Oct 182020
 

I took a break from planetary imaging last night. This is a target of opportunity I ran across in between asteroid sets. NGC 891 is an edge-on spiral galaxy located in the constellation Andromeda. Also known as the Silver Sliver Galaxy, it was discovered by William Herschel in 1784.

Silver Sliver Galaxy (NGC 891)[CV:52x60s)

There is quite a bit of detail in the prominent dust lane that evenly splits the disk. There is also another edge-on spiral galaxy apparently deep in the background slightly above NGC 891’s disk. It is very small and about half way from the central bulge and the right edge.

 Posted by at 18:05
Sep 112020
 

While waiting for an asteroid to come into view, I had enough time to image a target of opportunity. NGC 7331 is a large spiral galaxy located in the constellation Pegasus. As is normally the case, there are several other galaxies visible as well. Just starting to become visible in this image assembled from thirty-one 60 second exposures are three other members of the “NGC 7331 group” (NGC 7337/7335/7336). Although visually close, all the galaxies lie extremely far from each other and only look close from Earth’s perspective.

This image shows a spiral galaxy centered in a sparce field of Milky Way stars. It is slightly tipped towards the observer with the near edge lower. There are sveral other but much cmaller, more distant galaxies.

NGC 7331 [CV: 31x60s]


In the constellation map, NGC 7331 lies at the ‘top’ of Pegasus bordering on the constellation Lacerta (the Lizard).
This is a copy of the primary image with the primary objects identified by their astronomical designations.

NGC 7331 – Annotated [CV: 31x60s]

This is a map of a portion of the northern celestial sphere. The constellation is highlited with the brighter stars connected by lines.

By IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine (Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg) via Wikimedia Commons

 Posted by at 14:11
Jun 132019
 

If you have ever wondered what a bazillion dollars buys you in the Astronomy world, here is an example. Yesterday’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is a shot of M 96 (AKA NGC 3368) taken by the HST (Hubble Space Telescope). Below is the same galaxy taken in 2013 by the PTO deep space camera through my 10″ scope.

M 96 [C:9x300s]

You can definitely see the prominent dust lanes visible in the HST image although in mine you cannot positively identify them as such. They could be gaps between spiral arms. In the HST shot you can also see what appear to be either background galaxies or satellite galaxies on the upper right and middle left of the main target as well as a bright young cluster of blue stars on the galaxy’s left. All three are visible in the PTO shot but they all appear as small blurry spots.

 Posted by at 10:50
Mar 022017
 

The UFO Galaxy (NGC 2683)[C:199x60s]

 
This galaxy may or may not be a barred spiral. There is evidence supporting a classical spiral as well as a barred spiral. The galaxy lies about 20 million light years distant in the Lynx constellation. Note the numerous dark dust lanes silhouetted against the combined light of billions of stars. The small spiral galaxy left of the galaxy’s core is PGC 2030408.
 

Chart generated with Cartes du Ciel

 Posted by at 00:22
Jul 092014
 

I haven’t had the chance to do much imaging lately so I stepped into my WABAC machine and dug up an image from the archive.

M-87

M-87

The large nebulous object in the image is M87, a very large elliptical galaxy visible in the constellation Virgo. Elliptical galaxies are visually quite un-remarkable. Spherical, featureless and usually devoid of gas, these galaxies consist of very old stars. The lack of gas results in little to no stellar creation. All this leads to a fairly bland appearance.

So, why did I take a set of images of this one?

Every once in a while, I will try to image something unusual just for the challenge. Most of the time the local light pollution combined with the small aperture of my telescope prove too much for the intended target.

But, not this time.

Although discovered in 1781 by comet hunter Charles Messier it wasn’t until 1947 that the galaxy was identified as a powerful radio source. Photography showed a visible jet of material and it was suggested the jet was the source of the radio energy. Further investigation showed the galaxy was a very strong X-ray and Gamma ray source as well. Hidden deep within the halo of stars that make up M87 is a beast. A supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy powers the jet and provides the energy for the X-ray and Gamma ray emissions. My equipment cannot image the black hole, the X-rays or Gamma rays, so my personal challenge was to image the jet.

I had tried several times before but it always seemed that I could not capture enough light. I took a lot of exposures and stretched the combined stack well beyond a pleasing image but just couldn’t find it. I kept thinking that I would have to get a larger telescope. (I do need a larger telescope.)

M-87 jet

M-87 jet

However, this time while processing the images, I accidently slid the stretching control the wrong way.
It was then the jet revealed itself. The jet is only 5000 light years long. The galaxy is much much larger. So only by reducing the overall brightness does the jet, buried deep in the galaxies glow, finally become visible. I had been looking too far from the galaxies core.

The image is ten 300 second exposures.

 Posted by at 18:22