Cosmic Photons Astrophotography : June 2009

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 21, 2009

My current astrophotography setup

Sky-Watcher EQ6 PRO

William Optics FLT110 triplet air-spaced APO lens TMB design

Dedicated TMB field flattener

SBIG ST10XME with CFW9

William Optics ZenithStar II 80mm Doublet ED

Meade DSI

My current astrophotography setup

Sunday, June 14, 2009

NGC 6823, NGC 6820 Open cluster and nebulosity in Vulpecula

NGC 6820 is an emission nebula that surrounds open cluster NGC 6823 in Vulpecula, near M27, the Dumbbell Nebula.

The most striking feature is the trunk-like pillar or dust and gas protruding from the east side of the nebula towards the open cluster, NGC 6823 in the west. The center of the open cluster is about two million years old and is predominantly represented by many young, bright blue stars. Outer parts of the cluster intimately involving pillars of emission nebula NGC 6820, contain even younger stars. The huge pillars of gas and dust are probably formed when surrounding gas and dust is pushed and eroded away by radiation from nearby stars. Remarkable dark globules of gas and dust are also visible in the nebula, much as is seen in the better known Eagle Nebula in Serpens or the Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius.

Open star cluster NGC 6823 is about 50 light years across and lies about 6000 light years away.

Ha 33x5min
W.O FLT110
SBIG ST10XME_CFW9_Astrodon Ha 5nm
EQ6Pro