Trifid Nebula

The Trifid Nebula is located in the constellation Sagittarius located approximately 5200 light years away.  It's a star forming region with numerous dark dust lanes creating lots of dark filaments. 

Trifid Nebula
(L)10min X 12
(R) 10min X 4
(G) 10min X 4
(B) 10min X 4
Camera: QSI683wsg at F/7
Telescope: 11" Edge HD
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Lubbock, TX
Dates: Early morning, July 25 and 26, 2014.  Imaged over several nights.
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding.
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

Lagoon and Trifid Nebula

Lagoon and Trifid Nebula!
Took this last week at the Texas Star Party.
Lagoon and Trifid
5min X 20 RGB
Camera: QHY8 F/5
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ106 guided
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location:Zodiac Ranch
Dates: Early morning, May 29, 2014
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding.
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

Milky Way Rising (Video)

My movie I made with a Canon 5D Mark II.
Spent all night from sunset to sunrise capturing data to make this movie.
Took 400 images and combined each to make this movie.
Each exposure was 30 seconds at ISO 5000 with one minute delay between each frame.

Clink the link to watch.  Don't forget to set to HD 1080.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxkHF2HRBGc

Whirlpool Galaxy, M51

Located in the northern constellation Canes Venatici, the Whirlpool Galaxy is approximately 23 million light years away.  Appearing as a face-on type galaxy, it is one of the most famous and often photographed images.  In the image, there are fainter galaxies located around M51 toward the upper right.

M51
5min X 18 RGB
Camera: QHY8pro F/2
Telescope: Celestron 11" Edge HD guided
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Lubbock, TX
Dates: Early morning, May 3, 2014
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding. 
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

 

 

Mars Opposition 2014

Imaged Mars on April 8, 2014 when it was at opposition.  Opposition refers to Earth being right in the middle of another planet and the sun.  So when the sun sets in the west, Mars will rise in the east.  And when the sun rises, Mars will set in the west.  Get it?  Just like a full moon.  Mars will appear closer this year than it has in the last 7 years, however, it will be a mere 92 million kilometers on April 14th.  That's when Mars will appear it's closest to Earth.
The image below is from a Philips Web Cam and processed with Registax 6.

Mars Opposition 2014
1200 frames at 10 frames per second video
Camera: Philips TouCam Web Cam
Telescope: Celestron 11" Edge HD guided
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Lubbock, TX
Dates: 2:00am, April 9, 2014
Captured with WebCam software and guided with PHD guiding. 
Processed with Registax 6.

Leo Trio

All three galaxies lie within the constellation Leo and all three galaxies are spiral galaxies.  NGC 3628 (Edge on) has a thick dark dust lane that is visible.  The Leo Triplet is about 30 million light years away.

Leo Triplet
5min X 20 RGB
Camera: QHY8pro F/2
Telescope: Celestron 11" Edge HD guided
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Lubbock, TX
Dates: Early morning, March 29, 2014
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding. 
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.

 

 

Messier 82 and supernova

M82 is a distance of 12 million light-years. It has thick areas of dust and sprays out hydrogen gas and has a bright center that creates massive star formations. The supernova is not in the central star-forming region but above the center of the galaxy.  On January 21, 2014, a group of astronomy students spotted a supernova in M82.  The supernova itself did not happen on January 21st, but did occur about 12 million years ago.  It's light is just now reaching Earth.  So, the supernova itself is ancient history, but it takes light 12 million years to travel to Earth.  Located in the constellation Ursa Major (Big Dipper).

Messier 82 (Cigar Galaxy)
5min X 12
Camera: QHY8 F/7
Telescope: Celestron 11" Edge HD guided
Mount: Celestron CGE Pro
Location: Zodiac Ranch, Fort Davis, TX
Dates: Early morning, February 28, 2014
Captured with Nebulosity and guided with PHD guiding. 
Processed with MaxIm DL 5 and photoshop.