I had the scope out again last night, although I wrapped things up at about 1am due to clouds rolling in. I have been trying to get some extra data for an image of the ‘Cosmic Bat’ nebula, which I will post once I have processed it. I also did a quick and dirty image of M13, the famous Globular Cluster in Hercules.
It consists of somewhere between 300 to 500 thousand stars and lies some 22 thousand light years from us. The cluster is about 145 light years across. There are a couple of distant galaxies in the background too.
Once again (and this is a reoccurring theme), it needs more time to really pull out the finer detail. I will add it to the list of targets I need to return to.
Last night, I decided to add more data to the image I took of The Elephant Trunk nebula (IC1396) last year. I more than doubled the ‘data’, which now stands at close to 17 hours worth.
That’s very kind of you to say Harry, but my astro-images are not really up to competition standards. Some of the serious imagers out there these days are producing shots that NASA would have been jealous of just a few years ago.
I had a crack at Messier 33, the Triangulum Galaxy which is found in the constellation Triangulum. M33 is, as galaxies go, pretty close to us at approximately 3.2 Million Light Years. It is smaller than our own Milky Way Galaxy but still about 61,000 light years in diameter.
I have always fount M33 to be a tough one to image because the processing is hard to get right, but this one seems to have come out quite well. It’s a stack of 140 x 3 minute exposures.
I’m getting the final parts together for my new planetary rig. I have a new camera coming that has 2 micron pixels, which should be great for getting fine detail on the planets and maybe even the ISS. I have a really nice ISS pass tonight, but unfortunately, the camera gets here tomorrow. Sounds about right!
I have the upmost respect for those who go out and do astronomy outreach. The technical nature of what I do (astro-imaging) makes it kind of boring to watch… I actually spend very little time out under the stars believe it or not.
That was a great read! Thanks. @PaulRix, this IS outreach I’m afraid. “No actual kids on Mudspike.”, you say? I’ve shown a few of your shots to nieces and nephews. Like it or not, you get around. It is true though that looking through a real optical telescope is a very unique experience everyone should have.
too late for this year. But do you or have you considered entering?
