Space Odyssey

October 9, 2015 by grahamrob in Deep Sky Objects, General Astronomy and tagged Andromeda, DSO Imaging, Galaxies, Messier Objects | 3 Comments

I have just finished reading Chris Hadfield’s excellent book An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, which is an entertaining and insightful look at being an astronaut and the lessons it provides for life in general. Who of us has not at least considered such an adventure ourselves but, of course, it is impossible for all but a few.

Astronomy is thought provoking enough in itself looking out at the vastness and beauty of the Universe, being in space and looking down on our planet would take such thoughts to a whole different level; from their subsequent accounts it is clear that those who have walked on the Moon became changed people, returning different to the rest of us.

Ever since following the pioneering space adventures of Yuri Gagarin and Alan Sheppard and especially watching the Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969, I have been fascinated by space, its science and the human experience of travelling there. My solution to going into space was to take up scuba diving and since 1976 have had many wonderful diving experiences all over the world. Of course, it’s not space but it is very much other worldly and the weightless feeling is as close as most of us will get to being in space; the astronauts train extensively underwater for just that reason. Furthermore, as a geologist and more recently taking up astronomy has altogether provided me with a better understanding of the Universe.

Maldives, Kandooma 2004: the closest I’ll get to space!

Given my long standing interest in space, it is perhaps surprising that I came late to astronomy itself, so why now? The best answer is time – in recent years I have had more of it and in the past work, family and extensive travel precluded such a pastime. Like so many sciences in the modern era, technology has also unlocked major new opportunities for scientists and amateurs alike. Whilst I enjoy the science itself and especially viewing the night sky, the ability to produce frankly incredible images has been the most important key to my recent personal interest.

The phenomenal imaging improvements that have occurred since the launch of Hubble have made the power and beauty of the Universe even more accessible to us all on Earth. Digital image capture and processing is now so powerful that pictures of hitherto unimaginable quality can be achieved from Earth. Furthermore, for a relatively modest cost outlay, such images can be obtained by amateurs like me, literally outside my back door. More than any other development, this is what has now engaged my interest. The product of astroimaging can easily be overlooked as just an attractive, often spectacular photograph of the night sky – and they are. But the equipment and pictures produced are also important tools that can assist our understanding as well as imagination of space.

After a forced absence from astroimaging for the past six months, I was recently fortunate to obtain a number of exciting pictures of familiar objects on my first night back, in particular M31 or the Andromeda Galaxy. As the nearest galaxy to Earth, Andromeda is an obvious target for those new to astroimaging but despite its proximity, it is not to be underestimated as an imaging target. I have attempted imaging M31 before but, like many others, found it very difficult to coax out the detail which makes it such a beauty. I am not completely sure what was different this time but the resulting picture at last starts to capture these details; I was even more surprised at the outcome which is the result of just nine 120 second exposures at the end of a long night before heading for bed!

M31 Andromeda Galaxy
WO GT 81 + modded Canon 550D + FF | 9 x 120 secs @ ISO 1,600 | 19th September 2015

Andromeda poses two main challenges for the photographer: (i) the contrast in brightness between the central area and the rest of the galaxy, and (ii) the need to show the brown dust bands within the main disc, which provide a fascinating insight into the galaxy’s overall structure – that is not unlike out own Milky Way. The classic technique is to use two sets of images, with camera settings appropriate to the two contrasting areas, subsequently bringing them together during post-processing. Despite the limited number of prime focus images taken the final picture achieved still came out well. Though the bright central area is overexposed, the galaxy’s dust bands are clearly evident and for the first time have captured the full character of this magnificent feature. Furthermore, within M31 the NGC 206 is evident, a star formation region of over 300 new stars, whilst in the adjacent sky two other Messier galaxies are shown in the image M32 and M110.

M31 Anfromeda Galaxy: inverted & anotated

M31 Andromeda Galaxy: inverted & annotated

I think it is correct to say that the Andromeda Galaxy is one of the iconic images of the night sky and I feel obtaining such a picture marks another notable point in my personal space odyssey. I would hope Chris would approve, as well as Major Tom?

Spring’s Playground

May 12, 2015 by grahamrob in Deep Sky Objects and tagged Coma Berenices, Galaxies, Leo, Virgo | 1 Comment

The night sky has been full of surprises for me this Spring, in particular the very extensive presence of galaxies. Their occurrence has been mostly associated with the constellations of Leo and Virgo but also less well known (to me) Coma Berenices, located between the two aforementioned constellations. Despite being the 42^nd constellation by size and relatively small with few bright stars, Coma Berenices is nonetheless something of a little gem and every bit as interesting as it’s more famous neighbours.

Previously part of the Leo Constellation, Coma Berenices was promoted to a constellation in the 16^th Century and named after Queen Berenice II of Egypt; the asterism was previously considered to be the tuft of hair at the end of the lion’s (Leo) tail, which has now become the ‘Queens Hair’. Though small, Coma Berenices contains eight Messier objects, several globular clusters and is rich in galaxies – including the northern part of the Virgo cluster – also with the North Galactic Pole located within its boundaries. All-in-all the constellation forms an impressive and interesting part of the sky at this time of the year.

Notable objects are: M53 (NGC 5024), M85 (NGC 4382), M88 (NGC 4501), M91 (NGC 4548), M98 (NGC 4192), M99 (NGC 4254), and M100 (NGC 4321). Whilst amongst the more famous features of the Coma Berenices is the Black Eye Galaxy (M64), the Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565) and the Coma Cluster of galaxies.

M64, AKA Black Eye Galaxy, Evil Eye Galaxy or the Sleeping Beauty Galaxy is the brightest in Coma Berenices and gets its name from the dark (black) dust band that obscures the stars in its bright core.

M64 Black Eye Galaxy
WO GT81 & Canon 550D (modded) + FF | 10 x 180 secs @ ISO 1,600 | 11th April 2015

NGC 4565 or the Needle Eye Galaxy is considered one of the finest examples of an edge-on galaxy, thus producing a slender, needle-like profile. Located 40 million light years away, almost directly above the North Galactic Pol, this giant barred spiral galaxy is about one third larger than the Milky Way and is more luminous that Andromeda.

NGC 4565 Needle Eye Galaxy
WO GT81 & Canon 550D (modded) + FF | 10 x 180 secs @ ISO 1,600 | 11th April 2015

Some 60 million light-years away, M88 is located in the lower area of Coma Berenices, is over 100,000 light years diameter and one of the brightest galaxies of the Virgo Cluster.

M88 with other galaxies of the Virgo Cluster nearby.
WO GT81 + Canon 550D (modded) + FF | 20 x 180 secs @ ISO 1,600 | 25th March 2015

Apart from a few occasional opportunities since obtaining my new equipment last Summer, I have been yearning for more galaxies to image and have thoroughly enjoyed Spring’s veritable playground of galaxies that have filled the sky in their hundreds and sometimes thousands since February. Notwithstanding, my 81mm refractor though good struggles to obtain the detail of these magnificent, mind-blowing Deep Sky Objects and I can only look forward to the day of owning a larger aperture telescope and have mastered the art of long-exposure tracking, which I am still working on. In the meantime, I now await the development of the Summer sky and another crack at objects first encountered last year.

All in a spin

April 23, 2015 by grahamrob in Deep Sky Objects and tagged Coma Berenices, DSO Imaging, Galaxies, Star Clusters, Virgo | 1 Comment

It is now just over six months since acquiring my new astronomy equipment and therefore the first time I have experienced imaging DSO objects of the Spring night sky. Following the passage of Leo, the main show has now well and truly arrived as the constellations of first Coma Berenices and then Virgo pass overhead, bringing with them a virtual fireworks type display of spectacular stellar features. To DSO fans Spring means one thing – galaxies – too many to comprehend, making it difficult to know where to start. In my case the detailed beauty of these galaxies will need to wait until I have a substantially larger telescope and can achieve much, much longer exposures. In the meantime I just marvel at the spectacle and have been trying to image some of the more iconic of these springtime beauties. Both constellations seem abound with galaxies but two groups are particularly exciting: the Coma Cluster and Virgo Cluster, within which there a large number of fine examples to choose from.

Just the tip of the iceberg: part of the Virgo Cluster that is crowded by galaxies.

Just the tip of the iceberg: part of the Virgo Cluster crowded with thousands of galaxies.

I was first drawn to Markarain’s Chain in the Virgo Cluster, a string of galaxies that form a gentle curve. Stretched over some x ly the chain includes two Messier Objects – M86 & M84, together with NGC 4438, NGC 4435, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4473 & NGC 4477 amongst many others. In fact this entire part of the sky contains literally thousands of galaxies, of which Markarain’s Chain is just a small but interesting part.

Markarain's Chain WO GT81 & Canon 550D + FF | 15 x 180 secs @ ISO 1,600 | 26th March 2015

Markarian’s Chain
WO GT81 & Canon 550D + FF | 15 x 180 secs @ ISO 1,600 | 26th March 2015

Markarian’s Chain (red) & some other galaxies (green) – inverted image.

The one that got away

April 14, 2015 by grahamrob in Deep Sky Objects and tagged DSO Imaging, Galaxies, Leo | Leave a comment

At the end of February the appearance of the Leo constellation marks the end of the winter sky and the transition to Spring. After previously succeeding in imaging the Leo Triplet and M96 group, there remained one feature I still wanted to capture and, after a long period of difficult seeing conditions, I finally got my chance much later in March.

Just west of the lion’s head, south of the star Alterf (Lambda Leonis) is the 10^th magnitude barred spiral galaxy NGC 2903, discovered by no less than William Herschel in 1784. At 12.6’ x 6.0’ (80,000 ly) NGC 2903 is a little smaller than the Milky Way and too small for my equipment to show much detail but it is possible to see the spiral arms and the bright core, which is known to exhibit an exceptional rate of star formation. However, the galaxy’s main notoriety is that this significant feature should have been overlooked by Messier though, to be fair, he did well with 103 other wonderful objects that I’m still working through.

NGC 2903
WO GT81 + Canon 550D & FF | 10 x 180 sec @ ISO 1,600 | 25th March 2015

Big Cat Hunting

February 26, 2015 by grahamrob in Deep Sky Objects, General Astronomy, Imaging and tagged DSO Imaging, Galaxies, Leo | 1 Comment

As we move closer to the Spring Equinox, the winter sky is already rapidly disappearing towards the western horizon and I have been left wondering what next? I was concerned that after successfully imaging the Orion constellation and all its spectacular parts over the past four months, it would be a difficult act to follow, I needn’t have worried. Already starting to appear from late-evening, a series of constellations are about to proceed across the night sky over the next few months which will provide an equally spectacular but different kind of show to Orion.

First of these is the constellation Leo, the celestial Lion, which it turns out is packed with galaxies and double stars. The asterism of Leo is in the shape of a lion which, being dominated by various groups of galaxies holds much imaging promise, with my 81mm telescope providing an ideal field of view.

Located behind Leo’s rear ‘leg’ is the best of these, known as the Leo Triplet or M66 Group, which consists of three galaxies: M66, M65 and NGC 3628. Evidence suggests that these are linked in a gravitational dance with each other which, in the case of NGC 3628, has created a disturbed, unbarred galaxy with a faint 300,000 light-year star to the east. M66 is an intermediate spiral galaxy, with a diameter of about 95,000 light-years and is the largest and brightest of the trio. M65 is a smaller, barred intermediate galaxy. The field of view has also captured other galaxies as well as the orange giant star 73 N Leonis. All-in-all a wonderful image which I hope to return to in order to achieve even better detail using longer exposures, guiding and hopefully a larger telescope one day.

Leo Triplet: M66, M65 & NGC 3628
WO GT81 + modded Canon 550D & FF | 10 x 180 secs + calibration @ ISO1,600 | 21st February 2015

To the west of the Leo Triplet, in the direction of Leo’s dominant star Regulus, is another triple collection of galaxies called the M96 Group. While a little fainter that the Leo Triplet, the M96 Group nonetheless makes a wonderful image accompanied, as it is, by numerous other galaxies and stars. Of the latter, the giant orange 52 K Leonis star dominates the scene.

M69 Group: M105, NGC 3373 & NGC 3371 + other galaxies and orange giant 52 K Leonis WO GT81 + modded Canin 550D & FF | 10 x 180 secs & calibration @ ISO 1,600 @ 21st February 2015

M96 Group: M95, M96, M105, NGC 3373 & NGC 3371 + other galaxies and orange giant 52 K Leonis
WO GT81 + modded Canon 550D & FF | 10 x 180 secs & calibration @ ISO 1,600 @ 21st February 2015

It’s fair to say that the results of my big cat hunting around the constellation Leo have been a pleasant and successful surprise, with further promise still to come as Spring develops. Watch this space!