M68 & M83 - Southern Pinwheel Galaxy

M68

Messier 68 (also known as M68 or NGC 4590) is a globular cluster in the constellation Hydra. It is about 33,000 light-years away from Earth and has a highly elliptical orbit around the galaxy. This orbit carries it as far as 100,000 light years from the galactic center (source: wikipedia).

This is my first non-galaxy Messier object in over four months and I was quite excited at that.  It was also the first time with the new mount, Atlas Pro EQ/AZ.  The sky was clear but this object was very low in fact it is not visible from my yard so I went to the alternate location, a nearby cemetery.  Also with Bridgeport and all the other cities heading towards NYC, there is heavy light pollution to the south.  I could only take 45 second sub-frames and managed to get 24 shots before I moved to M83.  I wasn't holding my breath as a matter of fact I thought I made a mistake even trying to image these objects.  After reviewing the data I was convinced I made a mistake, however, all things considered, I was very happy with the results.

Wide Field

Crop

M68
Location: St. John's Cemetery, Monroe, CT
Date: 6-20-17
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
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro EQ/AZ Mount
Filter: Astrodon UV/IR
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure:24 x 45s
ISO: 1600
Temp: 18 C
Post Processing: Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop, Lightroom, Gradient Exterminator, Astronomy Tools, StarTools.
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/

M83

"I know what your thinking. More galaxies! I thought you were done!" There are a couple in this region but not like the last four months.  Messier 83 (also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, M83 or NGC 5236) is a barred spiral galaxy  about 15 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra.  Its nickname of the Southern Pinwheel derives from its resemblance to the Pinwheel Galaxy (source: wikipedia). 

Although there are better images of the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy (M83), I am happy that I was able pull together something with only 30 minutes before disappearing behind some trees.  These summer objects are very low in the sky with heavy light pollution and not visible from my yard. Southwest Connecticut is not exactly dark sky haven of New England.  I did capture another object but I am doing that separately since it a nebula. 

These two objects are Messier's 89 and 90 on my catalog.  

M83
Location: St. John's Cemetery, Monroe, CT
Date: 6-20-17
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
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro EQ/AZ Mount
Filter: Astrodon UV/IR
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure:30 x 60s
ISO: 1600
Temp: 18 C
Post Processing: Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop, Lightroom, Gradient Exterminator, Astronomy Tools, StarTools.
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/