Jun 162020
 

I am still developing the procedures necessary to process one shot color (OSC) camera images. This is the first D90 image I have processed using the color information. The steps to process an OSC camera are totally different than the steps I use to produce color images taken by my science camera. The larger FOV also adds additional complexity. This image is 2.83° wide versus my science camera having an FOV of only 24′ (arc minutes). However, the increased area makes it much easier to image multiple objects without having to assemble a mosaic of smaller images.

This picture is centered on an object in the southern constellation Sagittarius: The Lagoon Nebula. Also known as M 8, it is a large emission nebula being energized by the open star cluster NGC 6530 that lies in it. Also easily visible towards the lower right is M 20 (The Trifid Nebula) containing both emission and reflection nebulae. The small concentration of stars at the upper left is the globular cluster NGC 6544.

Lagoon Nebula (M8) [F:10x120s]


Chart generated by Cartes du Ciel (CdC)

Chart courtesy of IAU/Sky&Telescope

The vertical yellow line that runs all the way through the CdC chart is the ecliptic. Since most asteroids orbit in the plane of the solar system, the image contains a lot of them. I counted 31 identified on the chart by small green dots, but due to the image scale and the asteroid’s magnitudes I couldn’t find any of them.

Both M 8 and M 20 are just visible with binoculars. Using the constellation chart, observe just above the spout of Sagittarius’ Tea Pot asterism (heavy green lines).

 Posted by at 18:45
Jul 162016
 

(M 9; NGC 6333) [C:45x60s]

(M 9; NGC 6333) [C:45x60s]

Chart generated with Cartes du Ciel

Chart generated with Cartes du Ciel


Comet hunter, Charles Messier, discovered this object in June 1764. Now known as a globular cluster, this gravitationally bound group of stars is located in the constellation Ophiuchus. The dark area below and left of the cluster is part of dark nebula Barnard 64. The group is approximately 25,800 light years from the solar system.
 Posted by at 23:36
May 202016
 

NGC 6426 is a small dim globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus. It is one of the 150 or so globular clusters that orbit the Milky Way galaxy.

(NGC 6426) [C:60x60s]

(NGC 6426) [C:60x60s]


This image is a stack of sixty 60 second monochrome images.

Chart generated with Cartes du Ciel

Chart generated with Cartes du Ciel


The cluster was discovered by German born English astronomer William Herschel in 1786. It lies an estimated 67,000 Lys from the Sun and above the galactic plane.
 Posted by at 12:07
Jul 262015
 

This globular cluster is located in the constellation Delphinus (the Dolphin) at a distance of 135,000 LYs. That distance is 5 times the distance from the Sun to the center of our galaxy. The clusters great distance and very eccentric orbit may indicate it was captured from one of the many dwarf galaxies that the Milky Way captured during its lifetime. Note the numerous background galaxies visible.

NGC 7006 [C:35x30s]

NGC 7006 [C:35x30s]


Chart generated using Cartes du Ciel

Chart generated using Cartes du Ciel

 Posted by at 16:17
Jun 202015
 

NGC 6218 (M 12) [C:60X30s]

NGC 6218 (M 12) [C:60X30s]

Described by Charles Messier as a “nebula without stars”, this globular cluster was discovered by him in 1764. This cluster in located in the constellation Ophiuchus (the Serpent Bearer). It is about 15,700 lys from Earth and ancient in the extreme with an estimated age of 12.6 billion years.

Notice the two adjacent galaxies peeking through the cluster at about 8 o’clock just outside the central condensation. I’ve been able to identify the larger and brighter of the two as PGC 1103219.

 Posted by at 20:15