M51 - Whirlpool Galaxy (2020)

I am a little late to the Whirlpool party due my poor field of view to the East, but better late than never.  This is the Whirlpool Galaxy or M51 (a.k.a. NGC 5194) located some 30 million light-years from us in the constellation of Canes Venatici. It a gorgeous classic spiral galaxy with well developed arms and probably the most striking thing about this galaxy is the yellow companion galaxy, NGC 5195, which seems to be attached to the lower end of the spiral arm on my image.  The interaction between these galaxies is thought to have started 500 million years ago when NGC 5195 passed through the main disk but then made another pass between 50 and 100 million years ago.  The diameter ranges from 60,000 to 76,000 ly and the solar mass is roughly 10.3 % of the Milky Way.

Once again I cropped this quite a bit, I did not want to go further although many do but they have much larger scopes than the AT115 refractor.  A small galaxy, IC 4263, approximately 129 million ly away is visible on the upper right side of the image.  Also if you look closely, two other very small galaxies are visible below the M51.  IC 4277 resembles a tiny sliver just below NGC 5195 while IC 4278 looks like a small cotton ball.  

This is only the second time I have imaged M51, the fist time was from three years ago (link), fortunately I like this one better.  Processing was straight forward although I did a 30 % Ha combination in the red channel and a 50 % combination in the HaRGB making it a LHaRGB image.  I was not really planning on collecting Ha, it was clear when the full moon was out so I did not want to waste a cloudless night.  I ended up tossing approximately 2.5 hrs of slightly out of focus images so I have been focusing on focus lately.  My solution was to use NINA for focusing purposes as well as monitoring the field during an imaging session while continuing to use APT for running the mount and capturing the images.  Sounds crazy but I really like the way APT does things. 

Also, I used MLT in PI for noise reduction and made a video (Link). It very powerful and simple to use.  

M51 - Whirlpool Galaxy (2020)
Home Monroe, CT
Date: 4-8-20, 4-9-20, 4-11-20, 4-13-20, 4-15-20, 4-16-20, 4-18-20, 4-20-20, 4-21-20
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805
f/7
Focal Reducer: HoTech Self-Guiding Field Flattener for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, L, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: Ha 46 x 180, L 267 x 60s, R 54 x 90s, G 56 x 90s, B 59 x 90s

Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 4 C
Processing: APT, NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Lightroom.
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http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

N.I.N.A. Autofocus Image

M106 and Friends (2020)

Out there some 24 million light-years away in the constellation of Canes Venatici is M106, a magnificent spiral galaxy.  It is one of the brightest nearby galaxies and is very large at 135,000 ly across.  This galaxy has a rare second pair of spiral arms composed of hot gases rather than stars resulting from a supermassive black hole in the galaxy center.  Although the black hole is not visible in my image part of the red-yellow gas arms are visible emanating from the core.  Also visible are blue dense portions on the outer parts of the arms that indicate regions of gas, dust, and star formation.

What I like about this view is all the other galaxies which are nearby.  Just to the left of M106 is a small irregular galaxy NGC 4248 is part of the same galaxy group as M106.  If you go a little further left, two tiny galaxies, NGC 4231 and NGC 4232, are visible with a bit of structure.  To the upper left corner is edge on galaxy NGC 4217 located approximately 60 million ly away.  I cropped this image  much more than I usually do in order to get this framing.  I wish I would have centered between the two galaxies rather than on M106 so I did not have to crop it so much.

Overall I am happy with the result as well as posting a second Deep Sky in a month, the first was NGC 2903 from two weeks ago
.
Capturing and Processing Video Link

M106 and Friends

Home Monroe, CT
Date: 3-27-20, 4-1-20, 4-8-20, 4-9-20, 4-11-20
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm
f/7
Focal Reducer: HoTech Self-Guiding Field Flattener for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO L, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: L 193 x 60s, R 78 x 60s, G 84 x 60s, B 85 x 60s
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 6 C
Processing: APT, PixInsight, Photoshop.
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)

So this is comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) or Comet ATLAS discovered on December 28, 2019, with a reflecting telescope atop Mauna Loa in Hawaii as part of the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).  Based on orbital observations from January Comet ATLAS has a 4,400 year orbital period, however, some other more recent estimates put it at 6,000 years.  This was based on observations that suggest ATLAS may be a fragment of another comet.  Like most comets, it has a green hue due to high concentration of cyanide and carbon molecules (CN and C2). There was a hope that this comet may be bright enough to see with the naked eye in May after it passes by the sun.  However, it appears that the comet is actually disintegrating as it gets closer to the sun so we will have to wait and see.   

 

This was a test that turned into an image!  Basically we had a clear early evening with the full moon so what I had been imaging was out of the question.  I thought about activating the Atlas Pro mount and setting up in the front to do some NB imaging but decided against that as the clear weather was not going to hold.  That is when I decided to try my luck with this so I set up the Atlas Mount in the front with the ED80 and my trusty Canon T3i.  Meanwhile I planned to practice with APT and other software in my shed.  

Sounds goods but I felt like Inspector Clouseau setting up everything in the front for the first time this year.  Oh well, there are better images of the comet out there but at least I got something.  I tried to stack it with it focused on just the comet but it was not sharp enough so this is what I wound up with.  I took 30 second subframes because I did not use the autoguider which is on the other rig.  It still produced slightly oblong stars but that I believe was because I never did a star alignment.  After I did a polar alignment I plate solved to the object - I should have done a few more plate-solves since I did not use an autoguider.

Problems: I started with the SynScan hand controller as I did last year but it would not connect to the computer.  After jumping up down I decided to see what would happen if I use the EQMOD Direct cable on the other rig.  It worked!  The new cable should arrive in a week.

I consider this a successful night as I discovered I needed another Pegasus EQMOD cable and probably should get another guide scope.  

Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)

Home Monroe, CT
Date: 4-6-20
Camera: Canon T3i/600D modified
Telescope: Orion ED80 Refractor Telescope
Barlow: none
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro

Filter Wheel: none
Filter: ZWO Astronomic OWB Clip-in

Focuser: none
Autoguiding: none

Exposure: 99 x 30s
ISO: 1600
Offset 21
Temp: 15 C
Processing: APT, PixInsight, Photoshop.
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

Moon Halo 4-5-20

Moon Halo captured at 10:30 on a cloudy night.  It has been cloudy for quite a while.  The benefits of taking the dog for her nightly walk.  The halo occurs when the moonlight passes through ice crystals in the atmosphere.  Moon or sun halos have a radius of 22 degrees.

Moon Halo - Waxing Gibbous Moon
Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 4-5-20
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i(a)
Lens: Opteka 6.5mm Fisheye
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 6.5mm
f/5.6
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: Manfrotto

Filter: Astronomik OWB Clip-in
Autoguiding: none
Exposure: 8s
ISO: 400
Temp: 10 C
Post Processing: Photoshop, Astronomy Tools
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

Comparison - With and Without a Focal Reducer

This is a followup to a previous post, How Do Focal Reducers Work!  In this post, I have compared images collected of the same object with the exact same setup except one set the focal reducer was used and one it was not used.

So the galaxy NGC 2903 was imaged in 2019 and again in 2020 with the following equipment acquisition time:

Date: 2019

Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Focal Length: 805mm, f/7
Focal Reducer: Astro-Tech 0.8x Focal Reducer/Field Flattener for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO R, G, B, L
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: L 57 x 90, R 40 x 90, G 39 x 90, B 38 x 90

Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -10 C

Date: 2020
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Focal Length: 805mm f/7
Focal Reducer: HoTech Self-Guiding Field Flattener for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO L, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: L 58 x 90s, R 41 x 90s, G 39 x 90s, B 42 x 90s
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -15 C 

For this comparison, I just used the RGB data after it was combined and I applied automatic background extraction.  I then used star alignment and dynamic crop to size up for comparison.  As was expected, the data collected with the focal reducer was brighter, however, the data collected without the focal reducer did appear to show slightly finer detail.  This is only one set of data taken a year apart so not sure how valid it is but it is a start.

    Left side (2019)                                Right side (2020)

The Following is a recent video discussing what focal reducers do!

NGC 2903 - The Third Time (2020)

Although it may seem that I must have a thing for NGC 2903 it is really just a coincidence that I am imaging it once again.  Don't get me wrong it is a lovely barred spiral galaxy about 20 million light-years distant and popular among amateur astronomers as it is easy to find. Being in the constellation Leo, near the top of the lion's head it is in the perfect spot for me to image from my shed - that was reason one.  The second reason for imaging this galaxy is that I wanted to do a comparison with the raw images from this year with using only the field flatter to that of the previous years when I used the focal reducer.  Although it won't be a perfect comparison (imaging conditions and focusing differences) I wanted to see if there will be a noticeable difference.
Link to the results: Comparison - With and Without a Focal Reducer

Oddly enough, none of my images resemble each other as I highlighted different aspects when processing them each year.  This time around, for better or worse, I wanted to try something different so I highlighted the color.  NGC 2903 is unique in that exhibits an exceptional rate of star formation activity near its center. The size of this galaxy is just a little smaller than our own Milky Way at about 80,000 light-years across making it a good twin of us (source: APOD). If you have a good eye there is a small 'little fuzzy' next to NGC 2903, this is PGC 27115 - UGC 5086, Stellarium has it listed as an active magnitude 18.00 galaxy.  I like how the stars and background came out as well.  On Astrobin I have put up the Wide field image as a link in the comments as there were plenty of other faint fuzzies in the background, in particular on the right side of the image.  However, I added the rotated and cropped version as the galaxy is oriented in a more typical side to side view. I spent a little time really learning a different noise reduction method in PI (MLT) which produced much better results from the get-go.  Thanks to Gary Imm - the Oracle of Noise Reduction for pointing me in new directions for NR.  

Cropped Rotated

Wide Field

NGC 2903
Home Monroe, CT
Date: 3-13-20, 3-15-20, 3-17-20, 3-21-20
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm
f/7
Focal Reducer: HoTech Self-Guiding Field Flattener for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO L, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: L 58 x 90s, R 41 x 90s, G 39 x 90s, B 42 x 90s
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 3 C
Processing: APT, PixInsight, Photoshop.
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1