Astrophography

The Ring Nebula M57 (NGC 6720)

Telescope / Lens	11″ Celestron SCT
Mount Type	Astro-Physics 1200
Camera	SBIG ST8XME, Astrodon Filters generation 1
Filters	Astrodon E-Series Ha,LRGB
Film	CCD
Exposure	Total Exposure -105 minutes; LRGB- binned 2×2
Processing	CCDSoft 5, AIP4WIN 2.0, Photoshop CS2,
Date	09-21-2007
Location	June Mountain, near Eagles Rest, South of Dexter, Oregon
Conditions	3232′ magnitude 6.2 Skies; Clear & Steady, SQM 21.6

The Ring Nebula M57 / NGC 6720 is located in the constellation Lyra, between the bottom two stars b & y Lyra that form a parallelogram below Vega. M57 the Ring is one of the best known Planetary Nebula in the sky. Distinct gas clouds that form this spectacular ring, were thrown off by the magnitude 15.31 central star. The central star was originally a Red Giant and is near the end of it’s stellar evolution and is forming a white dwarf. It has been expanding for approximately 1600-1840 years.The nebula itself, has only a total brightness of magnitude 9. It is about the same size as Jupiter when viewed through telescope with a size of only 3.8′ arc minutes. It requires 6-8 inch scope to see it as a small smoke ring. To see the central star usually require a 10″ or larger telescope. M57 also know as NGC 6720 is about 2,150 Light Years from Earth.

Charles Messier was searching for comets when he discovered the Ring nebula in January 1779. It found its way into the Messier’s Catalogue as M 57. The Messier catalogue lists 109-110 objects readily observed in a good 4″ refractor.

Below is a cropped view of the same image above, clearly showing the central star. The resolution that modern day CCD imaging can accomplish in small telescopes is amazing.

NGC 7000 North American Nebula IC 5067 Pelican Nebula

North American Nebula NGC 7000 — NGC 7000 North American Nebula & IC5067 Pelican Nebula (Film Image)

Telescope / Lens	Tokina/Canon 300mm f/2.8 Lens
Mount Type	G11 Losmandy, Takahashi FS 78, Manual Guiding
Camera	Canon F-1 with bright screen and angle B finder
Filters	112mm UV
Film	Kodak Elite Chrome E200, Push 1
Exposure	15 minutes
Processing	Photoshop CS2
Date	6-19-2004
Location	Eagles Rest, near Dexter, Oregon 122° 43.53 W 43° 48.41′ N
Conditions	2557′ magnitude 6.0 Skies; Clear & Steady

NGC 7000 the North American Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. This nebula is next to the star Deneb which is the tail star of the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. Next to the North American Nebula is the Pelican Nebula (IC5067). NGC 7000 the North American Nebula is very large and visible with the naked eye from a Dark Sky site. It is 1600 Light Years distant, 120 x 100 arcminutes, roughly 4 times the size of the full moon.

IC 5067, the Pelican Nebula, 60 x 50 arcminutes, 1,800 light years distant. This image was captures on film, while the camera was manually guided through a 78mm diameter (3″) telescope using an illuminated cross-hair eyepiece.

IC 5067 Nebula HaLRGB; taken with TEC 140mm f/7 refractor & ST10xme CCD Camera

Protostar forming in IC 5067, was observed by Jerry Oltion in a 96″ telescope. Jerry conveyed the location in IC 5067. I was able to locate and capture it with a 5.5″ refractor and st10xme CCD camera using a 9nm Ha filter on 8/17/2009 from a Dark Sky site in Oregon. Above and below is a crop of the star form area.

Helix Nebula NGC 7293

Telescope / Lens	TEC 140mm f/7
Mount Type	Astro-Physics 1200
Camera	ST8XME
Filters	Astro-Don LRGB
Film	CCD – KAF 1602E 13.8 mm x 9.2 mm
Exposure	LRGB 130 minuets -20° C
Processing	CCDSoft, AIP4Win, CCDStack & Photoshop CS2
Date	8-15-2007
Location	June Mountain, near Dexter, Oregon 122° 43.53 W 43° 48.41′ N
Conditions	3252′ magnitude 6.2 Skies; Clear & Steady

Helix Nebula NGC 7293, a planetary nebula in the constellation Aquarius, 714 Light years away. Discovered by Karl Ludwig in 1824. The helix Nebula formed when an intermediate low-mass star sheds it’s outer layers, leaving a remnant stellar core which will become a White Dwarf star. Helix is 25 arc-minutes in diameter, the outer layer is estimated to have formed 6,500 years ago, while the inner region 12,000 years ago.

This image was taken with a 5.5 inch Tech Engineering refractor on an Astro-Physics 1200 mount from a remote Dark Sky Site. All the equipment had to be setup and calibrated for that location.

An SBIG (Diffraction Limited) NABG CCD Camera, color filter-wheel (CFW8a) using Astro-Don Generation 1 true balance Luminance, Red, Green & Blue filters were used to capture the light channels which were combined to form a color image.

Markarian’s Chain of Galaxies

Telescope / Lens	TMB 80mm f/6, Tele Vue 0.8 reducer f/4.8
Mount Type	Astro-Physics 1200
Camera	SBIG ST10XME , KAF3200
Filters	Astro-Don LRGB Generation 2
Film	CCD, NABG
Exposure	LRGB of 3 hours 15 minutes (L=2 hours 15 minutes.; color 60 minutes) -20° C
Processing	CCDSoft, CCDStack & Photoshop CS6
Date	04/20/2018
Location	Jupiter Ridge # 4, (OCA Anza Site)
Conditions	4321 ′ magnitude 5.8 20.85 SQM

Markarian’s Chain of Galaxies part of the Virgo Cluster, form a smooth curve and is named after the American Astrophysicist Benjamin Markarian. He discovered the common motion of the members in the 1960’s. Charles Messier discover M84 (NGC 4374) & M86 (NGC 4406) in 1781, both of which are elliptical or lenticular type galaxies. M84 at magnitude 10 (60 Mly) and M86 at 8.9 (52 Mly). The main galaxies include M84 (NGC 4374), M86 (NGC 4406), NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435

The upper left Super Giant Elliptical Galaxy is M87, on of the most massive galaxies of the local group. It has approximate 12,000 globular clusters compared to our Milky Way’s 150-200.

Markarian’s Chain of Galaxies is a delight to view in larger instruments. Using telescope of 14 inches or more in aperture are really satisfying. Use a wide angle eyepiece of 26-50mm focal length to get the full impression of this galactic Cluster.

Early Spring is the best tome to view the Constellation Virgo, The Virgo Galaxy Cluster and Markarian’s Chain of Galaxies.