Eye of the Raven

NGC 7217 - An Unusual Spiral

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:13:00 +0000

This is NGC 7217, a rather strange spiral galaxy located near NGC 7331. It has a dusty yellow core surrounded by compact blue-ish arms. They don't really look like arms though, and are really more like a ring. These rings are filled with young, blue stars. This image is nearly 2 hours worth of imaging. It is 20 ten minute images shot through the C9.25 at F5. I did it with the old Starshoot DSCI CCD.

Crab Nebula - with C 9.25 scope

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:04:00 +0000

I shot this picture of M1, the Crab Nebula last night. It has been really windy, so I have not had much chance to get out and image. I am also still adjusting the focus on this scope and finding a ccd set-up that works for me. This seems to be about the best, though it is an old camera; the Starshoot I.

This is about a dozen 8 minute images shot at F5'ish guided on my LXD75 with a separate guidescope. Focus was slightly off, but a good deconvolution corrected it.

Stephan's Quintet

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:58:00 +0000

Here is another C9.25 image shot under VERY windy conditions. I am shocked it actually came out. The seeing conditions were also atrocious, with the stars furiously twinkling.

This is a stack of 6 ten minute images shot with the old Orion Starshoot at F6.3

This is a colliding galaxy cluster, with a slightly controversial nature. All of the galaxies have a similar red-shift except for one. This one seems to be interacting with the others, and seems to be part of the same group, but the red-shift says it is not. The astronomy world is divided as to whether this disproves the use of red shifts as a measure for distance. This cluster is also near to NGC 7331, and it shows signs of being connected to this group as well. This group also has a different red-shift, however.

Need to get some new targets...

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:48:00 +0000

Here is another small image of NGC 891. I did this with the C 9.25 but used the ST7. I shot this binned to save some imaging time, but the image did not hold up well when I drizzled it up in size. It is about 4 six minute images stacked, shot at F5 under VERY windy conditions.

I really like my ST7, but it is so heavy, especially with the filter wheel, that it causes drag on the scope when guiding. The cables are a real problem too. I think I will take it off for the time being.

M27 redone

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:52:00 +0000

I re-processed the M27 shot I did with the C9. I think it looks a lot better.

Spiral Galaxy NGC 6946

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:06:00 +0000

Here is a shot I did with the ST7 running through the new C9.25. I imaged this galaxy at F5 with a stack of 7 ten minute images.

NGC 6946 is noteworthy as being located near an open cluster. It is also known as the Firework's Galaxy. It is rather dim and can be found in the constellation Cepheus

The Pitfalls of AstroImaging...

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:23:00 +0000

Lots of things can go wrong. The most common are trailed stars, computer problems, and bad focus. This image of The Crescent Nebulas, has a lot of them. I started out the night with a computer problem, requiring about 4 re-boots. Then it was a problem with a guider trailing stars in the wrong direction. After I thought it was all squared away, I downloaded the night's images, and found the focus was slightly off.

Some nights you just can't win. Here is the result of this problem ridden imaging debacle. To this date, I have never taken a good image of the Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888.

This is a stack of 20 images at 8 minutes each through my C9.25.

Two Views of the Ring Nebula

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:36:00 +0000

I shot the Ring Nebula, M57, last night. I normally do not do this nebula, since it is relatively small, but I thought I would give it a go in the new scope.

I shot two versions. One is a stack of 30 thirty second images done with my Starshoot DSCI 1. The other is a composite of the 30 short exposures stacked on a stack of 15 ten-minute exposures. I managed to bring out the small nearby galaxy, and the outer shell is starting to appear around the ring. It looks like a faint ghost. The colors are a bit washed out because of the stretching process.
All imaged through the C9.25 at F3 'ish, not sure what it is exactly.

Getting the C9 Dialed In...

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:06:00 +0000

I went back to M27, since it is an easy target, to start getting the rig set better for the new C9.25 OTA. I ran a stream of 30 five minute images, and played around with the guider settings. The stars are sort of blobby (I think because the focus may be a little off - by a hair). I managed to get quite a bit of detail. I think I over-did the sharpening a bit though.

I can already see the C9.25 has all the benefits of my old SN-10 without the drawbacks.

Note: I shot this with a slight southern breeze. It did not seem to make a difference.

More Images From the new Scope...

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:23:00 +0000

Here are a few images I shot with the new C 9.25, they are not the greatest in the world, but it is slowly coming together. The stars are sort of funky due to stacking errors and a stiff breeze.

All images shot with my older Orion Starshoot imager. I believe both sets are stacks of 10 images shot at 6 minutes each with the C9 running at F5.

The top galaxy is NGC 891 and the bottom is NGC 7331; both are easy targets this time of year.

Image From Another New Scope

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:54:00 +0000

I acquired a Celestron C 9.25 OTA in a trade a few weeks ago. Last night was the first time I got to run a camera through it, mostly due to weather. It has been one giant rainstorm for at least a month now. Last night was no exception. It was windy and had just rained an hour before. The sky was very turbulent, and lightning was flashing all about. I got the scope out anyway, because I wanted to try it out.

It did a fine job. Much better than I expected in the wind. It was taking 10 mph gusts, and it did not affect it much at all. I had it set to run at F3 with a little screw in focal reducer. I will have to put the regular F6.3 reducer in place and see how it works out. My focus was slightly off too. Overall not bad though.

The test image was of M27 with my old Starshoot CCD. Ten images at 5 minutes each.

Barred Spiral M109

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:11:00 +0000

Here is a shot of the faint Barred Spiral Galaxy M109. This galaxy is one of the few barred spirals you can see visually using an 8 inch scope. It is said, our Milky Way galaxy looks a lot like this one.

It is very faint, and could really use more integration time.

Scope: Celestron C6-SE sct
CCD: SBIG St-7
F-Ratio: F6.3
Mount: LXD 75
Filters: UV/IR only
Stack: 8 thirteen minute images

M94, subexposure test

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Tue, 19 May 2009 06:31:00 +0000

I did this as a test shot using shorter sub-exposures. This is 9 ten-minute images. I am not sure I gained anything with more images to stack. I think my set-up works best with 13 minute minimum sub-exposures. The faint outer shell was visible, but was exceedingly noisy, so I had to tone it way down during processing. The longer subs would have brought it out.

I did this with my ST7 and C6 at F6.3

Floating in the Sky

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Mon, 18 May 2009 04:17:00 +0000

I found a balloon today, just before sunset. It made a nice target for my 300D and 100mm F6 refractor telescope. They launch these several hundred miles to the east of my house. It was way up there, floating on the edge of space.

M104 Sombrero Galaxy

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Sat, 16 May 2009 04:15:00 +0000

Well, the Sombrero looks more like a ring in this image. I tried to emphasize the ring of dust around this otherwise elliptical galaxy. It is theorized that this is an elliptical Galaxy that collided with a spiral many billions of years ago. The dusty ring is the final remains of the spiral galaxy.

I did not get a lot of detail, but the ring is clearly visible.

Spiral Galaxy M100

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Sat, 16 May 2009 03:48:00 +0000

This galaxy is a fairly dim one, but has a very bright, almost star-like core when seen visually. I have never taken a good image of it. This Luminance image with my ST7 is about the best so far, though it is not that great.

CCD: SBIG ST7
No Filters
Scope: Celestron C6 sct @F6.3
8 fifteen minute images stacked

Added color to M51

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:09:00 +0000

I added C/M/Y color to the M51 I did earlier. Each color channel binned 3x3 and ten minutes duration.

M51 Whirpool Galaxy

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:30:00 +0000

I shot this Luminance image a few nights ago. It is the Whirlpool Galaxy. It is 8 thirteen minute images median stacked. All shot at F6.3 with my C6 sct using my ST7 ccd.

M63 - now in Color

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:47:00 +0000

Here is the final color image of M63, the Sunflower Galaxy.

C: 3 images @ 13 minutes Binned 2x2
M: 3 images @ 13 minutes Binned 2x2
Y: 3 images @ 13 minutes Binned 2x2
L: 8 images @ 13 minutes

M63 Sunflower Galaxy

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:31:00 +0000

Here's another image I need to shoot color for. It is M63, the Sunflower Galaxy. There is a strange line in this image that appears to run through the nucleus from edge to edge. I am not sure if it is a processing artifact or a real feature of the galaxy. I will have to research it.

CCD: SBIG ST7
Scope: Celestron C6S SCT
Mount LXD 75
Reducer: .63
Luminance: 8 thirteen minute images

Project: M106

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:34:00 +0000

I am waiting for the weather to clear so I can shoot some color for this galaxy. This is M106, near Ursa Major. It is a large and very violent spiral galaxy said to harbor a Black Hole in the core.

Shame I cut off the small galaxy next to it. I will have to redo the image, I guess.

Scope: Celestron C6S w/ .63 reducer
Mount LXD75
CCD: ST7
Filters: UV/IR block
L: 15 thirteen minute images

NGC 2681 - maybe?

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:03:00 +0000

I thought I was imaging the relatively obscure, NGC 2681 when I shot this. After comparing it to other shots of NGC 2681, I am not so sure what it is.

It is a spiral galaxy, but it is definitely not NGC 2681.

This sort of thing happens occasionally, since imaging these tiny galaxies is a lot like taking a picture of a grain of sand on a beach a mile away.

Eskimo Nebula in LCMY color

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 05:21:00 +0000

I shot this image of the Eskimo Nebula with a full moon out. It was sort of a "target of chance", since I was actually hunting for Comet Lulin, but could not find it in the glow of the moon. This nebula is so named because it resembles a little eskimo face at high magnification. My image is sort of small, being shot with a focal reducer, but I did bring out a bit of color. Something on my imaging set-up was dragging, though, causing a small swing in my guider. The stars are not completely perfect.

Scope: Celestron C6-S
Mount: LXD-75
CCD: SBIG ST7 w/Atik filter wheel
Filters: Edmund CMY Dichroic
Focal Ratio: F6.3
L: 6 @ 60 seconds
C/M/Y: 6 @ 60 seconds binned 2x2

M108 - Now in Color!

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:48:00 +0000

Here is my earlier image of M108 colored with CMY coloring.

C = 5 images @ 13mins 2x2 binned
M = 5 images @ 13mins 2x2 binned
Y = 1 image @ 13mins 2x2 binned (What can I say? clouds moved in.)

Messier 108

nmilluminati@cybermesa.com (NM Illuminati) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 04:42:00 +0000

I shot this Luminance Image of M108 two nights ago. I need to shoot some color for it. M108 is a spiral galaxy seen along its edge.

Telescope: Celestron C6S
F 6.3
SBIG ST7 CCD / UV-IR filter
12 thirteen minute images.