Random Musings of an Amateur Astronomer
Nebulas
Horsehead Nebula in Hydrogen Alpha
2One of the challenges with new equipment (which I always seem to be getting more of) is learning how to use it well. I’m still working on getting my STL 11002 running smoothly. Sure, I tried a few of those real quick Ha shots and of course the Crab Nebula, but still these things take time. One of the things I hadn’t tried was running it on my Televue NP101is. Given the wonderful nebula this time of year, it seems like it might be a good idea to give it a try. The first few shots were dreary More >
The Crab Nebula, Revisited
1Several months back I picked up an interesting imaging package: The SBIG STL11002M, LRGBHa filters, the AO-L Adaptive Optics, MOAG and Remote Head. Aside from the learning curve for the new software control package (CCDSoft, which is awesomesauce), I had an issue which unfortunately required a repair. And, like any good Law of Murphy, receiving the working camera also means a prolonged spell of bad weather.
I ran a few star tests, played around with things and finally came around to settling More >
Flowers of the Night Sky
1Cygnus is home to a plethora of wonderful objects – both for visual observing as well as imaging. Due to my latitude, it goes right overhead and is easily my favorite constellation – even ousting the hunter of the winter sky, Orion. Filled with gajillions (yes that’s a technical term) of stars, this band of our very own Milky Way galaxy is home to countless nebula, both bright and eerily dark.
Bright nebula such as the Orion Nebula are the ones you’re probably used to seeing. Move forward a More >
NGC 6960: The Witch’s Broom
2Some of the most beautiful images come the death of stars. Of course, those deaths such as the recent supernova in Messier 51 are so far away that we’re not going to be able to view their beauty (especially against the backdrop of their galaxy hosts!) However, our very own galaxy, the Milky Way is host to it’s fair share of supernova, and the nebulous remnants they leave behind. One such example is the Veil Nebula.
The Veil Nebula is a fairly large complex which is often broken up into three More >
M16, The Eagle Nebula
3The Eagle Nebula is wonderful emission nebula, with the apparent image of an ‘eagle’ soaring high in it. This same eagle is where the famous Hubble Pillars of Creation image is. Located in Serpens (7000 light years away), this is generally low on my northern sky, but I was able to pull off a series of 10x 10 min subs that seem to process fairly well.
Messier 16, The Eagle Nebula
Special kudos to Drew, who suggested imaging this object last night
Royal Wedding Rings… From Space!
0With all of the recent excitement around the Royal Wedding for Catherine and William, it seems some far-out gifts are in order. Hundreds of years ago, the kings and queens of the land would provide funding for astronomers, hoping to have the name of the next exciting object named in their honor. Today of course, they mostly beg for funding, as recently seen with the SETI shutdown.
Back on April 23, the last clear sky day we had (though tonight is looking great!), I picked up a few additional More >
Messier 1, The Crab Nebula (NGC 1952)
3Located in the constellation, “Taurus,” the Crab Nebula was first discovered in 1054 A.D by Chinese and Arab astronomers. Messier made this his first catalogue entry, hence the name Messier 1. The name “Crab Nebula” comes from it’s resemblance to a crab.
How to find the Crab Nebula
The Crab Nebula was formed when a star ran out of fuel and blew itself up in a grand explosion called a supernova. The nebula itself are the bits of that star flying through space at nearly 1500km/s. This rate More >
The Bubble Nebula – NGC 7635
4Plagued with one of the worst bouts of “new telescope cloudiness”, it’s been mostly rain for weeks now. Add a nice slice of “can’t view the lunar eclipse tonight because of the clouds”, and one is left with nothing more than memories… or old data to process!
Case in point here is NGC 7635, a beautiful emission nebula about 10,000 light years away (or if you prefer, sixty quadrillion miles. Not a walk in the park!) The “big bright shining star” inside the bubble here is actually responsible More >
NGC 1499: The California Nebula
0A few nights back (when we actually had some clear skies), I was able to image quite a few objects, but haven’t had time to get them all fully processed. Unfortunately, they didn’t all get framed quite perfectly. However, One of the nicer looking ones was NGC 1499, The California Nebula
NGC 1499: The California Nebula.
At a distance of nearly 1000 light years, the apparent size of this nebula is pretty large — it covers nearly 2.5 degrees of sky. If you’ll recall the the moon diameter is More >
M42: The Orion Nebula
2As I mentioned in the Horsehead Nebula post, Oct 6-7 was a great night and produced some really nice images. Here’s the Messier 42, The Orion Nebula
M42, The Orion Nebula
This image is only 6x five minute exposures with the Televue NP101is. Sigma-clip stacked in MaximDL, Orion Starshoot Pro v2.0, Starshoot Autoguider, and Skyglow Filter were used.
The “trapezium” – the very bright inner stars of the brightest part of the nebula is a wonderful star nursery, where baby stars are springing to More >
