Melotte 15 _ another view...

The bright open star cluster, in this image is known as Melotte 15 after its discoverer, Philibert Jacques Melotte (1880-1961). Melotte 15 is embedded within and illuminates the central portion of the much larger glowing nebula identified as IC 1805.
The Heart Nebula, IC 1805, Sh2-190, lies some 7500 light years away from Earth and is located in the Perseus Arm of the Galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia. This is an emission nebula showing glowing gas and darker dust lanes. The nebula is formed by plasma of ionized hydrogen and free electrons.

The interesting structure in the right of the image is a giant area of hydrogen gas that is caused to glow by the intense ultraviolet radiation from the massive stars of the Melotte 15 star cluster.
Dust and gas clouds are eroded by the pressure of the intense radiation.
The Melotte 15 star cluster is estimated to be 7,500 light years away from Earth.

Instruments and exposure data:

W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener
FeatherTouch 3'' focuser
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
W.O ZS80 ED
SBIG ST10XME CFW9
Meade DSI
Filters:
Ha 5nm Astrodon
Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro
Ha :39*10min bin1x1 (6.5hours)

Waxing Gibbous Moon 89% of full

Kallithea Athens Greece

Melotte 15 in IC1805

Tricolor Emmision Line image
S[II] 8nm(Red)_Ha 5nm(Green)_O[III] 3nm(Blue)
Modified Hubble Palette

Instruments and exposure data:

S[II] 22*15min_Ha 39*10min_O[III] 26*15min
total exposure time : 1110min (18h 30min)

W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener

FeatherTouch 3'' focuser
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
W.O ZS80 ED
SBIG ST10XME CFW9
Meade DSI
Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro

Filters:
Ha 5nm Astrodon

S[II] 8nm Baader

O[III] 3nm Astrodon

Kallithea Athens Hellas

Anacortes Image of the Day 22/11/2011

The ''heart'' of the Heart Nebula-Melotte 15 in IC 1805

The bright open star cluster, in this image is known as Melotte 15 after its discoverer, Philibert Jacques Melotte (1880-1961). Melotte 15 is embedded within and illuminates the central portion of the much larger glowing nebula identified as IC 1805.
The Melotte 15 star cluster is estimated to be 7,500 light years away from Earth.

Instruments and exposure data:

W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener
FeatherTouch 3'' focuser
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
W.O ZS80 ED
SBIG ST10XME CFW9
Meade DSI
Filters:
Ha 5nm Astrodon
Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro
Ha :39*10min bin1x1 (6.5hours)

Waxing Gibbous Moon 89% of full

Kallithea Athens Greece

Elephant's Trunk nebula IC1396

Tricolor Emmision Line image
S[II] 8nm(Red)_Ha 5nm(Green)_O[III] 3nm(Blue)
Modified Hubble Palette

S[II] 25*15min_Ha 29*15min_O[III] 18*15min
total exposure time : 1080min (18h)

Τελικά δεν άντεξα...και πήρα το 3nm O[III] .
Αν και βινιετάρει περισσότερο(μικρό το κακό) από αυτό της Baader , πέτυχα σημαντικά καλύτερο S/N!!!
Kallithea Athens Hellas

Anacortes Image of the Day 3/10/2011

Elephant's Trunk nebula

The Elephant's Trunk nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust in the star cluster IC 1396 – an ionized gas region located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth.[1] The piece of the nebula shown here is the dark, dense globule IC 1396A; it is commonly called the Elephant's Trunk nebula because of its appearance at visible light wavelengths, where there is a dark patch with a bright, sinuous rim. The bright rim is the surface of the dense cloud that is being illuminated and ionized by a very bright, massive star that is just to the west of IC 1396A.The entire IC 1396 region is ionized by the massive star, except for dense globules that can protect themselves from the star's harsh ultraviolet rays.

The Elephant's Trunk nebula is now thought to be a site of star formation, containing several very young (less than 100,000 yr) stars that were discovered in infrared images in 2003. Two older (but still young, a couple of million years, by the standards of stars, which live for billions of years) stars are present in a small, circular cavity in the head of the globule. Winds from these young stars may have emptied the cavity.

The combined action of the light from the massive star ionizing and compressing the rim of the cloud, and the wind from the young stars shifting gas from the center outward lead to very high compression in the Elephant's Trunk nebula. This pressure has triggered the current generation of protostars.[2]

Instruments and exposure data:

W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener

FeatherTouch 3'' focuser

Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser

W.O ZS80 ED
SBIG ST10XME CFW9
Meade DSI 

Filters:

Ha 5nm Astrodon

Sky-Watcher   EQ6 Pro

Ha :29*15min bin1x1

Sharpless 171 Hubble palette

Tricolor Emission Line Image

Instruments and exposure data:

W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener

FeatherTouch 3'' focuser

Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser

W.O ZS80 ED
SBIG ST10XME CFW9
Meade DSI 

Filters:

SII 8nm Baader Planetarium

Ha 5nm Astrodon

OIII 8.5nm Baader Planetarium

Sky-Watcher   EQ6 Pro

SII :30*15min bin1x1
Ha :30*15min bin1x1

OIII:30*15min bin1x1

Total exposure time:22h30min 

Anacortes Image of the Day 19/09/2011

Northern Galactic Image of the Month Award for September 2011

http://www.northerngalactic.com/forum/news.php

Sharpless 171 and Berkeley 59, HII region and open cluster in Cepheus

This expanding shell of gas and dust was created by the original star cluster at the heart of Cep OB4, that has now dispersed. It is now lit and ionized by the young star cluster Berkeley 59, at its south end and it is expanding into the dark nebula NGC 7822 at its north end. Berkeley 59 is surrounded by another dark region of disturbed gas and dust called W1.

credit: galaxymap.org 

Instruments and exposure data:
W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener and FeatherTouch 3'' focuser
Filter Ha 5nm Astrodon
SBIG ST10XME CFW9
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
EQ6

Ha:15*15min bin1x1
Total exposure time:3h45min

Leo Triplet

Instruments and exposure data:
W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener and FeatherTouch 3'' focuser
Filter IDAS LPS _ Baader RGB
SBIG ST10XME CFW9
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
EQ6

L:L:RGB
Lum(LPS):81*10min(bin1x1) total 13h30min
Red:36*5(18bin1x1_18bin2x2)
Green:36*5(18bin1x1_18bin2x2)
Blue:36*5(18bin1x1_18bin2x2)
Total exposure time:22h30min

Kallithea Athens Hellas

Leo Triplet

The Leo Triplet (also known as the M66 Group) is a small group of galaxies about 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. This galaxy group consists of the spiral galaxies M65, the M66, and the NGC 3628



Instruments and exposure data

W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener and FeatherTouch 3'' focuser
Filter IDAS LPS
SBIG ST10XME CFW9
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
EQ6
Lum(LPS):81*10min(bin1x1) total 13h30min
Kallithea Athens Hellas