Night Sky – Page 2 – Semper Iuvenis Photography

The Little Pinwheel Galaxy

NGC 3180, also catalogued as NGC 3184, is a small, relatively faint face-on symmetrical spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major located just east of Tania Australis (μ-UMa), which is one of the hind paws of the Great Bear (using the convention of the Big Dipper’s handle as the tail). It is located about 40 million light years away, north of the celestial equator at a declination of +41 degrees. The faintness of the galaxy caused me to shoot 5 minutes exposures for four nights, collecting 17.75 hours of usable data. I was counting on the big variable star GP UMa shining brightly in my image. At mag 6.5 it is a bright, but manageable, yellow star.

NGC 3180 is sometimes referred to as the Little Pinwheel Galaxy. The Little Pinwheel has two prominent spiral arms that have constant pitch angles, which makes them both symmetrical. Being a face-on spiral galaxy with a diameter of about 119,000 light-years, which is roughly the same diameter as the Milky Way galaxy it somewhat resembles Messier 101, a closer and thus brighter galaxy of similar appearance. Some sources list NGC 3184 as the galaxy and refer to NGC 3180 and 3181 as HII regions of ionized hydrogen gas. Seems someone got their bits flipped somewhere, sometime. Stellarium lists it as NGC 3180, so I’ve gone with that. The catalogue in APT has the galaxy as NGC 3180 as well.

I used a GSO 8″ Ritchie-Creighton design f8 telescope at 1626mm and a ZWO ASI071MC Pro astrophotography camera riding a Sky Watcher EQ6r Pro German equatorial mount to photograph this galaxy. To overcome the faintness caused by distance, I used 213 300″ exposures captured used Astro Photography Tool (APT) and integrated them using PixInsight 1x Drizzle Integration.

M 82 – The Cigar Galaxy

A bright Starburst galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major, about 12 million light-years away. It’s also known as the Cigar Galaxy because of its elliptical shape.

M 82 is generally photographed with M 81, Bode’s Galaxy. I pointed the 8″ RC telescope at it to get as much detail as I could on just this galaxy.

M82 is a spiral galaxy that’s undergoing a starburst, a massive burst of star formation in its core. It has a gravitatioonal interaction with its nearby galaxy, M81, which causes it to have an extremely high rate of star formation.

M82 is a prototype starburst galaxy and the second-largest member of the M81 group. It’s bright at infrared wavelength and has over 30 billion stars.

M82 can be found in the northern skies in the direction of Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear.

LDN 1622 – The Boogeyman Nebula

A molecular cloud within a hydrogen cloud

Astronomers like to name things, based upon resemblance if possible, to make them easier to remember. LDN 1622 is called the “Boogeyman Nebula”.

I chose to image it because of the dense dark molecular cloud structure against the hydrogen rich background. I chose the wider field of the SkyWatcher Esprit 120ED triplet refractor telescope to capture the space behind the huge Barnards Loop hydrogen cloud that is home for the Boogeyman. A cloud within a cloud within a cloud, if you will.

LDN 1622 is close to the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, close to Barnard’s Loop, a large cloud surrounding the Belt and Sword of Orion. It is a fairly dim target, at 1,300 light-years away, requiring long exposure photography to illuminate its beauty. My image consists of 20.5 hours of exposure using an Antlia quadband light pollution filter with a ZWO 2600MC pro camera on a Skywatcher Eq6r Pro mount.

I hope you enjoy this unique image from the Orion Constellation.

C 23 – The Silver Sliver Galaxy

The Silver Sliver Galaxy Caldwell 23, also known as NGC 891, is an edge-on unbarred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Andromeda.

It is about 30 million light-years away from Earth and is best viewed in our fall season. A spindle-shaped galaxy that is viewed almost edge-on, it is also known as the Silver Sliver Galaxy, the Outer Limits Galaxy, and the Silver Needle Galaxy.

C 23 is visible in small to moderate size telescopes as a faint elongated smear of light with a dust lane visible in larger apertures. Its outskirts are populated by multiple low-surface brightness, and vast substructures, like giant streams that loop around the parent galaxy. The bulge and the disk are surrounded by a flat and thick cocoon-like stellar structure.

In popular 1960’s culture, NGC 891 appears alongside M67, the Sombrero Galaxy, the Pinwheel Galaxy, NGC 5128, NGC 1300, M81, and the Andromeda Galaxy in the end credits of the Outer Limits TV series, which is why it is occasionally called the Outer Limits Galaxy.

This image was taken December 19th, 2023 and January 31st 2024 with a RC8 telescope at 1625mm and ASI071MC camera riding an EQ6r Pro mount. I hope you enjoy this galaxy image.

Cheers!

Coddington’s Nebula

Looking up towards the North in my bortle 4 sky reveals bright stars which are somewhat recognizable like Cygnus, Cassiopeia, The Big Dipper, and the rectangle of the big bear (Ursa Major). There doesn’t appear to be much else this time of year, especially with a bright moon, but looks can be deceiving.

When imaging this target with 5 minute exposures (071mc) at a 1625mm focal length (RC8), a faint smudge appears where the galaxy is supposed to be. This is not one of those big bright galaxies we so often see photographed. This image is an integration of 11 hours of exposure. Even then it’s a fairly faint target. A plate-solved version is available here on my Astrobin collection including all of the imaging technical details.

American astronomer Edwin Foster Coddington discovered IC 2574 in 1898. It’s classified as a dwarf irregular galaxy because of its small size and lack of structure. IC 2574 is a member of the M81 group of galaxies (Bode’s, Cigar, Garland galaxies), which is one of the closest groups to our local group. It contains active star-forming regions that show strong H-alpha emissions, especially in the lower left part of the galaxy in my image.

Astronomers consider IC 2574 an irregular dwarf galaxy because it’s small, lacks structure, and is forming stars. Dwarf galaxies are small galaxies made up of a few billion stars. In 1898 it looked like a smear and therefore was called a nebula by Edwin Coddington. Improved resolution of telescopes over time revealed it to be a galaxy. Of course now with the Hubble Telescope, a population census is possible. Cheers!

Cosmic Bat in Orion

Hidden in the outskirts of the Orion constellation, close to the Witchhead Nebula (IC 2118), we can find an area rich in interstellar gas and dust around the reflection nebula NGC 1788. This bright deep sky object attracts our attention among all that faint dust and gas. It is flanked by the dark nebula known as Lynds 1616.

I began imaging NGC 1788 on January 1st and continued on the nights of Jan 4th, 7th, 10th and 11th. I acquired a touch over 200 5 minute exposures. I remember it was bloody cold! This was imaged with the Skywatcher Esprit 120ED telescope at 840mm focal length using a ZWO ASI2600MC camera.

NGC 1788 is about 2,000 light years away from Earth and is sometimes called the “Cosmic Bat” nebula. It is made up of blue reflection regions, lots of dust, and a glowing area of hydrogen gas. It is close to the celestial equator, so it is sometimes visible from both hemispheres at certain times of the year. The brightest star in the nebula is 10th magnitude and is in the northwest sector.

Although this ghostly cloud is rather isolated from Orion’s bright stars, their powerful winds and light have a strong impact on the nebula, forging its shape and making it a home to a multitude of newborn stars.

I’ve enjoyed imaging these reflection nebula showing something a little different in our night sky.

Cheers!

M 16 – Eagle Nebula

Eagle Nebula – “Pillars of Creation” –
(also known as the Star Queen Nebula and The Spire) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens.

Both the “Eagle” and the “Star Queen” refer to visual impressions of the dark silhouette near the center of the nebula.

The nebula contains several active star-forming gas and dust regions, including the aforementioned Pillars of Creation. The Eagle Nebula lies in the Sagittarius Arm of our Milky Way.

This image results from 366 subframes (~19 hours of exposure) captured in May, June & July 2021 using a WO Z73 scope & ASI 071MC Pro camera riding the SW EQ6r Pro mount. Supporting cast includes WO 120mm guide scope, ASI 120mm-mini, QHY Polemaster, Pegasus PBA, Senso Sesto focuser & radian ultra quad filter.

Image acquisition using APT & PHD2 on a windows platform ran remotely from inside my home. Image processing Pixinsight.

M 81 – Bode’s Galaxy

My first galaxy photo — Bode’s Galaxy – Cigar Galaxy – Garland Galaxy

Messier 81 (M81), also known as Bode’s Galaxy, is a grand design spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major. The galaxy lies at an approximate distance of 11.8 million light years from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 6.94. It also has the designation NGC 3031. Bode’s Galaxy is home to over 250 billion stars and is the most remote blueshifted (moving toward us) large galaxy known.

This image is a stack of 5 hours of exposures taken from my driveway. Primary imaging gear – Telescope is the WO Z73 w/flat73A (430mm doublet refractor f5.9). Camera is the ZWO ASI071MC Pro cooled to 20f. Computerized Equitorial mount is the SkyWatcher EQ6r Pro. The support ensemble include the QHY Polemaster, WO 50mm guidescope with ZWO ASI120mm mini guide camera, Pegasus PBA, Intel NUC, Senso Sesto 2 Electronic Focuser w/temp probe. The software suite include windows 10 pro platform, Astro Photography Tool (APT) for image acquisition and auto focusing, PHD2 for guiding, ASTAP for plate solving, eqmod and ascom provide the interface support. Image processing was done manually in PixInsight. Metadata information added in Adobe Bridge and JPEG conversion performed in PhotoShop.

I wasn’t certain my wide focal length scope at 430mm would adequately capture these very small targets. I look forward to a longer FL refractor telescope in my future for these size targets, but for now this is it. Happy to see that I wasnt wasting my time imaging these.

The active galactic nucleus of M81 contains a supermassive black hole with a mass of 70 million solar masses, or 15 times the mass of the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. Messier 81 has two well resolved spiral arms that contain large quantities of interstellar dust, associated with numerous starburst regions. Images of M81 taken at infrared wavelengths by the Spitzer Space Telescope have revealed that the interstellar dust is responsible for most of the infrared emissions detected in the galaxy. The hot, young, blue stars in the star forming regions of M81 heat the dust, increasing the emissions from these regions.

Several other members of the M81 Group, including the Cigar Galaxy (M82), are located in the same region of the sky. The Cigar Galaxy can be seen 38 arc minutes north of M81 (just below it in this image). The two galaxies can easily be seen in binoculars and small telescopes, but are not visible to the naked eye. M82 is smaller and fainter than M81, but is a wonderful example of a starburst galaxy and the two make a popular pair among astronomers. NGC 3077 (The Garland Galaxy)can be seen in the upper left part of the image.

I hope you enjoy this image of my first galaxy. Cheers!

IC 2177 – Seagull Nebula

The first thing that struck me as I began to see this image unfold is the vast number of stars found in the illuminated sky. Varying temperatures are seen in the gases with hot Hydrogen gases glowing in reddish hues with cooler gases expanding outward.

IC 2177 is a region of nebulosity that lies along the border between the constellations Monoceros and Canis Major. The name Seagull Nebula is sometimes applied by astronomers to this emission region as it resembles a gull in flight, although it also includes the neighboring regions of star clusters, dust clouds and reflection nebulae.

Astronomers catalog the nebula as IC 2177. This cosmic cloud is one of many sites of star formation within the Milky Way galaxy. It is located 3,800 light-years away from Earth, inside the Orion spur — the same partial spiral arm of the Milky Way where our solar system is located. The nebula is nearly 240 light-years across.

NGC 2327 is located in IC 2177. It is also known as the Seagull’s Head, due to its larger presence in the Seagull nebula. Astronomers list the region near the seagull’s eye (or lizard’s hip) as NGC 2327, which contains a cluster of stars born about 1.5 million years ago. The eye is the brightest and hottest of the newborn stars in the entire nebula, and heats up the dust so that it glows in infrared light.

Dominated by the reddish glow of atomic hydrogen, the complex of gas and dust clouds with bright young stars spans over 100 light-years at an estimated 3,800 light-year distance.

This image consists of 11 hours of exposures with an ASI071MC pro OSC camera connected to a WO Z73 doublet refractor telescope riding a SW EQ6r Pro mount. Image acquisition with APT, processing in PixInsight.

New projects underway!

NGC 2174 – The Monkey Head Nebula

The Monkey Head Nebula (also known as NGC 2174 and Sharpless Sh2-252) is a star-forming region located 6,400 light-years away in the constellation Orion in which bright, newborn stars near the center of the nebula illuminate the surrounding gas with energetic radiation. The nebula is mostly composed of hydrogen gas. The cloud is sculpted by ultraviolet light carving into the cool hydrogen gas and dust. As the interstellar dust particles are warmed from the radiation from the stars in the center of the nebula, they heat up and begin to glow at infrared wavelengths.

The prime source of energy in the nebula is the massive, hot star named HD 42088. This star has a mass 30 times that of our Sun and a surface temperature 6 times greater. Such stars emit extraordinary amounts of ultraviolet radiation. The high-energy particles in these stars’ outer atmospheres are being blown away in high-speed “stellar winds.”

The ultraviolet radiation causes the nebula to shine. In combination with the stellar wind, this radiation also causes the nebula to expand. Dust and gas are being evaporated and scattered by the energy from the hot star. Where there is a very dense condensation, a pillar is formed pointing toward the star, because the knot shields the material behind it.

If the knot is dense enough, rather than scattering, it may be pushed to collapse into a new star. Such an event is occurring in a pillar above center right of the image. This cannot be seen in visible light, because those wavelengths are blocked by the pillar’s dust. The new star will eventually shed its dusty cocoon and emerge to be seen in optical wavelengths.

This image was captured January 22nd and 23rd 2021 and is made up of 163 240s subs. It was taken with an ASI071MC Pro camera, with OPT Radian Quad Ultra filter, attached to a WO Z73 refractor telescope riding a SkyWatcher EQ6r Pro mount. Guding via a WO 50mm guidescope and ASI120mm mini camera. Pegasus PBA provides power distribution and USB connectivity. QHY Polemaster for precise polar alignment. Senso Sesto electronic focuser.

Image acquisition/processing software includes: APT (image acquisition), PHD2 (mount guiding), EQMOD (mount management), ASTAP (plate solving), PixInsight (image processing), Photoshop (metadata updates & jpeg creation).

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Cheers