Galaxies
NGC4631 (w/NGC4627) - The Whale in Canes Venatici LUM - edge on spiral.
Orientation: North is RIGHT - Distance: ~25-30 million light years
Image Size: ~27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: ~2.12
DATE: 06/17/2009
Conditions: Seeing Good . Transparency Good. Stable skies. Temp ~40-45 degrees F (very cold for June!). Serious dewing problems on guidescope resulted in somewhat ovoid stars due to bad tracking.
This is a PRELIMIARY image. I plan to obtain more data, potentially reshooting this object in better conditions due to the guiding errors. Eventually this will be an LRGB full color image as I obtain more data.
Processing:
MaximDL 5.x -Calibrate, Align, SigmaMask Combine, DDP Stretch, levels, simple unsharp mask. Bias, and Darks were used. No flats.
Comment:
Imaged through 10" Shmidt Cassegrain reflector (with Starlight Xpress MX716), guided through SV80ED refractor (with Deep Space Imager Pro)
Astronomik Luminance Clear filter used.
Total Exposures: Lum 56 min Binning 1x1
This is my first image with the new dual-camera-scope set up. Camera sensitivity is greatly increased (two fold), and the horrid amp glow on the left side of the image is effectively gone.
M63 - Sunflower in Canes Venatici LUM
Orientation: North is RIGHT - Distance: ~37 million light years
Image Size: ~27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: ~2.12
DATE: 05/31/2009
Conditions: Seeing Good . Transparency Good. Stable skies. Temp ~45 degrees F. Some moon glow. causing gradient.
Processing:
MaximDL 5.x -Calibrate, Align, SigmaMask Combine, DDP Stretch, curves, local adaptive, stretch, hotpix, levels. Bias, and Darks were used. No flats.
Comment:
Star2000 self guided.
Total Exposures: 112 minutes.
Lum 112 min Bin 1x1
M94 - The Cat's Eye in Canes Venatici LUM
Orientation: North is RIGHT - Distance: ~16 million light years
Image Size: ~27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: ~2.12
DATE: 06/01/2009
Conditions: Seeing Good. Transparency Good. Somewhat stable skies. Temp ~40 degrees F. Some moon glow. causing gradient.
Processing:
MaximDL 5.x -Calibrate, Align, SigmaMask Combine, DDP Stretch, curves, local adaptive, stretch, hotpix, levels. Bias, and Darks were used. No flats.
Comment:
Star2000 self guided.
Total Exposures: 112 minutes.
Lum 112 min Bin 1x1
M100 - Spiral in Coma Berenices - LUM
Orientation: North is RIGHT - Distance: ~52 million light years
Image Size: ~27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: ~2.12
DATE: 05/22/2009
Conditions: Seeing Good. Transparency Good. Stable skies. Temp ~50 degrees F.
Processing:
MaximDL 5.x -Calibrate, Align, SigmaMask Combine, DDP Stretch, curves, local adaptive, stretch, hotpix, levels. Bias, and Darks were used. No flats.
Comment:
Star2000 self guided. A lot more exposure on this would be nice, plus a vast number of small background galaxies! Virgo region, lots and lost of galaxies here.
Total Exposures: 92 minutes.
Lum 92 min Bin 1x1
NGC4567-4568 - Siamese Twins in Virgo - LUM
Orientation: North is RIGHT - Distance: ~ 52 million light years
Image Size: ~27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: ~2.12
DATE: 05/25/2009
Conditions: Seeing Good . Transparency Good. Stable skies. Temp ~45 degrees F.
Processing:
MaximDL 5.x -Calibrate, Align, SigmaMask Combine, DDP Stretch, curves, local adaptive, stretch, hotpix, levels. Bias, and Darks were used. No flats.
Comment:
Star2000 self guided. Virgo region, lots and lost of galaxies here.
Total Exposures: 104 minutes.
Lum 104 min Bin 1x1
M51 - Galaxy in Canes Venatici - LRGB and LUM
Orientation: North is RIGHT - Distance: ~37 million light years
Image Size: ~27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: ~2.12
Conditions: Seeing Good to Very Good. Transparency Good to Very Good. Stable skies. Temp ~50 to ~65 degrees F.
Some fringe color in around various points on the color image. I will need to work on that. I may be having problems with use of flats.
DATE: 07/11/2008
DATE: 06/12/2008
Processing:
MaximDL 4.x -Calibrate, Align, Sigma Reject Combine, Linear DDP Stretch, ,Levels, remove gradient, flatten background, deinterlace, unsharp mask.
Comment:
A beautiful, bright, and relatively close interacting spiral. An interesting smattering of background galaxies in the field with at least one discernable edge-on spiral. Plenty of structure, nebulosity, and dark lanes. COLOR RGB data has been ADDED.
Bias, Darks, and Flats were used. Star2000 self guided.
Lum 220min
RGB 296 min
Total 516 minutes : 8.6 hours.
M64 - The Black Eye, in Coma Bernices - Mono Luminance
Orientation: North is UP - Distance: 24 million light years
Image Size: ~27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: ~2.12
DATE: 06/01/2008
Conditions: Seeing Good to Very Good. Transparency Good to Very Good. Stable skies. Temp ~40 to ~50 degrees F.
Too much fight club?
Processing:
MaximDL 4.x -Calibrate, Align, Sigma Reject Combine, Linear DDP Stretch, unsharp mask.
Comment:
Bias and Darks and Flats were used. Star2000 self guided.
This is known as the Black Eye Galaxy, also the Sleeping Beauty Galaxy. I have no idea who coined that name or why. This is a galaxy with very smooth features and an interesting 'black eye'. More signal would surely help here, but time was limited when I took this. I may return to this later.
Total Exposures: 84 minutes
Lum 84 min Bin 1x1 120s x42
NGC5982 and friends - The Treo in Draco - Mono Luminance
Orientation: North is DOWN - Distance: ~100 million light years
Image Size: ~27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: ~2.12
DATE: 05/28/2008
Conditions: Seeing Good to Very Good. Transparency Good to Very Good. Stable skies. Temp ~40 to ~50 degrees F.
NGC5981 LEFT - NGC 5982 MIDDLE - NGC 5985 RIGHT
Processing:
MaximDL 4.x -Calibrate, Align, Sigma Reject Combine, Linear DDP Stretch, unsharp mask.
Comment:
Bias and Darks and flats were used. Star2000 self guided.
A very interesting trio. Three galaxy types/perspectives very close to one another. You have a side view, a spiral, and a irregular in the middle. I brought the background up so you can see the background galaxies. I will label these later. There are at least 7 faint fuzzies in there, though I suspect there are a few more. This shot could use a lot more exposure to bring out some more detail and help smooth the image.
Total Exposures: 132 minutes
Lum 104 min Bin 1x1 240s x26
M82 - Irregular Galaxy in Ursa Major - L-HARGB
Orientation: North is RIGHT - Distance: 12 million light years
Image Size: ~27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: ~2.12
DATE: 05/06/2008
Conditions: Seeing Good to Very Good. Transparency Good to Very Good. Stable skies. Temp ~40 to ~50 degrees F.
FULL SIZE
CLOSE-UP
Processing:
MaximDL 4.x -Calibrate, Align, Sigma Reject Combine, Linear DDP Stretch, unsharp mask.
Comment:
Bias and Darks were used. Limited use of flats. Star2000 self guided.
Note the 'filaments' above and below the galaxy core (at the poles). These are jets of hydrogen gas being blown away from the galactic core due prolific star formation. It is believed that tidal interactions with it's partner galaxy (M81) are causing this.
Total Exposures: 344 minutes (5.73 hours)
Lum 104 min Bin 1x1 240s x26
RGB 40 min Bin 1x1 240s x10 - Each channel.
M82 - Irregular Galaxy in Ursa Major - Monochrome Luminance HA/L
Orientation: North is RIGHT - Distance: 12 million light years
Image Size: ~27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: ~2.12
DATE: 04/26/2008
Conditions: Seeing very Good. Transparency Very Good. Stable skies. Temp ~40 to ~50 degrees F. Moon rises later now, most exposures complete before moon rose above ~25 degree above horizon.
Processing:
MaximDL 4.x -Calibrate, AVGCombine&Align, DDP Stretch, curves, unsharp, fixbadpix.
Comment:
Flats, Bias and Darks were used. Star2000 self guided. Need more Ha I think in order to get more detail on the N/S galactic hydrogenjets. You CAN see them in this image, and I suspect further RGB data will make it quite visible.
Total Exposures: 268 minutes (4.46 hours)
Object name: M82 in Contellation of UMA
Other ID: NGC3034
Magnitude: 8.6
Equatorial: RA: 09h 56m 38s Dec: +69°38'51"
Size: 11.2 x 4.3
Object type: Spiral Galaxy
Source catalog: Messier
Type: G
Optics: Meade 10" Lx200 EMC OTA
Mount: Losmandy G-11 with SkyWalker2
Camera: Starlight Xpress MX-716 USB. Star2000 GUIDED
Focal Length: F/3.3 (Optec NextGen Maxfield)
Binning: 1x1
Filters: LUM and HA for Mono image, Astronomik type IIc RGB and Ha filters for L-HARGB image.
M81 - Spiral in Ursa Major - HA/L-RGB
***REPROCESSED! More detail better balance, etc***
Orientation: North is RIGHT - Distance: 12 million light years
Image Size: ~27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: ~2.12
DATE: 04/21/2008
Conditions: Across multiple nights. Seeing very good to average. Transparency very good to average. Stable to slightly unstable skies. Temp ~40degrees. Bright moon between 90%-100% full due south in opposite direction. I suspect my color data would be much better on a dark night.
Processing:
MaximDL 4.x -Calibrate, AVGCombine&Align, DDP Stretch, curves, color adjust (too much blue), unsharp, colorsmooth, fixbadpix.
Comment:
Flats, Bias and Darks were used. Star2000 self guided.
Total Exposures: 256 minutes (4.26 hours)
Lum 40 min Bin 1x1 240s x10
Ha 56 min Bin 1x1 240s x14 (1 tossed)
Red: 36 min Bin 1x1 240s x9 (7 tossed)
Green: 64 min Bin 1x1 240s x16
Blue: 60 min Bin 1x1 240s x15 (1 tossed)
M81 - Spiral in Ursa Major - Monochrome Luminance HA/L
***REPROCESSED! More detail better balance, etc***
Orientation: North is RIGHT - Distance: 12 million light years
Image Size: ~27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: ~2.12
DATE: 04/18/2008
Conditions: Seeing very Good. Transparency Very Good. Stable skies. Temp ~40 degrees F. Moon was nearly 90% full due south in opposite direction. This likely had some detrimental effect on exposures due to brightened sky.
Processing:
MaximDL 4.x -Calibrate, AVGCombine&Align, DDP Stretch, curves, color adjust (too much blue), unsharp, colorsmooth, fixbadpix.
Comment:
Flats, Bias and Darks were used. Star2000 self guided.
Total Exposures: 96 minutes (1.5 hours)
Lum 40 min Bin 1x1 240s x10
Ha 56 min Bin 1x1 240s x14 (1 tossed)
Object name: M81 in Contellation of UMA
Other ID: NGC 3031
Magnitude: 6.9
Equatorial: RA: 09h 56m 18s Dec: +69°01'54"(current)
Size: 24.9 x 11.5
Object type: Spiral Galaxy
Source catalog: Messier
Type: G
Optics: Meade 10" Lx200 EMC OTA
Mount: Losmandy G-11 with SkyWalker2
Camera: Starlight Xpress MX-716 USB. Star2000 GUIDED
Focal Length: F/3.3 (Optec NextGen Maxfield)
Binning: 1x1
Filters: NONE for Mono image, Astronomik type IIc RGB and Ha filters for HALRGB image.
NGC2903 - Spiral in Leo
DATE: 03/31/2008
Orientation: North is RIGHT - Distance: 20.5 million light years
Image Size: 27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: 2.12
Conditions: Seeing very Good. Transparency Very Good. Stable skies. Temp ~30 degrees F.
Oh what a difference some practice makes! Same data. First time I didn't know what I was doing. Second time... I better understand what I am doing.. what a difference.
*Can you spot PGC 1648681? (more info below)
NEW VERSION
Processing:
MaximDL 4.x - Linear DDP stretch, curves, levels, mildunsharp.
Comment:
On reprocessed version: Darks and Bias used, no flats.. No use of an autoguider!
OLD VERSION
Object name: NGC 2903 in Contellation of LEO
Other ID: PGC 27077
Magnitude: 9.6
Equatorial: RA: 09h 32m 39s Dec: +21°27'50"(current)
Size: 12.5 x 5.5
Object type: Spiral Galaxy
Source catalog: PGC (Principal Galaxies Catalog)
Type: SBbc Bar: B
Morphological code: 4.004
Radial velocity: 477.642
Optics: Meade 10" Lx200 EMC OTA
Mount: Losmandy G-11 with SkyWalker2
Camera: Starlight Xpress MX-716 USB
Exposure: 20sec x 60 (20 minutes), UNGUIDED.
Focal Length: F/3.3 (Optec NextGen Maxfield)
Binning: 1x1
Filters: NONE
Processing: MaximDL 4.x -AVGCombine&Align -LowPass -4ptFlat -LogHist -Rank Filter -Local Adaptive Filter -Curves
Comment:
No Darks, Flats or Bias were used. No use of an autoguider! Turns out I need yet another USB to Serial adapter. Very minor MANUAL guiding adjustments were performed every 5 minutes during exposures mostly due to polar alignment being off slightly. Rather consistent, yet slow drift observed in southwesterly direction. I am very impressed with the Losmandy G-11. I suspect this image can be much better processed, but considering I am rather green at this, I think it came out quite well. There is a bit of noise in the image plus I think the spiral arms could be coaxed to come out a bit more.
NEARBY Object(s) of Interest (In Frame):
Object name: PGC 1648681 Magnitude: 16.5 Equatorial: RA: 09h 32m 34s Dec: +21°20'11"(current) Size: 0.3 x 0.3 Object type: Spiral Galaxy (barred) Source catalog: PGC (Principal Galaxies Catalog)
**The small fuzzy spot due south (LEFT) of NGC 2903
NGC3628 - Edge On
*early test image*
Comment:
Mag 9.5. Edge-on spiral galaxy. Very close to M65 and M66. This isn't a very good shot, but not bad for my earliest of galaxy shots. Goofy venetial blind effect visible in the stars. Noisy/grainy image due to need for longer exposure (not enough data). Still, you can easily make out the dust lane and the somewhat 'warped' arms at each end of the galaxy. I'll be back.
Scope: 10" LX200 EMC Classic
Mount: Modified Superwedge/Meade field tripod, roughly polar aligned.
Camera: Starlight Xpress MX-716 CCD
FR: Optec Maxfield Nextgen F3.3
Exposure: 10x10sec exposures unguided, stacked.
Processing: unsharp mask? curves.
Software: AstroArt
M65 and M66 - Galaxy Pair
*early low res test image*
Comment:
Nice pair of galaxies. I like how they can both be easily framed within a single image. Low res. But this is just a start.
Scope: 10" LX200 EMC Classic
Mount: Modified Superwedge/Meade field tripod, roughly polar aligned.
Camera: Starlight Xpress MX-716 CCD
FR: Optec Maxfield Nextgen F3.3
Exposure: 10x10sec exposures unguided, stacked.
Processing: unsharp mask, curves.
Software: AstroArt
M65
*early test image*
Comment:
Mag 9.2. A higher res shot, but as you can see.. not enough data was collected. Its a bit griany. Difficult to inch out much more detail. I'll be back.
Scope: 10" LX200 EMC Classic
Mount: Modified Superwedge/Meade field tripod, roughly polar aligned.
Camera: Starlight Xpress MX-716 CCD
FR: Optec Maxfield Nextgen F3.3
Exposure: 10x10sec exposures unguided, stacked.
Processing: unsharp mask, curves.
Software: AstroArt
M66
*early test image*
Comment:
Mag 8.9. I took this later in the night after M65. As you can see noise is greatly reduced due to much darker sky. Seeing apparently improved greatly as well. Guiding had some issues, as you can see from the sighly non-circular stars. With more data, and processing effort, this could be quite a good image.
Scope: 10" LX200 EMC Classic
Mount: Modified Superwedge/Meade field tripod, roughly polar aligned.
Camera: Starlight Xpress MX-716 CCD
FR: Optec Maxfield Nextgen F3.3
Exposure: 10x10sec exposures unguided, stacked.
Processing: unsharp mask,curves, ddp?
Software: AstroArt