M27 - The Dumbbell Nebula

Last Friday evening was an unbelievable evening for July in Maryland. The temperature was in the low 60's, dew point way low, no wind, clear skies. Yeah, a bit of turbulence in the atmosphere which would have made planetary imaging a bit difficult, but the clarity of the sky was awesome. About the only problem was the waxing moon - but once it set, everything was a go.

So here is the result. The Dumbbell nebula in all its glory.

Dumbbell Nebula (M27) - July 5, 2014
Celestron EdgeHD-11 Prime Focus
20x180 sec ISO800

Moon; Oh Yeah - the Moon!

So what do you do when the skies are clear and the moonlight interferes with your imaging of deep space objects?  Why, photograph the Moon, of course :)

Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, and Arzachel
EdgeHD-11

Vallis Alpes region
EdgeHD-11

Hubble: Timelapse of V838 Monocerotis (2002-2006)

Many of us have seen images of supernovae remnants, rings of gas from exploding stars and various other astro-photos of similar star explosions. But because the objects are so far away, all we see is a static single image in time. But the Hubble telescope team captured the explosion of v838 monocerotis (20,000 light-years from earth) in a time-lapse video that spanned 4 years; 2002-2006. The video is absolutely fantastic - gives you a new perspective on the awesomeness of these stellar explosions.

The Eagle Nebula

This past Friday evening the sky conditions were the best they've been in months. Couldn't pass up the chance to try imaging some of the nebulae in the Sagittarius/Scutum area of the Milky Way. This region is low in the southern sky, and from my location just NW of Baltimore, there is a lot of light pollution to deal with. However, the moon had set, the sky was very transparent, and I had to go for it. So, here is the Eagle Nebula, a loose star cluster with associated nebulosity throughout.

Eagle Nebula (M16)
June 7, 2014 2:00AM - 30 minutes @ ISO800 f/10
EdgeHD-11 Prime Focus

The Ring Nebula (M57)

Here is an image of the Ring Nebula (M57) a small planetary nebula in Lyra. When a star of average size dies, its core abruptly collapses while the outer layers are shed as an expanding shell of gases. This gas bubble can remain visible for centuries as a planetary nebula. The Ring Nebula, M57, is one of the finest examples.

Ring Nebula (M57)
May 25, 2014 - 5x120sec ISO800
EdgeHD-11 Prime Focus

A Comet and a Cluster - all in the same night

This Sunday evening and Monday morning offered some of the best sky conditions I've seen in the past weeks.  I wanted to capture comet PANSTARRS while it is brightening and high in the northern sky. On its way for a perihelion (closest to the sun) on August 27, and closest to earth on October 31, PANSTARRS is currently about magnitude 9.0 - well below naked-eye visibility, but might be viewed in a dark sky with good binoculars.

C/2012 K1 (PANSTARRS)
20 minutes, ISO 1600 EdgeHD-11

Early on Memorial Day I was able to capture the globular cluster, M22, in the constellation Sagittarius (see location graphic). Low in the southern sky, objects like M22 are hard to image in light polluted skies, and although conditions weren't the best, this 16 minute image does show the cluster fairly well.

M22 is just to the left of the teapot in Sagittarius

M22 - 16 minutes, ISO 800 EdgeHD-11

Update to Supernova 2014J

I've been spending some time checking out my new remote focuser and decided to image M82 to see how much the supernova has faded since March.  Here is the comparison graphic showing the fade out.

SN 2014J

Update - M51

After the clouds rolled away late Saturday evening, and it was obvious that Sunday evening would be clear, I rushed home from church services to get the scope set up again and add some additional subs to the image of M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy) I captured last Sunday.

After a successful evening of imaging (got to bed way too late!) I was able to add another 19 subs (38 minutes). The detail in the inner dust lanes and the outer nebulosity is now starting to come out. The colors too are becoming more pronounced. This will be a continuing effort with plans to add at least another 2 hours of imaging before I'm done with this Deep Space Object (DSO).



M51, Whirlpool Galaxy
76 minutes ISO 800
Celestron EdgeHD-11 at prime focus

Finally, a clear sky!

With the skies not cooperating very much this year, getting a nice clear night with fairly steady atmosphere is rare, and you have to grab the opportunity when you can. Easter Sunday evening was one of those nights.

I had spent most of the good evenings, up to Sunday, adjusting my equipment and software and now I am ready for some serious astrophotography. This image of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) is a 34 minute exposure taken as 17 x 120sec sub-frames (details can be found on my Astrobin page). In the next few weeks I plan on adding additional subs to bring out more detail.


Whirlpool Galaxy

Mars orbiter spies rover near martian butte

Scientists using NASA's Curiosity Mars rover are eyeing a rock layer surrounding the base of a small butte, called "Mount Remarkable," as a target for investigating with tools on the rover's robotic arm. You can see NASA's Curiosity Mars rover and tracks from its driving in this view from orbit. More details in the article on Astronomy Magazine.

Total Lunar Eclipse Coming Up

It's been awhile since the last time the earth's shadow crossed the full moon; back in 2011 to be exact. Well the wait is over and the first of four consecutive total lunar eclipses in 2014-2015 (an eclipse tetrad) occurs on tax-day, April 15th. Such eclipse tetrads are not common — the last one occurred a decade ago, but the next won't begin until 2032.

Lunar eclipses require no special equipment, and are safe to watch, although a pair of binoculars would really make the experience all that much better. Sky and Telescope has the details on this month's event. But you'll need to get up early, or plan to stay out all night - mid eclipse doesn't occur until 3:46 AM EDT.