December 30, 2009

End of the Year Roundup

December has brought clearer skies, but colder, even freezing, nights. In addition to imaging a few new targets, I also used the time to capture additional exposure time for some objects already imaged. Consider this a year-end wrap up.

M42

The Great Orion Nebula is such an appealing object that I can't resist coming back to it again and again. The image below combines sub-exposures of 300 and 400 seconds, taken on October 9, December 11 and December 16, for a total exposure time of 143 minutes.

The long exposure time brings out the nebula's dust lanes and inner structure. Note the contrasting colors in the Running Man Nebula (upper right of image).

NGC 2264 - The Cone Nebula & Christmas Tree Cluster

The constellation of Monoceros, the Unicorn, appears directly east of Orion and contains dense starfields littered with gleaming clusters, fuzzy nebulae and great swaths of nebulosity. Among its many gems are a pair objects that have received a single New General Catalog (NGC) designation: the Cone Nebula and the Christmas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264).

The Cone Nebula, first noticed by William Herschel in 1785, is a combination of overlapping absorption (dark) and emission (bright) nebulae, which give the nebula complex its unique shape. The nebula is associated with a cluster of young, bright stars, often referred to as the Christmas Tree Cluster. Both lie about 2,700 light years away.

The image below captures both the Cone Nebula (center left) and Christmas Tree Cluster (center right) amid a particular rich starfield. Note the waves of nebulosity in the upper right part of the image.

The above image is a combination of sub-exposures taken on October 19 & 25 and December 9 & 11, for a total exposure of 251 minutes.

IC 434 - The Horsehead Nebula

Like M42, the Horsehead Nebula demands repeated attention, and very long exposures to draw out all of its hidden detail. The image below combines sub-exposures taken on September 19, November 28 and December 9, for a total of 196 minutes.

M97 - The Owl Nebula & M108

As the Ursa Major (the Great Bear - 0r Big Dipper) begins to appear over the treeline after midnight, the coming months will be a good time to start imaging the many galaxies that appear within its borders. Among Ursa Major's many treasures is M97, a planetary nebula, that appears as a pale disk with two eye-like dark spots that give it its facelike appearance. The nebula lies about 2,600 light years away and formed around 6,000 years ago. It appears near a barred spiral galaxy, M108, which is seen edge on. M108 lies about 45 million light years away.

The above image had an total exposure time of about one hour.

NGC 2237 & 2244 - The Rosette Nebula & Cluster

Given the wonderful complexity of this nebula in Monoceros (the Unicorn), I figured it would benefit from additional exposure time. The image below combines 35, 300-second sub-exposures taken on October 18 and December 16, for a total exposure time of 175 minutes (almost three hours).

M1 - The Crab Nebula

The Crab Nebula is the result of a supernova (the explosive death of a large star) that was observed on Earth, as a suddenly appearing bright star, in 1054. The nebula appears in the constellation Taurus (The Bull) and lies about 6,500 light years away and contains the Crab Pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star that releases radiation in frantic pulses. The pulsar is all that remains of the massive star whose death gave birth to the nebula. The Crab Pulsar was the first pulsar so identified by radio astronomers.

The image below shows M1 in its starfield.

In order to better show the nebula's structure, I have cropped the image to highlight the nebula itself.

Both images comprise 20, 300-second images take on October 25 and December 16, for a total exposure time of 100 minutes.

November 28, 2009

IC 434 - The Horsehead Nebula

This is my second image of the Horsehead. My previous effort had a total exposure time of 50 minutes. The image below is comprised of 19, 300-second subexposures, which were combined for a total exposure time of one hour and thirty-five minutes.



M47

This open star cluster appears in the constellation Puppis, close enough to the cluster M46 (see post below) that the two can often be seen together in the same field of view through binoculars. M47 is smaller than M46, containing only about 50 stars and is estimated to be younger as well - about 78 million years old. It is also considerably closer than M46 at a distance of just 1,600 light years.

Six, 300-second subexposures were combined to create this 30 minute exposure.

M41

Appearing just 4 degrees south of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, M41 is a large, bright cluster of about 100 stars, including several red giants. The cluster has been estimated at 240 million years in age and is about 2,300 light years away. It makes an excellent target for small telescopes and binoculars.

Two, 300-second images were combined for a total exposure time of 10 minutes.

NGC 2903

As dawn approaches, the winter sky begins to give way to the constellations of Spring, now rising just before the sun. NGC 2903 is a fine barred-spiral galaxy, seen at a tilt, in the western part of the constellation Leo. Discovered by William Herschel in 1784 - who thought it to be a nebula - it remains something of a mystery why Charles Messier never included it in his famed catalog. The galaxy is bright enough to have easily been within the capability of his telescopes, and he noted at least four other galaxies in Leo (M65, 66, 95 & 96). Modern astronomers have estimated NGC 2903 to be 20.5 million light years distant.

This image, cropped to enhance the galaxy, is composed of ten, 300-second images, for a total exposure time of 50 minutes.

M106

This spiral galaxy appears in Ursa Major and is located about 25 million light years away. It appears in a particularly rich field of galaxies, and has been identified by some astronomers of the Ursa Major Cloud - a large group of galaxies. I have annotated the image below to identify the several dimmer galaxies that appear in the field of view.

This image was composed by combining nine, 300-second images for a total exposure time of 45 minutes.

November 21, 2009

M46

This is an open cluster appearing in the constellation of Puppis, which in the fall and winter sky appears low on the southern horizon to the east of Orion. The constellation is named for the deck of the ship used by Jason and the Argonauts. M46 is a relatively large cluster with around 500 member stars. Astronomers estimate the cluster's age at about 300 million years. It is about 5,500 light years away.

In addition to its fine appearance when viewed with binoculars or a small telescope, M46 appears to contain a surprise - a small planetary nebula, NGC 2438, which appears as small colored disk at the cluster's edge. Astronomers consider this to be more appearance than actual association since the nebula appears to be moving at a different speed than the cluster, and since the cluster's member stars are too young to have gone nova (the death throes of older stars, which produces planetary nebulae). It is most likely that the nebula lies in front of M46 and simply appears to be part of it.

The image below is a crop of the preceeding image, showing NGC 2438 near the upper middle of the frame, at the top edge of the cluster's core.

The above images were comprised of five, 300-second subexposures - a total exposure time of 25 minutes.

M44

This a large open cluster in the constellation Cancer, also known as the Praesepe (Latin for Manger) or Beehive Cluster. M44 was first noted by Greek and Roman astronomers; Galileo viewed it with his homemade telescope as early as 1609; more than 150 years later Charles Messier added it to his catalog.

M44 has about a thousand member stars, but its members have dispersed over a fairly large area over the eons. It is about 577 light years away and occupies an area larger than the full moon. The cluster is best viewed with binoculars or a telescope with low magnification and a wide field of view.

Four, 300-second subexposures were combined to create this 20 minute exposure.

M103

This small, arrow-shaped cluster in Casseopeia is a great jewel of the summer sky. I've imaged it before using the 6" Newtonian at f/5. However, I am experimenting with a barlow lens to increase the telescope's magnification by a factor of two, increasing the focal ratio to f/10. My purpose here is to better capture very small objects, like galaxies and certain planetary nebula. The image of M103 below was the first test of my new 2x barlow. Compare this image with my earlier image a few months back without the barlow.

This image, taken through the 2x barlow, is a stack of nine, 100-second images, for a total exposure of 15 minutes.

November 17, 2009

M35

This spectacular open cluster appears in the constellation Gemini, named for the twins Castor and Pollux from Greek mythology. The cluster can be found easily with binoculars or a small telescope by sweeping near the three "foot stars," Eta, Mu and Nu Geminorum. This cluster was first noted by the French astronomer Phillippe Loys de Cheseaux as early as 1745, and was added to Messier's catalog about 20 years later. Astronomers estimate M35 to be about 110 million years old; the cluster contains between 200 and 500 stars and is about 2,800 light years away.

The image below captures not only M35, but also the smaller cluster NGC 2158 (lower middle of frame), a significantly more compact cluster thought to be about a million years old and about 16,000 light years distant.

This image is comprised of six, 180-second subexposures, for a total exposure time of 18 minutes.

November 1, 2009

The Clusters of Auriga

When the sky is clear, but the moon is almost full, its argent glow drowning out the faint gossamer nebulae, it's time to capture some of the Fall sky's better star clusters. Three of the best happen to appear in the constellation of Auriga, the Charioteer, which rises high into the sky by midnight. Auriga's brightest star (Alpha Aurigae) is Cappella, which is almost impossible to overlook in the night sky, moon or no moon. The constellation is shaped like a pentagon with Cappella, the brightest star, at one point.

Auriga is rich in open star clusters and nebulae (see IC 410 and IC 405, below) because the Milky Way (the view of one the galaxy's spiral arms) runs through the constellation. Among the open star clusters are three gems of particular beauty, all three noted by French astronomer Charles Messier in his famous catalog: M36, M37 & M38. All three clusters can be easily glimpsed with binoculars or a small telescope. The following images were taken with a 6" Newtonian reflector.

M36

Containing about three score stars, M36 is about 14 light years in diameter and is located about 4,100 light years away.

This image comprises three, five minute sub-exposures, for a total exposure time of 15 minutes.

M37

This cluster is considerably larger than M36, containing roughly 500 stars spread across a 25-light year diameter. M37 is located around 4,400 light years away and is thought to be about 300 million years old.

This image comprises five, five minute sub-exposures, for a total exposure time of 25 minutes.

M38

Located about 4,200 light years away, M38 has about the same diameter of M37 (around 25 light years), but appears to contain fewer member stars. NGC 1907, a smaller open cluster that appears near M38 is captured in the same field at the lower left of the image below.

This image comprises seven, five minute sub-exposures, for a total exposure time of 35 minutes.

October 19, 2009

IC 410

This is an emission nebula in the constellation Auriga appearing close to IC 405 (see below). IC 410 contains an open cluster (NGC 1893) embedded near its center. The cluster is easily spotted with a small telescope, but only long exposure images will reveal the nebula surrounding it.

The above image is comprised of 14, 300-second sub-exposures for a total exposure time of one hour and ten minutes.

M42 - The Great Orion Nebula

M42 is one of the night's sky's most spectacular sights. Easily visible to even the naked eye as a fuzzy star in Orion's sword, M42 is an enormous emission nebula and star-producing region. The nebula is about 25 light years in diameter and is located about 1,350 light years away. It is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud, an extended region of excited hydrogren gas the extends for thousands of light years across the entire area of Orion and Monoceros.

This image is composed of seven, 300-second sub-exposures. M42 appears near the center of the image. Toward the upper right of the image is NGC 1977, sometimes called the Running Man Nebula, a reflection nebula.

Below is a closeup crop of M42 itself.

And a closeup crop of NGC 1977, the Running Man Nebula, named because of the outline of a man discerned by some observers amid the blue and purple clouds of the nebula.

M78

A diffuse reflection nebula, located about 1,600 light years away in the direction of Orion. M78 is easily detected as a fuzzy blob with even small telescopes.

This image is composed of eight, 300-second sub-exposures, for a total exposure of 40 minutes.

October 18, 2009

IC 405 - The Flaming Star Nebula

This is both an emission and reflection nebula surrounding the variable star AE Aurigae, whose emissions cause the nebula's pinkish-red glow, while dust in the nebula reflects other wavelenghts of light adding blue highlights to the nebula's structure, which appears as waves racing out from AE Aurigae. IC 405 is part of larger nebula complex and is located about 1,500 light years away.

The above image shows IC 405 amid its rich starfield. Below is a closeup crop of the nebula itself.

The above images were composed from 14, 300-second sub-exposures, for a total exposure time of one hour and ten minutes.

NGC 2237 - Rosette Nebula and Cluster

One of the most beautiful objects in the night sky, the Rosette Nebula - located 5,200 light years away in the constellation Monoceros - is a large emission nebula, which stretches almost 130 light years in diameter. The nebula is lit by hot, young stars from the open cluster NGC 2244, which lies inside the nebula. Stellar wind from the stars inside the nebula has sculpted the gas into the nebula's circular shape, which many observers describe as rose-like, giving the nebula its name.

The Rosette is extremely difficult to observe visually, though the cluster of stars at its center is easily visible with binoculars or a small telescope. Long exposure photographs are needed to reveal the nebula's structure.

This is a particularly satisfying image. The Rosette is large enough to almost completely fill the camera's field of view. This image is composed of 16, 300-second sub-exposures. A total exposure time of one hour and twenty minutes.

October 11, 2009

NGC 1499 - The California Nebula

This large emission nebula, which appears in the constellation Perseus, derives its name from a vaguely similar appearance to the state of California. The nebula, though large, is extremely faint and is located about 1,000 light years away.

The California Nebula is so large that even the relative large field of view afford by the Starshoot Pro and my f/5, 6" Newtonian cannot capture it in its entirety. A mosaic would be required to reveal the nebula in its full glory. But with clear nights at a premium this wet, cloudy year, I think this image will have to suffice.

The above image comprises 12, 300-second sub-exposures for a total exposure time of one hour. The relative bright star at the lower right corner of the image is Epsilon Persei.

September 20, 2009

More cool, clear nights. After watching the summer slip away in rain and clouds, I wasn't about to waste any time. The scope was out and the camera exposing all night long Friday and Saturday night, right up until the break of dawn.

IC 434 - The Horsehead Nebula

A little taste of the winter sky, captured around 4 a.m. I hadn't planned on staying up quite that late, but when I spotted Orion climbing above the treeline, I couldn't resist taking a try at the Horsehead.

The nebula's eponymous horsehead shadow is the result of a jet of sooty dust colliding with the ionized hydrogen gas cloud of an reflection nebula. The Horsehead is about 1500 light years away and appears near the bright star Alnitak, the leftmost star in Orion's belt.

This image is composed of ten, 300-second sub-exposures, for a total exposure of fifty minutes.

M45 - Pleiades

This image comprises six, 600-second sub-exposures for a total exposure time of one hour.

NGC 1805

This image captures part of a large nebula complex, sometimes referred to as the Heart Nebula. The full nebula is larger than the Starshoot Pro's field of view.

Ten, 600-second sub-exposures were combined to create this image with a total exposure time of 100 minutes.

NGC 7293 - The Double Helix Nebula

This faint planetary nebula in Aquarius is the result of a star's death throes and formed about 10,000 years ago. The nebula is about 700 light years away.

This image comprises two sets of sub-exposures: 35, 150-second subs, captured on September 18; and 10, 180-second subs, captured on September 19. Total exposure time was one hour and fifty-seven minutes and thirty seconds.

IC 5146

A parting shot at the Cocoon Nebula as its slips away.

Eight, 300-second sub-exposures were stacked to create this 45 minute exposure, taken on September 19

M33

The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy, seen face on, located about three millions light years away in the direction of the constellation Triangulum (near Andromeda).

Eleven, 300-second sub-exposures, taken on September 18, were stacked to create this 55 minute exposure.

September 18, 2009

Last night offered a clear, dark sky. I took the opportunity to collect some more sub-exposures of M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. I captured 20, 300-second sub-exposures, of which 14 proved acceptable. I used Maxim to add last night's 14 subs to Sunday night's 20 sub-exposures to create an image compused of 34, 300-second sub-exposures with a total exposure time of two hours and fifty minutes.

The additional exposure time greatly enhances M31's swirling dustlanes and star clouds. I'm pleased with this image and probably won't return to this object for some time.

September 16, 2009

With the end of summer, the nights are becoming darker, longer and - thankfully - clearer. I still need to use the heating unit to prevent condensation on the Starshoot Pro, but with fall and winter's dark nights approaching, I eagerly anticipate many productive imaging sessions in the coming months. The winter sky is laden with astronomical gems I hope to capture.

Here are some images from the past two weeks.

M31

The Andromeda Galaxy, appearing in Andromeda, is easily visible to the naked eye on a clear, dark night as a faint smudge. The galaxy lies 2.3 million light years away. None of my previous cameras had large enough CCD chips to capture the entire galaxy in a single image.

Also visible in this image are M31's companion galaxies, M32 (the bright blob toward the upper edge of the image) and M110 (the disk in the middle of the lower edge of the image). This image comprises 20, 300-second sub-exposures, for a total exposure of 100 minutes, and was taken on September 14.

Moon

I don't usually image the moon, or planets, preferring more distant astronomical wonders, but every so often the moon is so unavoidable that even I take notice.

This image was taken with the LX200 at f/10. One 0.001 second image.

This image was taken with the LX200 at f/6.3. A single 0.001 second exposure.

This image was taken with the LX200 at f/6.3. A single 0.001 second exposure.

August 31, 2009

Summer Roundup

The weather in the northeastern U.S. these last few months was anything but conducive to astro-imaging. The summer began rainy and damp, then graduated to hot, humid and hazy. There were only a handful of nights during which imaging was possible. Unfortunately, even the small number of clear summer nights was reduced by a severe condensation problem I encountered with the Starshoot Pro. Under even midly humid conditions, the glass plate protecting the CCD chip would quickly fog over. It took me some time to figure out that a heating source applied to the focusing tube would quickly eliminate the problem, but by then most of the summer was gone. So I missed acquiring decent images of many of my favorite summer sky objects, like the Trifid Nebula (M20). They will have to wait until next summer.

Still, I was able to capture some reasonably good images over the past three months. Here are some examples.

M45

The famed Pleiades (M45) which appear so conspicuously in the Fall and Winter skies. My previous cameras didn't have large enough CCD chips to capture the entire cluster at once.

This image was taken on August 24, and is composed of 14, 300-second sub-exposures, for a total exposure time of 70 minutes.

NGC 281

Sometimes referred to as the "Pac Man Nebula," this is a fairly bright emission nebula in Cassiopeia.

This image combines data obtained on August 22 & 24. Thirteen, 300-second subexposures were combined for a total exposure time of 65 minutes. The image has been cropped to highlight the nebula itself.

This image was taken on August 24 and is comprised of nine, 300-second images for a total exposure time of 45 minutes. This image is uncropped, showing NCG 281 amid the surrounding starfield.

M103

One of Cassiopeia's many open star clusters, M103 appears as an tight-knit arrow-shaped group of stars in a particularly rich starfield.

This image was taken on August 22 and comprises six, 150-second sub-exposures for a total exposure time of 15 minutes.

NGC 7635

The Bubble Nebula is another one of Cassiopeia's many treasures. This an emission nebula whose eponymous "Bubble" is the result of stellar winds from a hot, young star colliding with the nebula's gas.

This image comprises data from the nights of June 27, August 7, and August 22, and has been cropped to highlight the nebula. Twelve, 300-second sub-exposures were combined to create this image, totaling one hour of total exposure time.

NGC 7635 & Friends

This image, taken on August 22, shows NGC 7635 in its rich starfield. The camera's large chip and LXD-75's wide field of view not only captures the Bubble Nebula, but the open cluster M52 (at the top left) and the small emission nebula NGC 7538 (lower right corner).

Five, 300-second sub-exposures were combined to create this image with a total exposure time of 25 minutes.

NGC 891

This is a spiral galaxy seen edge-on in Pegasus.

NGC 6946 & NGC 6939

One of the relatively few galaxies visible in the summer sky, NGC 6946 is a spectacular spiral seen face on through the dense starfields of Cepheus. The galaxy appears close by to an open cluster, NGC 6939. Of course, the galaxy is about 10 million light years away, outside our galaxy, whilst the cluster is thousands of light years away and well within the Milky Way.

This image is compose of just five, 300-second sub-exposures, for a total of only 25 minutes. I had planned to go back and accumulate several hours of imaging data to truly bring out the galaxy's spiral arms, but alas, the weather did not permit this. NGC 6946 is therefore high on the list for next summer's imaging.

NGC 884 & 869

An early taste of the Fall sky comes as Perseus begins to rise after midnight. The famous double cluster is two young star clusters (less than six million years old) that are withing a 1000 light years of each other. The effect is simply beautiful.

This image comprises eight, 300-second sub-exposures for a total exposure time of 40 minutes.

IC 5146

The Coccoon Nebula in Cygnus is in fact a combination of star cluster and nebula appearing in a very rich star field.

This image is composed of images taken on May 31 and June 27, and has been cropped to highlight the nebula. 17, 300-second sub-exposures were combined for a total exposure time of 85 minutes.