Every day our eyes catch the light of our memories – time spent with family, the journey to work, a special holiday, a beautiful sunset or a dark starlit night. Each image captured is a picture drawn in light – a photograph: only to be lost in our minds or forever forgotten. Nearly two hundred years ago a small group of amateur scientists achieved what had eluded mankind for centuries – the ability to capture a permanent record of an image seen by their own eyes – a moment in time frozen onto a surface. They had discovered Photography. They were the ‘Catchers of the Light’.

Sunday, June 25, 2017

Gum 85 & 84 and Sharpless 54


The bright "egg" in this image is nebula Gum 85 in Serpens; surrounding it is Gum 84 and surrounding that is Sharpless 54.Sharpless 54 is a larger object as described in the catalog as a 140 arc minutes which extends well beyond this field.This area of sky is located just north of M16, the Eagle Nebula.

Instruments and exposure data:

W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener
FeatherTouch 3'' focuser
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
SBIG ST10XME CFW9 W.O ZS80 ED
Meade DSI
Filters: 5nm Hα Astrodon
Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro

Lum:35*10min bin1x1
Total exposure time:5h 50min