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A Quick View of Messier 51 (M51) Whirlpool Galaxy

A Quick View of Messier 51 (M51) Whirlpool Galaxy

This spiral galaxy is one of my favorites! Checking my notes, my first visual observation of this galaxy was on June 29, 1978 using my Tasco 2.5” refractor telescope.  I used that telescope for years! The galaxy lies in the constellation Canes Venatici and was discovered in 1773 by Charles Messier. This is one of the most famous spiral galaxies in the sky, probably right behind the Andromeda…

[leisurelyscientist]

NGC 5466, a Globular Cluster in Boötes

NGC 5466, a Globular Cluster in Boötes

NGC 5466 is a globular cluster that exhibits a low surface brightness and a less dense core compared to other globulars. Burnham lists this cluster at a magnitude of 9.0 and gives it a Class XII (in the Shapley–Sawyer Concentration Class, this is the lowest concentrated center of the globulars).

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, Canon 6D…

[leisurelyscientist]

Io Transit Across Jupiter - June 15, 2018

Io Transit Across Jupiter – June 15, 2018

Here is another attempt at capturing Jupiter using the Sky-Watcher 120ED and a Televue 2.5x Powermate. I have not mastered derotation using WinJupos yet….  This image captured Io in transit across Jupiter.

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, ASI290MC, Televue 2.5X Powermate, best 15% of 5000 video images. Image date: 15 June 2018. Location: The…

[leisurelyscientist]

Globular Cluster M53 in Coma Berenices

Globular Cluster M53 in Coma Berenices

Messier 53 (also known as M53 or NGC 5024) is a globular cluster in the Coma Berenices constellation and is one of the more outlying globular clusters. It is roughly 60,000 light-years away from our solar system.

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, Canon 6D stock camera, ISO 3200, 4 x 60 second exposures with dark/bias frames, guided using a…

[leisurelyscientist]

Moon and Venus - June 15, 2018

Moon and Venus – June 15, 2018

Moon and Venus this evening, June 15, 2018 from Weatherly, Pennsylvania, USA.

Tech Specs: Canon 6D, Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8L, single exposure, ISO 500, 1/2 sec., f/2.8, 108mm.

…Tom

[leisurelyscientist]

Markarian’s Chain of Galaxies in Virgo

Markarian’s Chain of Galaxies in Virgo

Here is a composite view of a line of galaxies often referred to as Markarian’s Chain. Wikipedia state that the chain is named after Armenian astrophysicist Benjamin Markarian who discovered their common motion in the early 1960’s. The chain is dominated by galaxies M84 and M86 (the brightest galaxies at the top of the image). This is a two image composite. If you are viewing this on our Facebook…

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Ptolemaeus Crater on Earth’s Moon

Ptolemaeus Crater on Earth’s Moon

Here is a view of the crater Ptolemaeus on Earth’s Moon. It measures about 95 miles across and is nearly 1.5 miles deep. It was named for Claudius Ptolemy, the Greco-Roman writer, mathematician, astronomer, geographer and astrologer. It measures approximately 153 kilometers in diameter.

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, ZWO ASI290MC camera,…

[leisurelyscientist]

A Quick View Globular Cluster Messier 3 (M3) in Canes Venatici

A Quick View Globular Cluster Messier 3 (M3) in Canes Venatici

Messier 3 (also known as M3 or NGC 5272) is a globular cluster found in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici. M3 is one of the three brightest globular clusters in the Northern hemisphere (along with M13 and M5).

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, Canon 6D stock camera, ISO 3200, 5 x 60 second exposures with dark/bias frames, guided…

[leisurelyscientist]

Asteroid 22 Kalliope in the Constellation Virgo

Asteroid 22 Kalliope in the Constellation Virgo

22 Kalliope is an M-type (partially known composition) asteroid, the predicted magnitude was 11.04, I found it to be close to that estimate using comparative stars in the view. Kalliope measures about 146 x 89 x 77 miles and also has a satellite names Linus which measures about 17 miles in diameter.

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher 120ED, Canon 6D, single 60 second exposure at ISO 1250. Image Date: June…

[leisurelyscientist]

Venus Tonight - June 4, 2018

Venus Tonight – June 4, 2018

Here is a quick view of Venus after sunset this evening, June 4, 2018. Image on the bottom is the phase as computed by the U.S. Naval Observatory showing Venus at 79% full. Top image is the best 15% of 5000 frames captured using SharpCap.

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, ASI290MC, Televue Powermate 4x, best 15% of 5000 frames. Image date: 4…

[leisurelyscientist]

The Beehive Cluster Messier 44 (M44)

The Beehive Cluster Messier 44 (M44)

Messier 44 – The Beehive Cluster (or also called the Praesepe) is a open cluster that lies in the constellation Cancer. M44 has a visual brightness of magnitude 3.7, so it is easily visible using a modest telescope and can easily be seen using binoculars (it is actually much nicer in a wide-field view). Distance is around 577 light years. Total number of stars in this cluster are in the range of…

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Copernicus Crater - May 24, 2018

Copernicus Crater – May 24, 2018

First test run using the Televue 2” 4x Powermate on the 120ED scope, not too bad. Need better seeing to capture more than 5,000 frames. This is Copernicus Crater on Earth’s moon.

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, ZWO ASI290MC camera, Televue 4x Powermate, best 15% of 5,000 frames. Image Date: May 24, 2018. Location: The Dark Side Observatory…

[leisurelyscientist]

NGC 2683 in the Constellation Lynx

NGC 2683 in the Constellation Lynx

Here is a wide field view of the spiral galaxy NGC 2683 in the constellation Lynx. If you are viewing this on my blog or Facebook, I’ve also included a snipped and heavily processed version which also shows the galaxy PGC 2030408 at magnitude 16.8. I found a reference nicknaming NGC 2683 the UFO Galaxy, it is about 20 million light-years away from Earth.

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED…

[leisurelyscientist]

The Elusive Messier 40 in Ursa Major

The Elusive Messier 40 in Ursa Major

Charles Messier was searching for a reported nebula in this area and only found the double star later identified as Winnecke 4, why he still added this to his catalog we’ll never know. Burnham referred to this as “one of the few real mistakes in the Messier catalog” (Burnham’s Celestial Handbook, Volume Three, Robert Burnham, Jr.). So, here is my image just to fill the slot in my Messier catalog,…

[leisurelyscientist]

Edge-On Spiral Galaxy NGC 4217

Edge-On Spiral Galaxy NGC 4217

NGC 4217 is an edge-on spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venaticci. It is about 60 million light-years away from Earth. I picked this up while imaging M106 and clipped it from the main image and processed.

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, Canon 6D stock camera, ISO 3200, 58 x 60 second exposures with dark/bias frames, guided using a…

[leisurelyscientist]

Hoodoo’s of Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Hoodoo’s of Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

From the National Park Service website, Hoodoos are tall skinny spires of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins and “broken” lands. Hoodoos are most commonly found in the High Plateaus region of the Colorado Plateau and in the Badlands regions of the Northern Great Plains. While hoodoos are scattered throughout these areas, nowhere in the world are they as abundant as in the northern…

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First Quarter Moon - May 21, 2018

First Quarter Moon – May 21, 2018

Here is a four panel mosaic of last night’s (May 21, 2018) first quarter moon. Each panel was video captured using a ZWO ASI290MC camera and 5,000 frames. The best 25% of each panel was used for the final image.

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, ZWO ASI290MC. Captured using SharpCap v3.0 software. Image date: 21 May 2018. Location: The Dark…