M82 (Cigar galaxy)

Hey,we had clear skies last night!.Unfortunately,I didn’t take advantage of the first clear sky that we have seen in over a month.Not that I didn’t want to but because,I *me flinching*…I fell asleep and when I woke up I was just too comfortable to move!!.Hahahaha,sorry Jared…better luck next time 😉 !. I also need to do some additional tweaks to the mount before I dedicate a long night to observing/imaging.That’s my excuse and I am sticking with it.

So,with that being said.I do have a few more images that I took about 2 months ago,that I haven’t posted yet such as M82 a.k.a “The Cigar Galaxy”.

I took the shot below using a Meade DSI and a 10″ Meade LXD75 SN. M82 is actually pretty tough to see from where I observe from since it is located directly over the town that I live in.Plus,not only do I have to deal with the street lights from the city,I also have to reluctantly deal with a street light that is located directly below where M81 and M82 are generally located in the night sky!.Usually,I use my DSLR to image these two galaxies but,since I already had the DSI connected to the scope I figured “why not give imaging a try?”.What a amazing sight it was to see a live image of this galaxy on my laptop monitor for the first time!.I am used to seeing M82 on the tiny little screen of my DSLR 🙂 !!.

Located in the constellation Ursa Major,M82 looks exactly like a giant cigar with a label wrapped around it.Classified as a irregular galaxy M82 has a visual brightness of +8.2mag (under dark skies) which is  a modest estimate since many astronomers observe with some form of light pollution i.e. street lights,vehicle headlights,neighbors house lights and the occasional spot lights from the local police department….a long story of which a few of you have  already heard!.

 

Full Moon and Jupiter

It isn’t exactly a cover shot but,at least I was finally able to get one of my images accepted on spaceweather.com!.Heh,it is about time too,I have submitted lots of pix in the past but,apparently they were not good enough?!.Actually,I think they just tossed me a bone since their were only a few other people that submitted images of the full moon and Jupiter together 😛 !.HAHAHAHA,I’m fine with that!!!.

The full moon and Jupiter will be putting on another show for us tonight as well for anyone interested.The event can hardly be missed as Jupiter will be in very close proximity to the moon.Jupiter will be seen as this almost crazy bright looking star.So if you if have the clear skies (or partly cloudy),take the kids out for a look.It’s a free show and no observing aids will be necessary!.

Below are some images that I took from early this morning…

I just used my DSLR and shot them through a open window…quick and painless!.

Sundog

While taking a break from the pain in the butt that I call painting my house.I just happened to look up in the direction of the sun.Of course,not looking directly at it,I noticed a sundog taking shape right before my eyes.I have seen many of these atmospheric phenoms but,almost never seem to have the DSLR handy.This time however,I did!.Since I am painting house/window trim on my second floor apartment.The DSLR just happened to be at arms reach through a open window which I quickly grabbed.Below is one of the shots that I took.

Counting craters

Hi folks…yes,I am still around.I just haven’t been able to observe and image anything for almost a month due to bad skies and other issues.

First off,I would like to wish everyone in the states a Happy and safe 4th of July and a belated Happy Canada day (which was on the 1st of July) to my friends north of the boarder!.

As I pointed out,I haven’t had the scope out in quite sometime.So,I will share some images of the moon that I took about a month and a half ago.I have been getting a few request on the names of some of the different craters seen on the moons surface.Since the moon has thousands upon thousands of craters.Naming all of them would have been nearly impossible.Well, not impossible….it would just have been a bit more work than I was willing to put into it and besides,if I did try to name all of them in one small image.Their would have been so many different names,that the words would over lap each other.In the image below,I have named as many as the image would hold comfortably without straining the eye.I used the Virtual Moon Atlas (which can be found online for free) to aid me in naming most of the craters but,also realised that some of the smaller craters didn’t have names…yet.One of the interesting and fun things that I like to do when I take a image of the moon is to compare my shot to the Moon Atlas,in hopes of finding a possible new crater.Heh,yeah,I know….finding a new impact crater without someone seeing the actual impact itself is a one in a million chance!.Still,it is a lot of fun looking!!!.

Click to enlarge!