Saturday 15 December 2012

The Running Man Nebula and a Polar Ring Galaxy

NGC1977. This bright reflection nebula lies in the constellation of Orion at a distance of
about 1,500 light years . It is commonly named the Running Man nebula.This image was
captured using an Atik 383L ccd camera, a ten inch f/4.8 reflector with PHD auto guiding.
The total exposure times were 30 minutes using RGB filters and 60 minutes using a H-alpha
filter .Five minute sub-frames and dark-frames were captured making a total exposure time
of 180 minutes:



NGC660. This galaxy lies in the constellation of Pises at a distance of about 20 million
light years. It is classified as a polar ring galaxy. Five minute sub-frames and dark-
frames were captured making total exposure times of 20 minutes using RGB filters and 60
minutes using a H-alpha filter for luminance. An Atik 383L CCD camera was used with a ten
inch f/4.8 reflector using PHD auto guiding.


Monday 10 December 2012

IC 63

IC 63. This emission nebula lies in the constellation Cassiopeia surrounding the bright
star gamma Cassiopeia. This image was taken under very clear sky conditions with bright
moonlight. Five minute sub frames and dark frames were captured making total exposure
times of ten minutes using RGB filters and sixty minutes using a H-alpha filter. The image
was captured using a ten inch f/4.8 reflector with an Atik 383L CCD camera:


Saturday 8 December 2012

NGC6820, NGC6823 and NGC1514

NGC6820, emission nebula, NGC6823  open star cluster. Lying at a distance of about 6,000
light years in the constellation of Vulpecula is this emission nebula surrounded by an
open star cluster. Notice the pillars of gas that probably contains embryonic stars about
to come to life. Five minute sub frames were captured with matching dark frames using an
Atik 383L CCD camera with a ten inch f/4.8 reflector. The total exposure times were sixty
minutes using a H-alpha filter, thirty minutes using an Olll filter and twenty minutes
using RGB filters:



NGC1514. This planetary nebula is commonly named the Crystal Ball nebula. It lies in the
constellation of Taurus at a distance of about 600 light years. Five minute sub frames and
matching dark frames were captured using a ten inch f/4.8 reflector with an Atik 383L CCD
camera. The total exposure times were five minutes for each colour channel and ten minutes
using an Olll filter:

Wednesday 5 December 2012

The Tadpole and Flaming star nebulae

IC410, The Tadpole nebula. This hydrogen emission nebula lies in the constellation of Aurga at a distance of about 1,200 light years. The total exposure times were one hour using a H=alpha filer and five minutes using RGB filters using PHD auto guiding. Five minute sub-frames were captured with matching dark frames.



IC 405, The Flaming Star nebula. This emission nebula lies at a distance of about 1,500 light years in the constellation of Auriga. Ten minute sub frames were captured with matching dark frames. The total exposure times were sixty minutes using a Lumicon Night Sky  H-alpha filter and twenty minutes using each RGB filter.This guided exposure was taken using a four inch f/7 refractor with PHD auto-guiding.