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 106 - First Light for The Sharpstar SCA260 V2! (10 hours in LHaRGB)
The first light for both my new Whispering Skies Observatory and my new Galaxy scope, the Sharpstar SCA260 V2!
This is M106 shot in HaLRGB with 10 hours and 7 minutes of integration!
Messier 106 Region - 5.7 hours LRGB
Messier 106 is a galaxy in Canes Venatici, located 20-25 million light-years away.
Galaxy Season is challenging time to find targets when you are dealing with a widefield telescope. I finally decided to image the region around M106 as it contains a host smaller galaxies.
This is a 5.6 hour integration in LRGB using my Askar FRA400 Astrograph and the ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro camera.
Messier 94 - The Croc’s Eye Galaxy in LRGB
Messier 94 is also known as NGC 4736 and has at least two common names: "The Cat' Eye Galaxy" and "The Croc's Eye Galaxy", with the later of which seems more popular this days. This galaxy is located 16 Million Light Years away in the Constellation Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs). Shot over two evenings in last June of 2021 using my William Optics 132 FLT Plafrform and the ASI1600M-Pro Mono Camera.
Messier 51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy in HaLRGB
Messier 51, also know as NGC 5194 is more famously known as the Whirlpool Galaxy. It can be found in the constellation Canes Venatici and is estimated to be about 31 Million Light Years from Earth. M51 was the first galaxy to be classified as having a Spiral and is know o have a Seyfert 2 active galactic core.
NGC 4631 - The Whale and the Hockey Stick (NGC 4656) - A second attempt, this time in LRGB-Ha…
The Whale and the Hockeystick are two galaxies are found in the constellation Canes Venatici, about 30 Million Light years away. This is my second time shooting this target and the first where I used a mono camera and captured LRGB along with some Ha subs folded in for good measure. As it worked out, I captured a possible supernova that was recently discovered as well.
NGC 4631: The Whale Galaxy and NGC 4656: The Hockey Stick
NGC 4631(The Whale) and NGC 4656 ((The Hockey Stick) are fascinating pair of galaxies. Both galaxies fit in the same frame, and this creates an interesting composition.
NGC 4631 is the larger and brighter of the two. Located about 30 Million light-years from Earth, this galaxy has a wedge-shaped form that resembles a whale, thus - its name. In addition, NGC 4631 has a nearby dwarf elliptical galaxy, NGC 4627, as a companion.
NGC 4656, the Hockey Stick - also known as the Crowbar Galaxy, is a highly warped barred-spiral galaxy. Its distinctive shape is due to a *recent* gravitational interaction with NGC 4631. T
M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy 2020 version
Messier 51, also know as NGC 5194 is more famously known as the Whirlpool Galaxy. It can be found in the constellation Canes Venatici and is estimated to be about 31 Million Light Years from Earth. M51 was the first galaxy to be classified as having a Spiral and is know o have a Seyfert 2 active galactic core.
This is the second project with this target - captured on the William Optics 132mm Platform.
Messier 63 - The Sunflower Galaxy - 2020 version
Messier 63, also known as NGC 5055, M63 is located in the constellation Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs) and has the common name of the Sunflower Galaxy. M63 is a spiral form galaxy with loosely wound arms with relatively poor definition in visible light. The arms are visible when observed by radio at the 21-cm Hydrogen line wavelengths. Located about 29 million light-years from Earth, M63 is a part of the M51 Group, which includes the famous Whirlpool Galaxy.
This is the second project with this target - captured on the William Optics 132mm Platform.
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!