M77 and more...

Messier 77 (also known as NGC 1068) is a barred spiral galaxy located 47 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780, who originally described it as a nebula. Méchain then communicated his discovery to Charles Messier, who subsequently listed the object in his catalog. Both Messier and William Herschel described this galaxy wrongly as a star cluster (source: wikipedia). It has a diameter of approximately 170,000 light-years and is visible with binoculars under dark sky conditions as a fuzzy ball with a bright center. With smaller 4-inch scopes like my ED80 the oval shape is apparent but you need 8-inch or larger to bring out the detail (source: Messier).  One other noteworthy item with this galaxy is it is believed to have a supermassive black hole in its center.

I collected this image over two nights as it became visible from my observatory. Unfortunately the moon was at 80% and 70% respectively but it was clear so I took a chance anyway. Also it is the beginning of the cold season so astrophotography gets a little more challenging. I am happy with the results considering the moonlight and the limitations of my little ED80. This represents the 47th Messier object I have captured with my setup.

I like the wide field image as five other galaxies are visible, some are very faint and far away making them hard to see.

For my catalog see:

Messier Objects with an ED80 by Kurt Zeppetello or

Messier Astropics by Kurt Zeppetello

Wide Field - M77 (NGC 1068), NGC 1055, NGC 1072, NGC, NGC 1094, NGC 1090, NGC 1087 

Wide Field - M77 (NGC 1068), NGC 1055, NGC 1072, NGC, NGC 1094, NGC 1090, NGC 1087

Crop - M77

Closeup showing - M77 (NGC 1068), NGC 1055, NGC 1072

Close up showing - M77 (NGC 1068), NGC 1094, NGC 1090, NGC 1087 

M77
Location: Happy Frog Observatory, Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 11/17/16, 11/18/16; 11:30 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i(a), Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Filter: Astrodon UV/IR
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: 34 x 120 sec, 24 x 120 sec (116 min)
ISO: 800
Temp: 38 F/3.3 C
Post Processing: Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop, Lightroom, StarTools

Good Night at the BMAS Observatory

Great night at the BMAS Observatory Friday night. The images are the Orion Nebula (60 sec exposure) through George's 8" reflector, The Moon (Canon 50 mm), Constellation Orion (Canon 50 mm), closeup of Orion Nebula (Canon 50 mm). The color of Orion appears redder because my camera has been modified to pick up more hydrogen-alpha light that is given off as red light in nebulae.

Orion Nebula (M42) and De Mairan's Nebula (M43)

Photoshop, Lightroom, StarTools

Photoshop, Lightroom

                                                        Photoshop, Lightroom

Photoshop, Lightroom

                                                         Photoshop, Lightroom

Orion Nebula (M42)

Location: BMAS Observatory, Stratford, CT
Date/Time: 11/18/16 9:39 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i(a)
Telescope: Orion 8 in f/4.9 Reflector Telescope
Barlow: 2x
Focal Length: 1000mm
f/4.9
Mount: Orion Atlas EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Filter: Astrodon UV/IR
Autoguiding: None
Exposure: 1 x 60 sec
ISO: 800
Temp: 40 F/4.4 C
Post Processing: Photoshop, Lightroom, StarTools

Moon
50mm
1/200 sec
f/3.5
ISO 800

Orion
50mm
8 sec
f/3.5
ISO 1600 

Supermoon 11-13-16

Various images of the Supermoon on 11-13-16!

Full Moon Crop

- Canon T3i(a) Prime Focus, BYE (1/3200s, 200-ISO, 1000 frames)

Mare Imbrium Region 

- Canon T3i(a) Prime Focus, BYE 5x (1/3200s, 200-ISO, 1000 frames)

Mare Imbrium, Mare Frigoris, and Mare Serenitatis Region

- Canon T3i(a) Prime Focus, BYE 5x (1/3200s, 200-ISO, 1000 frames)

Crater Tycho Region

 - Canon T3i(a) Prime Focus, BYE 5x (1/3200s, 200-ISO, 1000 frames)

M74 - The Phantom Galaxy

Messier 74 is a spiral galaxy that appears face-on and lies at an approximately 30 million light years from Earth. It has a diameter of 95,000 light years, almost the size of the Milky Way. The galaxy is home to about 100 billion stars and two well developed spiral arms.  Located in the constellation Pisces, M74 is not an easy object to observe because it has a low surface brightness and requires exceptionally clear, dark skies source: Messier Objects).

Closeup

Crop 2

Crop 1

Widefield

M74 - The Phantom Galaxy
Location: Happy Frog Observatory, Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 11/4, 11/5, 11/6 (2016)/11:30 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i(a), Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Filter: Astrodon UV/IR
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: 26 x 180 sec, 11 x 180 sec, 25 x 180 (186 min)
ISO: 800
Temp: 40 F/4.4 C

Post Processing: Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop, Lightroom, StarTools

Praesepe or The Beehive (M44) - Reprocessed

This is an addendum to my original M44 post back in March.  The stars appeared to have a greenish tint so I reprocessed the images adding the StarTools color module to reset the stars to a more natural color since stars really aren't green (or at least we can't see as it would be masked).

Image 1 - M44_Master_LR3-st

Image 2 - M44_Master_LR3_PS_crop_LR-st

M44
Location: Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 3/11/16 10:17 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i
Filter: none
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Exposure: 40-90s (1 hr)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: Photoshop, Lightroom, DSS, Backyard EOS, StarTools