Messier 51, also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy is a face-on spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici located about 30 million light-years away from us.
I took this in June over multiple times and was able to collect about 8 hours of data.
Tag: L-Pro
Messier 13 (The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules)
This is my second attempt at Messier 13, the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules. When I attempted this target last year I only had about 10 minutes of data.
This time I was able to spend a lot more time and get about 2 hours of data. I want to attempt this again, with even more time.
Messier 101 (Pinwheel Galaxy)
Messier 101, commonly known as the Pinwheel Galaxy is a great target to image during galaxy season. I captured this image over multiple nights in NJ and at a dark site in Cherry Springs, PA.
With this target, I had gone back to my native focal length of 952mm by removing my Starizona Apex 0.65x Focal Reducer.
I had to throw away over 50 frames during this session due to focusing issues I was facing with NINA.
Messier 81 & 82 (Bode’s and Cigar Galaxy)
This is M81 & M82, also known as Bode’s and the Cigar Galaxy. This is a pair of beautiful galaxies in Ursa Major. Also in this image, is NGC3077.
This group of galaxies is the closest galaxy group to our own very local group of galaxies which include the Milky Way
This was the first target I imaged with my new telescope, the Explore Scientific FCD 100 Carbon Fiber 127mm Triplet. This was a total of 18 hours and 50 minutes of exposure time.
IC1396 (The Elephant Trunk Nebula)
IC1396, also known as The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula, is a region full of installer gas and dust. This isn’t as colorful as my previous images, but it’s a fun target to image. Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is a star-forming region with several young stars.
I took this at Cherry Springs State Park, PA, over the last new moon weekend.
Messier 33 (The Triangulum Galaxy)
Messier 33 also known as the Triangulum Galaxy is one of the most beautiful face-on galaxies in the night sky. This is part of our local group of galaxies which includes, Andromeda, The Magellanic Clouds, and our own Milkyway.
I took this image at Cherry Springs State Park a truly dark site in Pennsylvania.
Messier 20 (The Trifid Nebula)
Messier 20, also known as the Trifid Nebula, is one of the most beautiful night sky targets.
I took this image at Cherry Springs State Park, a truly dark site in Pennsylvania.
NGC 7293 (The Helix Nebula/God’s Eye)
NGC 7293, also known as the Helix Nebula or God’s Eye, is a planetary nebula about 700 light-years away.
I took this image at Cherry Springs State Park, a truly dark site in Pennsylvania.
NGC 7023 (The Iris Nebula)
This is one of my favorite nebula, NGC 7023 the Iris Nebula. This is 15 frames at 300 seconds each.
I also used an Optolong L-Pro filter during this image to cut down on light pollution.
Messier 13 (The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules)
M13 or the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules is a large globular cluster in Hercules. There aren’t exact numbers on how many stars there are in this cluster, but estimates show that there are several hundred thousand to a million stars in this small region
I took this picture in June 2020. It was a half-moon and I used an Optolong L-Pro 2″ filter to cut through the light pollution.