Messier 77 - Sept 5, 2005

Image of M77 taken with a Stellacam2 just before 5 am at the CU Mountain Research Station Observatory. The bright central core and spiral structure show nicely as well as several dark lanes in the surrounding oval halo. North is approximately up. Stack of 53 8.5 sec exposures, dark subtracted.

Messier 33 Aug 27, 2005

M33 (NGC 598) located in the constellation Triangulum, is another great object to explore with the Stellacam2. It is a very large object 73x45 arc min in size so it takes multiple frames to explore spiral arm structure with a Celestron C11/FR-0.33/Stellacam2 setup. The above image is a composite of 3 images, each a stack of about 40 frames. Partly cloudy skies, 22 day moon, turbulence 6/10, no wind, 54°F, transparency at times poor due to thin clouds.

Messier 27 Aug 8, 2005

The M27 nebula (NGC 6853) is stunning object to view with the Stellacam2 as it dumbbell or hour glass shape is very distinct and fills around a third of the screen. Several brighter knots are visible in the image. Stack of 80 images, dark subtracted, gain 7, gamma at high setting, integrate 256. Telescope is C11 with Meade F3.3 focal reducer. Location was Louisville, Co, clear sky, transparency very good, turbulence 6/10, temperature 59° F

Messier 31 Aug 8, 2005

M31, the great Andromeda galaxy. Here is my first attempt at creating a mosaic of 4 images of M-31 by using Photoshop's photomerge tool. Each of the 4 images was a stack of 10 images, dark subtracted, gain 7, gamma at high setting, integrate 128. Telescope is C11 with Meade F3.3 focal reducer. Location was Louisville, Co, clear sky, transparency very good, turbulence 6/10, temperature 56° F.

Comet Tempel-1 July 4, 2005

Image of comet Tempel-1 taken July 4, 2005 05:55 to 06:15 UT. Partly cloudy, occasional thin clouds, wind varied from 2 mph to 30 or so, temperature around 30° F, location Myer-Womble Observatory, Mt. Evans, CO at elevation 14,148 ft. Extreme conditions made it difficult to get good 8.5 sec exposures with the Stellacam2. Gain was set to 9/14, integrate 256. Stacked between 6 to 20 images for each of the 4 animation frames.

Comet Tempel-1 July 1, 2005

Image of comet Tempel-1 taken July 1, 2005. Stellacam2 video camera with gain 9/14, integrate 256. Stacked 60 images and dark subtracted for each of the two animation frames. Clear, no wind, turbulence 6/10, temperature 64° F, location Louisville, CO.

Messier 64 May 4, 2005

M64 (NGC4826), the black-eye galaxy in constellation Coma Berenices. Stellacam2 video camera with gain at 8.8/14, integrate 256. Stack of 20, dark subtracted. Cloud cover was clear, turbulence 6/10, wind 2 mph, temperature was 47° F, location Louisville, CO.

Messier 104 - May 4, 2005

M104 (NGC4594), the sombrero galaxy in constellation Virgo. Stellacam2 video camera gain at 7.5/14, integrate 256. Stack of 10, dark subtracted. Cloud cover was clear, turbulence 6/10, wind 2 mph, temperature was 47° F, location Louisville, CO.

Images from Cactus Flats, Briggsdale, Colarado March 12, 2005

Below are some images taken at Cactus Flats near Briggsdale, CO early in the morning Saturday, March 12, 2005 between 06:30 and 08:00 UT. Conditions were marginal, wind varied from 5 to 20 mph, variable cloud cover, and fair turbulence. All images were taken with Celestron Nexstar 11 telescope with Meade F3.3 focal reducer. Stellacam2 video camera at 13/14 gain, integrate 256 frames. Transparency was not good, I bumped the gain up to compensate -- probably over did it. VR

Below is shot of M63, the sunflower galaxy in Canes Venatici.

Below is M96 in constellation Leo

Below is M66 in constellation Leo

Below is M65 in constellation Leo

Images from WUTS Star Party, Foxpark, Wyoming, Aug 13, 2004

The images shown below were all taken with a Celestron Nexstar 11 telescope, mounted on a APT Astro wedge, using a Meade 3.3 focal reducer, Imperix Laptop Frame Grabber, and a StellaCam2. Images are all single frame with no post-processing. Location was the WUTS star party near Foxpark, Wyoming. The skies were quite clear, wonderfully dark, temperature was a chilly 40 degrees, amospheric turbulance was fair.

Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius (M8, NGC6523), integrate 256, 8/14 gain.

Trifid Nebula (M20, NGC 6514), integrate 256, 8/14 gain.

Ring Nebula, integrate 256, 10/14 gain.

NGC 891 in Andromeda, integrate 256, 10/14 gain.

Veil Nebula (NGC6992), integrate 256 frames, 12/14 gain.