Blackstar's Si, Si, Si! images
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blackstar
Senior Member
First light - DSO imaging
Pleiades (M45)
The Pleiades star cluster is also known as the Seven Sisters, and as Messier 45. It is a prominent object in the night sky with a conspicuous place in ancient mythology. The cluster is among the nearest to Earth, and the most obvious to the naked eye. Although only a handful are visible to the unaided eye, it contains hundreds of stars, some of them surrounded by swirls of nebulosity. The Pleiades are one of the most beautiful objects in the sky. Even with the naked eye, under modest conditions, they are easily found, 10° NW of the bright orange star Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri). Surrounding Aldebaran is another, equally famous open cluster, the Hyades; Aldebaran is a foreground star at 68 light years' distance, rather than the 150 ly of the Hyades.
Bode's and Cigar Galaxies (M81, M82)
Messier 81 (center, also known as NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy) in Ursa Major is one of the most conspicuous spiral galaxies in the sky. It forms a physical pair with its neighbor, M 82, and is the dominant galaxy of the M81 group. Discovered along with M 82 by Johann Bode, and sometimes referred to as Bode's Nebula, M 81 is one of the easiest and most rewarding galaxies for amateur astronomers in the northern hemisphere. M 81 is probably about 12 million years away, as determined by Hubble Space Telescope observations of Cepheid variables within it. The true diameter of M 81 is at least 70,000 light years; its mass has been calculated to be around 250 billion suns. This makes it somewhat heavier than our Milky Way. The absolute magnitude of M 81 is -20.8, a luminosity of 17 billion suns.
Messier 82 (lower left, also known as NGC 3034, Cigar Galaxy, or M82) is a remarkable, peculiar galaxy in Ursa Major. M 82 was discovered along with its partner M 81 by Johann Bode, and both galaxies are sometimes known as Bode's Nebulae. Also called the Cigar Galaxy, M 82 has been spectacularly disturbed by a relatively recent encounter with M 81, and displays conspicuous dust lanes and heavy star formation. M 82 is the prototype irregular starburst disk galaxy. As a member of the M 81 group, M 82 is 12 million light years distant. It is separated from M 81 by at least 130,000 light years. Its core seems to have suffered dramatically from several close encounters with M 81, most recently about 100 million years ago. Tidal forces caused by gravity have deformed M 82, and caused star formation in its core to increase ten-fold compared to "normal" galaxies like the Milky Way.
Note: these were imaged with Celestron Origin smart telescope.
Pleiades (M45)
The Pleiades star cluster is also known as the Seven Sisters, and as Messier 45. It is a prominent object in the night sky with a conspicuous place in ancient mythology. The cluster is among the nearest to Earth, and the most obvious to the naked eye. Although only a handful are visible to the unaided eye, it contains hundreds of stars, some of them surrounded by swirls of nebulosity. The Pleiades are one of the most beautiful objects in the sky. Even with the naked eye, under modest conditions, they are easily found, 10° NW of the bright orange star Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri). Surrounding Aldebaran is another, equally famous open cluster, the Hyades; Aldebaran is a foreground star at 68 light years' distance, rather than the 150 ly of the Hyades.
Bode's and Cigar Galaxies (M81, M82)
Messier 81 (center, also known as NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy) in Ursa Major is one of the most conspicuous spiral galaxies in the sky. It forms a physical pair with its neighbor, M 82, and is the dominant galaxy of the M81 group. Discovered along with M 82 by Johann Bode, and sometimes referred to as Bode's Nebula, M 81 is one of the easiest and most rewarding galaxies for amateur astronomers in the northern hemisphere. M 81 is probably about 12 million years away, as determined by Hubble Space Telescope observations of Cepheid variables within it. The true diameter of M 81 is at least 70,000 light years; its mass has been calculated to be around 250 billion suns. This makes it somewhat heavier than our Milky Way. The absolute magnitude of M 81 is -20.8, a luminosity of 17 billion suns.
Messier 82 (lower left, also known as NGC 3034, Cigar Galaxy, or M82) is a remarkable, peculiar galaxy in Ursa Major. M 82 was discovered along with its partner M 81 by Johann Bode, and both galaxies are sometimes known as Bode's Nebulae. Also called the Cigar Galaxy, M 82 has been spectacularly disturbed by a relatively recent encounter with M 81, and displays conspicuous dust lanes and heavy star formation. M 82 is the prototype irregular starburst disk galaxy. As a member of the M 81 group, M 82 is 12 million light years distant. It is separated from M 81 by at least 130,000 light years. Its core seems to have suffered dramatically from several close encounters with M 81, most recently about 100 million years ago. Tidal forces caused by gravity have deformed M 82, and caused star formation in its core to increase ten-fold compared to "normal" galaxies like the Milky Way.
Note: these were imaged with Celestron Origin smart telescope.
Last edited:
Peter7100
Senior Member
These are fantastic!!
Dawg Pics
Senior Member
Nice captures.
blackstar
Senior Member
Thanks, Dawg. I have been imaging more DSO targets (nebulae and galaxies) after these. But some of them were not satisfying. So I have been studying and learning the lengthy DSO post-processing workflow and each critical and tricky step on the way... but just not there yet. Can't imagine this is the hardest part of AP.Nice captures.
How do you enjoy your Astro-observations and possibly your photo camera/lens setup with a star tracker for AP? I hope you had some good time as you long journeyed into the world of astronomy.