HORSEHEAD NEBULA

The Horsehead Nebula is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion. About 1500 light years away, the horsehead is one of the most identifiable nebula.

Imaged in Fort Davis, TX on the night of March 23, 2012 using a QHY8 CCD camera and Hyperstar. Autoguided with an Orion Single-Shot autoguider. Used my Celestron 11" EdgeHD and CGE Pro Mount.

NGC 2403

NGC 2403 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis. NGC 2403 is approximately 8 million light years away.

Image was taken near Fort Davis, TX and is a 5-min exposure. Total exposure time was two hours.

Omega Centauri

Omega Centauri is the largest globular cluster in our Galaxy. Located in the constellation Centaurus, lies about 15,000 light years from the Earth. It can be seen without any visual aid in the southern skies. Even at 30 degrees latitude, it still lays low in the southern skies. For our southern hemisphere folks, it is high in the southern sky. It contains several million stars, and the ones in its center are really close to each other.
Image was taken near Fort Davis, TX with an 11" Celestron Edge HD and CGE Pro mount. Autoguided with an Orion autoguider and Orion 80mm refractor using a QHY8 CCD. Image is a 1-min exposure.

The Orion Nebula is a diffuse nebula in the constellation Orion. It is in the lower portion of Orion south of his belt. This object can be seen with the naked eye. It is part of Orion's sword and looks very fuzzy with the naked eye. Located 1500 light years away, the stars have formed from collapsing clouds of interstellar gas within the last million years.

2-min exposure. Total exposure time was 40 minutes.

Imaged at Zodiac Ranch near Fort Davis, TX in the early morning hours of October 30, 2011.

The Orion constellation is a dominant constellation during the winter season.

M81 Group

M81 group is a group of galaxies in the constellation Ursa Major (Big Dipper area) that includes both M81 and M82. M81 is on the right and M82 is the smaller one to the left. Approximately 12 million light years away. NGC 3077 is a smaller fainer galaxy in the lower right hand corner.

Imaged on October 30, 2011 from the Zodiac Ranch near Fort Davis, TX.

2-min exposure. Total exposure time, 22 minutes.

Messier 74

Messier 74 is a face on spiral galaxy located in the constellation Pisces. Approximately 30 million light years away.

Imaged at Zodiac Ranch near Fort Davis, TX on October 30, 2011. 2-min exposure. Total exposure time was 44 min.

Captured using a QHY8 CCD color camera and autoguided using an Orion Star Shoot autoguider piggybacked on a Celestron 11" SCT.

Jupiter

Our largest planet in the solar system is very close to Earth this time of year and is about to be at opposition. This is the brightest object in the sky other than the moon (for the time being anyway).

This image was aquired with a Phillips TouCam webcam. It was taken at 10 frames per second for 3 minutes. That's a total of 1800 frames. Frames were stacked using software for the final result.

On some nights, you can see it's four main moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) cast a shadow on the planet as they orbit the planet with an 8" or larger telescope.

Image was taken around midnight on September 30, 2011 from my back yard in Midland, TX. Clear skies with excellent seeing and transparent skies. Some light pollution. Used without filters and guided.