The Markarian Chain - Messier 84 & Messier 86

The constellation Virgo is absolutely brimming with galaxies and perhaps one of the finest examples is the Markarian Chain pictured above.  Each nonpoint source of light is, in fact, a galaxy.  Named for the Armenian astronomer Benjamin Markarian who discovered they share a common motion (at least 7 appear to move together), this stunning chain of galaxies forms a beautiful curve through the night sky.  Messier 84 and 86 anchor the lower right portion of the chain.  M84 is the galaxy in the lower right corner and the next one up the curve is M86.  

Photo Details

May 6-7, 2016

Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount

SBIG STF-8300C Camera

Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector

Skyglow filter

69 subframes at 3 minutes/frame

Total Exposure Time = 3 hours 27 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

Transit of Mercury

Another celestial alignment occurred this morning as the planet Mercury passed between us and the Sun.  I was fortunate to have some breaks in the clouds and capture the image above.  I was also fortunate to share it with some students, colleagues and friends at the Test Track.  In the image above, Mercury is the very small, circular object in the lower half of the sun, the other amorphous blobs you see are sunspots.  It's incredible to see the Sun and Mercury like this as it forces our minds to consider the vastness of the Sun relative to Mercury and in turn, our own planet.  Mercury is about 40% of our own size, so if Earth were seen transiting in an image like this, we'd be a little over two times the small planet above.  In other words, incredibly small.  The next transit will be in November, 2019 and I hope to see it again.  After that, it won't occur again until 2032.  We'll hopefully have human exploration on Mars by then.  Stay tuned!

Moon Occults Aldebaran

Last night we had beautifully clear skies to see the moon occult the bright star Aldebaran.  An occultation is anything passes between an object and the observer.  In this case, the moon passed between us and the star.  We set up our telescope and binoculars so Jen and I could both view it in real time.  Since this was a blue-sky event occurring well before sunset (between 5:30 and 6:45 pm), it was pretty challenging to pick out the star in contrast to the brighter and larger moon in a sunlit sky.  At the eyepiece, it was absolutely stunning to see the star suddenly disappear behind the moon; like a light suddenly extinguished.  About an hour and 15 minutes later, Jen and I patiently waited for Aldebaran to rise over the lunar landscape.  We both were able to see it just as it popped back into view and then gain greater and greater separation from the moon.  To me it's simply staggering to think about this perfect cosmic alignment spanning 66.6 light years.  For about an hour, earth, the moon and this distant star formed a straight line stretching 391,140,000,000,000 miles.

The picture above was taken a little later in the evening, once the sky had grown more fully dark.  The moon is obvious and Aldebaran is in the lower right corner.  I thought about trying to capture Aldebaran as it just came back into view but figured I'd mess up the exposure and didn't want to miss it.  Seeing it live was well worth it!

Messier 95 & 96

Though the weather has been fantastic, it has been tough lately to get out imaging.  My latest adventure was to image a pair of galaxies (Messier 95 and 96).  In the photo above, M95 is on the left and M96 on the right.  Messier 95 is known as a "barred spiral" galaxy with an inner ring of active star formation.  It's neighbor, M96 is slightly larger, is a classic spiral galaxy and encompasses 80 thousand million solar masses.  These two galaxies are part of a three galaxy group known as Leo I Group in the constellation Leo.  

Photo Details

March 28, 2016

Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount

SBIG STF-8300C Camera

Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector

Skyglow filter

27 subframes at 3 minutes/frame

Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 21 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

NGC 2903

NGC 2903 is a fine example of a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo.  The bluish clusters scattered along the spirals are young groups of stars while the pinkish areas are active star forming regions.  It's amazing to see creation in action, though the light is coming to us from 20 million years ago.  We'll have to wait another 20 million years to see what it looks like today. Ouch...That's one of those ideas that makes my head spin.

Photo Details

February 27, 2016

Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount

SBIG STF-8300C Camera

Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector

Skyglow filter

46 subframes at 3 minutes/frame

Total Exposure Time = 2 hours 18 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

Messier 37

Messier 37 just became my favorite open cluster of stars.  Stare at it for a few minutes and patterns will start to emerge outside of the dense area of stars in the center.  Some famous astronomers have remarked:

"...wonderful loops and curved star patterns."
--Heinrich d'Arrest

"The whole field being strewed as it were with sparkling gold dust..."
--Charles Piazzi Smyth

What we are seeing is a beautiful collection of about 2,000 stars in this open cluster which lies at least 4,500 light years away from us.

Photo Details

February 27, 2016

Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount

SBIG STF-8300C Camera

Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector

Skyglow filter

17 subframes at 3 minutes/frame

Total Exposure Time = 51 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

IC 434 - Horsehead Nebula & NGC 2024 Flame Nebula

This image is my new personal favorite.  The names speak for themselves, though the names can't hope to capture the majesty of this scene.  As Dr. Ellie Arroway once said, "They should have sent a poet."

The Flame Nebula is being fueled by the intense star above it, Alnitak, an is an active star forming region.  The Horsehead is known as a dark nebula and what we see is actually a swirling cloud of dust and gases that contrast stunningly with the backdrop of ionized hydrogen gas behind it.  

IC 434 (Soul Nebula) & NGC 2024 (Flame Nebula)
Photo Details

February 11, 2016

Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount

SBIG STF-8300C Camera

Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector

Skyglow filter

43 subframes at 3 minutes/frame

Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 54 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

IC 1848 - Soul Nebula

The soul nebula is an absolutely massive emission nebula that is an active star forming region.  It covers an area of sky equivalent to four full moons, but is so faint that it is very difficult to see through a telescope.  The image above was taken over a couple of nights with 5 hours of total exposure time and yet it still is somewhat elusive.  There is another nearby nebula, the Heart, which I hope to capture soon so I can put the Heart and Soul together.  Stay tuned!

IC 1848 Soul Nebula - Photo Details

January 30 & February 5, 2016

Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount

SBIG STF-8300C Camera

Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector

Skyglow filter

100 subframes at 3 minutes/frame

Total Exposure Time = 5 hours (new record!)
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

NGC 891

This beautiful edge-on unbarred spiral galaxy is about how our own Milky Way would look from an edge-on perspective.  Curiously, if there was an observer looking at our galaxy from this one, they wouldn't be able to see us since that dark dusky lane that runs down the long axis would block light coming from us.  

NGC 891 - Photo Details

January 29, 2016

Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount

SBIG STF-8300C Camera

Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector

Skyglow filter

59 subframes at 3 minutes/frame

Total Exposure Time = 2 hours 57 Minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

Messier 1 - The Crab Nebula

Nearly 1000 years ago, in 1054, a new bright star was visible to Chinese astronomers during the daytime.  While they were not able to see the nebulosity evident in this photo, the dying star that had gone supernova provided the remnants we are now able to see.  Curiously, sightings in Europe were probably censored as the Catholic Church took it as a bad omen.  

Messier 1 - Photo Details

January 17, 2016

Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount

SBIG STF-8300C Camera

Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector

Skyglow filter

57 subframes at 3 minutes/frame

Total Exposure Time = 2 hours 51 Minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop
Assisted by Presleigh Jones - future Mars explorer

Pacman and Messier 39

NGC 281 - Pacman Nebula

Messier 39

The two images above are a study in contrasts.  Both set in very dense starfields, the top photo can be found in Cassiopeia and the gassy Pacman-shaped cloud is lit up by the bright central star.  The lower photo (Messier 39) is found in the constellation Cygnus and may be seen with the naked eye from dark locations.  To me, it looks like a beautiful set of jewels set against the majestic backdrop of the milky way.

NGC 281 (Pacman Nebula) - Photo Details

December 14-15, 2015

Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount

SBIG STF-8300C Camera

Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector

Skyglow filter

67 subframes at 3 minutes/frame

Total Exposure Time = 3 hours 21 minutes

Image Acquisition in CCDOps

Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker

Image Processing in PhotoShop

Messier 39 - Photo Details

December 14-15, 2015

Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount

SBIG STF-8300C Camera

Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector

Skyglow filter

27 subframes at 3 minutes/frame

Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 21 minutes

Image Acquisition in CCDOps

Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker

Image Processing in PhotoShop

Galaxies Galore and E.T.

Messier 31 - Andromeda Galaxy

NGC 457 (E.T. Cluster)

NGC 6946 (Fireworks Galaxy)

I normally add some descriptions regarding the above images.  But I thought a nice change of pace would be to post some song lyrics that perfectly fit this time of year as the winter constellations come soaring into view.  These come from the band Beta Radio on their Darden Road album.  You can here the song at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1f-ieI1Ols


Both the bears are in their chairs
They're sitting in your upper room
Each night they ascend the stairs
And point to the north with dipping spoons
I hear the seven sisters whisper
they know the place from where they came
Oh the hunter and the bull
Are made full beneath the lion's mane

Oh, all the stars align
for the second time
Oh, I drank the new design
for the second time

The brother twins each other lend
A hand around the upper pole
They drink the wine of the new design
That makes the broken-hearted whole
The dragon came as he did before
Tempting all into his door
He wears stars as his disguise
But a second time he will not rise

Oh, all the stars align
for the second time
Oh, I drank the new design
for the second time

Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh    


M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) - Photo Details
November 19, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
SBIG STF-8300C Camera
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
48 subframes at 3 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 2 hours 24 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

NGC 457 - Photo Details
November 13, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
SBIG STF-8300C Camera
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
10 subframes at 3 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 30 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

NGC 6946 (Firework Galaxy) - Photo Details
October 18-19, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
SBIG STF-8300C Camera
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
67 subframes at 3 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 3 hours 21 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

Two Globs Around a Dumbbell (M71, M27 & M56)

Messier 71

Messier 27 - Dumbbell Nebula

Messier 56

After a long, hot and humid summer, I finally had some crystal clear skies last week and made the most of it.  Messier 71 & 56 were new targets while I had imaged Messier 27 (Dumbbell) a couple years ago.  M27 is such a beautiful target, it was fun to revisit.  

M71 & 56 are both globular clusters comprised of tens of thousands of stars, they look completely different mostly due to their relative distance to Earth and proximity to the Milky Way. Messier 71 lies within the Milky Way and is set against a beautiful dense background of stars while M56 is a bit more concentrated and enjoys a bit more isolated area of space.

The dumbbell nebula is stunning to view.  It's amazing that such order, structure and beauty can evolve out of a dying star. 


M71 - Photo Details
October 13, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
SBIG STF-8300C Camera
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
29 subframes at 3 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 27 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

M27 - Photo Details
October 12, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
SBIG STF-8300C Camera
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
37 subframes at 3 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 51 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

M56 - Photo Details
October 6, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
SBIG STF-8300C Camera
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
30 subframes at 3 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 30 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

NGC 4725

This galaxy is somewhat unusual in that it just has a single spiral arm.  Most spiral galaxies, like our own Milky Way, have two arms.  A quick internet search showed that this is a very popular astrophotography target, but didn't turn up much beyond the facts that it spans about 100,000 light years and is approximately 41 million light years from earth.  There are two other galaxies in this image.  NGC 4712 is closes while NGC 4747 looks to me like it's hurling toward the others with just a hint of afterburner.

Photo Details
June 16 & 21, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
SBIG STF-8300C Camera
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
38 subframes at 3 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 54 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

Messier 53

After targeting primarily galaxies recently, I decided to check out a globular cluster last evening.  Messier 53 lies about 63,000 light years from us and, according to astronomers, is approaching at 70 km/sec.  That translates to a whopping 156,492 miles/hour.  Given the current distance and speed, Earth should have a close encounter in about 275 million years with this beautiful cluster.

Photo Details
June 5, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
SBIG STF-8300C Camera
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
19 subframes at 3 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 57 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

Messier 106

We had a rare clear and cool Friday night with little moon on May 22.  Allison and I made the most of it and headed to our local dark site.  We had a great time, setting up at dusk and heading home at 1:30 in the morning.  While I was busy with the photography equipment, she did a great job running the large telescope herself and was able to see many new Messier objects.  In all, she logged 12 new ones and is well on her way to logging all 110.  Truly a night to remember.

The large galaxy in the image above is Messier 106 which, curiously, Messier may not have ever actually observed.  It was only added to the Messier list in 1948.  Other galaxies are clearly visible in the vicinity and astronomers believe M106 is the the center of a galaxy group of 17 objects.  The nearest and seemingly largest neighbor is NGC 4217 which happens to appear edge-on to our viewpoint.  The contrast and arrangement of these galaxies is simply stunning.

Photo Details
May 22, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
SBIG STF-8300C Camera
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
30 subframes at 5 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 2 hour 30 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

Messier 65 and Messier 66

This pair of galaxies resides in the constellation Leo that rides high in the southern sky, leading Virgo toward the west.  The galaxy to the left is M65 while M66 is on the right.  They are similar in size, about 90,000 light years across, though M65 is inclined at about 74 degrees to our line of sight making it look much more elongated.  While these do make a stunning pair, there is actually a third I wasn't able to get in a single shot that together comprise the "Leo Triplet".  

Photo Details
May 6-7, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
SBIG STF-8300C Camera
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
22 sub-frames at 3 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 6 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

Messier 100

Spring is the time for galaxies in the southern part of the sky and though we've had tremendous cloud cover, we finally had a nice stretch of clear weather.  I was able to get out a few nights last week with a new camera (see notes below) and had a lot of fun shooting images at -15C with an entirely different setup.  So, this is essentially "first light" for the new setup.  I think M100 was a beautiful target, graced by a number of additional nearby galaxies.  While appearing somewhat small in this image, consider that it is 107,000 light years across and contains 200,000 million solar masses.  This is comparable to our own Milky Way galaxy.  It's irregular spiral shape has been attributed to gravitational interactions with the nearby galaxies.

Photo Details
May 6-7, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
SBIG STF-8300C Camera
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
38 sub-frames at 3 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 54 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

Messier 41

On the same night I visited the Orion Nebula (below), I also took advantage of the clear skies to target Messier 41.  The loose arrangement of stars in the foreground is a naked eye collection that may be one of the oldest documented deep sky objects.  Aristotle made reference in 325 B.C. to a "tail" near one of the stars in the Dog.  Some modern astronomers believe he was referencing this collection as it resides in Canis Major (the Great Dog).  See if you can find it yourself.  First, go outside and find Canis Major.  You will find this trusty hunting dog following Orion as he hunts.  Look to the east and south of Orion to find the brightest star in the sky (Sirius) which is the eye of Canis Major.  Look just a little bit down (mostly south) from Sirius to see if you can see this cluster.

Photo Details
February 19, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
Nikon D3100 Camera - ISO 1600
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
40 sub-frames at 1.5 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 1 hour
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

Orion Nebula Revisited

Orion Nebula - 2/19/2015

Orion Nebula - 11/27/2013

After some time away from photographing the Orion Nebula, I decided to revisit a few nights ago.  What a difference a couple years of study, improved patience and equipment improvements will make!  The top image is the recent photo, while the lower was taken in November of 2013 for comparison.  Key differences with the new photo include more exposure time, using the full array of assorted frames (light, dark, flat, dark flat and bias), better understanding of post-processing, a more effective coma corrector and sky glow filter.  I also did a better job of framing the Orion Nebula and its neighbor, the Running Man.  This one is going on the wall!

Photo Details
February 19, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
Nikon D3100 Camera - ISO 1600
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
61 sub-frames at 1.5 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 31.5 minutes
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop