deep sky

The Owl Nebula

May 28, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

Northern stargazers in spring look out of the plane of the Milky Way in the night sky before midnight, so there are few bright stars and star clusters visible, and even fewer bright nebula. But there is a little gem under the bowl of the Big Dipper, the famous Owl Nebula, also known as M97. A young planetary nebula, M97 is a speeding cloud of glowing gas ejected by a small dying star. In a small telescope under dark sky, the nebula resembles the eyes of wise old barn owl gazing out of the interstellar darkness [Read more…] about The Owl Nebula

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From the Observer’s Log: Four Great Globs

May 19, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

Four globular clusters visible in the May sky as imaged with a Mallincam Xtreme camera, 30 s exposure, through a VRC-6 telescope.

While it may take a little practise to see the subtle differences in each of these balls of ancient stars, and despite claims of many beginning stargazers, all globular clusters do not look the same. The images above show four of the brightest globular clusters visible in a telescope this time of year. Each has a distinctive appearance, pattern, and brightness gradient. All images were taken with the same exposure and filter and with the same 6″ RC telescope so you can get an idea of their comparative appearance [Read more…] about From the Observer’s Log: Four Great Globs

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Nebulosity in the ‘Swan’s Chest’

May 19, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

Gamma Cygni mosaic_LRGB+HA_small_Terry Hancock — Blue-white star Sadr (right) is surrounded by a complex of dark nebulae and bright emission nebulae in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan (credit: Terry Hancock)

The bright star Sadr marks the chest of the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. Located in the direction of the northern Milky Way, this little patch of sky is packed with diffuse emission and dark nebulae that are part of the much larger Cygnus Molecular Cloud. This image by Terry Hancock shows the rich nebulosity in this region as captured from his backyard observatory in Fremont Michigan. He created this mosaic originally consisting of 5 panels and later cropped to make 4 panels using 187 individual frames and a total exposure time of over 18 hours. The total mosaic covers an area approximately 6.5 x 5.4 degrees. Equipment used, QHY11 Monochrome CCD and Takahashi E-180 [Read more…] about Nebulosity in the ‘Swan’s Chest’

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Panorama of the Virgo Cluster

May 6, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Astronomy Images and Video, Deep Sky

Galaxies of the Virgo Cluster, including M84, M86, M87 and spiral galaxies in Markarian's Chain (credit: Terry Hancock) — Galaxies of the Virgo Cluster, including M84, M86, M87 and spiral galaxies in Markarian’s Chain (credit: Terry Hancock)

“We and our world are the minutiae and curiosa– galaxies are the grand realities.” -Leland Copeland

This wide-field image of the core of the Virgo cluster reveals several dozen of the more than 2,000 galaxies spread across our sky between the stars Denebola in Leo and Vindemiatrix in Virgo [Read more…] about Panorama of the Virgo Cluster

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From the Observer’s Log: The Splinter Galaxy

May 6, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

Galaxy season is back, and I’m going hunting in the deep sky. Among tonight’s targets is NGC 5907, the “Splinter Galaxy” in the constellation Draco. Part of the NGC 5866 galaxy group, this edge-on spiral is 50 million light years away. At a length of 120,000 light years long, it’s one of the largest edge-on systems visible in a small telescope, with a mass of 250 billion Suns. NGC 5907 is well-known for its warped disk and a dramatic arc of stars that suggests a recent collision with another galaxy. It also lacks the number of giant stars expected of a spiral galaxy [Read more…] about From the Observer’s Log: The Splinter Galaxy

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