Category: Star-gazing

3 Galaxies at once – Messier 65, Messier 66 & NGC3628

/ Carsten / 2 Comments
M65, M66 & NGC3628 - 2017/03/29
Date2017/03/29
LocationLa Palma / Spain
ObjectMessier 65, Messier 66 & NGC3628
CameraAtik383L+
Guidingyes, QHY5-II Mono via OAG
Telescope8" GSO Newtonian
Barlow lensnone
MountEQ6Syntrek
Cooling-10°C
Luminance9x 600s, bin: 1x1
Red9x 150s, bin: 2x2
Green9x 150s, bin: 2x2
Blue9x 150s, bin: 2x2
Dark2x
Flat10x
Total exposure~2h37m

I was able to record this image of three galaxies in a quite windy but clear night with my own equipment. This night I was based on a quiet place in Tacande on La Palma. I used my 8″ GSO Newton telescope in combination with an Atik383L+ cooled camera. The optics were mounted on an EQ6 Syntrek mount. The total exposure time of the resulting image is about ~2h37m.

It is a combination of 9 luminance frames a 600 seconds exposure time (binning 1×1) and 9 frames a 150 seconds exposure time (binning 2×2) for red, green and blue frames.
A full resolution image is available here.

The three objects shown on the picture are M65, M66 and NGC3628 (also known as the Hamburger Galaxy). All are located in constellation Leo. M65 and M66 were discovered by Charles Messier in 1780. Both are intermediate spiral galaxies and between 35 million and 36 million light-years away. The Hamburger Galaxy is an unbarred spiral galaxy also about 35 million light-years away which was discovered 4 years later by William Herschel.

Clear skies!

Last updated: June 16, 2022 at 12:30 pm

Open Cluster Messier 46

/ Carsten / Leave a comment
2017_03_28-M46_cut_web_qual

This image of Messier 46 has also been at the Tacande Observatory in El Paso on La Palma. In fact this is a quite rare object in the sense that it is a star cluster with a planetary nebula. The nebula somehow looks like an eye in the nowhere of space. The image shown above is just an excerpt of the full frame. It is only one 4 minute shot with a modified EOS6D camera with ISO 800. The image is also available in full resolution here.

Clear skies!

Last updated: June 16, 2022 at 12:33 pm

Observing Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak from Tacande Observatory on La Palma

/ Carsten / Leave a comment
Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak

Tonight I again visited the Tacande Observatory in El Paso on La Palma. One interesting object on the list for tonight was Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak. 41P is a periodic comet in the solar system. It’s nucleus diameter is estimated to be about 1.4 km wide. It has already been discovered in 1858 by Horace Parnell Tuttle, an American astronomer. Meanwhile the object is known very well by NASA as well.

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Astrophotography on La Palma – Taking a look at spiral galaxy “Messier 100”

/ Carsten / Leave a comment
Spiral galaxy M100 - 2017/03/27
Date2017/03/27
LocationLa Palma / Spain
ObjectMessier 100 (spiral galaxy)
CameraAtik383L+
Guidingyes, QHY5-II Mono via OAG
Telescope8" GSO Newtonian
Barlow lensnone
MountEQ6Syntrek
Cooling-10°C
Luminance11x 600s, bin: 1x1
Red9x 150s, bin: 2x2
Green9x 150s, bin: 2x2
Blue9x 150s, bin: 2x2
Dark2x
Flat10x
Total exposure~2h57m

In a clear night I recorded this image of “Messier 100” – a spiral galaxy located within the southern part of constellation Coma Berenices – from Los Llanos de Aridane on La Palma. It is an LRGB composite consisting of 11 luminance frames a 600 seconds and 9 red, green and blue frames a 150 seconds respectively. The image is also available in full resolution.

The seeing conditions tonight were perfect (seeing ~1.95″) and there was no local wind. The annotated image shows a lot of other interesting objects like NGC4323, IC783, NGC4312 and NGC4328 beside M100. Some objects I was not able to assign, yet – those are marked with question marks and could be additional galaxies.

Clear skies!

Last updated: June 16, 2022 at 12:52 pm

¿Por qué dormir en un hotel de cinco estrellas si puedes dormir bajo millones de estrellas?

/ Carsten / 3 Comments
2017_03_25-tent_milkyway1_border_web_qual_small

This image of the Milky Way has been recorded in a clear, cold night not so far away from Roque de Los Muchachos on La Palma. It has been recorded with an EOS6D in combination with a Rokinon 14mm/f2.8 fast lens. The exposure time was 20s with ISO6400. A darkframe has been subtracted later on. The RAW file has been developed using rawtherapee. For correction of vignetting and perspective a lens correction profile from this website has been used (btw. thanks for providing this profile!).

The image is also available in full resolution (3.1MB).

Last updated: June 9, 2022 at 22:10 pm