Sky this Week » Deep sky

NGC 2392 Eskimo Nebula in constellation Gemini

Vern — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:50:37 +0000

Image below is of NGC 2392, the Eskimo Nebula in constellation Gemini. The one from the Hubble is admittedly just a tad bit better.

Image from last night, Feb 5 after 11 pm, 12 deg. F, no wind, transparency was good, and turbulence was better than usual, about 6/10. All images from Nexstar11, F3.3 focal reducer, and Stellacam II video camera, (4 second integration, 9/14 gain). 30 frames aligned, dark subtracted, flat field corrected, aligned, stacked, and enhanced with Registax4.

NGC 2371 and NGC 2372

Vern — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:43:16 +0000

NGC 2371 and 2372, the double-bubble nebula in constellation Gemini. A couple teardrops with 14.8 magnitude star in between.

Images acquired from Louisville, CO. Temperature was 12 deg. F, no wind, transparency was good, and turbulence about 6/10. All images from Nexstar11, F3.3 focal reducer, and Stellacam II video camera, (4 second integration, 9/14 gain). 30 frames aligned, dark subtracted, flat field corrected, aligned, stacked, and enhanced with Registax4.

NGC 2903

Vern — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:34:19 +0000

NGC 2903 is 8.9 magnitude spiral galaxy in constellation Leo:

It was great ccd weather last night here in Louisville, temperature was 12 deg. F, no wind, transparency was good, and turbulence was better than usual, about 6/10. All images from Nexstar11, F3.3 focal reducer, and Stellacam II video camera, (4 second integration, 9/14 gain). 30 frames aligned, dark subtracted, flat field corrected, aligned, stacked, and enhanced with Registax4.

Terzan 11 Globular Cluster in Sagittarius

Vern — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 23:58:54 +0000

The image below is of a faint globular cluster in Sagittarius called Terzan 11. Dark area surrounding cluster is probably caused by obscurring dust which extinguishes light from an area that is rich with Milky Way stars (compare to star field on the left). The globular is listed as magnitude 16.4 so it is a tough object even for large aperature scopes. Tough to guess the classification as it so faint. Location was confirmed with DSS POSS2 image. I should have posted this before but I mis-filed the images and didn’t come across them until this afternoon.

Images were taken at Fox Park in Wyoming on July 15, 2007 at 03:35 am MDT with a Celestron Nexstar 11 telescope, F3.3 focal reducer, and Stellacam II video Camera. Stellacam set at 14/14 gain, medium gamma, and 256 frame integration (8 sec). Registax4 used to dark subtract, flat field correct, align, stack, end brightness enhance 30 frames.

Sky was mostly clear, some high thin clouds, transparency generally quite good despite the high humidity 70%, dew on everything, temperature about 38°F, and no wind.

Sharpless 1 – 89 in Cygnus

Vern — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 18:02:35 +0000

Located in constellation Cygnus at RA 21° 14′ 09″ and Dec +47° 46′ 24″ is a faint (vmag 14.5), oblong-shaped planetary nebula known as the “Moth Nebula”. I only picked up the middle part of the “moth” with the Stellacam which may be seen at the center in the image below. The Stsci Digitized Sky Survey image shows faint “wings” extending to the upper left and to the lower right.

Image above taken from “Cactus Flats North” in the Pawnee National Grasslands near Briggsdale, CO on Saturday morning, Sept. 8, 2007 around 2:33 am MDT. Celestron Nexstar 11 telescope with F3.3 focal reducer and Stellacam II video camera used to capture 30 images. Camera set at full gain (14/14), medium gamma, and 256 frame integration (8 sec). Registax4 used to flat field adjust, dark frame subtract, align, and stack images. Cropped and brightness enhanced with PhotoShop Elements 2.

Sky was clear, 2-3 mph wind, transparency very good, turbulence about 6/10, temperature 51°.F.

NGC 891

Vern — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 21:40:13 +0000

NGC 891 in Andromeda is a unbarred spiral seen edge on from our vantage point in space. It has a thin dark dust lane bisecting the entire cross section. It is a stunning, show piece object when viewed in a large aperature telescope from a dark sky location.

Fortunately we had access to both last Friday evening. We went to the Pawnee National Grasslands near Briggsdale, CO to get away the light pollution and enjoy some nearby dark sky. Gary brought out his 30 inch dob Telekit so we had plenty of aperature to view NGC 891, not to mention many other great objects.

The above image taken with Celestron Nexstar 11 telescope, F3.3 focal reducer, and Stellacam II video camera. Stellacam II set at gain 14/14 and 256 integration (8 sec). Registax4 used to flat field correct, dark frame subtract, align, and stack 30 frames. Conditions were great, sky was totally clear, wind 0-5 mph, low humidity, temperature 54°F, and turbulence between 5 and 6/10.

Messier 13

Vern — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 03:05:15 +0000

On a clear, dark, summer night I always love taking a look at the great globular cluster Messier 13 when its high overhead. It looks good in small scopes, but the view in a large scope such as my friend Gary’s 30″ dob is stunning. So many worlds, hundreds of thousands of suns in close orbits. Their skies must be filled with bright stars — maybe so many and so bright that their view of the universe is limited.

Image taken around 1 am Sunday morning May 27, 2007 from Louisville, CO with a Celestron Nexstar11 telescope, a F6.3 focal reducer, and a Canon Xti camera. Camera was set to ISO 800 and a 30 second exposure. Registax4 was used to align, stack, and enhance brightness. Sky was mostly clear, temperature 58° F, turbulence between 5 and 6/10, no wind, and transparency was quite good.

Messier 57, the Ring Nebula

Vern — Tue, 29 May 2007 15:48:55 +0000

Messier 57, the Ring Nebula, is fairly high up in the sky around midnight in late May. It is one of the summer objects that nearly everyone takes a look at if they have a scope and a clear sky. M57 is beautiful to look at and is also one of our best examples of a planetary nebula. The star in the center has expelled envelopes of gas and dust and has collapsed to a white dwarf. Intense radiation causes gases surrounding the star to ionize and glow. The ionized oxygen glows a greenish color and the ionized hydrogen a redish color.

The image above was taken early Sunday morning May 27, 2007, with a Celestron Nexstar11 telescope, a F6.3 focal reducer, and a Canon Xti camera. Camera was set to ISO 800 and a 25 second exposure. Registax4 was used to align and stack 16 images. Sky was mostly clear, temperature 58° F, turbulence between 5 and 6/10, and no wind. Transparency was quite good although the humidity was high and dew was on about everything. Location was Louisville, CO.

Here is above M57 in desktop wallpaper or screen saver size (1280×1024). Send me a note if you would like another size.

Messier 27, the Dumbbell Nebula

Vern — Wed, 23 May 2007 02:32:38 +0000

It was slightly after 4 am and the eastern horizon was brightening when I turned the scope and Stellacam II to take a look at the Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula. I’m always amazed by this incredible object. It looked great in Gary’s 30″ dob. Visually through the eyepeice we were able to trace the outer ring in the 30 which the below image doesn’t pick up very well.

Image taken Sunday May 20, 2007 at the Cactus Flats North site in the Pawnee National Grasslands, 8 miles east of Briggsdale, CO. Sky was clear, transparency was good, no wind, temperature around 46°F, and turbulence about 5/10. Telescope was Celestron Nexstar11, F3.3 focal reducer, and Stellacam II video camera. Registax used to dark subtract, flat field correct, align, and stack about 8 minutes of video. Stellacam II set 10/14 gain, medium gamma, and 256 integration (8 seconds).

The Owl Nebula, M97 NGC 3587

Vern — Fri, 18 May 2007 22:02:55 +0000

Messier 97, the “Owl Nebula” is in constellation Ursa Major

A Stellacam II video camera used for capture at 128 integration (4 sec), medium gamma setting, and 9/14 gain. Sky was mostly cloudless, 0-5 mph wind, temperature 53°F, transparency was good though some haze was apparent, and turbulence 5/10. Location was light polluted Louisville, CO.