March 30, 2008

9:30pm - 1am

The LXD-75 was aligned with Polaris and Regalus and focused with M67.

M66

Located about 35 million light years away, M66 is another spiral galaxy discovered by Charles Messier in 1780.  The galaxy's spiral arms appear distorted, likely the result of gravitational interactions with neighboring galaxies like M65.

This image comprises about 75, 15-second sub-exposures (roughly 19 minutes total exposure.

M109

I returned to M109, hoping to obtain a better image with more sub-exposures.  The below image is a stack of 146, 15-second sub-exposures.

M109 is located about 55 million light years away and is receding from the Milky Way at 1142 km/sec.  It is part of the Ursa Major Cluster of galaxies.

M99

I had intended to compile a large stack of sub-exposures for M99, but clouds moved in and foiled my plans.  As a result the following image is a stack of only 40, 15-second sub-exposures (total exposure time: 10 minutes).

 M99 is a member of the Virgo Cluster and is believed to be about 60 million light years away and receding from the Milky Way at a rather fast 2324 km/sec.  

March 29, 2008

10pm – 12:30am 

Telescope was aligned with Polaris and Regalus. Focus was achieved using M67 (an open cluster in Cancer).

NGC 2903

Though a fairly prominent spiral galaxy in Leo, I hadn't tried to image NGC 2903 before.  The galaxy showed up easily in one-second preview images and was thus easy to center in the LXD-75's FOV.

This image is composed of 112, 15-second sub-exposures for a total of 28 minutes of exposure. 

Below is the same image, using a slightly different processing technique.

NGC 2903 is thought to be about 20 million light years distant and is notable for being missed by French astronomer Charles Messier, despite its overall brightness and easily viewed location in the night sky (for Northern Hemisphere skywatchers).  The spiral is seen almost face-on, but at a slight tilt, giving an excellent view of the dust and star clouds that form its arms.

M65

Messier may have missed NGC 2903, but he didn't miss any of the other bright galaxies in Leo, including M65.  Messier noted this galaxy in his catalog in March 1780, along with its nearby companion M66. 

This image is composed of about 86, 15-second sub-exposures (about 22 minutes total exposure).  This dust lanes in this spiral galaxy's arms are clearly visible, though the galaxy is at a considerable tilt when viewed from our own.

 M65 is generally believed to be about 35 million light years away.  

March 26, 2008

10pm-12:45am

An unexpected session.  The weather was supposed to turn cloudy and rainy in the evening, but the forecasters were wrong.  The sky remained clear; the air cool, but not quite cold.  I set up the scope with the impression that time was of the essence before clouds would move in.  Consequently, I didn't obtain as good a polar alignment as possible, which ultimately limited the number of sub-exposures that could be stacked as the targets kept moving, slowly, out of the FOV.

Also, focus was not refined, again due to perceived time constraints.  The images suffer from that lack of effort. 

M106

I hadn't tackled this galaxy with the DSI Pro just yet and was eager to see how it would handle its large and somewhat amorphous disk.   

The DSI clearly captured the disk, and would have resolved more of it had more sub-exposures been capture and if the focus had been more exacting.  Not a terrible first attempt at it, though.

NGC 4564

For some reason, this has always been a very difficult target to image.  The galaxy is seen edge-on and is very faint, appearing like a ghost in the images.

This image comprises 40, 30-second images.  Tracking is always mysteriously troubled when I try to image this galaxy, and if you notice the stars at the left side of the image, you can see that trouble is evident in this image as well.  Indeed, NGC 4565 had moved so far to the edge of the FOV by the time 40 subs were stacked, that I had to stop the stack right there.

Unsatisfied with the limited number of subs stacked in the previous image, I attempted to stack more subs by lowering the exposure time to 15 seconds.  In this manner I was able to stack about 60 subs before the image slipped out of the FOV.

Despite the difficulties of capturing this image, and its inferior visual appeal compared to other edge-on galaxies, like NGC 891, I intend to return to NGC 4565 in the coming weeks to attempt a much longer imaging of the galaxy.

M99

This is the first attempt at this galaxy with the DSI Pro.  Looking like a smaller version of M101, this also sometimes called the pinwheel galaxy, though its smaller appearance robs it of the grandeur of M101. 

Despite its diminutive size, the spiral arms show clearly in this stack of 80, 30-second images.  As usual, more and longer images will need to be stacked to reveal the galaxy's glory.  I will come back to this in coming weeks.

M88

A favorite spring galaxy that I imaged last year.

About 60, 21.2-second subs were stacked to create this image.

M88 is obvious in even one-second preview exposures and displays a lovely tilted-edge appearance, in which the face and compact spiral arms can clearly be seen.  SEDS.org notes:

I will return to this galaxy as soon as possible, hopefully to devote several hours of guided imaging to its disk.

M104

 

Who doesn't like the Sombrero Galaxy?  It stands out so distinctly in the eyepiece, and even in the DSI Pro's one-second preview exposures.  My session was coming to an end when I took this shot and the sky seemed to be growing a little hazy, a pinkish tint creeping across the dark firmament.

This image comprises 50, 21.2 second exposures and has been flipped upside down so that the galaxy appears “right side up.”  The central dust ring is very prominent in this image, leading one to believe that a longer exposure and better focus could produce a spectacular image. 

March 23, 2008

10pm-1am

The LXD-75 was aligned with Polaris and Arcturus and focused with M3.

M51

One of my favorite targets, I can never resist the temptation to try and capture the perfect image of the Whirlpool Galaxy.

This image – a stack of about 60, 30-second sub-exposures - is one of my better efforts – though still far from the best image possible.  The image strongly benefits from a highly refined efforts to achieve a good focus.  

M100

My attempts to image this galaxy in the past have not produced spectacular results.  Though M100 is considered relatively bright, and is readily visible in even one second preview images, the galaxy's spiral arms required considerable exposure lengths to properly capture them.

Much longer, and many more sub-exposures will be needed to draw out more detail in the arms, as well as M100's two companion galaxies.

M101

The Pinwheel's fainter extremities are difficult to capture in detail.  Though far from perfect, this was not a bad image.

As with all images, more and longer subs would help better express detail in the arms.,  But still, not bad.  About 80, 30-second images were stacked to create this image. 

March 22, 2008

10pm – 12:30am

A clear, but chill night.  Fending off increasing tiredness after a family trip to NJ, in the afternoon, I attempted a half-hearted session with the goal of capturing better images of some of the usual spring galaxy suspects.  A lack of attention to detail resulted in a so-so polar alignment and low numbers of sub-exposures stacked.

M63

The Sunflower continues to demand my attention, but only a stack of several hundred 30-second sub-exposures is likely to reveal the wonderful complexity of its spiral arms.

This image is composed of 75, 30-second sub-exposures.  Far too few to bring out the desired detail.

M109

This is a stack of about 50, 30-second sub-exposures.  Aside from an insufficient number of subs, the image suffers from the presence of dust on the DSI Pro's lens, which has produced annoying artifacts in the final image.  The previous image of M63 similarly suffers from dust on the lens, though the effects are less obvious in that image.