Imaging Projects
In this blog, I will share the results of all of my imaging projects. The newest will be at the top and the oldest will be further down the stack. Going back in time here is interesting - some of my early stuff was pretty rough - but I did not see it that way at the time - I was thrilled to get anything back that looked like an image! Hopefully, you will see how my work has progressed with time!
Messier 45 - The Pleiades Star Cluster
Messier 45, better known as the Pleides Star cluster or the Seven Sisters, is a large star group easily seen with the naked eye in the constellation Taurus - the Bull. Wow, Rochester weather in the late fall really sucks. It has been almost 9 weeks since I have had a clear night! Finally, we had a nice clear sky last evening, and the temperature was not too brutal - about 37 degrees F. My first shot of the night was M45, the Pleiades star cluster. Also known as the Seven Sisters, this open cluster is visible to the naked eye in the constellation Taurus. The framing is a bit tight here for my scope focal length, but I was just able to fit them into the field of view. These are a grouping of middle-aged blue stars, and on longer exposures, you can see local dust clouds illuminated by these blue stars. This was the result of 20 three-minute exposures.
Messier 42 - The Great Orion Nebula
Messier 42 - The Great Orion Nebula. Also known as NGC 1976. Everybody that does astrophotography shoots this very famous object at some point or another. This is my very first shot at it. This bright nebula is located 1300 light-years away in the constellation Orion. It can be seen as part of the sword in Orion's belt and is visible to the naked eye. The Orion Nebula is a large cloud of gas and dust that is an area of new star formation and is a known stellar nursery. Located in the core is the famous tight star cluster known as the Trapezium. This is located in the brightest part of the nebula.
NGC 7023 -The Iris Nebula
NGC 7023, also known as the Iris Nebula, is located in the constellation Cepheus and is only 1300 light-years away. NGC 7023 is actually the small cluster of stars in the nebula center - these stars are surrounded by both emission and dark nebulae.
I like the effect you get with this nebula as there are many dark clouds as dark clouds, and in some cases, these clouds are back-illuminated. I was surprised that we had a clear night last night - it was originally forecasted to be cloudy. This is a key week for Astrophotography as the moon is new, so I could not miss an opportunity to go after this object. The plan was to capture 65 x 180-second exposures. Alas, I was hit by some high-level clouds at exposure 35, and I had to shut down.
Messier 74 - The Phantom Galaxy - 2019 version
M74 is a two-armed spiral galaxy in the constellation Pisces that is located 32 million light-years away. With its prominent two arms, M74 is considered a classic spiral galaxy form. However, having the second-lowest surface brightness of all of the objects in the Messier list (M101 being the lowest), this guy is tough to observe visually.
It proved to be a challenge for me as well. Skies were pretty dark last night, and this image was the result of 64 frames of 180 seconds each - for a total integration time of 3.2 hours - the longest integration I have done yet. This is also the first image for a new scope configuration. I added a top plate to the tube assembly and moved the guide scope to that. This allowed me to add a Pegasus Astro Systems Pocket Powerbox then - this provides power to all devices as well as to two heater straps which are now wrapped around the objectives of the main and guide scopes to prevent dew formation.
Messier 33 - The Triangulum Galaxy - 2019 Version
M33, also known as NGC 598, or more commonly known as either the Triangulum Galaxy, is located 2.73 Million Light Years away in the constellation Triangulum. It is the third-largest member of the local group of galaxies, including M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, and our own Milky Way. Furthermore, it is a spiral form galaxy - once the first spiral galaxies were identified back in 1850. Thus, it is one of the most distant objects that can be seen with the unaided eye.
First attempt at this target.
NGC 7331 - The Deer Lick Group - 2019 Version
NGC7331 and a small cluster of galaxies are located in the constellation Pegasus - about 40 million light-years away. The group is known as the NGC7331 group or as the Deer Lick Group, and the small galaxies around it are known as the fleas.
IC 5070 - The Pelican Nebula - 2019 Version
IC 5070, also known as the Pelican Nebula, is a rich region of gas and dust that is undergoing rapid star formation. Located 1,800 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. It's called the Pelican nebula because.... well, damned if I know.... doesn't look like one to me at all!
(Comment 8-2-21: You can actually see the shape of the pelican in this early image. It does become more evident with greater exposure.
NGC 6946 - The Fireworks Galaxy - September 2019 Version
NGC 6946, also known as the Fireworks Galaxy. This galaxy is located 25.2 million light-years away between the constellations of Cepheus and Cygnus.
This is the first time I have tried this Target. There are more recent efforts on this in the collection.
Messier 31 - The Andromeda Galaxy - 2019 Version
Messier 31 is also known as NGC 224 and the Andromeda Galaxy, or as the Andromeda Nebula, before we knew what galaxies were. It can be seen by the naked eye in the constellation Andromeda (how appropriate!) and is our closest galactic neighbor located 2.5 Million light-years away. It is estimated that it contains about one trillion stars - twice that of our own Milky Way.
M32 (at the left of M31) can be seen in the frame.
This way, my first serious attempt on M31.
IC 5146 - The Cocoon Nebula - 2019 Version
IC 5146, known as the Cocoon Nebula. This is a small star cluster in the constellation Cygnus enveloped in gas and dust clouds. There are dark areas (non-glowing dust blocking light) and bright areas (gases emitted light due to excitation from local stars). This little fellow is only 4000 light-years away.
This was my first attempt on this target, using the first version of my telescope platform for the William Optics 132.
Messier 51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy 2019 Version
M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy. Last night's effort was not serious - just a quick test before the galaxy was cut-off by my garage roof. Did just a quick 10 frames of 90 seconds each. Not even any cal frames. But - it was my first Galaxy. I have observed this in much larger telescopes under very dark skies and have not seen this much detail! I can't wait to come back and do this one the right way!
NGC 6888 - The Crescent Nebula in RGB OSC
NGC 6888 - The Cresent Nebula. This is an emission nebula located about 5000 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan.
A very early project - within a few weeks of having my first telescope platform working,.
Messier 16 - The Eagle Nebula / Pillars of Creation - 2019 Version
M16, known most commonly as the Eagle Nebula, is also known as the Star Queen Nebula and the Spire. This is a rich open cluster of about 8100 stars surrounded by a rich region of gas and dust. Located towards the south during the summer season, M16 can be seen in the constellation Serpens and is located about 5100 light-years away. This area has been made famous by the Hubble Space Telescope classic image: The Pillars of Creation in 1995.
First attempt on m16’
NGC 6960 - The Witches Broom Nebula -2019 Version
NGC 6960 - a small portion of the "Veil Nebula" - also known as the "Finger of God" and "The Witch's broom". This is a super faint fragment of loops of gas more than 3 degrees across that came from a star 20 times more massive than the sun, which blew its lid 8000 years ago. This giant bubble of expanding gas and dust is near the constellation Cygnus.
Very early and crude image - taken in the first few weeks of imaging.
Messier 27 - The Dumbell Nebula - 2019 Version
Messier 27 - the "Dumbbell Nebula". This is a planetary nebula - basically a star that has thrown off its outer shell and we are seeing that gas still expanding around the remaining star. Located in the constellation Vulpecula, M27 is 1360 light-years from Earth.
One of my very first images.
Messier 57 - The Ring Nebula - First Version (2019)
M57 - The Ring Nebula. This is a tiny planetary nebula in Lyra. Probably too small for my imager scope and image scale. Not all that impressive, but I wanted to put it here to document progress later on...
Very first attempt on M57.
Messier 8 - The Lagoon Nebula - My First Image Ever!
My First image ever - this is the story about the very first time I setup my new telescope and mount - along with the ASI294MC_Pro camera and got things working enough to get a crude set of first subs that led this image. No color, No Guiding. No Cal frames. Bad focus. But I was thrilled anyway and hooked on this thing we call astrophotography!