Vern’s Weblog

NGC 891 in Andromeda is a unbarred spiral seen edge on from our vantage point in space. It has a thin dark dust lane bisecting the entire cross section. It is a stunning, show piece object when viewed in a large aperature telescope from a dark sky location.

Fortunately we had access to both last Friday evening. We went to the Pawnee National Grasslands near Briggsdale, CO to get away the light pollution and enjoy some nearby dark sky. Gary brought out his 30 inch dob Telekit so we had plenty of aperature to view NGC 891, not to mention many other great objects. 

The above image taken with Celestron Nexstar 11 telescope, F3.3 focal reducer, and Stellacam II video camera. Stellacam II set at gain 14/14 and 256 integration (8 sec).  Registax4 used to flat field correct, dark frame subtract, align, and stack 30 frames. Conditions were great, sky was totally clear, wind 0-5 mph, low humidity, temperature 54°F, and turbulence between 5 and 6/10.

On a clear, dark, summer night I always love taking a look at the great globular cluster Messier 13 when its high overhead. It looks good in small scopes, but the view in a large scope such as my friend Gary’s 30″ dob is stunning. So many worlds, hundreds of thousands of suns in close orbits. Their skies must be filled with bright stars — maybe so many and so bright that their view of the universe is limited.

Image taken around 1 am Sunday morning May 27, 2007 from Louisville, CO with a Celestron Nexstar11 telescope, a F6.3 focal reducer, and a Canon Xti camera. Camera was set to ISO 800 and a 30 second exposure. Registax4 was used to align, stack, and enhance brightness. Sky was mostly clear, temperature 58° F, turbulence between 5 and 6/10, no wind, and transparency was quite good.

Messier 57, the Ring Nebula, is fairly high up in the sky around midnight in late May. It is one of the summer objects that nearly everyone takes a look at if they have a scope and a clear sky. M57 is beautiful to look at and is also one of our best examples of a planetary nebula. The star in the center has expelled envelopes of gas and dust and has collapsed to a white dwarf. Intense radiation causes gases surrounding the star to ionize and glow. The ionized oxygen glows a greenish color and the ionized hydrogen a redish color.

The image above was taken early Sunday morning May 27, 2007, with a Celestron Nexstar11 telescope, a F6.3 focal reducer, and a Canon Xti camera. Camera was set to ISO 800 and a 25 second exposure. Registax4 was used to align and stack 16 images. Sky was mostly clear, temperature 58° F, turbulence between 5 and 6/10, and no wind. Transparency was quite good although the humidity was high and dew was on about everything. Location was Louisville, CO.

Here is above M57 in desktop wallpaper or screen saver size (1280×1024). Send me a note if you would like another size.

It was slightly after 4 am and the eastern horizon was brightening when I turned the scope and Stellacam II to take a look at the Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula. I’m always amazed by this incredible object. It looked great in Gary’s 30″ dob. Visually through the eyepeice we were able to trace the outer ring in the 30 which the below image doesn’t pick up very well.

Image taken Sunday May 20, 2007 at the Cactus Flats North site in the Pawnee National Grasslands, 8 miles east of Briggsdale, CO. Sky was clear, transparency was good, no wind, temperature around 46°F, and turbulence about 5/10. Telescope was Celestron Nexstar11, F3.3 focal reducer, and Stellacam II video camera. Registax used to dark subtract, flat field correct, align, and stack about 8 minutes of video. Stellacam II set 10/14 gain, medium gamma, and 256 integration (8 seconds).

Messier 97, the “Owl Nebula” is in constellation Ursa Major

A Stellacam II video camera used for capture at 128 integration (4 sec), medium gamma setting, and 9/14 gain. Sky was mostly cloudless, 0-5 mph wind, temperature 53°F, transparency was good though some haze was apparent, and turbulence 5/10. Location was light polluted Louisville, CO.