| UV Ceti | Cygnus X-1 |
|
|
Not a bad star cluster, but not spectacular either. The fairly short integration
doen't help matters either. The most interesting thing about this cluster is that
it lies in the same low-power files as the galaxy NGC 6949. Both were visible
in my older picture, but the field of view is slightly too small to catch both
in my current configuration.
(20x32 sec ISO 1600 2x telextender, 10/21?/09)
A nice cluster to see visually through a small telescope. My pictures, though
getting better over time, still don't do it justice.
(36x32 sec ISO 1600 2x telextender, 9/13/09)
Upper Beaver Meadows at RMNP is very, very nice compared to home, but the glow
of Estes Park detracts some from some of these photos.
The small pictures here link to the VERY LARGE
full size images, which are too large to fit on a screen at once but which I find
interesting for browsing for lots of Messier objects, asterisms, and deep red
stars. All photos are combinations of 3-7 x 32 sec ISO 1600 exposures
at 18mm or 55mm focal lengths (hand guided on my "barndoor" mount)
(2009/08/20)
High elevation and no light pollution make for magnificent skies. This year
with the new Canon EOS Rebel XS, the pictures are better than ever: improved
optics, improved sensitivity. The small pictures here link to the VERY LARGE
full size images, which are too large to fit on a screen at once but which I find
interesting for browsing for lots of Messier objects, asterisms, and deep red
stars. All photos are combinations of 3-7 x 32 sec ISO 1600 exposures
at 18mm focal length (hand guided on my "barndoor" mount)
(2009/08/16)
ε Lyr |
ζ Lyr β Lyr  |
η Lyr WDS 19135+3902 |
β Cyg δ Cyg  |
A typical summer night with lots of humidity and thick high cirrus is not good for deep sky imaging, but still works for double stars... at least until you can't see any stars at all anymore. The scale of all these pictures is the same, but in some cases the exposure times are a bit different. I like that ε Lyr can be resolved at this scale. I was surprised to find that ζ Lyr and β Lyr are practically twins. The WDS (Washington Double Star Catalog) star was coincidentally in the same field as η Lyr (click on either image to see both). β Cyg is here just because it's the Orion Nebula of double stars (if you know what I mean). δ Cyg is a bit iffy, but I think this is real. All these stars were selected from the relevant double star list between the maps in Norton's Star Atlas.
 |
I'm not sure why, but lately it seems that globular clusters are acting as satellite magnets. During these pictures CBERS 2B zipped by in less than 1 second, then just a couple minutesz later, the brighter MSX flew by along an almost identical track, and finally Molniya 1-88 drifted very slowly through the field. This last satellite is in a very different orbit -- it was in the frame when the exposure started and still present when the exposure ended. Generally the satellite was invisible, but apparently it rotates (or tumbles) with a roughly 10 second period and produces alternate brighter and fainter glints with each full rotation. (Look for the line of 6 dots in across the upper right portion of the image.) (55x30sec, ISO 1600, 2x Telextender + 6" scope, Canon EOS Rebel XS; 2009/07/13)
As I was setting up a sharp-edge balnket of think cirrus clouds were sliding up from the south. I fugures that I might as well just take some pictures of Polaris, because it would remain visible longer than anything else. Surprisingly the line of clouds stopped just short of covering Polaris, and then slid away back to the south. Though by then it was getting too late to do much of anything else. In this (logartihmically scaled) version of the image you can still see the fainter companion star, Polaris B. In the linked image (linearly scaled), Polaris B is lost in the glare, but a faint galaxy north of Polaris is marginally visible. This is not such a small faint galaxy (not when I can image it), but apparently it's generally been neglected because of its proximity to Polaris and/or the Noth Celestial Pole. The first note of the galaxy seems to be as an infrared source: IRAS 01476+8906. It was later noted in the 2MASS (near-infrared) and NVSS (radio) surveys. (60x30sec+10x30sec dark frames, ISO 1600, 2x Telextender + 6" scope, Canon EOS Rebel XS; 2009/07/08)
All the stars in the sky are in motion. Despite speeds of tens to hundreds
of km/s, their apparent motions are tiny because the distances involved are
so large. Presently, Barnard's Star exhibits the highest proper motion of any star
in the sky. This set of images shows the 10.3" annual motion of Barnard's Star over a 4 year
interval. The later pictures are deeper than the others because my switch
to the 6" scope and new mount (and then a new camera too) makes it easy to get
much deeper (and more interesting) images.
(2005/06/27 and 2006/06/17 12x4sec ISO 400; 2007/06/22 10x8sec ISO 400; 2008/07/03
5x32sec ISO 400, 6" scope; 2009/07/04 12x20sec ISO 1600, 6" scope)
 |
(~102x30sec, ISO 1600, 2x Telextender + 6" scope, Canon EOS Rebel XS; 2009/06/06)
This globular cluster is commonly known as Messier 3.
(70x30sec ISO 1600 exposures with 2x meade telextender and 6" scope;
2008/04/24)
This is simply a 30sec tracking/focus test image of Sirius. Seems pretty.
Not pushing the ISO too high probably helped. The contrast seems especially
good compared to earlier bright star pictures.
(1x30sec ISO 400 exposure with 2x meade telextender and 6" scope;
2008/01/22)
These photos of M34 and M41 are improvements over earlier efforts. The M41 picture seems to have worked out much better, despite similar exposures. The larger-scale image shows many quite faint stars, and fairly nice color variations. The field of view provided by the 2x telextender and 6" scope is just a little too small for some of these larger open clusters, but it's a fairly good scale for globulars. At least for M79. Messier 79 is not one of the great globular clusters, but it worked out pretty well here. ([10,11,16]x30sec ISO 1600 exposures with 2x meade telextender and 6" scope; 2008/01/10-22)
| Wide Field View of the Crab Nebula | Two Star Clusters and Two Asteroids |
 |
 |
| Star Clusters M37, M36, and M38 in Auriga | Pleiades |
 |
 |
These images are using the Canon with its telephoto lens, piggybacked on top of the telescope. This way longer exposures can be obtained with longer focal lengths (higher magnification) and the star images still remain untrailed. Still need to work on colors. The Pleiades image required serious modification in Photoshop. First, magenta tones (halos) were shifted to blue and then the image was smoothed to help hide the residual color defects.
(10x30sec ISO 800 exposures, 75mm focal length, Canon EOS Rebel XS; 2008/11/19)
(10x30sec ISO 800 exposures, 75mm focal length, Canon EOS Rebel XS; 2008/11/19)
(10x30sec ISO 800 exposures, 75mm focal length, Canon EOS Rebel XS; 2008/11/19)
(11x30sec ISO 800 exposures, 300mm focal length, Canon EOS Rebel XS; 2008/11/19)
A pair of long-period variable stars. I had no idea what phase these stars were at, but I suspected I would find them to be very distincly red regardless. (5x64sec ISO 400 exposures, 25mm eyepiece 6" telescope. 2008/10/30)
(Left) The open star clusters NGC 7790 and 7788 (9x64sec exposures). Not the spectacle
of the Double Cluster, but still a nice grouping.
(Center) NGC 7380. This young cluster is enveloped in nebulosity, which is too
faint to show up here. The cluster reminds me of M39. (11x64sec exposures).
(Right) NGC 7129. Not so obviously a cluster, but a bit of faint nebulosity can
be seen here. It's only a hint of the wonderful detail that can be seen in
deep optical (or infrared) images. In the larger (linked) image, the cluster NGC
7142 is visible in the southeast corner of the field. There's a brighter grouping
of stars (including a deep red carbon star) in the southwest, but I don't know
that this has any designation or real physical association. (22x64sec)
NGC 7789: A large but faint old cluster. (12x32sec exposures, ISO 400, 25mm eyepiece+6" telescope; 2008/09/20)
NGC 146 and 133: NGC 146 seems rather indistinct. NGC 133 is marked by four bright stars. In the larger (linked) image κ Cas is visible to the south, while to the north the number of stars decreases sharply because of extinction from a foreground molecular cloud. (12x32sec exposures, ISO 400, 25mm eyepiece+6" telescope; 2008/09/20)
NGC 225: A distinct cluster, but not especially remakable. (12x32sec exposures, ISO 400, 25mm eyepiece+6" telescope; 2008/09/20)
NGC 457: The forground star φ Cas makes this cluster more distinctive. (12x32sec exposures, ISO 400, 25mm eyepiece+6" telescope; 2008/09/19)
The first two pictures were taken in the wonderfully dark skies at Rabbit Ears Pass. The first picture is towards the center of the Galaxy. Trees block part of the sky, while thick dust clouds block most of the light from the Milky Way. Jupiter shines brightly in the foreground. The second picture looks overhead into the middle-to-outer parts of the galactic disk. Parts of the constellations Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Lacerta, and Cygnus line the Milky Way. The star cluster M39 (see below) can be seen near the center of this image. A day later, the third picture was taken from the vicinity of Red Feather Lakes. Despite a bit of low elevation light pollution, the Aquilla rift is clearly visible. ([3,7,7]x64sec exposures, ISO 400; 2008/09/[2,2,3])
This is a large, but sparse, open cluster. One of my favorites as it's easy to see in any telescope, not hard to see with binoculars, and can even be seen with the naked eye in good dark skies. (14x32sec exposures, ISO 400, 25mm eyepiece+6" telescope; 2008/08/24)
α
| β
| γ
|
δ
| ε
| ζ
|
η
| θ
| ι
|
η Cas (AB sep. = 12.9"; 3.5+7.5 mag.; 3x0.5sec images; 4x zoom, 12.5mm eyepiece)
ι Cas (AB sep. = 2.5", AC sep. = 7.2"; 4.6+6.9+8.4 mag.; 6x0.25sec images; 4x zoom, 12.5mm eyepiece)
An impromptu project for a full-moonlit night. Cassiopeia was not very high, but was in the
the darkest available portion of the sky. (2x16sec ISO 200 images; 4x zoom; 25 mm eyepiece; mouseover
images of the multiple stars η and ι are from the following night with 12.5 mm eyepiece).
Deneb (α Cyg: 1.3 mag.; 1x64sec images; 4x zoom)
Albireo (β Cyg: AB sep. = 34"; 3.0 + 5.1 mag.; 4x24sec images; 4x zoom),
Polaris (α UMi: AB sep. = 18", 2.0v + 8.2 mag.; 5x8sec images).
These images were intended to show the diffraction spikes around bright stars.
For Albireo, in particular, I was hoping to get diffraction spkikes of two different colors.
The linked GIF of Deneb shows deep images before and after cleaning the secondary
mirror and recollimating the optics. It worked: there seems to be a reduction in the
scattered light, and the doubled diffraction spike is now single.
β Lyr (AB sep. = 45"; 3.4 + 6.7 mag.; 1x32sec images; 4x zoom) (linked image = 1x64sec)
ν Sco (sep. = 41" 1.3" 2.4"; (4.3+6.8)+(6.4+7.8) mag.; ?x1/15sec images; 4x zoom, 12.5mm? eyepiece)
The β Lyr image was just a single deep image for fun. There are always
fainter stars in the field of nice doubles if you just look deep enough.
The ν Sco image was a dedicated effort to capture this difficult double
double star. The brighter pair of stars is not quite resolved here.
This was a test with my 40mm eyepiece, inspired by was nice weather and stripped
screw on my camera holder that made it incapable of working with the smaller
barrel eyepieces. I (re)learned that I can't image the full field of view,
but can get a decently flat image if I zoom in. Once I got going here, I
just kept taking pictures until the camera battery wore out.
(19x64sec ISO 400 exposures, 4x zoom, 40mm eyepiece, 6" scope; 2008/5/22)
γ Vir, also known as Porrima, is a binary star with a period of 169.101 yr.
The orbit is highly elliptical, with periastron occurring in mid 2005. At that time
the stars were <1" apart and too close for me to split.
Since then they've been moving apart relatively
rapidly, and today are separated by almost exactly 1". Here's a nice
report
on its orbit.
My image is a
combination of the best of several exposures I tried with my 5mm eyepiece.
I don't usually use this eyepiece because I can't mount the camera to it very securely,
nor at the truly appropriate distance, and because of the very limited field of view.
But occasionally, I've noticed that the 5mm eyepiece can provide nice views.
Here it shows. In the mouseover image, taken with the 12.5mm eyepiece, the binary
is only barely resolved.
(8x1/45sec [2x1/90sec mouseover] exposures, 4x zoom, 5mm [12.5mm mouseover] eyepiece, 6" scope; 2008/4/18)
The γ Leo image is a modest improvement on my older image.
These 2.0 and 3.6 magnitude stars are separated by 4.6"
(3x1/20sec ISO 400 exposures, 4x zoom, 5mm eyepiece, 6" scope; 2008/5/11)
 |
 |
| M44. The Beehive. A bright naked-eye cluster in the center of Cancer. (33% scale, 8x64sec exposures, ISO 400, 1x zoom, 25mm eyepiece, 6" scope; 2008/3/2) | M67. A less bright cluster in Cancer. This one is noted for being a rather old Galactic cluster. (50% scale, 9x64sec exposures, ISO 400, 1x zoom, 25mm eyepiece, 6" scope; 2008/3/2) |
A new attempt at a Galactic open cluster in Puppis. The planetary nebula
NGC 2438 is at a closer distance along the same line of sight.
(7x64sec exposures, ISO 400, 1x zoom, 25mm eyepiece, 6" scope; 2008/2/2)
A set of 16 sec exposures to test focus, tracking diffraction, and color.
Sirius: A1 V, mV = -1.47, B-V = 0.01
Rigel: B8 Iab, mV = 0.12, B-V = -0.03
Betelgeuse: M2 Iab, mV = 0.58, B-V = 1.77
24mm eyepiece, 4x zoom. Focus seems OK. Diffraction spikes are doubled, and
one pair is diverging. Hadn't notice that before. Perhaps it is an alignment
problem. Perhaps related to the 12°F temperature. Sirius is bright enough
to cause a faint 3x3 grid of electronic ghosts in addition to the bright optical
ghost (visible for each star). (2008/01/20)
5 64sec ISO 400 exposures, 4x zoom.
(2008/1/10)
While waiting for NGC 253 to clear the trees, I killed time (and some battery power)
shooting several frames of the Double Cluster. The f/6 6" telescope provides a
wide enough field of view to easily show both clusters.
(10x64sec exposures, ISO 400, 1x zoom, 25mm eyepiece, 6" scope; 2007/10/13)
α PsA = Fomalhaut. 1.16 mag, A3 V, 25.1 ly distant. (2x32sec ISO 400 at 1x zoom)
β And = Mirach. 2.06 mag, M0 III, 199 ly distant. (1x32sec ISO 400 at 4x zoom)
γ And = Almach. 2.26 + 4.84 mag, K3 IIb + B8 V, 355 ly distant. (4x1/60sec ISO 400 at 4x zoom)
Open clusters Messier 103 and NGC 663 in Cassiopeia. The larger, linked versions
look better. They might look better still if I try again on a night without
a nearly full moon.
(12x32sec exposures, ISO 400, 1x zoom, 25mm eyepiece, 6" scope; 2007/09/23)
On this evening the moon was nearly full, but I tried a couple of southern
deep-sky objects before they're gone for the season. This picture shows
Messier 55. This globular cluster is large (the picture is the
same scale as those of M2 and M5 below). It's also bright, although its far
southern declination dims it substantially.
(M55: 12x32sec exposures, ISO 400, 1x zoom, 25mm eyepiece, 6" scope; 2007/09/23)
This image is a composite of 14 32-sec, ISO 400, 2x zoom exposures with a 25 mm eyepiece on my 6" telescope. Stars as faint as 15th mag are visible here. (2007/09/19)
M 15
|
M 2
| |
Altair
|
μ Cep
|
More results from my old
f/6 6" reflector on a new Meade LXD75 mount.
([M15,2] = [10,10,12] x [32,32]sec,
[Altair, μ Cep] = [1,1] x [32,64]sec; 6" scope, ISO 400, 25mm eyepiece; 2007/09/15+16)
(10x32sec ISO 400 exposures, 25mm eyepiece+6" scope, 2007/09/13)
This photo is deeper than last year's attempt at M8 (below). In this
photo, without a nebular filter this time, the Lagoon nebula appears fainter
but much less noisy.
(28 16-sec ISO 400 exposures, 2007/07/06)
The globular cluster Messier 13 in Hercules is shown on the left, and Messier 4
in Scorpius is on the right. Much of the difference in the appearance of
the clusters is due to the difference in elevation of the two clusters.
M13 was nearly overhead, while M4 was at only 23 degrees elevation. That
means there was 2.5 times more air, haze, and dust in the way. I had imaged
both the clusters previously, but spent more time and effort at doing better
this time around. ([M13,M4]: [16,28] 16-sec ISO 400 exposures, 2007/06/[23,20])
I also tried Messier 10. More experimentally, I used longer 32-sec exposures.
However only 2 frames were unaffected by poor tracking. Thus this image is
at 1/2 the scale as the others above (M10: 2 32-sec ISO 400 exposures, 2007/06/17).
Nova Scorpii 2007 is indicated in this composite of 3 24-sec ISO 400 images.
I'm pleased to have gotten this picture despite various and sundry difficulties.
The most serious of which is the light pollution, which prevented me from seeing
the nova with my naked eye even though it was an easy target in binoculars.
The "mouseover" comparison image was taken under much better conditions in
Colorado, 6 months before the nova exploded. (It's an alternate version of the
Sco-Sgr image further down on this page.)
The nova's light curve shown below is from the AAVSO.
I've added annotations for calendar dates, and a red arrow indicating the date
at which my picture was taken.
A nice cluster for small telescopes in Perseus. This is an average of 15 8sec
ISO 400 exposures, Meade ETX-105 + 25mm eyepiece. The tracking and alignment
were not good this night, so I kept individual exposures short.
(2006/11/25)
Another nice cluster. I'm not sure I've ever seen this one before.
This is an average of 10 8sec ISO 400 exposures, Meade ETX-105 + 25mm eyepiece.
(2007/02/11)
Non-telescopic views of Scorpius-Sagittarius and Summer Triangle regions as seen from Rabbit Ears Pass (Lake Dumont). In truly dark skies, the constellations can be harder to see because of the great abundance of stars and the brightness of the Milky Way. (2006/08/16)
Many Messier objects can be seen in the linked images for the Scorpius-Sagittarius pictures. The Milky Way looking toward the center of the Galaxy is always impressive, even though we can see only a fraction of the way to the actual center. In the wide angle picture you can very faintly see the reflection of the sky on the lake, in addition to the shadows of nearby pine trees and distant mountains.
| Scorpius, Sagittarius (southern horizon) | Scorpius, Sagittarius (wide angle lens) |
 |  |
| Summer Triangle (overhead) | Summer Triangle (wide angle lens) |
 |  |
Each image here is a combination of 5 to 9 hand-guided 48 sec exposures at f2.8, ISO 400, and 1x zoom with my Kodak Z730. The wide-angle shots used a 0.6x wide-angle accessory lens. The images shown on this page are reduced in scale by a factor of 6. The linked images are reduced in scale by a factor of 2.
Two years ago I tried similar pictures at the same location using a film camera. The film results turned out a little sharper (the digital camera has smaller and maybe less precise optics), deeper (the digital camera only reaches f2.8 vs. f2 for the film camera), and with greater color contrast (the blue response to IR emission may reduce the saturation of deeply red stars). However, the digital camera results have a more uniformly flat background that makes the final image look nicer despite the other technical short-comings.
The bright, but southernly, globular cluster Messier 22. (2006/07/18)
A non-telescopic view of Sagittarius as seen from Bowie, MD on an exceptionally clear night. The "teapot" was easy to see despite light pollution. The stars of Corona Australis were even visible above and between the rooftops of neighbors' houses. Messier object 7, 8, and 22 are not too difficult to find here. However, the Milky Way was still invisible. (2006/07/18)
| Visible IR | |
| Vega Arcturus |  |
Messier 23 (open cluster) |
A large open cluster in Sagittarius. (ISO 400 10x12sec) |
Messier 4 (globular cluster) |
This globular cluster near Antares appears dimmed and reddened because of the low elevation, as seen from 39N lat. (ISO 400 13x12sec) |
Messier 8 (open cluster + nebula) |
The large Lagoon Nebula is not apparent in this image, but the small intense Hourglass nebula is visible. Hubble images of this region show that the Hourglass is really a low extinction window into the heart of the H II region. (ISO 400 3x32sec with nebular filter) |
All: 25mm eyepiece, Meade ETX-105. (2006/06).
The Coma picture is a combination of 6 24sec frames at 4x zoom, piggybacked on the Meade ETX-105. This picture is sharper and deeper than my earlier picture below. Many galaxies lie in this portion of the sky, but the only one detectable is NGC 4494 (9.9 mag). Only a star-like core of this 4.8' diameter elliptical galaxy is visible, quite likely because that core contains an active galactic nucleus (AGN). Not a bad photo considering a nearly full moon was less that 30 degrees away. 2006/04/09.
A wide view of Mizar (A+B mag. = 2.27+4.95) and Alcor (mag. = 4.0) and several
fainter stars nearby. Each of the stars Mizar A and B is actually a
binary, making four stars in all. Alcor might possibly be a very distant companion,
but even if not, it is still another member of the Ursa major moving group - a widely
dispersed star cluster sharing a common proper motion across the sky.
This is a stack of 7x6-sec exposures + 1 12-sec exposure. 2006/04/09.
This image shows the close binary Castor A and B, with their faint red companion
Castor C (and another more distant star). Each of the stars Castor A, B and C is
actually a binary system. Castor C (also known as YY Gem) happens to be an
eclipsing binary -- one of the few such systems composed of M type stars.
This is a single 0.1sec 4x zoom exposure, scaled and superimposed on a single
4sec 1x zoom exposure, both at ISO 400.
This second image is taken with the 6" telescope and 12.5 mm eyepiece. It's a
combination of 5 1/45th sec ISO 100 exposures. These were the best of about 20 exposures.
Most of the rejects were really bad due to the seeing. Castor A and B are only about
4.5" apart, but slowly moving apart.
(2007/11/30)
Messier 41 (open cluster),
145 CMa (AB sep. = 26"; 4.81 + 6.00 mag.; 3x1sec images),
k Pup (AB sep. = 10"; 3.78 + 4.62 mag.; 3x1sec images)
145 CMa is sometimes called "The Winter Albireo" because its two components
have a similar separation, brightness, and color contrast to the stars of
Albireo (β Cyg). The original picture of both 145 CMa and k Pup showed
strong refraction effects from these stars' low elevations. This was removed
from the final images by separating and shifting the RGB color channels.
(2006/03/18)
Both Rigel (but not its companion) and σ Orionis appear below, but these
new images are better. R Leporis is the deep red star at the left side of the image.
(2005/12/20-23)
(2005/11/12)
I stumbled across Enif by accident, as I was using it for a focus check. It's merely a
visual double, and not a true binary system. (Enif: 2005/9/11, others: 2005/10/01; 1 Ari: 2005/10/30)
The brightest star to the west (right) of Altair is 190" distant and 9.7 mag.
There seems to be a color difference between the stars of ζ Aqr, but I suspect that's
largely a result of atmospheric refraction.
In the linked, deep image of μ Cep, there are at least two equally red (but much fainter) stars.
The brightest of these fainter red stars is 324" from μ Cep (to the NW) and 10.6 mag.
(2005/09/08)
Here are two more constellation-wide photos. The first is centered on Cepheus - looking towards
the outer parts of the Milky Way (7x32 sec). The other picture includes Delphinus, Sagitta, and Aquila
(in the linked, full-size picture; 6x32 sec). (2005/08/31)
Two nice large bright clusters in Scorpius. In good dark skies, they are visible
to the naked eye. These pictures were taken under the light of a nearly full moon, and through
slightly hazy skies. It's taken me a while to capture these because of
the weather, and because looking this far south requires setting up my telescope
in alt-az mode.
(M6,M7) = (2,3)x6sec images, ISO 400, 1x zoom, 25mm eyepiece. 2005/08/17
Sh 225 and Sh 226 are separated by only 7' and fit easily in a single field
of view. They're shown on a rather different scale than the other stars.
χ Cyg is only duplicitous metaphorically. It's a long period variable star
which can vary between 3.5 and 14 (!) magnitude. Here, it's at 6th mag. and fading
after having peaked at 5th mag. about two months earlier. At minimum it will be several
magnitudes fainter than any stars visible in the linked, wider field of view!
α¹ Cap (AB sep. = 45"; 4.6 + 9.2 mag.; 7x2.0sec images; 2.7x zoom; 25 mm eyepiece)
α² Cap (AB sep. = 154"; 3.5 + 9.5 mag.)
α¹ and α² are separated by 378".
M29 is a small sparse cluster of stars in Cygnus. 8x12sec images, ISO 400. 25mm eyepiece.
ε Lyr
|
α Sco ξ Sco  ο¹ Cyg 
|
α Her 95 Her  70 Oph 
|
ε Lyr (sep. = 208" 1.7" 2.3"; (4.7+6.0)+(4.6+5.3) mag.; 9x0.03sec images; 4x zoom, 12.5mm eyepiece + 6" scope),
α Sco (Antares; 1.0 mag.; 5x0.25sec images; 4x zoom, 25mm eyepiece),
α Her (AB sep. = 5"; 2.2 + 5.3 mag.; 2x0.1sec images; 4x zoom, 12.5mm eyepiece)
ξ Sco (AB sep. = 7.4"; 4.2 + 7.2 mag.; 10x1sec images; 4x zoom, 12.5mm eyepiece),
95 Her (AB sep. = 6.3"; 4.3 + 5.1 mag.; 5x0.25sec images; 4x zoom, 25mm eyepiece)
ο¹ Cyg (AB sep. = 336" AC sep. = 106"; 3.8 + 4.8 + 7.0 mag.; 5x0.25sec images; 1x zoom, 25mm eyepiece),
70 Oph (AB sep. = 4.1"; 4.1 + 6.2 mag.; 5x0.25sec images; 4x zoom, 25mm eyepiece),
These were shot via afocal projection on my Meade ETX-105.
(2005/06/24; 2008/08/14 for ε Lyr).
This simple picture of the constellation Corona Borealis is a link to a much larger image of the full constellation Bootes, and nearly all of Corona Borealis. In neighboring constellations, the globular clusters M3 and M5 are fairly easy to detect in the full image if you know where to look. There seems to be an unusually large number of stellar pairs and triplets in this field. 11x32sec ISO 400 1x zoom pictures. (2005/05/31).
From left to right:
α Lyr (Vega; AB sep. = 70"; 0.0 + 10 mag.; 0.25+0.5+1+2+4+8+16+32sec images; 1x zoom),
β Lyr (AB sep. = 45"; 3.4 + 6.7 mag.; 4x1sec images; 2.2x zoom),
β Cyg (AB sep. = 34"; 3.0 + 5.1 mag.; 6x1sec images; 4x zoom),
β Sco (AB sep. = 13"; 2.5 + 4.9 mag.; 4x2sec images; 4x zoom),
α Her (AB sep. = 5"; 2.2 + 5.3 mag.; 4x0.25sec images; 4x zoom)
The Vega image is a strange combination, but with a gamma=2.00 stretch, this seems
to work pretty well for showing a wide range of brightness. Vega's companion (to the south)
is merely another more distant star along the same line of sight. The linked image shows
a wider field of view.
The image linked to the Albireo (β Cyg) picture is a single 8sec image
at 2x zoom (25mm eyepiece 6-inch scope), which shows many other fainter stars in
a wider field. (updated: 2007/09/16)
Except for that picture, these were shot via afocal projection on my Meade ETX-105 with a 25 mm eyepiece.
(2005/05/28, β Sco 2007/06/17).
The images are stacks of 19 and 16 12-sec exposures (1 Mpix, ISO 800 at 1x zoom) through a Meade ETX-105 and a 25 mm eyepiece (2005/05/26). I think I get better results with the 4 Mpix, ISO 400 setting (as for the globular clusters below).
From left to right:
Arcturus (α Boo; -0.07 mag.; 1x1/60sec image; 4x zoom),
ε Boo (AB sep. = 2.4"; 2.3 + 4.8 mag.; 6x0.1sec images; 4x zoom),
μ Boo (AB sep. = 108", BC sep. = 2.2"; 4.3 + 6.5 + 7.6 mag.; 12x0.25sec images; 4x zoom),
ζ CrB (AB sep. = 6.3"; 4.6 + 5.9 mag.; 9x0.25sec images; 4x zoom),
R CrB (5.9var mag.; 7x4sec images; 4x zoom),
Spica (α Vir; 0.96 mag.; 1x0.5sec images; 4x zoom),
ν Dra (AB sep. = 61"; 4.8 + 4.9 mag.; 7x0.5sec images; 4x zoom),
These were shot via afocal projection on my Meade ETX-105 with a 12.5mm (first two)
and 25 mm (last five) eyepieces.
There's another lower-magnification longer-exposure image of Arcturus below, but I
include this one because it clearly shows the first diffraction ring of the
telescope's point spread function. The asymmetry of the ring is probably due to a
slight misalignment of the camera. The BC pair in the μ Boo image can be seen more
clearly in the linked larger picture.
(2005/04/25, 2005/04/27, 2005/05/04, 2005/05/08).
From left to right:
Arcturus (α Boo; -0.07 mag.; 5x0.25sec images; 4x zoom),
δ Crv (AB sep. = 23"; 2.9 + 9.4 mag.; 6x1sec images; 4x zoom),
Y CVn (5.4 mag.; 4x1sec images; 4x zoom),
α Leo (AB sep. = 180"; 1.3 + 8.1 mag.; 5x0.5sec image; 4x zoom),
Y CVn can also be found in the Ursa Major and Coma Berenices pictures below.
These were shot via afocal projection on my Meade ETX-105 with a 25mm eyepiece
(2005/04/10 and 2005/04/16).
What's seen here is really just the brighter inner cores of the clusters. Still, many red giants can be identified in the first two. The total magnitudes of these clusters are 5.7, 6.4, and 7.6. So M 3 is 3x brighter than M 53, and M 13 is 2x brighter than M 3. The images are stacks of 14 16-sec (M3) and 6 12-sec (M13 and M53) guided exposures (ISO 400 at 1x zoom) through a Meade ETX-105 and a 25 mm eyepiece (2005/04/16 [M13], 2005/04/10 [M53], 2006/05/23 [M3]).
The Coma picture is a combination of 10 24sec frames. The Leo picture combines 8 64sec frames, and goes a bit deeper as suggested by the flatter blacker background. Both sets of pictures were taken at ISO 400 and 1x zoom. Both linked pictures are on the original scale (about 40 pix/degree) 2005/04/08.
From left to right:
ζ Cnc (AB sep. = 0.8", AC sep. = 6.0"; 5.6 + 6.0 + 6.2 mag.; 3x1sec images; 4x zoom),
ι Cnc (AB sep. = 30.5"; 4.2 + 6.6 mag.; 1x3sec image; 1x zoom),
54 Leo (AB sep. = 6.5"; 4.5 + 6.5 mag.; 11x0.5sec images; 4x zoom),
ξ UMa (AB sep. = 1.8"; 4.3 + 4.8 mag.; 1x0.25sec image; 4x zoom),
α CVn (AB sep. = 20"; 2.8 + 5.6 mag.; 4x0.125sec image; 4x zoom),
The very close AB pair of ζ Cnc cannot be resolved here.
These were shot via afocal projection on my Meade ETX-105 with a 12.5mm eyepiece
(2005/04/05), except for Cor Caroli (α CVn) and ι Cnc which were
with my 6" reflector and 25mm eyepiece.
Also known as the Beehive Cluster, or The Praesepe, M 44 is relatively easy to spot with the naked eye even with moderate light pollution. It lies at the center of Cancer, half-way between Gemini and the Sickle of Leo. This image is a stack of 6 64-sec guided exposures at 4x zoom and a 2x telephoto lens. A median-filtered background images was subtracted and the contrast was stretched a bit. The image is a little deeper and higher resolution than my earlier wide angle images of this region. (2005/03/14). M 67 is a smaller fainter older cluster of stars. This telescopic view is a combination of 6 6-sec (ISO 400, 1x zoom) frames taken through a Meade ETX-105 + 25 mm eyepiece. (2005/04/10).
From left to right:
Rigel (β Ori: 0.15 mag.; 5x0.1sec images),
Sirius (α CMa: -1.46 mag.; 5x0.1sec images),
Betelgeuse (α Ori: 0.43 mag.; 3x0.1 sec images),
β Mon (AB sep. = 7.2", BC sep. = 2.9"; 3.75 + 5.00 + 5.31 mag.; 4x0.5sec images),
σ Ori (AC sep. = 11.2", AD sep. = 12.9", AE sep. = 42"; 3.75 + 10 + 6.78 + 6.34 mag.; 4x2.0sec images),
Polaris (α UMi: AB sep. = 18", 2.0v + 8.2 mag.; 4x4sec images).
The AB pair of stars in σ Ori are separated by only 0.25" and cannot be seen here, and
the faint C component can only be seen in a greatly
stretched version of the picture.
The stretched version also shows the faint wide triple system Σ761.
The wider field picture of Sirius is a single 3-sec exposure which also captures
three nearby 8th magnitude stars.
These were shot via afocal projection on my Meade ETX-105
with a 12.5mm eyepiece and the camera's 4x zoom. 2005/03/05 (except 2005/03/14 for Sirius,
and 2005/3/30 and a 25 mm eyepiece for Polaris).
The constellation Orion. This is not a very good rendition, but it's a lot better than my old image at the bottom of the page. The limiting magnitude of the picture is about 7.8 mag. Apart from the obvious clusters and nebulae of the Sword (M42, M42, and NGC 1981), the star cluster NGC 1662 can be seen faintly in the NW portion of the image if you know where to look. Click for the higher resolution view. This image is a stack of 13 32-sec guided exposures at 1.2x zoom. A median-filtered background images was subtracted and the contrast was stretched a bit. 2005/03/03.
While visiting in Kansas, with M. Schenewerk, we attached my camera to his
Celestron NexStar 5 telescope, with focal reducer and 25 mm eyepiece for a few pictures.
The skies in his suburban KC backyard are more light polluted than mine, but the
results were still quite good. Stars are visible to about 12.7 mag in the first three images,
and to about 13.0 mag in the last image. Click on each picture for an expanded version.
2005/02/25
The Great Nebula of Orion, Messier 42. This is a single 32 second exposure at ISO 400.
A median-filtered background was subtracted and the contrast was stretched.
The
open star cluster, Messier 47. This is a stack of 3 12 second exposures at ISO 400.
A median-filtered background was subtracted and the contrast was stretched.
The
open star cluster, Messier 46. This is a stack of 3 12 second exposures at ISO 400.
A median-filtered background was subtracted and the contrast was stretched.
The open star cluster NGC 2264. This image is an average of two stacks of 5 16 second
exposures. The first stack was at ISO 400; the second at ISO 800. Each stack had a
median-filtered background subtracted, and the ISO 400 image was reduced in scale by a
factor of 0.5 to match the pixel scale of the other image. (My camera only does ISO 800 for
1 megapixel images. Normally I shoot at the camera's full 4 MP resolution.) We were seeing if we
could pick up any hint of the nebulosity in this region, but only the stars are visible.
From left to right: Castor (α Gem: 4.4" sep. 1.6 + 3.0 mag.), Algieba
(γ Leo: 4.6" sep. 2.0 + 3.6 mag.), and Mizar (ζ UMa: 14" sep. 2.2 + 3.8 mag.).
Each of the visible stars in Castor and Mizar is an unresolved binary system,
with orbital periods of 3 - 180 days.
The images are stacks of 6, 3, and 5 1/15-sec frames, with a contrast adjustment,
cropped, and rescaled at 25%. They were shot via afocal projection on my Meade ETX-105
with a 25mm eyepiece and the camera's 4x zoom + 2x telephoto lens. 2005/02/12.
Click on the Mizar image to see a wider view of Mizar and Alcor (mag.=4.0) and several
fainter stars nearby. This one is a stack of 7x6-sec exposures + 1 12-sec exposure. 2006/04/09.
The Big Dipper at left. Click for a wider and higher resolution view of nearly the entire constellation of Ursa Major. A couple of nice red stars (RY Dra and Y CVn) are visible. Messier 81 is almost visible, but other deep sky objects are definitely too faint to be seen. This image is a stack of 10 48-sec guided exposures. A median-filtered background images was subtracted and the contrast was stretched a bit. 2005/02/11.
At left is the Praesepe or Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer. The distinctly red star is the irregular variable X Cancri. Click on the picture for a large wide-field view that includes Saturn, the bright stars Castor, Pollux, and Procyon, smaller fainter star clusters M67 and M35, and parts of the constellations Cancer, Gemini, Leo, Leo Minor, Canis Minor, Hydra, and Lynx (and some trees). This image is a combination of 14 30-sec guided exposures at ISO 400 with 1x zoom. 2005/02/05.
The Great Nebula of Orion. A stack of 10 6-sec exposures at ISO 800 (1 Mpix resolution) with a 25mm eyepiece on a Meade ETX-105. Click for a marginally higher magnification image generated from a stack of 9 6-sec ISO 400 images at 1.2x zoom and 4 Mpix resolution. In that picture, all four stars of the trapezium can be counted.
An incremental improvement on photographing southern Orion. This image is an average of 7 64-sec exposures at ISO 400 and 8x (4x camera, 2x telephoto) zoom (44mm). A median smoothed image was subtracted to remove background emission, and the contrast was stretched individually in each of the color channels. Given the quality of the initial images, I was surprised to see this much of the nebula. 2005/01/30.
Click on the image to get a slightly larger field constructed from a stack of 23 12-sec ISO 800 frames (1MPix images), with the same camera zoom and telephoto lens. 2005/03/06
A fairly randomly selected part of Auriga showing 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10 Aurigae. The stars 8 and 10 Aur are the southern two of the three "kids" near Capella. The open star cluster NCG 1778 is very barely visible at the extreme left edge of the image, but it just looks like a faint star. In this image some stars can be seen to about magnitude 9.4. The same field is visible in two of my wider field pictures below, but those pictures are clearly not as deep (only about 8.5 and 8.1 mag). This 6x8 degree image is an average of 6 64-sec exposures at ISO 400 and 8x zoom (44mm - the camera's 4x zoom with a 2x telephoto lens). A median smoothed image was subtracted to remove background emission. 2005/01/28.
At left are the stars and star clusters of Orion's sword. If you look real hard, stars can be seen to about magnitude 8.8. Click for half-resolution, wider-field view of the belt and sword. Because the wide field image is downsized, stars are only visible to about magnitude 8. These images are an average of 4 32-sec exposures at ISO 400 and 4x zoom (22mm). A median smoothed image was subtracted to remove background emission. 2005/01/09.
Comet Machholz near the Pleiades on 2005 Jan 09 23:45 EDT.
This is a stack of 5 guided 64-sec exposures at ISO 400 with my Kodak DX7440 at 4.0x
optical zoom. To illustrate the comet's motion,
the image at left is cropped and sized to match the one below, taken 25 hours
earlier. Clicking on the image will show a larger uncropped version.
Comet Machholz near the Pleiades on 2005 Jan 08 22:15 EDT.
This is a stack of 8 guided 24-sec exposures at ISO 400 with my Kodak DX7440 at 2.2x
optical zoom. Unfortunately this effort was limited by a relatively unstable setup
of my barndoor mount and some wispy cirrus that were creeping up from the southwest.
The Autumn Milky Way from Perseus to Auriga. (The cropped image at left only shows Auriga.) A close look at the full image reveals the open star clusters M34, M36, M37, M38, and M45.
The red giant Aldebaran (α Tau) and the almost resolved binary star Castor (α Gem). This is mostly a test of image sharpness and color for my afocal setup.
Theta-1 and theta-2 Tau: a pair of stars forming a naked eye double star in the Hyades. The expanded view shows a couple of fainter stars and real variations in color.
This is very similar in depth and resolution to the picture of the Pleiades and Venus, below. However, this one is digital rather than film.
Uranus on the evening of Nov. 7, 2004, amid stars of Aquarius and Capricornus. Click on the picture or here for a wider view. (Click here for an annotated image.)
An average of seven 64-sec exposures of the constellations of Cassiopeia and Perseus.
Capella and "The Kids" are visible at the lower right. The Double Cluster is almost
visible at the center of the picture.
The full size image looks best when viewed full-screen, as in a slide show.
(The cropped image at left just shows Cassiopeia.)
The contrasting double star γ Andromeda (Almach). The stars are 2nd
and 5th magnitude and are separated by 10". The brighter star is a K2 or K3 II bright giant.
The fainter star is actually a triple star system (of late B or early A stars).
This is an average of two 1-second exposures through a 6" telescope.
An early target for my first attempts at digital imaging was the Hyades and
Pleiades star clusters. Several stacker frames, contrast-adjusted. Overall the result
is very similar to the old film version that's shown below.
These pictures were taken In August 2004 from Dumont Lake, up at Rabbit Ears Pass, CO. Son they're not really backyard pictures. They are some of my early attempts at deep wide-field imaging with my homebuilt barndoor mount. Click on each picture for a larger view.
1) Sgr, Oph, Sco.
Kodak HD 400 film
f/2 - 160(?) sec guided
8/8/04 Excellent conditions. Milky Way was brilliant.
Scanned @ 300dpi
Adjusted gamma, minimum levels per channel, and reduced color saturation.
Reduced scale by 50%
I can pick out stars to at least 10th mag, and Messier objects
4, 8, 9, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28.
2) Aql.
Same details as above.
The star cluster
M 11 is in the lower right (though it looks much like a blue star), and nearby is the deep red
star V Aql. I find it a bit surprising that despite the overall
bluish look, these Mira-type stars seem to show up so distinctly.
Just by chance, there's just a bit of overlap between this picture
and the previous one.
3) Sco.
Same details as above, except less reduction in scale.
The tail of Scorpius including star clusters M 7 and M 6.
The smaller cluster (M 6) looks like bad guiding, but in fact that's really the way the
stars are distributed. With the right light you can see the darker ridgeline in
at the bottom. Some of the stars very close to the horizon are reddened
by the atmosphere.
This image is created from a stack of a few dozen video frames collected with a Meade Electronic Eyepiece attached to a Meade ETX-105. The original recording was to video tape and then much later converted to digital video. Slight to moderate contrast adjustments were applied after the stacking.
This photo shows short star trails of the constellation Lyra. It's a cheat for this page
because it was taken about as far away from my backyard as I can get (figuratively).
The picture was taken at Rabbit Ears Pass in Colorado on August 12, 2001. Katherine & I
drove out of town (Steamboat Springs) looking for dark skies to watch for Perseid meteors.
We just pulled off the side of the road at the top of the pass. To take this picture, I
simply set the camera on its back on top of the car and left the shutter open a few minutes
(with plain old Kodak Gold 200 film in the camera). I wasn't even sure what I would be
pointing at, but figured with such beautifully dark skies, any place would look good.
This is the interesting part of the picture showing the bright stars of Lyra
(North is to the right).
The very bright star is Vega. The nice double star up and right from Vega is epsilon Lyrae.
The colors are real. The red stars are mostly cool red giant stars. The blue stars
are hot stars (mostly B stars). White stars, like Vega, are A type stars --
a bit warmer than the Sun. We saw many meteors, both Persieds and random strays, but
none apparently on film here.
(This picture is 1024x768 pixels so you may have to
use a program other than your browser to see the whole view at once.)
At the same time as the Moon was in eclipse, and Comet Hyakutake was shining in the north,
I caught this picture of Venus on its way past the Pleiades star cluster.
Venus was bright enough that it made the Pleiades difficult to see with the naked eye.
In this picture, Venus is over exposed, but the Pleiades came out nicely. (1996/04/03)
Old, old, pictures from 1986 March 21, 4:30 AM CST. I only know the date and time because of the
location of Halley's Comet in the picture. The photos were taken in decent rural skies outside
of Urbana, IL. 17 years later, I've scanned them, stitched them, and adjusted the contrast
a little. The vignetting is still bad, but overall there's still a lot to see.
The Hyades and Pleiades star clusters. I've lost track of when this was taken. Scanning and
electronically adjusting the contrast has made some improvement in this picture.
Here's an old picture of Orion. Just held the shutter open on a tripod. The larger version
here lacks some of the detail of the original scan, but almost hides the fact that the star
trails are long enough to be noticed, but not long enough to be pretty.
Rick Arendt
November 15, 2009
