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Pleiades Open Star Cluster M45 also know as Maia Nebula
Telescope / Lens
300mm f/2.8 Lens; 420mm f/4 Lens DSLR
Mount Type
Piggyback on G11 (Stepper)
Camera
Canon F-1 ; Canon 20D
Filters
112mm UV
Film
Kodak E200 (Slide Film) DSLR
Exposure
2 film exposures 45 min. ea; manual guiding FS/78; 10 DSLR
Processing
Slides scanned Nikon 5000 @ 4000dpi 16bit (130 MB files) 3 images stacked; processed in Photoshop CS5 AIP & CCDStack DSLR images stacked with film in CCDStack
Date
7/25/2003 & 8/20/2004
Location
Oregon Star Party 120° 09′ W 44° 18′ N Indian Trail Springs, Ochoco National Forest (Also Eagles Rest 25 miles SE of Dexter, Or.)
Conditions
5000′ magnitude 6.2 Skies; Clear & Steady
The Pleiades M45, is a well known naked eye Open Star Cluster in the constellation of Taurus (The Bull). The Pleiades (M45) is a young open cluster of stars enshrouded in gas and dust which is illuminated by several bright stars. Also know as the Seven Sisters covering an area of 2° and lying a mere 415-444 light years away. In fact through binoculars you can see nine prominent stars, two of which are the parents of the seven sisters. The stars are of varying brightness and distances from Earth. They vary from Magnitude 2.9 Alcyone 240 light years to Celaeno magnitude 5.5 and 590 light years distant.
The bright stars are middle aged hot B type Blue stars forming the closets star cluster to earth. They formed approximately 100 million years ago. The nebula is not related to the stars and is just illuminated interstellar dust.
This formation of stars (6) is know as Subaru in Japan (to unite). It was chosen as Subaru brand of cars which united 5 companies into one thus the 6 stars depicted for their logo.
Eagle Nebula M16 NGC 6611 20070620 also known as the Star Queen Nebula and The Spire
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.
Eagle Nebula M16 NGC 6611_ Crop. “Pillars of Creation” from an amateur’s 5.5″ refractor.
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
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.
Eagles Rest, 15 miles South of Dexter, Oregon 122° 44′ 07″ 38″ W – 43° 50′ N
Conditions
2500′ magnitude 6+ Skies; Clear & Steady
The bright star is the left star in Orion’s belt, Alnitak, Magnitude 1.74 and 817.44 light years away. Just below Alnitak (ζ Ori) is the Flame Nebula HV 28 (NGC 2024) and to the right is the famous Horsehead nebula. The top bright star Alnilam, is the central belt star of the constellation Orion.The dark dust blocks out light and the resulting silhouette resembles a Horsehead. This nebula is not visible to the naked eye and it takes special filters and a large telescope to discern the Horsehead shape. This nebula was first detected on photographic plates by E. Pickering in 1889. The Horsehead is approximately 1 light year across at a distance of 1200 light years from Earth.
While the Flame Nebula NGC 2024 is 1,500 light years distant. This nebula is very energetic in ultraviolet light. It knocks away electrons from the great clouds hydrogen gas in the surrounding area
This image was taken through and Orion ED 80mm refractor. This is an inexpensive doublet near APO. One of the true values available to amateur astronomers today.
