Astrophotography of NGC 1499: The California Nebula Unveiled
NGC 1499, commonly known as the California Nebula, is a large emission nebula in the constellation Perseus. Stretching roughly 2.5 degrees across the sky, its elongated shape resembles the outline of the U.S. state of California. The nebula lies about 1,000 light-years away and is composed primarily of glowing hydrogen gas energized by the nearby…
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IC 405 – A Chance Encounter with a Runaway Star
It probably seems by my posts that all nebulae are stellar nurseries. This week I captured one that is not a stellar nursery but a very unique nebula. Description IC 405 is visible only because of a chance meeting with a star, AE Aurigae. AE Aurigae is a large, hot O-type star 1,300 to 1,500…
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Exploring IC 410: The Tadpole Nebula and Stellar Formation
Emission nebulae populate the spiral arms of our galaxy. Scientifically, they offer us a window into stellar formation. Aesthetically, they make wonderful targets for the astrophotographer. IC 410 is an example of one of these beautiful nebulae. IC 410 is an expansive cloud of ionized hydrogen known as an HII region. The cloud glows due…
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Exploring Globular Clusters: Stellar Fossils of the Universe
The progression from Spring to Summer comes with it the appearance of many globular clusters in the night sky like Messier 53. It was discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1775 and catalogued by Charles Messier in 1777. Globular clusters are ancient, among the oldest structures in the universe. Most are estimated to have formed…
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Understanding NGC 3226/3227: A Stellar Dance of Galaxies
Today’s image is a pair of interacting galaxies, NGC 3226 and NGC 3227, also known as APR 94. NGC 3227, the large central spiral is an SAB(s)a, while its companion, NGC 3226 is an E2 elliptical. There is also a string of galaxies to the right of the frame. The brightest one is NGC 3222. …
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Improving Image Sharpness in Astrophotography
Celestron SCT 8″ with 0.63x reducer Celestron AVX Mount Svboney 50mm guide-scope ZWO ASI 533 MC Pro Camera 240×30 sec subs, 2 hour integration Celestron SCT 8″ with 0.63x reducer ZWO AM5n Mount ZWO Off-axis guider ZWO ASI 533 MC Pro Camera 40×180 sec subs, 2 hour integration I started my serious efforts in photographing…
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Exploring the Gamma Leonis Group: A Galaxy’s Showcase
This week’s capture centers on a group of galaxies in Leo. It is called the Gamma Leonis Group. This collection is also known as Hickson 44. It lays a little more than 2 degrees away from Gamma Leo, Algieba. The group consist of 4 prominent galaxies, all centered on NGC 3190, an edge-on spiral. Halton…
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Capturing A Trio of Galaxies: NGC 3165, 3166, 3169
I recently completed the Astronomical League’s Local and Neighboring Galaxies Imaging list. That completed project log can be found here. It was now time to take on a new project. I wanted an observing list that I could work on across multiple seasons and with multiple scope setups. An added bonus would be some variety…
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Exploring the Structure of Messier 95 Galaxy
Messier 95 was discovered by Pierre Mechain in 1781, marking it as one of the noteworthy entries in the Messier catalog. It is a 9.7 magnitude galaxy located in the constellation Leo, a region of the sky known for its rich collection of astronomical objects. This stunning spiral galaxy lays about 33 million light-years from…
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Photographing NGC 2903: A Springtime Astronomical Gem
Today’s capture is that of NGC 2903. It was somehow missed by Charles Messier when he was compiling his catalog of large bright objects. It was eventually discovered by the astronomer William Herschel in 1784. He originally cataloged it as two separate “nebulae”, NGC 2903 and NGC 2905. A century passed before the 3rd Earl…
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