Heart Nebula IC 1805
Category: Nebula
Bubble Nebula NGC 7635 & Open Star Cluster M52
| Telescope / Lens | TMB 80mm Refractor fl/384mm |
| Mount Type | Astro-Physics 1200 |
| Camera | SBIG ST10xme cfw9 |
| Filters | Ha, LRGB Astrodon |
| Film | CCD |
| Exposure | 190 minutes Ha,LRGB |
| Processing | CCDStack, Photoshop CS2 & Picture Wind Pro |
| Date | Images taken 09/05/2008 |
| Location | June Mountain 122° 43.528′ W, 43° 48.407′
N 22 miles S of Dexter, Oregon |
| Conditions | 3232′ clear calm skies magnitude 6 |
The Bubble Nebula NGC 7635 is also known as Caldwell 11. This is an emission nebula in the constellation of Cassiopeia. The Bubble nebula was created from a massive young central star, because it is very hot, it has created a stellar wind. As a result, this stellar wind has formed a “Bubble. Surrounding the nebula is a massive molecular cloud with dark clumps that consequently form new stars as the material condenses. The Bubble nebula NGC 7635, has a diameter of 7-9 light years and lies approximately 8,000 light years from earth.
M52 is located just above and to the left. Open Star Cluster M52 (NGC 7654) is located in the Northern portion of the constellation Cassiopeia. It is 19 light years in diameter, at a distance of 5,000 light years from earth
NGC 7538 is another nebula to the right of the Bubble nebula. NGC 7538 is 9,100 light years away and reside in the Constellation Cepheus. The largest protostar discovered so far is forming here. This protostar is 300 times the size of our solar system. This nebula is also a very active star forming region.
A narrow band Ha filter was used to help capture the nebulosity made up of primarily Hydrogen. LRGB filters were also used in a SBIG ST10XME CCD through a TMB 80mm f/6 refractor & TeleVue 0.08 field flattner/reducer.
NGC 7635 Taken with TEC 140 f/7
NGC 7635 Taken with TEC 140 f/7 Crop
This is an emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. This nebula is rich in H2 and birthing place of stars. The massive molecular cloud is created by a stellar wind storm from a young central star that is massive and hot. The bubble itself is itself excited by a hot central star. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1787.
M 42 Great Orion Nebula
Great Orion Nebula M42 & NGC 1973, NGC 1975 & NGC 1977
M 42 Great Orion Nebula, Pictured above. Next to it is M43 (NGC 1982) along with the blue nebula called “The Running man” NGC 1977. The start cluster NGC 1981 is superimposed over the blue nebula. The pinkish nebula composes of M42 & M43 at magnitude 4, and is visible a a one degree fuzzy patch to the naked eye. These nebulae reside in the sword of Orion below the left bright belt star Alnitak. This region of nebulae is approximately 1344 light years from earth and 12 light years in diameter. 60 x 60 arc-minutes .
| Telescope / Lens | TEC 140 f/7 5.5″ Refractor 980mm focal length |
| Mount | AstroPhysics 1200 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20d DSLR |
| Filters | None |
| Film | DLSR |
| Exposure | 88 minutes; 5min exposures @ ISO 400, 800, 1600 & 1 minute @ ISO 100 |
| Processing | Deep SkyStacker, CCDStack, Photoshop CS2 & Picture Wind Pro |
| Date | Images taken 09/12/2007 |
| Location | June Mountain 122° 43.528′ W, 43° 48.407′
N 22 miles S of Dexter, Oregon |
| Conditions | 3232′ clear calm skies magnitude 6 |
The Orion nebula M42 is even visible in light polluted skies with the naked eye. Dark sky locations show a glowing gaseous area the middle star of the “sword” of Orion. These stars are located south of Orion’s belt. Wide Field eyepieces in a 10-14″ scope really brings out the detail.
Eagle Nebula M16 NGC 6611
| Telescope / Lens | TEC 140mm APO F/7 Refractor |
| Mount Type | Astro-Physics AP1200 |
| Camera | SBIG ST8XME NABG |
| Filters | Astrodon LRGB+HA Generation 1 |
| Film | CCD |
| Exposure | Total exposure time 115 minutes |
| Processing | CCDSoft & Photoshop CS2 |
| Date | June 20, 2007 |
| Location | June Mountain, near Dexter, Oregon 122° 43.53 W 43° 48.41′ N |
| Conditions | 3252′ magnitude 6.2+ Skies; Clear & Steady |
The Eagle Nebula, M16 is an 8th magnitude Open Cluster in the constellation of Serpens next to Ophiuchus with this cluster lying near Sagittarius. Through a telescope the cluster of stars is visible but little or no nebulosity can be seen. This is because ours eyes are not sensitive enough to see the nebulosity. Therefore long images on film or CCD are needed to show the nebulosity. The three central pillars were imaged by The Hubble Space Telescope and are referred to as the” Pillars of Creation. Most importantly, you can see small stars that are emerging from these dust clouds. 55 stars make up this Open Stars Cluster lying 7,000 lights years from Earth.
Below is a cropped view that clearly resemble the famous “Pillars of Creation” taken by the Bubble Space Telescope in 1995 by Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen. Remember this image was taken trough a modest TEC 140mm Refractor telescope here on earth, near Dexter, Oregon.
Sad Note:
Evidence from the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST) indicates that the “Pillars of Creation” have already been destroyed. Some scientists have theorized that a shock wave created by a star going supernova some 6,000 years ago may have erased the Pillars of Creation, and Earth-bound stargazers will only have another 500 years or so to observe the phenomena before they disappear. Other scientists dispute this claim and believe the pillars will (or did) erode more slowly
Trifid Nebula M20 NGC 6514
| Telescope / Lens | TEC 140mm f/7 |
| Mount Type | Astrophysics 1200 |
| Camera | SBIG ST10XME NAGB |
| Filters | Astrodon LRGB e-series filters (generation 1) |
| Film | CCD |
| Exposure | 150 minutes (2 hours 30 minutes) LRGB (L=75 m (15×5) RGB=25 each, 5 min. subs |
| Processing | CCDSoft, CCDStack, AIP, Photoshop CS2 |
| Date | 07/19/2009 |
| Location | Snow Peak, S/E of Cottage Grove, Oregon 122° 52′ 35″ W, 43° 31′ 21″N |
| Conditions | 4658′ elevation, magnitude 6.5+ Skies; Clear ; |
M 20 (NGC 6514) Trifid Nebula
The Trifid Nebula (Messier 20 or M20 & NGC 6514) reside within the constellation of Sagittarius. The name Trifid refers to the three lobe appearance of the red emission portion of the Nebula. Recent images show a blue reflection nebulosity and an open star cluster. The dark dust lanes, dark nebula, is designated Barnard’s 85. This object shows up well in amateur telescopes reviling lots of detail and visible to the naked eye (magnitude 6.3) at dark sky locations. The actual distance is estimated at 5200 light years. Some stars associated with M20 are 2700 to 5700 light years distant.
M20 itself is approximately 21 light years in diameter, roughly 15,000’xs larger than our solar system. Recent images that go deeper reveal a blue glow around the main red emission portion of the Trifid indicating that some of the reflected nebulosity runs behind and around the red portion. Earlier shots I’ve taken did not reveal this, but CCD images of a couple hours or more reveal this phenomenon. NASA’s Spitzer Space telescope discovered 30 embryonic & 120 newborn stars within the Trifid in 2005.
The image of the Trifid nebula was dominant on the view scenes of the Enterprise, Original Star Trek series.
Star Forming Area
