Messier 17 and 11

Messier 17 - Omega or Swan Nebula

Messier 11 - Wild Duck Cluster

The constellation Sagittarius is brimming with beautiful sights in the heart of the Milky Way.  Messier 17 and 11, pictured above, are gorgeously set in incredibly dense star fields.  Messier 17, known as the Omega or Swan Nebula, is an active star forming region first observed by a Swiss observer in 1745 or 1746.  Charles Messier did not observe M17 until much later in 1764.  The Swan is much easier to recognize than the Omega, though Omega is the much more popular name.

Messier 11, the Wild Duck Cluster, was discovered much earlier in 1681 by a German astronomer and is known today as one of the most compact and richest galactic star clusters.  The description written by Admiral Smyth gives this cluster its modern name, "This object, which somewhat resembles a flight of wild ducks in shape, is a gathering of minute stars..."  I don't necessarily see the ducks, but it is a great name!

Messier 17 - Omega or Swan Nebula
August 16, 2014
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
Nikon D3100 Camera - ISO 1600
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
Autoguider
24 sub-frames at 3.0 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 12 minutes
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

Messier 11 - Wild Duck Cluster
August 15, 2014
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
Nikon D3100 Camera - ISO 1600
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
Autoguider
21 sub-frames at 3.0 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 3 minutes
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

Messier 20 (Trifid Nebula) and Messier 21

I recently posted that Messier 8 with the Lagoon Nebula was my favorite summertime sight.  Well, I have another to add to the list.  Messier 20, otherwise known as the Trifid Nebula, is another stunning sight.  It's hard to tell exactly how "Trifid" was decided upon.  You can clearly see the two distinctly colored regions.  The reddish colored portion is an H-II region glowing in red hydrogen-alpha light while the bluish area is a reflection nebula.  As the name implies, it is literally clouds of interstellar dust that are reflecting the light.  So, if you count these two regions, perhaps it should be called the Bifid nebula?  Another approach is to look closely at the reddish portion as it appears to be divided into parts by dark, dusky lanes.  However, it appears to be divided into four.  So, should it be then called the Quadfid nebula?  Perhaps "Trifid" just had a nice ring to it and the name stuck.  This nebula, by galactic standards, is fairly young at under 400,000 years and, like many other nebulae, is an active star forming region.

The other main object in the photo, aside from the 5000+ stars, is Messier 21.  This one also suffers from its location relative to the much more spectacular M20.  It's in the upper left quadrant of the photo and resembles a diamond ring.  Can you spot it?

Messier 20 (Trifid Nebula) & Messier 21
August 14-15, 2014
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
Nikon D3100 Camera - ISO 1600
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
Autoguider
35 sub-frames at 3.0 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 45 minutes
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

First Star Night

I wanted to thank everyone who joined us for our first Grove Hill star night!  It was great to meet everyone and share the beautiful (but muggy) night sky. We hope to make it a somewhat regular occurrence, perhaps as much as once a month.  If you are interested in getting some more advanced warning than just the signs that were posted outside, you can email me directly at timmastro@charter.net or use the form below in the sidebar to email me and I will start a little list.  I have no commercial interest at all with this so don't worry about me sharing your email with anyone else.  You can also just check back to this blog and I will try and update if the weather is looking good for another star night.  In any case, I hope you enjoyed it and will come back to see more!
Clear skies!

M8 and M14

Messier 8 with the Lagoon Nebula

Messier 14

I officially have a new favorite summertime Messier object.  Just as the Orion Nebula (M42) rules the winter sky, so does Messier 8 with the Lagoon Nebula, located in Sagittarius.  This stunning sight is a young stellar cluster where stars are actively forming.  Messier 8 is the bright cluster of stars within the emission nebula.  The nebula was given the name "Lagoon" due to dark, dusky lane running through its center.  You might also notice numerous dark areas scattered through the nebula.  These so-called "dark nebula" are interstellar clouds that are so dense they obscure the light from the emission nebula.  Another gem in this nebula is the extremely bright hourglass shaped nebula to the right side of the lagoon.  Can you spot it?  One final note on M8.  As I was processing the image through my stacking software, I was noticing the star count reported during the stacking process.  Nearly 3,500 individual stars are within this photo.  Stunning.

The second photo is Messier 14 which suffers from having been taken on the same night as M8 and listed here with it.  Though seemingly far less impressive, it contains approximately 1.2 million solar masses and is a beautiful sight in its own right.

Photo Details

Messier 8 with the Lagoon Nebula
July 29, 2014
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
Nikon D3100 Camera - ISO 1600
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
Autoguider
19 sub-frames at 3.0 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 57 minutes
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

Messier 14
July 29, 2014
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
Nikon D3100 Camera - ISO 1600
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
Autoguider
8 sub-frames at 3.0 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 24 minutes
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop