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

Crab Nebula M1

The Crab Nebula (catalogue designations M1, NGC 1952, Taurus A) is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of Taurus. The nebula was observed by John Bevis in 1731.
The supernova was noted on July 4, 1054 A.D. by Chinese astronomers as a new or "guest star," and was about four times brighter than Venus, or about mag -6. According to the records, it was visible in daylight for 23 days, and 653 days to the naked eye in the night sky.
At X-ray and gamma-ray energies above 30 KeV, the Crab is generally the strongest persistent source in the sky, with measured flux extending to above 1012 eV. Located at a distance of about 6,500 light-years (2 kpc) from Earth, the nebula has a diameter of 11 ly (3.4 pc) and expands at a rate of about 1,500 kilometers per second.
At the center of the nebula lies the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star (or spinning ball of neutrons), 28-30km across,[5] which emits pulses of radiation from gamma rays to radio waves with a spin rate of 30.2 times per second. The nebula was the first astronomical object identified with a historical supernova explosion.
The cloudy remnants of SN 1054 are now known as the Crab Nebula. The nebula is also referred to as Messier 1 or M1, being the first Messier Object catalogued in 1758.

Instruments and exposure data
W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener and FeatherTouch 3'' focuser
Filter Astrodon Hα 5nm
SBIG ST10XME CFW9
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
EQ6
Hα:10*15min(bin1x1) total 2h30min
Kallithea Athens Hellas

Astrobin Image of the Day 22 May 2014

NGC 1491

NGC 1491 is an emission nebula found in the constellation of Perseus. This particular nebula has an 11th magnitude star in its center.This object is heavily composed of HII.The central star is "blowing" a bubble in the gas that immediately surrounds it(from www.noao.edu)
Instruments and exposure data
W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener and FeatherTouch 3'' focuser
Filter Astrodon Hα 5nm
SBIG ST10XME CFW9
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
EQ6
Hα:42*10min(bin1x1) total 7h
Kallithea Athens Hellas

Rosette Nebula

The Rosette Nebula is a large, circular H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. The open cluster NGC 2244 is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter.
The cluster and nebula lie at a distance of some 5,200 light years from Earth (although estimates of the distance vary considerably) and measure roughly 130 light years in diameter. The radiation from the young stars excite the atoms in the nebula, causing them to emit radiation themselves producing the emission nebula we see. The mass of the nebula is estimated to be around 10,000 solar masses.
It is believed that stellar winds from a group of O and B stars are exerting pressure on interstellar clouds to cause compression, followed by star formation in the nebula. This star formation is currently still ongoing.
A survey of the nebula with the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2001 has revealed the presence of very hot, young stars at the core of the Rosette Nebula. These stars have heated the surrounding gas to a temperature in the order of 6 million kelvins causing them to emit copious amounts of X-rays.
Instruments and exposure data
W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener and FeatherTouch 3'' focuser
Filter Astrodon Hα 5nm
SBIG ST10XME CFW9
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
EQ6
Hα:20*5min(bin1x1) total 1h40min
Kallithea Athens Hellas

NGC 7331 and Stephan's quintet

                                       

The spiral galaxy NGC 7331, in Pegasus, can be seen with small telescopes under dark skies as a faint fuzzy spot. It is an island universe similar to our own Galaxy (or maybe somewhat larger) and placed at a distance of 50 million light-years. NGC 7331 was discovered by Wilhelm Herschel in 1784

Stephan's Quintet in the constellation Pegasus is the first identified compact galaxy group of five galaxies about 300 million light-years away. The group was discovered by Édouard Stephan in 1877 at Marseilles Observatory. The group is the most studied of all the compact galaxy groups.

Recent infrared observations made with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have revealed the presence of a huge intergalactic shock wave, or "sonic boom" in the middle of Stephan's Quintet. This discovery, made by an international research team including scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK) in Heidelberg, provides a local view of what might have been going on in the early universe, when vast mergers and collisions between galaxies were commonplace.

Instruments and exposure data

W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener and Feather Touch 3'' focuser

SBIG ST10XME CFW9

Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser

EQ6

Baader RGB filters

Luminance: 74*8min(bin1x1) total 9h52min

21-22/8/2010_17-19/9/2010

Red: 11*5min(bin1x1) Green: 11x5min(bin1x1) Blue: 18x5min(bin1x1) total 3h20min

FWHM: 3.41’’-4.89’’ 

Kallithea Athens Hellas

Aφιερωμένη στον αγαπητό μου φίλο Γιάννη Ελευθεριάδη!!!

Γιάννη άργησα 2 μήνες αλλά πιστεύω το αποτέλεσμα να σου αρέσει...
Anacortes Image of the  Day 3-10-2010                                                     

Pickering's Triangle NGC 6979

Pickering's Triangle is part of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, which includes the famous Veil Nebula.
Astronomers estimate that the supernova explosion that produced the nebula occurred between 5,000 to 10,000 years ago.
Pickering’s Triangle was discovered in 1904 by Williamina Fleming of the Harvard Observatory while examining photographic plates of the area. The object was named in honor of her boss, astronomer Edward Charles Pickering, then director of the Observatory. Pickering’s Triangle goes by a number of aliases, including Pickering’s Wedge, Fleming’s Triangular Wisp, and Simeis 3-188. Current estimates place this supernova remnant at about 1800 light years from Earth.
The entire Veil Nebula complex, of which Pickering’s Triangle is but a portion has an apparent diameter of about 3° or nine full moons!


W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener and Feather Touch 3'' focuser
SBIG ST10XME CFW9 

Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser

EQ6

Astrodon 5nm Ηα

320 min 32*10min subs (bin 1x1) under near full moon

Kallithea Athens Hellas

SH2-112 in Cygnus

Sh2-112 is a Hα emission object.It is located in the constellation of Cygnus ,a little less than 1.5 degree from Deneb,the brightest star in this constellation.
W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener and Feather Touch 3'' focuser
SBIG ST10XME CFW9
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
EQ6
Astrodon 5nm Hα
320 min_40*8min subs (bin1x1) under near full moon    

Near full Moon in Ha light

Near full Moon in Hα light just for fun....!

William optics FLT110 f/7
Sbig ST10XME
5nm Astrodon Hα filter 0.1 sec exposure time.

(Sh2-101) Sharpless 2-101, an emission nebula in Cygnus

(Sh2-101) Sharpless 2-101, an emission nebula in Cygnus.
Sh2-101 also known as Tulip Nebula, is a quite bright emission nebula.

W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener and Feather Touch 3'' focuser
SBIG ST10XME CFW9
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
EQ6
Astrodon 5nmHα
240 min _30*8min subs

Anacortes Image of the Day 14-06-2010

M13

M13 was discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714, and catalogued by Charles Messier on June 1, 1764.
With an apparent magnitude of 5.8, it is barely visible with the naked eye on a very clear night. Its diameter is about 23 arc minutes and it is readily viewable in small telescopes. Nearby is NGC 6207, a 12th magnitude edge-on galaxy that lies 28 arc minutes directly north east. A small galaxy, IC 4617, lies halfway between NGC 6207 and M13, north-northeast of the large globular's center.
M13 is about 145 light-years in diameter, and it is composed of several hundred thousand stars, the brightest of which is the variable starV11 with an apparent magnitude of 11.95. M13 is 25,100 light-years away from Earth.


W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener and Feather Touch 3'' focuser
SBIG ST10XME
CFW9 with Baader LRGB
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
EQ6

Lum : 175min
Red : 45min
Green : 45min
Blue : 45min
3min subs
Total exposure 4h20min from Kallithea Athens Greece

NGC 4565

                                        
NGC 4565 is an edge-on unbarred spiral galaxy about 30 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices.
The 10th magnitude galaxy sits perpendicular to our own Milky Way galaxy.
It is also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile.First spotted in 1785 by Uranus' discoverer, Sir William Herschel (1738-1822), this is one of the most famous examples of an edge-on spiral galaxy.

W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener and Feather Touch 3'' focuser
SBIG ST10XME
CFW9 with Baader LRGB
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
EQ6

Lum : 235min
Red : 55min
Green : 55min
Blue : 55min
5min subs
Total exposure 6h40min from Kallithea Athens Greece

NGC 4565

 
235min (47*5min) luminance
W.O FLT110 w Feather Touch 3'' focuser
SBIG ST10XME
CFW9 Baader LRGB
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
EQ6

M97:The OWL NEBULA

Owl Nebula was discovered in 1781 by Pierre Méchain, collaborator of Charles Messier, and it was incorporated into Messier's catalogue of diffuse objects with number 97. Although its surface brightness is quite low, it can be seen with amateur telescopes in dark nights. Large telescopes, or photographic techniques, are required in order to perceive the two cavities that justify its name. Only photographs reveal the surprising display of colours of M97.
The planetary nebula M97 is placed in the constellation of the Big Bear. It is very difficult to evaluate the distances to planetary nebulae and this case is not an exception. Thus, astronomical literature registers distances ranging from 1500 to 2500 light-years from Earth.
The central, dying star, is a small and hot object, around one hundred thousand centigrade degrees at the surface. The radiations from this white dwarf excite the atoms of the nebulous layers and make them shine. As other planetary nebulae, the shine of M97 comes mainly from the emissions from ionized hydrogen and oxygen atoms, what gives these objects their dominant reddish and greenish hues. But this object has, also, a considerable portion of light from the white dwarf that has been reflected by nebular particles. This mechanism makes its color bluer, and distinguishes this from other planetaries with a smaller reflection component.

W.O FLT-110 with dedicated field flattener
EQ6 Pro
ST10XME
Lum : 35min
Red : 35min
Green : 35min
Blue : 35min
5min subs
Total exposure 2h20min

Pinwheel Galaxy M101

 

The Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101 or NGC 5457) is a face-on spiral galaxy about 27 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.
It was discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 27, 1781, and he subsequently communicated his discovery to Charles Messier who verified its position and added it to the Messier Catalogue as one of the final entries.
M101 is a relatively large galaxy compared to the Milky Way. With a diameter of 170,000 light-years it is nearly twice the size of the Milky Way. It has a disk mass on the order of 100 billion solar masses, along with a small bulge of about 3 billion solar masses.

W.O FLT-110 with dedicated field flattener
EQ6 Pro
ST10XME
Lum    : 100min
Red    : 40min
Green : 40min
Blue    : 40min
5min subs
Total exposure 3h40min

W.O FLT110 focuser upgrade

The Feather Touch FTF3025 Focuser from Starlight Instruments, is a major upgrade from the stock W.O focuser.
Replacing the original focuser on my FLT110 with the Feather Touch unit required about 5 minutes.
The fit and finish of the Feather Touch was something that had to be used to be appreciated!!!

Risky Bridge

Sunrise Lake Plastira

Lake Plastira

Jupiter, another view...

one more view of the great planet Jupiter
10-10-2009 19:21:43 UT

8''SC (Meade LX90 ota only)on EQ6 Pro
3X Televue Barlow
Imaging Source DBK firewire color camera

Jupiter

Jupiter from Kallithea
10-10-2009 19:25:17 UT

8''SC (Meade LX90 ota only)on EQ6 Pro
3X Televue Barlow
Imaging Source DBK firewire color camera

Promontorium Agarum

This is the southeast corner of Mare Crisium

06/09/2009
8"SC(MEADE LX90 ota only)
EQ6 Pro
DBK color camera with 2.5X Powermate

Jupiter and Io

8"SC(MEADE LX90 ota only)
EQ6 Pro
DBK color camera
06/09/2009

Crater Petavius

Petavius is a large lunar impact crater located to the southeast of the Mare Fecunditatis, near the southeastern lunar limb. Attached to the northwest rim is the smaller crater Wrottesley. To the southeast are Palitzsch, Vallis Palitzsch, and Hase. Farther to the north is the large crater Vendelinus. Petavius appears oblong when viewed from the Earth due to foreshortening.

The outer wall of Petavius is unusually wide in proportion to the diameter, and displays a double rim along the south and west sides. The height of the rim varies by as much as 50% from the lowest point, and a number of ridges radiate outwards from the rim. The convex crater floor has been resurfaced by lava flow, and displays a rille system named the Rimae Petavius. The large central mountains are a prominent formation with multiple peaks, climbing 1.7 kilometers above the floor. A deep fracture runs from the peaks toward the southwest rim of the crater.




8"SC(MEADE LX90 ota only)
EQ6 Pro
DBK color camera
06/09/2009

NGC 7635 Bubble Nebula Hubble palette

full resolution

60% of the original size

NGC 7635, also called the Bubble Nebula and Sharpless 162, is a H II region[2] emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. It lies close to the direction of the open cluster Messier 52. The "bubble" is created by the stellar wind from a massive hot, 8.7[2] magnitude young central star, the 15 ± 5 M☉[4] SAO 20575 (BD+60 2522).[7] The nebula is near a giant molecular cloud which contains the expansion of the bubble nebula while itself being excited by the hot central star, causing it to glow.[7] It was discovered in 1787 by Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel.[6] The star SAO 20575 or BD+602522 is thought to have a mass of 10-40 Solar masses.
W.O FLT-110 with dedicated field flattener
EQ6 Pro
ST10XME
Astrodon 5nm Ha filter
Baader 8nm SII filter
Baader 8.5nm OIII filter
Ha: 3h 20min
SII: 4h 20min
OIII:4h
Total exposure 11h40min under near full moon from Kallithea Athens Greece.
Anacortes Image of the Day 08/09/2009

M15 Globular Cluster

60% of the original size


full resolution


Messier 15 or M15 (also designated NGC 7078) is a globular cluster in the constellation Pegasus. It was discovered by Jean-Dominique Maraldi in 1746 and included in Charles Messier's catalogue of comet-like objects in 1764. At an estimated 13.2 billion years old, it is one of the oldest known globular clusters.

M15 is about 33,600 light-years from Earth. It has an absolute magnitude of -9.2 which translates to a total luminosity of 360,000 times that of the Sun. Messier 15 is one of the most densely packed globulars known in the Milky Way galaxy. Its core has undergone a contraction known as 'core collapse' and it has a central density cusp with an enormous number of stars surrounding what may be a central black hole.[citation needed]

Messier 15 contains 112 variable stars, a rather high number. It also contains at least 8 pulsars, including one double neutron star system, M15 C. Moreover, M15 houses Pease 1, one of only four planetary nebulae known to reside within a globular cluster, which was discovered in 1928.[1]

To the amateur astronomer Messier 15 appears as a fuzzy star in the smallest of telescopes. Mid to large size telescopes (at least 6 in./150 mm diameter) will start to reveal individual stars, the brightest of which are of magnitude +12.6.




To the upper left corner of the image it's also visible a very faint Spiral Galaxy IC5115

FLT110
EQ6 Pro
ST10XME

13*3min Blue
9*3min Green
11*3min Red

Total exposure 1h39min