The Whale Galaxy NGC 4631

Here is another galaxy I imaged last week. This is the first time I have seen this object.
The Whale and pup galaxies are located in the constellation Canes Venatici and are 25 million light years distant. The smaller galaxy NGC 4627, is a small elliptical,while the Whale NGC 4631 is a edge on spiral galaxy. NGC 4631 reminds me a lot of the Cigar galaxy located in Ursa major.a.k.a as Messier 82.

The Owl Nebula

Here is a image of Messier 97 a.k.a The Owl Nebula,located in Ursa Major. It is a planetary nebula caused by a star that shedding it’s layers as it slowly dies. Much like what our sun will be like in 5 billion years.

Ghost of Jupiter

Ghost of Jupiter , NGC 3242. Located in the constellation Hydra. It is really small in the eye piece. It is only 1,400 light years away!. I suspect that when it was discovered,it resembled the planet Jupiter,due to it’s central star. It also looks like a eye in the sky.

Sombrero Galaxy

Continuing on with my April Galaxy craze. The Sombrero Galaxy is a barred galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. I have noticed that many of the galaxies that we see, are about the same distance….give or take a few million light years. I really like this galaxy,as not only is it almost edge on ,but it does resemble a hat. Lol, I was told that it looks like a flying saucer 😉
This galaxy is a fun target, and quite easy to see.
Image credit;Andrew Dumont

Jupiter 2015

The sky was quite crappy last night. I could see stars,but the transparency was pretty bad. The stars were twinkling,which is a bad sign,and shouldn’t bother imaging. My first 2015 image of Jupiter shows it. I added the four moons in PS. Yes, that is exactly where they were located,but were very dim in the image. For those of you who don’t have a telescope,this is what you are missing!

Messier 81 and Messier 82

We had a small window of what I thought were decent skies. Actually, I had gone to bed,but looked through the window and saw clear skies. I couldn’t pass on it,and quickly raced out to the observatory. I did notice some of the stars twinkling,which is a bad sign. I spent a couple hours imaging as the seeing became worse. Lol,my images show it,as their isn’t as much detail as I would have liked.
One of my targets was M81 and M82 together. This image is a 7 minute exposure unguided. M82 (The Cigar Galaxy) really showed of it’s colors like I have ever imaged. M 81 (Bode’s Galaxy) seems a bit muddled,but at least a Satellite didn’t photo bomb my image this time! 🙂 .
Image : Andrew (Me)

Messier 101 (Pinwheel Galaxy)

I took this image about a week ago. The sky never ceases to amaze me. I have captured more galaxies in the last two weeks ,than I ever have since I bought my scope. At the rate my Winter was traveling,I didn’t think I would ever get a chance to observe again. However, the voices in my head kept saying “patience big fellow”. The time arrived ,and I am having a blast!. Cranking some music in the observatory and loving the fact that I no longer need to keep the wireless remote pointed at the DSLR while taking a image. Now, while I take a long exposure,I can just walk away,and ponder the thought of buying new rings and a dovetail for my other mount. Best of both worlds!. Let the main imaging scope do it’s thing,while I do some visual scanning of the heavens on my other scope.
Holy crap?. Am I making any sense or just randomly babbling incoherently?. Lack of coffee or too much coffee?. You be the judge…LMAO
This is a 6 minute exposure unguided of Messier 101. Shot with a unmodded Canon T3i. The seeing was pretty good for the most part.
The Pinwheel galaxy was discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 27, 1781.The visual mag of this galaxy is +7.9 mag. under dark skies. It might be tougher to see in light polluted areas. The distance is 27 million light years away,as in,it took the light we see today 27 million years to reach our retinas. Actually, I like to Google search what the Earth was like 27 million years ago or whatever distance light left a particular object.
Image credit:Andrew Dumont

Bode’s Galaxy/M81

April is the month to visit our galactic neighbors. The evening sky offers a wealth of galaxies to see,and image. I myself have imaged at least 30 in the last 2 weeks. My scope seems to have taken on a life of it’s own,and become my partner in crime. I have nailed down my goto’s,so that when I slue to a target,the object is almost dead center of the DSLR’s sensor. I also cut down my ISO a little,just to reduce noise.I am still getting 5-8 minute exposures,which is also unguided.
One of my targets last night,was M81 or commonly known as Bode’s galaxy. I was kind of inspired for several reasons. A. I haven’t imaged this galaxy in a few years. B. I have a new Canon DSLR,that is capturing higher resolution than my Pentax DSLR. C. A fellow blogger is just starting out in astronomy/astrophotography,and I wanted to give a glimpse as to what to expect with some experience under the belt. Good luck with your finals TeeJay 🙂
M81 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major.It’s companion M82 a.k.a the Cigar galaxy lies in close proximity,and can even be imaged in the same photo. Discovered in 1774 by Johann Bode and is approximately 11.8 million light years distant.
Also,note a satellite conveniently photo bombed my image as well….ugh!
Image credit Andrew Dumont

Messier 51/ Whirlpool Galaxy

Hello everyone… (spooky voice)…I’m baaack !.
It has been one of the roughest Winters I have seen in quite some time. We didn’t get as much snow this season ,but the cold was brutal. Mainly temps well below typical averages for Vermont,USA
I must say, clouds have been non stop since early November,with all of January totally cloud covered.
We did get a small window of clear skies the other night,and temps were tolerable .Only 23 degrees F !!.
With the lack of observing/imaging for a fair share of the Winter season. The floor of my observatory had almost 1.5 inches of ice coating. That meant,everything on the floor was embedded in ice. Not fun,considering a power strip,usb cables hanging from the mount,and a chair were firmly attached to the floor. I spent a hour chopping ice ,and now am ice free. Yaaaay me!! 😀
When not shivering from months of cold,I spent my time tinkering on my pc ,and telescope mount. My laptop screen crapped out,so I replaced it. Also,I changed the battery in the main unit of my mount. It now runs great.
My short window of clear skies yielded me a nice shot of M-51. I have imaged this galaxy before,but not with as much detail as my new camera has given me.
Image credit: Andrew

Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)

Hello everyone!. It seems that a lot of fellow enthusiast are in the Comet Lovejoy craze. I am no excluded from that statement!.

The Winter here in Vermont,USA has been kind of lack luster as far as serious snow is concerned. This does not dismiss our seemingly over the top, cold weather that we have had to endure.Oh,and just because we haven’t had much snow,doesn’t suggest that we have been free of cloudy skies. Our season has been met with endless days/weeks of clouds. The last stretch of clouds lasted most of December,with one night of clear skies,dominated by a full moon. January has also jumped the band wagon with clouds,with all but a few nights.

I ventured out twice in the last two weeks to get my own images of Comet Lovejoy,with below average results the first night. I was giving my new DSLR a workout…lol. My second try ( Tuesday Jan 20,2015) was much better.

Comet Lovejoy was quite high in the sky,and very bright in the eyepiece. Obviously,very little color could be seen,with only a light wisp of tail coming from the nucleus.The results of the raw images was astounding!!! WOOT!!!!

This comet will still be putting on a show for a while ,but is going to start fading soon. I am truly blessed to add another comet under my belt,Comet Lovejoy (the second comet I have imaged with the name Lovejoy in the 8 months) will make a return visit in about 8,000 years. Geesh,hope I live to see it again!!.

This image is a single shot taken with a Canon T3i. ISO-3200,1 minute exposure prime focus. The scope is a 10″ Meade LXD75 and Losmandy G11 mount.

Image credit Andrew a.k.a me!!