximately 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. A member of the M81 Group, it is about five times more luminous than the Milky Way and has a centre one hundred times more luminous. The starburst activity is thought to have been triggered by interaction with neighbouring galaxy M81. As the closest starburst galaxy to Earth, M82 is the prototypical example of this galaxy type. SN 2014J, a type Ia supernova, was discovered in the galaxy on 21 January 2014. In 2014, in studying M82, scientists discovered the brightest pulsar yet known, designated M82 X-2.
The previous night I had collected five hours of data on M106 to find that DSS couldn't find enough stars in the subs!! I think it must be the contrast reducing effect of a full moon. I need to revisit that one to be sure.
Anyway, in order ot check it wasn't a problem with DSS, I took some more subs of M81 and then combined them with ones I took in April last year. So, around 5 hours of L and 40 mins each of R, G and B.
I must admit, I am quite pleased!
Not a lot of data, only about 1 hour in L and 20 mins in RGB, plus DEW!!!
Prior to this , a lot of trouble with the software. Could not get Plate Solving to work in APT. Then the whole thing crashed when I didn't disconnect from EQMOD ASCOM properly. SO, virtually everything ended up being reinstalled. The nan hour or two having trouble getting the drivers to load; In the end I had to install them as Administrator - considering I was logged on as Admin, very strange.
Now, everything seems to be ok and at least I managed to get some data, although most of it through a dew covered front plate.
And of course, full moon!
Still worth saving, just!
An interesting galaxy, see below.
Wikipedia:
Messier 106 (also known as NGC 4258) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781. M106 is at a distance of about 22 to 25 million light-years away from Earth. M106 contains an active nucleus classified as a Type 2 Seyfert, and the presence of a central supermassive black hole has been demonstrated from radio-wavelength observations of the rotation of a disk of molecular gas orbiting within the inner light-year around the black hole. NGC 4217 is a possible companion galaxy of Messier 106.A Type II supernova was observed in M106 in May 2014.
M106 has a water vapor megamaser (the equivalent of a laser operating in microwave instead of visible light and on a galactic scale) that is seen by the 22-GHz line of ortho-H2O that evidences dense and warm molecular gas. These water vapors give M106 its characteristic purple color. Water masers are useful to observe nuclear accretion disks in active galaxies. The water masers in M106 enabled the first case of a direct measurement of the distance to a galaxy, thereby providing an independent anchor for the cosmic distance ladder. M106 has a slightly warped, thin, almost edge-on Keplerian disc which is on a subparsec scale. It surrounds a central area with mass 4 × 107M⊙.
It is one of the largest and brightest nearby galaxies, similar in size and luminosity to the Andromeda Galaxy. The supermassive black hole at the core has a mass of (3.9±0.1)×107 M☉.[15]
M106 has also played an important role in calibrating the cosmic distance ladder. Before, Cepheid variables from other galaxies could not be used to measure distances since they cover ranges of metallicities different from the Milky Way's. M106 contains Cepheid variables similar to both the metallicities of the Milky Way and other galaxies' Cepheids. By measuring the distance of the Cepheids with metallicities similar to our galaxy, astronomers are able to recalibrate the other Cepheids with different metallicities, a key fundamental step in improving quantification of distances to other galaxies in the universe.
A very crisp and cold night. I added more luminance data and also collected some RGB for NGC 2841. There is now around 4 hours in L and an hour each in R, G and B.
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| NGC 2841 in Ursa Major |
A very frosty and clear night, though the moon was gibbous. I chose NGC 2841 as a target and captured around 3 1/4 hours of data at 114 s, gain 139.
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| NGC 2841 in Ursa Major |
Wikipedia:
NGC 2841 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Major. A 2001 Hubble Space Telescope survey of the galaxy's Cepheid variables determined its distance to be approximately 14.1 megaparsecs or 46 million light-years.
This is the prototype for the flocculent spiral galaxy, a type of spiral galaxy whose arms are patchy and discontinuous. The morphological class is SAa, indicating a spiral galaxy with no central bar and very tightly-wound arms. There is no grand design structure visible in the optical band, although some inner spiral arms can be seen in the near infrared.
The properties of NGC 2841 are similar to those of the Andromeda Galaxy. It is home to a large population of young blue stars, and a few H II regions. The luminosity of the galaxy is 2×1010 M☉ and it has a combined mass of 7×1010 M☉. Its disk of stars can be traced out to a radius of around 228 kly (70 kpc). This disk begins to warp at a radius of around 98 kly (30 kpc), suggesting the perturbing effect of in-falling matter from the surrounding medium.
The rotational behavior of the galaxy suggests there is a massive nuclear bulge,with a low-ionization nuclear emission-line region at the core; a type of region that is characterized by spectral line emission from weakly ionized atoms. A prominent molecular ring is orbiting at a radius of 7–20 kly (2–6 kpc), which is providing a star-forming region of gas and dust. The nucleus appears decoupled and there is a counter-rotating element of stars and gas in the outer parts of the nucleus, suggesting a recent interaction with a smaller galaxy.
