Deep Sky Images from CSP-25

Great night observing and imaging at CSP-25 (Connecticut Star Party, 25th year). The annual event is put together by the Astronomical Society of New Haven (ASNH) and this year it was held at the Edmund D. Strang Scout Reservation in Goshen, CT on the weekend of October 9-11, 2015. The event was well attended by many local astronomy clubs including my own, Booth Memorial Astronomical Society (BMAS). Thank you ASNH for holding this event.

Continuing with my goal of imaging all 110 Messier Objects and other objects:

Dumbbell Nebula 8:23 pm





M27 - Dumbbell Nebula
Location: Goshen, CT
Date/Time: 10/10/15 8:23 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: Orion StarShoot G3 attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Exposure: 5-60s (total exposure, 5min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: DSS, PS, Picasa3 (crop)

Note: It turned out OK for what it was, a test. I took better images of the Dumbbell (longer exposure) previously but it was the first object of the night.

Andromeda Galaxy - 9:06 pm








M31 - Andromeda Galaxy, M32 - Satellite Galaxy, M110 - Satellite Galaxy

Location: Goshen, CT
Date/Time: 10/10/15 9:06 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: Orion StarShoot G3 attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Exposure: 6-60s, 15-120s, 1-180s (total exposure, 39min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: DSS, PS, Picasa3 (Label)

Note: I am pleased with the way this turned out. I have imaged M31 before but not for this long (39 min). I wish I did this for even longer. Maybe next time.

North American Nebula 10:29 pm


North American Nebula
Location: Goshen, CT
Date/Time: 10/10/15 10:29 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: Orion StarShoot G3 attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Exposure: 6-60s, 4-120s (total exposure, 14min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: DSS, PS

Note: There are certainly much better photos of this object but this was the first time I ever was able to capture any nebulousness.

The Pleiades Cluster - 10:57 pm





M45 - Pleiades Cluster
Location: Goshen, CT
Date/Time: 10/10/15 10:57 pm
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: Orion StarShoot G3 attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Exposure: 1-60s, 5-90s, 16-120s, 3-180s (total exposure, 49min 30s)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: DSS, PS

Note: I am also pleased with the way Pleiades turned out. I have imaged M45 before but not for 49 min. This is one of my favorite objects to observe and image, thus look for more images of this in the future.

Bode's Nebula, the Cigar Galaxy and NGC 3077 - 1:30 am








M81 - Bode's Nebula, M82 - Cigar Galaxy, NGC 3077
Location: Goshen, CT
Date/Time: 10/11/15 1:30 am
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: Orion StarShoot G3 attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Exposure: 22-90s (total exposure, 33min)
ISO: 800
Post Processing: DSS, PS, Picasa3 (crop)

Note: Again, there are certainly much better photos of these objects as well, but this was the first time was able to image this with the help of BMAS members, Elliot Severn and Pete. It did get a little misty while imaging so the sub exposures are not as good as they could be.

Overall I had a decent imaging session but in hind sight I did too much. I should have imaged less objects for longer exposures.

New Project...Messier

My new project - Image all 110 Messier objects.  The Messier Catalog, of course named in honor of Charles Messier, a French astronomer, who in the 1700's while searching for comets began cataloging other objects so they would not be confused with comets to be discovered.

I have previously imaged the following: M3-Globular Cluster, M4 - Globular Cluster, M8-Lagoon Nebula, M13-Globular Cluster, M27-Planetary Nebula, M31-Andromeda Galaxy, M32-Galaxy, M42, Great Orion Nebula, M45-Pleiades Star Cluster, M57-Planetary Nebula, M110-Galaxy.  I plan to organize this better and may re-image some of these as time goes on and I improve my technique.

Catching the Dumbbell Nebula during the Meteor Shower

While watching the Persiad Meteor Shower Wednesday night/Thursday morning (and trying get photo with my old camera) I had another go at it with my autoguider setup (see autoguider post) imaging the the Dumbbell Nebula (M27).  The Dumbbell Nebula is a planetary nebula, formed from an exploding star 9800 years ago (estimated).  It located in the constellation Vulpecula (halfway between the bright stars,  Deneb and Altair of the Summer Triangle) at a distance of about 1360 light years from Earth.

The image was made by stacking nine exposures each 90 seconds for a total time of 14.5 minutes. The autoguider worked perfectly as the stars show no trailing.

Image 1 - Raw Crop

Image 2 - Raw from DSS

Image 3 - JPEG from DSS

Image Details:
Images 1 - 3:
M27 - The Dumbbell Nebula (mag +7.5)
Location: Monroe, CT
Date/Time: 8/12/15 11:38 PM
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Autoguiding: Orion StarShoot G3 attached to and Orion Short Tube 80mm
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Exposure: 9-90s (total exposure, 14m30s)
ISO: 1600
Post Processing: DSS, PS (crop)

I did manage to get a shot of a meteor during my viewing session and some shoot of the faint Milky Way from my light polluted front yard in southern Connecticut.

Image 4 - Meteor is just below M31

Image 5 - Milky Way

Image 6 - Milky Way