AstroMikeAZ

Catalina foothills just north of Tucson

Hi Folks - Sorry for the long absence. The monsoon season is behind us and while the moon is a bit pesky I wanted to share my first image of the fall season. NGC 7789, better known as Caroline’s Rose. Discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783. A little over 3 hours of exposure time. #astrophotography

I forgot to say everything is controlled by an ASI Air Pro controller.

My kit is a Stellarvue SVX102, ASI2600MC Pro, ASÍ AM5N mount, ASI guide camera and electronic focuser.

Monsoon clouds continue to intrude on my operations but here is another image from the little break I had a couple weeks ago. IC5146, better known as the Cocoon Nebula in the constellation Cygnus the swan. #astrophotography

Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed the image.

This is the annotated version of the Draco Triplet. It provides labels for two additional NGC galaxies and more than 40 PGC galaxies. So the triplets are not alone. #astrophotography

Here is another image from my monsoon break. The Draco Triplet, three galaxies, NGC5981, 5982, and 5985. Two spiral galaxies, one seen edge on, and an elliptical. They range from about 95 to 140 million light years away. #astrophotography

I’ve had a lucky break in monsoon conditions. We had a blob of dry air move over us for a few days. It gave me an opportunity to get some new images. Here is NGC5529 that we see edge on. It’s 162 million light years away and is almost twice the size of the Milky Way. #astrophotography

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

Another cactus blossom. They are very large and intricate in structure and spectacularly beautiful. But also fleeting. They bloom at night and are withered by the sun by mid morning. So one has to be up early and catch them quickly!

It’s monsoon season here in SE Arizona so it’s a challenge to get good data for more images. So here is something else to consider. The cactus are blooming!

Today’s image is a two for, NGC7635 and M52. NGC7635 is the “Bubble Nebula” and M52 is an open star cluster. All of which is embedded in lots of dust and gas. A wonderful view all in all. #astrophotography

Nice kit!

Here is the annotated version of M102, showing two NGC galaxies and 77 PGC galaxies. #astrophotography

A galaxy for today’s image, M102 in Draco. A lenticular galaxy we see edge on, about 48 million light years away. It is also known as the “Spindle Galaxy”. You can see the dust lane traversing the center of the galaxy. #astrophotography

Nicely done! Sharp focus!!

Really nice image!

This was generated from 98 five-minute sub-frames for a total exposure time of a little over eight hours.

Another image from my Flagstaff adventure. IC4604, a portion of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex centered on the star itself. Lots of gas and dust up there! #astrophotography

Thanks, glad you liked it.

Hi folks! I’m back from 10 days in Flagstaff. We had really good weather and that meant good conditions for data collection. Here is a quick image of M13. More to come as I get to processing. #astrophotography

A really great image! Nicely done!!

At the Grand Canyon Star Party with the Milky Way rising.

I sometimes get questions about my equipment so here is my main imaging kit is as follows:
Stellarvue SVX102T
ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
ZWO ASI174MM Mini guide camera on 30 mm Williams Optical guide scope
ZWO EAF
ZWO AM5N Mount, and
ZWO ASIAir Plus controller

We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.

We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.

Time for a different kind of star cluster, an open cluster M6 in Scorpius. Also known as the Butterfly Cluster. It is about 1,600 light years away in the direction of the center of the Milky Way. #astrophotography

Time for another globular cluster, M107 in Ophiuchus. It was first recorded by Pierre Mechain, an associate of Charles Messier, in 1782. William Herschel observed it in 1793. It is about 21,000 light years away. #astrophotography

Here is another nebula, IC4628 in Sagittarius. It is about 2,700 light years away towards the center of the Milky Way. It is also known as the Prawn Nebula, although whoever came up with that name has a better imagination than me. #astrophotography

Taking a break from globular clusters, I thought I would share a reworked version of IC 434, better known as the Horsehead Nebula. I am pleased with both the colors and the detail I was able to pull out of my data. #astrophotography