First up is M68. Messier 68 is a globular cluster in the equatorial constellation Hydra. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1780. William Herschel described it as "a beautiful cluster of stars, extremely rich, and so compressed that most of the stars are blended together". His son John noted that it was "all clearly resolved into stars of 12th magnitude, very loose and ragged at the borders". (Wikipedia)
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| M68 Globular Cluster in Hydra EdgeHD-11 / ASI1600mm camera 40x10sec Lum |
This monochrome image was taken on May 31, 2020, with my EdgeHD-11 and ASI1600mm camera. A combination of 40 luminance subs using very short exposures (10 sec).
Next is M88, a spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices. Recent analysis puts it at about 61.94 million light-years distant. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1781. M88 lies in the thick of what is called the "Realm of Galaxies", and is among the brightest of the spiral galaxies in the Virgo cluster. The full extent of the disk, about 125,000 light-years across is dominated by dust all the way to the core of the galaxy.
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| M88 Spiral Galaxy EdgeHD-11 / ASI1600mm camera 100x60sec Lum; 50x60sec RGB |
This photo of M88 was imaged between June 8 and June 10, 2020. At 2.5 hours total integration time, it is composed of 100x60sec L subs and 50 each of 60sec RGB subs.
Next up are two elliptical galaxies, M49 and M89. Elliptical galaxies are a type of galaxy with an approximately ellipsoidal shape and a smooth, nearly featureless image. They are one of the three main classes of galaxy described by Edwin Hubble in his Hubble sequence and 1936 work The Realm of the Nebulae, along with spiral and lenticular galaxies. (Wikipedia)
M49 is located about 56 million light-years away in the equatorial constellation of Virgo. This galaxy was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier on February 16, 1777 and was the first member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies to be discovered.
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| M49 Elliptical Galaxy EdgeHD-11 / ASI1600mm camera 100x10sec Lum |
M89 is another elliptical galaxy discovered by Charles Messier on March 18, 1781. It is also located in the constellation of Virgo, about 50 MLY from earth. It is nearly perfectly spherical.
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| M89 Elliptical Galaxy EdgeHD-11 / ASI1600mm camera 100x10sec Lum |
Finally, an open star cluster, M18. This cluster of stars, in the constellation Sagittarius, was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. It is relatively close lying at about 423,000 light-years distant. It is a sparse cluster about 26 light-years across. This image was taken on June 13, 2020.
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| M18 Open Star Cluster EdgeHD-11 / ASI1600mm camera 20x10sec RGB |
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