Category Archives: Galaxies

Galaxies, Moon, Nebulae

Imaging Session Aug 8th, 2020

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Witch’s Broom Nebula. 1.75 hours in 30 sec sub-images, gain 42, offset 150, QHY183c at -15C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
The Moon on Aug 8, 2020. 7 frames stacked with SharpCap 3.2 LiveStack, UHC-S filter, QHY183c at -15C, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
Pacman Nebula – 188×15 sec, Gain 30, Offset 150, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.

The night of August 7th/8th, 2020 was relatively clear, but hot and slightly muggy.  Average transparency at first and below average towards the end of the night.  I wanted to get out to my dark sky site, but at the last minute decided to stay in the big city, being that the conditions were not ideal.

I observed quite a few things and did quickies on them and some of the images are not really worth being posted.  Here is one below of the Ring Nebula, which was.  I was actually after the little galaxy next to the ring,  IC 1296, which my Canon cameras never showed despite shooting the ring with them from much darker locations.   It is nearly 15th magnitude and even dimmer in blue light, where it predominantly radiates

Ring Nebula and IC 1296. 372×15 sec, QHY183c, Gain 30, Offset 50, -10C cooling, UHC-S filter, Televue TV85 at F/5.6.

Below is a rendition from previous sessions data and this nights efforts.

Ring Nebula and IC 1296. 34×30, 4×15 sec, Gain 42, Offset 100, 372×15 sec, Gain 30, offset 50, QHY183c -10C to -15C,, UHC-S filter, Televue TV85 at F/5.6.

Finally, with the Witch’s Broom Nebula data from this night and 2 other nights, I combined the data to make this updated rendition of the W. Veil/Witch’s Broom Nebula.   Check it out:

Witch’s Broom Nebula, combined data. 90×30, 46×30 and 410×15 sec data sets all taken with the QHY183c camera and Televue TV-85.
Galaxies

The Jet from the Black Hole in the M87 Galaxy!

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M87 Galaxy Showing Jet from Black Hole at its center. 14×240 sec, Gain 11, Offset 31, QHY183c cooled to -13C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6, SharpCap 3.2.

I’ve tried this before with little success, but this time the jet of M87 shows quite well in this nearly 1 hour exposure.  The amount of energy to shoot out a jet this long is enormous!

M87 Galaxy Showing Jet from Black Hole at its center. 14×240 sec, Gain 11, Offset 31, QHY183c cooled to -13C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6, SharpCap 3.2.  Detail Crop.

It even shows the characteristic blue color of the synchrotron radiation of electrons spiraling in a magnetic field.

Galaxies, Star Clusters

Supernova in M61! Another M13 Globular Shot, Too.

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Supernova SN2020jfo in M61. 248×30 sec, Gain 30, Offset 31, Bin 2, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6. Detail Crop.
Supernova SN2020jfo in M61. 248×30 sec, Gain 30, Offset 31, Bin 2, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.  Full field view.

 

I imaged the galaxy above and the globular below on Sunday, May 10, 2020.  Very nice weather that day and a pretty good evening, too.   Being I had to work the next day, I cut the session short and only got data on two objects.

 

M13 Globula Cluster. 100×30 sec, Gain 42 and 1hr (60×60 sec) at Gain 30, Offset 31, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
Galaxies, Nebulae, Star Clusters

Imaging Session April 30, 2020

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M63, the Sunflower Galaxy. 121×60 sec @ Gain 30, Offset 15, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6
M5 Globular Cluster.. 172×60 sec @ Gain 30, Offset 15, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6
M27 Planetary Nebula. 60×60 sec @ Gain 30, Offset 15, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6

The Sunflower Galaxy was the second time this year for imaging it, so I combined the two data sets and got this detail view below.  It is 3.77 hrs total time:

M63, the Sunflower Galaxy. 152×30 sec, Gain 42, 121×60 sec @ Gain 30, Offset 15, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
Comets, Galaxies, Moon, Star Clusters

Imaging Session April 29, 2020

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The Moon on Apr 29, 2020. Televue TV-85 at F/5.6, QHY183c, UHC-S filter.
Comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4) on Apr 30, 2020 UT. 20×60 sec, Gain 30, Offset 15, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S Filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
M81 & M82 Galaxies, 3hrs on Apr 29, 2020. 180×60 sec, Gain 30, Offset 15, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
M12 Globular Cluster on Apr 30, 2020. 70×60 sec, Gain 30, Offset 15, QHY183c at -10C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.

These are all the objects I managed to image on the night of Wednesday, April 29, 2020 and on into Thursday morning.  SharpCap 3.2 LiveStacking with dark and flat calibration plus dithering was used for acquisition.  Only minimal processing for all of these captures in Fitsworks and PS CS3.

I was trying not to waste a very clear evening after a storm had moved through earlier that day.  Not too bad, I guess.

Galaxies

The Whale & Crowbar Galaxies

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Whale & Crowbar Galaxies on Mar 7, 2020. 184×30 sec, Gain 37, Offset 0, QHY183c cooled -20C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 @ F/5.6

Not the best of nights with moonlight and high clouds, but I did manage to get enough data for a preliminary image of the Whale and Crowbar Galaxies.

Here is the detail view:

Whale Galaxy and Pup on Mar 7, 2020. 184×30 sec, Gain 37, Offset 0, QHY183c cooled -20C, UHC-S filter, Televue TV-85 @ F/5.6. Detail view.
Galaxies

M83 Spiral Galaxy

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M83 Spiral Galaxy on Feb 22, 2020. 41×60 sec, Gain 20, Offset 15, QHY183c at -20C, UHC-S Filter, Televue TV-85 @ F/5.6.
m83-41×60-g20-o15_-20C-qhy183c-uhcs-85f5_6-v2-scaled.jpg

Cut short by clouds!   I have been wanting to get this object, too.  It was finally in an area of the sky and there at the right time for me to get at least 90 minutes worth of time on it.   But, the clouds came in and ruined things only half-way in.   What I did get was decent, at least.