Comet Wirtanen

It's been five years since I went out for stargazing. It was partly clear night and I looked a few objects with my Fujinon 10x50 FMT-SX and 7x50 FMT-SX. I observed the following objects:
M31 Andromeda Galaxy in Andromeda
M33 Spiral Galaxy in Triangulum
Pleiades Open Cluster in Taurus
Hyades Opren Cluster in Taurus
M36 Open Cluster in Taurus
M38 Open Cluster in Taurus
M42 Orion Nebula in Orion
M35 Open Cluster in Gemini
Lastly, Comet Wirtanen near Capella in Auriga (It looks a large hazy patch.)
Mill Creek MetroParks, OH
December 26, 2018

Markarian's Chain of Galaxies

Markarian's Chain of Galaxies – The heart of the Virgo

Across the heart of the Virgo, cluster of galaxies lies a striking string of galaxies known as Markarian's Chain. The image is highlighted on the center with two large but featureless lenticular galaxies, M84 & M86. Prominent to their lower left is a pair of interacting galaxies known as The Eyes. The Virgo Cluster  has more than 2k galaxies. The center of the Virgo Cluster is located about 70 million light years away toward the constellation of Virgo.

Takahashi Epsilon180 astrograph (f/2.8); SBIG ST-8300M (-15 C); LRGB with Baader filters (Luminance 5x6 (1x1 binned) and RGB 5x3 (2x2 binned)); Takahashi EM-200 Temma 2M; CCDSoft, MaxIm DL5 and Photoshop CS4, Kent, OH, May 11, 2012

The Leo Trio

The Leo Trio of Galaxies - M65, M66, and NGC 3628

In the image above, M65 is the oblique spiral in the upper right, M66 is below, and NGC 3628 is the edge-on spiral to the left. Notice the faint trail of dust extending below and to the left of this galaxy. The cluster is quite easy to find between the Theta and Iota stars in Leo. These bright galaxies can be detected in dark sky using binoculars and any telescope. The galaxies are close enough that strong gravitational interactions are visible such as the inflated disk of NGC 3628 and the distorted spiral arms of M66. The group's distance from earth is estimated to be 30 million light-years. M65 and M66 were discovered by Mechain in March 1780 when they were also catalogued by Messier.

Takahashi Epsilon180 astrograph (f/2.8); SBIG ST-8300M (-15 C); LRGB with Baader filters (Luminance 300"x5 (1x1 binned) and RGB 300"x3 (2x2 binned)); Takahashi EM-200 Temma 2M; CCDSoft, MaxIm DL5 and Photoshop CS4, Kent, OH, March 21, 2012

M108 - A Barred Spiral Galaxy

Cropped image

M108 - A Barred Spiral Galaxy

M108 is a nearly edge-on galaxy with no apparent central bulge or core. It is however rich in mottled, obscuring dust along its major axis. There is little evidence for a well-defined spiral structure. This member of a loose galaxy association called the Ursa Major cloud, lies about 45 million light years away and is receding at 772 km/sec. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and observed by Charles Messier shortly thereafter. However, it wasn't officially published and was re-discovered by William Herschel in 1789. Finally, Owen Gingerich added the galaxy to Messier's catalog in 1953 after consideration of Messier's notes and correspondence with Méchain.

Takahashi Epsilon180 astrograph (f/2.8); SBIG ST-8300M (-15 C); LRGB with Baader filters (Luminance 300"x5 (1x1 binned) and RGB 300"x3 (2x2 binned)); Takahashi EM-200 Temma 2M; CCDSoft, MaxIm DL5 and Photoshop CS4, Kent, OH, March 21, 2012

M97 - The Owl Nebula

Cropped image

M97 - The Owl Nebula

M97 is a planetary nebula located in a constellation Ursa Major. It came to be known as the Owl Nebula because of the two circular markings look like the eyes of an owl. It consists of a shell of expanding gas around an aged star. The area of M97 is 12,000 light years distant.

It is an LRGB composite (Baader filters) CCD image taken with a Takahashi Epsilon-180 astrograph using an SBIG ST-8300M CCD (-15 C). Takahashi Epsilon180 astrograph (f/2.8); SBIG ST-8300M (Luminance 300"x5 (1x1 binned) and RGB 300"x3 (2x2 binned)); Takahashi EM-200 Temma 2M; CCDSoft, MaxIm DL5 and Photoshop CS4, Kent, OH, March 21, 2012

M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy

Cropped image

M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy

M51 (NGC 5194) is the spiral galaxy on the left. NGC 5195 is the galaxy on the right. In South Korea, it's called a father & son galaxy since it looks like they hold their hands. Does it make sense? The M51 is located in Canes Venatici, which is one of famous beautiful galaxies. It was discovered by Messier in October 1773 and catalogued by him in January 1774. Its companion galaxy, NGC 5195,  also was discovered in 1781 by Messier's colleague, P. Mechain. These two galaxies are one of the most famous interacting galaxy pairs. Finally, they will merge, showing a single large galaxy one day.

It's been a while since I did astrophotography in November I guess. This image is the first one I had taken with the latest configuration in my current place Kent. It is an LRGB composite (Baader filters) CCD image taken with a Takahashi Epsilon-180 astrograph using an SBIG ST-8300M CCD (-15 C). I just confirmed this is one of super fast OTAs ever. The weather condition was a little humid and windy, but it worked fine. Takahashi Epsilon180 astrograph (f/2.8); SBIG ST-8300M (Luminance 300"x5 (1x1 binned) and RGB 300"x3 (2x2 binned)); Takahashi EM-200 Temma 2M; CCDSoft, MaxIm DL5 and Photoshop CS4, Kent, OH, March 21, 2012

Just like the last night

The night is even more richly coloured than the day. . . . If only one pays attention to it, one sees that certain stars are citron yellow, while others have a pink glow or a green, blue and forget-me-not brilliance. And without my expiating on this theme, it should be clear that putting little white dots on a blue-black surface is not enough.

— Vincent van Gogh, letter to sister, September 1888.

NGC 6888 - The Crescent Nebula

NGC 6888 - The Crescent Nebula

The Crescent Nebula is a faint patch of nebulosity in Cygnus. The appearance of the nebula looks like a supernova remnant. However, it is actually a rare planetary nebula surrounding a Wolf-Rayet star. The 7th magnitude intensely hot Wolf-Rayet star HD 192765 in the center is the source of the gas forming the nebula. That star is also the source of the radiation that excites the gas sufficiently to make it glow. The radiation from this star drove away gas at speeds of 3 million miles per hour. The fierce stellar wind collided with gas shed earlier to create the glowing shell that we see as the Cresent Nebula. The Crescent Nebula is located about two degrees from M29.

This is a color image taken with a Vixen AX103S telescope using an SBIG ST-8300C CCD. It also was taken in Toledo, Ohio.

IC 5145 - The Cocoon Nebula

IC 5145 - The Cocoon Nebula

The Cocoon Nebula is located in Cygnus. The Cocoon Nebula is nearly 15 light-years wide. It is located about 4,000 light-years away from us. The dark molecular cloud associated with the Cocoon Nebula includes the dark nebula. The star at the center of the nebula is only a few hundred thousand years old.

This image was taken in Toledo, OH and is an LRGB composite CCD image taken with a TEC 140 telescope using an SBIG ST-8XE CCD.

NGC 7635 - The Bubble Nebula

NGC 7635 - The Bubble Nebula

The Bubble Nebula is emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia and located to the direction of M52. The bubble is about 10 light-years across, and is being formed by a hot, young star whose stellar winds are pushing away the gas and dust of the nebula.

This image is a luminance-filtered image obtained on the evenings of 6 September. The image was obtained through a Telescope Engineering Company TEC140 f/7 refractor with an SBIG ST-8XE CCD camera.