M109 /NGC 3992 Barred Spiral Galaxy

M109 / NGC 3992 a Barred Spiral Galaxy 83 MLY; Taken with TEC 140mm f/7 Refractor

02/17/2018   Latitude: 33 29′ 01.48″ North   Longitude: -116 43′ 19.24″ West; 4,321 ft., Jupiter Ridge #4 OCA, CA.   Seeing: E   Transparency: 5.8 magnitude  SQM: 20. 78 Telescopes / Optics:  TEC 140mm f/7 980mm Mount: AP1200 GTO.    Camera: SBIG ST10xme CCD & CFW10.     FOV:  48’ x 32’; FWHM:  1.68-2.61  Filter: Astrodon LRGB series E Gen. Information:  M109/NGC 3992 Barred Spiral Galaxy,  Captured with CCDSoft; LRGB 190 min;  L: 20x300sec, L:  x 600sec. RGB: 12 x 300 sec. subs, -20°c.  Processed with CCDStack2, Photoshop CS6  

M109 /NGC 3992 Barred Spiral Galaxy approximately 83 million light years from Earth located in the Constellation URSA Major (Big Dipper). (location is 11:57.6 (R.A.) and +53:23 (Dec.). This barred spiral galaxy is readily visible through telescopes of 6″ aperture or better. Really looks good in 10″ telescopes at a Dark Sky site. When looking at the M109 /NGC 3992 Barred Spiral Galaxy, remember it is approximately 175,853.82 light years in diameter. (Milky Way is 100,000). M 109’s apparent Magnitude of 10.6 and size 7.6′ x 4.7′ (arc-minute)

The Messier objects were M 1-M 103 discovered and named by Charles Messier (see )until after the fifties when M 104-M 110 were added. M 109 is listed in The New General Catalog it is listed as NGC 3992.

This image was capture through a 5.5″ f/7 TEC refractor using a CCD with KAF 3200me chip cooled to -20c, each exposure was 5 min long 3 for each color channel (RGB) the rest were luminous.

1st Quarter Moon Video

1st Quarter Moon video, View from Binoculars (7x) zoomed in to

1st Quarter Moon video, using different cameras and telescopes. Staring from view of entire 1st quarter as seen through binoculars (7x) and ending in a zoomed in view of craters Theophilus (Top) Cyrillus (Middle) Catharina (Bottom). Theophilus is the most prominent and youngest crater,62.14 miles in diameter and 2 miles deep with a central peak of 2.74 miles. The other two craters are much older and more worn, Catharina is 62 miles in diameter and 1.92 miles deep; Cyrillus is 98 km in diameter and only 1.92 miles deep.

Jupiter July 19, 2020

Image of Jupiter taken with a Celestron C14 at f/27

Jupiter Celestron C14

Image of Jupiter Taken with Celestron C14 at f/27 with ZWO ASI120MC camera. FeatherTouch focuser and Starizona MicroTouch Autofocuser. Taken near Anza, California at 4200′. Several imaging runs averaging 1.2 GB of data then processed & graded. Best images used in final processing. Thousands of frames stacked using AutoStakkkert, RegiStax6 & Photoshop 6.

Mercury Transit 11/11/2019

Mercury Transit 11/11/2019; 8:20:50 AM PT
Mercury Transit 11/11/2019; 8:20:50 AM PT Canon EOS 7D II
Mercury Transit 11/11/2019 08:23:53 PT
Mercury Transit 11/11/2019 08:23:53 PT

Transit of Mercury across the Sun 11/11/2109 8:23:53 am (PT)

The small dot is Mercury 1/2 way out to the 2 O’clock position from center.

Next Mercury Transit won’t occur until 2032

Orbital period 87.97 days, it is tidally locked to the Sun like our Moon is to Earth. Only one side of Mercury always faces the Sun. It is only safe to look at Mercury when it is away from the Sun and Only after the sun has completely set or before it starts to rise! Always Use appropriate, Commercially made Sun Filters for viewing at any other time.

Average on temperature on Mercury during the day is 800 degrees F and at night drops to -300 F. Mercury stays 35,980,000 miles from the Sun (Earth is 93,000,000 miles)