Sky this Week

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.

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.

Located in the constellation Andromeda is a sextet of faint galaxies (NGC 48, 49, 51 and IC 1534, 1535 and 1536). Estimated distance is 300 million light years.  NGC 51 is the brightest of the group at vmag 14.1

Image taken from Louisville, CO at 21:31 to 21:46 MST with Celestron Nexstar11 telescope, Meade F3.3 focal reducer, and Stellacam II video camera.  SCII set at 9/14 gain, no gamma, and integrate 256 frames (8 sec). Dark subtracted and flat field corrected with ImagePlus, aligned and stacked with Registax4. Sky was mostly clear, temperature 40 °F, no wind, transparency very good, and turbulence 5/10.

Stephan’s quintet (NGC 7317, 7318A, 7281B, 7319, and 7320) in the constellation Pegasus is a grouping of 5 galaxies in a 3.5 arc-min area. The largest and brightest of the group, NGC 7320, is located in the lower left of center. Due to difference in red shift, the conventional view  is that NGC 7320 is not part of the other 4 galaxies in the group. It is instead actually part the nearby NGC 7331 group.  However there is evidence of a connecting tail extending from 7320 which implies interaction with the the other galaxies. Some astronomers, such as Halton Arp, maintain that because of this the current beliefs about red shift should be re-examined. 

The galaxies 7318A and B located near the center of the image are quite interesting as well. Not only are they interacting but they also have differing red-shifts. Galaxy 7318B is currently moving toward the others at high speed setting up a tremendous shock wave larger than our own milky way galaxy in size.

Location was Crow Valley Campground in the Pawnee Grasslands just north of Briggsdale, CO. Temperature was 44°F and humidity was 56%. The sky was mostly clear with a few thin clouds, no wind, turbulence around 6/10, and transparency varied from good to very good. Fifteen minutes of video taken with Celestron Nexstar11 telescope, APT wedge, Meade F3.3 focal reducer, and a Astrovid Stellacam II video camera. Camera set at 9/14 gain, integrate 256 (8 sec), and medium gamma. Images were dark subtracted and flat field corrected with ImagePlus, aligned and stacked with Registax3.