NGC 2841 is in the constellation Ursa Major (Big Dipper). It is an amazing 46 million light years away.

The image is a 5-min exposure for 150 minutes. A total of 30 exposures stacked and processed.

Brody and the scope

My four-year old son Brody loves the stars. We go to Fort Davis a lot and he loves being out doors. This is a picture taken in February in my back yard in Midland, TX.

M98

This was a 5-min exposure with a number of 30 exposures totaling 150-minutes total time exposed. I used a program called Nebulosity to capture, stack, and process 30 frames including 30 dark frames. This is a guided image using a Celestron 11" HD and CGE Pro Mount, piggybacking with a Orion 80 refractor using an Orion autoguider.
You see some detail in the galaxy, but I'm still a novice and post processing with different programs like Photoshop. Seeing conditions, transparency, and other variables affect the image including other atmospheric conditions (I'm not in space, I have to look through the Earth's atmosphere). There are several galaxies in the same location as M98. M98 is in the constellation Coma Berenecies and is a spiral galaxy about 60 million light years away.

New scope.....11" Edge HD by Celestron

After debating, which seemed like an eternity on what scope to decide to get, I finally made my decision which will cost me more, but fullfill my wants and needs. I placed an order on a brand new Meade 12" LX200ACF with Meades rebate package of a free solor scope. It sounded great and I thought I made my decision. But I wanted to do more with astrophotography, and I was limited on the capabilities of the Meade SCT. I didn't like the wedge anymore, and I wanted a German Equatorial Mount (GEM). Also I was weighing in on the manufacturer warranty. Meade had a one year warranty. Anyway, I decided to go with Celestron on its high definition scope series called the Edge HD. I broke down after doing a lot of research and found the 11" Edge HD with the CGE Pro mount. It has a two-year warranty and the high tech GEM with HD optics suited well for astrophotography (so it says right). I made the purchase after looking at the high cost and I knew what I wanted. Why spend so much on it? It's a deserving gift to myself and it's not a purchase I make very often. I knew I could afford it right? I finally received it on January 10, 2011 and set it up in my living room in awe. I couldn't believe how massive and heavy this thing was. It's built like a tank and the go-to motors are in working condition. Things are a little different with my Celestron. I am so used to being a Meade person. Time to get used to being a Celestron person. It will be different, but it should be fun. Looking forward to buying extra accessories like the Hyperstar 3 for fast exposures.

Oh yes, I was one of the fortunate ones with some clear skies to enjoy this spectacular lunar eclipse on the first night of winter. Watched it from my friends back yard in Midland, TX and took some nice images. Had a great time under the stars. The image on the left was a wide field image taken with my Canon Rebel. It is a 1 second exposure. The larger picture is taken through a 12" scope.

NGC 6070

About 118 million light years away, NGC 6070 has many faint galaxies in the field of view. Some being so dim, I need a larger aperature scope. This was a 7 minute exposure, exposed for 75 minutes.

NGC 5982, 5981, 5985

Commonly known as the "Draco Trio", NGC 5985 (right), 5982 (left), and 5981 (center) are about 100 million light years away in the constellation Draco the Dragon.