Here are a few more examples of recent images  


Page one, Page three, Home


M74  

Supernova Remnant  imaged Dec. 9, 2020


This face-on spiral galaxy was discovered in 1780 by Charles Messier. The galaxy is about 32 million light years away in the constillation Pisces. My image is a sum of twenty seven exposures out of fifty seven taken that night. This is a subject I will have to return to as soon as possible. Perhaps with my planned upgrades I will be able to collect a few hours of data.

 

                                                

The Wizard NGC 7380

Bright nebula in the constellation of Cepheus  Imaged Oct. 8, 2020


NGC 7380 is obvious in a short sixty second exposure. However even at F 4.5 showing the details will require much more exposure data. This was one of the first images captured after one of my more significant upgrades and my expectations were high. Some of the detail is seen in this shot but I look forward to making a much better image next year! This image is the sum of thirty two frames.            



NGC 5457

Face on spiral imaged April 20, 2020


This lovely galaxy is located in the constellation Ursa Major. The galaxy is about 21 million light years away. This was the first successful image made after rebuilding my telescope drive. The image is obviously not so good but it did prove that my upgrades were moving me in the right direction. I recall my drive home from the observatory being really happy that I had successfully imaged a galaxy with equipment that was never intended for long exposure astrophotography!



IC 63 90 minutes    

Bright Nebula Cepheus    Imaged Nov. 20, 2020


The bluish glow seen shinning in this image comes from the intense radiation of the bright star Gamma Cassiopeia. This photo is the sum of twenty nine images out of fifty three collected that night. All of the photos on these pages would benifit from much more exposure than I am presently able to collect but it is my hope that future the work seen here will be exposures measured in hours, not minutes.





M16    

Stellar Nursery    Imaged July 14, 2020


M16 was discovered by Charles Messier and is about 5,700 light years away. This is the best image I was able to collect back in July as I had recently convinced myself that making just one more change to my setup would really improve my results...I was wrong. improving on this image will be on the top of my list thiscoming summer.