IC 1396 - Elephant Trunk Nebula

IC 1396 - Elephant Trunk Nebula

The Elephant Trunk Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Cepheus. This nebula is a cloud of gas and dust located 2400 light years from Earth! In fact, the Elephant Trunk area is bottom-center and designated VdB 142 (Below). The Herschel's Garnet Star is relatively bright at mag 4.23 on the top right of the frame. The Elephant Trunk is part of a larger region of ionized gas illuminated by a nearby massive O-type star. Radiation and winds from this hot star compress and ionize the edges of cloud, resulting in the bright "ionization fronts" seen in this image. Young starts have been found both within and just outside the Elephant Trunk. Very young protostars, still accreting material from the surrounding nebula, are located inside the cloud, while fully formed stars have been found just in front of the ionization edges. It was found that 5% of the mass of gas and dust in the cloud has been turned into protostars, and the process is continuing today. This rough cut image consists of 2 hours total exposure through narrowband pass filter, hydrogen-alpha.

Takahashi FSQ85-EDX with reducer 0.73x (f/3.86); SBIG ST-8300M with FW5-8300 (-10 C); Baader Hydrogen Alpha 7 nm filter (23 * 5 min, binning 1x1); Takahashi EM-200 Temma 2M; Guiding with 50 mm Orion StarShoot AutoGuider; QHY PoleMaster; PHD2, TheSky MaxIm DL, and Photoshop CS, Mill Creek MetroParks, OH, September 6, 2019

IC 5070 - Pelican Nebula

IC 5070 - Pelican Nebula

The Pelican Nebula is an emission nebula located near the bright star Deneb in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. Named for its resemblance to a pelican, the nebula is associated with the neighbouring North America Nebula (NGC 7000). It is a mix of star formation and evolving gas clouds. The Pelican Nebula spans 30 light years and lies at about 1800 light years distant. 

Takahashi FSQ85-EDX with reducer 0.73x (f/3.86); SBIG ST-8300M with FW5-8300 (-10 C); Baader Hydrogen Alpha 7 nm filter (7 x 5 min, binning 1x1); Takahashi EM-200 Temma 2M; Guiding with 50 mm Orion StarShoot AutoGuider; QHY PoleMaster; PHD2, TheSky MaxIm DL, and Photoshop CS, Mill Creek MetroParks, OH, September 5, 2019

Blood Moon

Total Lunar Eclipse of January 20-21, 2019: It was the super blood wolf moon and was a total lunar eclipse. I watched the entire eclipse under a clear sky from Boardman. The last eclipse I observed was solar eclipse, when I was in Stuttgart, Germany in 2016. If I remember correctly, a total lunar eclipse happens only when the sun, Earth, and moon are lined up. The moon pushes further into Earth's shadow at 3685 km/h (2290 mph). In fact, there can be a wide range in brightness of the Moon. In 1921, the French astronomer Andre-Louis Danjon introduced a five-point scale of luminosity to classify total lunar eclipses. I would rate this moon "2", which represents deep red or rust-colored eclipse. Very dark toward center of umbral shadow, though relatively bright at its outer edge. The red color happens because sunlight is deflected through Earth's atmosphere. The process is called refraction and it bends read light from the sun. The color of the moon depends on the atmospheric conditions in Earth's atmosphere. The clear the atmosphere, the brighter and lighter the red color appears to be. It was very exciting moment to watch a beautiful celestial phenomenon. The gears I brought out at this time were Nikon SP 7x50 and Fujinon FMT 7x50 binoculars. Both performed pretty well and provided me a stunning view. The next similarly long eclipse won't occur until 2029.

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.