Description

"The North America Nebula (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, close to Deneb (the tail of the swan and its brightest star). The remarkable shape of the nebula resembles that of the continent of North America, complete with a prominent Gulf of Mexico. It is sometimes incorrectly called the ""North American Nebula"". The Pelican Nebula (also known as IC 5070 and IC 5067) is an H II region associated with the North America Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The gaseous contortions of this emission nebula bear a resemblance to a pelican, giving rise to its name. The Pelican Nebula is located nearby first magnitude star Deneb, and is divided from its more prominent neighbour, the North America Nebula, by a molecular cloud filled with dark dust. The Pelican is much studied because it has a particularly active mix of star formation and evolving gas clouds. The light from young energetic stars is slowly transforming cold gas to hot and causing an ionization front gradually to advance outward. Particularly dense filaments of cold gas are seen to still remain, and among these are found two jets emitted from the Herbig-Haro object 555. Millions of years from now this nebula might no longer be known as the Pelican, as the balance and placement of stars and gas will leave something that appears completely different."

Equipment and processing

Telescope: 135mm F2.8 lens

Mount: Meade LXD55

Camera: ST 8300M

Filters: Baader Ha,SII,OIII 7nm

Guiding: PHD

Processing: Photoshop, DSS, Fitswork

Capture software: Maxim

Exposures: Ha: 20x600 OIII: 22x600 SII: 42x600

Location: Parsippany,NJ

Description

The Elephant's Trunk nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396 located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth.[1] The piece of the nebula shown here is the dark, dense globule IC 1396A; it is commonly called the Elephant's Trunk nebula because of its appearance at visible light wavelengths, where there is a dark patch with a bright, sinuous rim. The bright rim is the surface of the dense cloud that is being illuminated and ionized by a very bright, massive star (HD 206267) that is just to the west of IC 1396A. (In the Figure above, the massive star is just to the left of the edge of the image.) The entire IC 1396 region is ionized by the massive star, except for dense globules that can protect themselves from the star's harsh ultraviolet rays. The Elephant's Trunk nebula is now thought to be a site of star formation, containing several very young (less than 100,000 yr) stars that were discovered in infrared images in 2003. Two older (but still young, a couple of million years, by the standards of stars, which live for billions of years) stars are present in a small, circular cavity in the head of the globule. Winds from these young stars may have emptied the cavity.

Equipment and processing

Telescope: Meade SN6

Mount: Meade LXD55

Camera: Canon T1i

Filters: Astronomik Ha 12nm

Guiding: PHD

Processing: Photoshop, DSS, Fitswork

Capture software: BackYardEOS

Exposures: 84x300 ISO3200 Ha, 100x60 ISO800 RGB

Location: Parsippany,NJ

Description

"The Black Eye Galaxy (also called Evil Eye Galaxy; designated Messier 64, M64, or NGC 4826) was discovered by Edward Pigott in March 1779, and independently by Johann Elert Bode in April of the same year, as well as by Charles Messier in 1780. It has a spectacular dark band of absorbing dust in front of the galaxy's bright nucleus, giving rise to its nicknames of the ""Black Eye"" or ""Evil Eye"" galaxy. M64 is well known among amateur astronomers because of its appearance in small telescopes. It is a spiral galaxy in the Coma Berenices constellation."

Equipment and processing

Telescope: Orion 8 inch F5

Mount: Meade LXD55

Camera: Canon T1i

Filters: None

Guiding: PHD

Processing: Photoshop, DSS, Fitswork

Capture software: BackYardEOS

Exposures: 122x120 ISO800

Location: Parsippany,NJ

Description

DWB-111 Propeller Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The Propeller Nebula is actually part of a much larger nebular complex which are common in this area of the sky. The Proprller Nebula is compised of Ha and some SII very little OIII is avaiable. There is very little known about this object, distance to this object or the source of excitation is unknown.

Equipment and processing

Telescope: Meade SN6

Mount: Meade LXD55

Camera: ST 8300M

Filters: Baader Ha 7nm

Guiding: PHD

Processing: PixInsight

Capture software: Maxim

Exposures: Ha: 19x300 10x600

Location: Parsippany,NJ

Description

The Whirlpool Galaxy (also known as Messier 51, M51, or NGC 5194) is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleu in the constellation Canes Venatici. Recently it was estimated to be 23 million light-years from the Milky Way, but different methods yield distances between 15 and 35 million ly. Messier 51 is one of the best known galaxies in the sky. The galaxy and its companion (NGC 5195) are easily observed by amateur astronomers, and the two galaxies may even be seen with binoculars. The Whirlpool Galaxy is also a popular target for professional astronomers, who study it to further understand galaxy structure (particularly structure associated with the spiral arms) and galaxy interactions.

Equipment and processing

Telescope: Orion 8 inch F5

Mount: Meade LXD55

Camera: Canon T1i

Filters: None

Guiding: PHD

Processing: Photoshop, DSS, Fitswork

Capture software: BackYardEOS

Exposures: 137x120 ISO1600

Location: Parsippany,NJ

Description

The Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 million light-years from Earth in the Andromeda constellation. Also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224, it is often referred to as the Great Andromeda Nebula in older texts. The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest spiral galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy, but not the nearest galaxy overall. It gets its name from the area of the sky in which it appears, the constellation of Andromeda, which was named after the mythological princess Andromeda. The Andromeda Galaxy is the largest galaxy of the Local Group, which also contains the Milky Way, the Triangulum Galaxy, and about 30 other smaller galaxies. The Andromeda Galaxy is probably the most massive galaxy in the Local Group as well despite earlier findings that suggested that the Milky Way contains more dark matter and could be the most massive in the grouping. The 2006 observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope revealed that M31 contains one trillion stars: at least twice the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy, which is estimated to be 200-400 billion. In comparison a 2009 study estimated that the Milky Way and M31 are about equal in mass, while a 2006 study put the mass of the Milky Way at ~80% of the mass of the Andromeda Galaxy. The two galaxies are expected to collide in 3.75 billion years, eventually merging to form a giant elliptical galaxy or perhaps a large disk galaxy. At 3.4, the apparent magnitude of Andromeda Galaxy is one of the brightest of any Messier objects, making it visible to the naked eye on moonless nights even when viewed from areas with moderate light pollution. Although it appears more than six times as wide as the full Moon when photographed through a larger telescope, only the brighter central region is visible to the naked eye or when viewed using binoculars or a small telescope.

Equipment and processing

Telescope: Astrotech AT72ED

Mount: Meade LXD55

Camera: Canon T1i

Filters: None

Guiding: PHD

Processing: Photoshop, DSS, Fitswork

Capture software: BackYardEOS

Exposures: 42x180 ISO1600

Location: Hatteras,NC

Description

Messier objects 16, 17, 18, 24, 25 are located in a star-rich and dense area of the Milky Way, where the constellations Sagittarius, Serpens and Scutum meet. M16 and M17 are the bright red nebulae. M18 is a small and inconspicuous cluster of stars. M24 is the large cloud of white stars centered near the lower edge, and M25 is a star cluster in the left top corner. This area is notable not only for its abundance of nebulae and star clusters, but also for its Milky Way structure - especially the interstellar dust blocking our view towards the bulge near the center of the Milky Way. Notice the many dark lanes crisscrossing this image. The insterstellar dust leaves only a few windows through which we get a rare glimpse of what lies behind, one of those is M24, the Little Sagittarius Star Cloud. The whitish original color of its stars is explained by the near-absence of interstellar dust within this window. The presence of dust colors nearly all other Milky Way star clouds in this frame in a yellow-brownish hue.

Equipment and processing

Telescope: 135mm F2.8 lens

Mount: Meade LXD55

Camera: Canon T1i

Filters: None

Guiding: PHD

Processing: Photoshop, DSS, Fitswork

Capture software: BackYardEOS

Exposures: 60x60 ISO3200

Location: Parsippany,NJ

Description

This image captures entire constellation of Orion which is rich in bright nebulae.

Barnard's Loop (catalogue designation Sh 2-276) is an emission nebula in the constellation of Orion. It is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex which also contains the dark Horsehead and bright Orion nebulae. The loop takes the form of a large arc centred approximately on the Orion Nebula. The stars within the Orion Nebula are believed to be responsible for ionizing the loop. The loop extends over about 600 arcminutes as seen from Earth, covering much of Orion. It is well seen in long-exposure photographs, although observers under very dark skies may be able to see it with the naked eye. Recent estimates place it at a distance of either 159 pc (518 light years or 440 pc (1434 ly) giving it dimensions of either about 100 or 300 ly across respectively. It is thought to have originated in a supernova explosion about 2 million years ago, which may have also created several known runaway stars, including AE Aurigae, Mu Columbae and 53 Arietis, which are believed to have been part of a multiple star system in which one component exploded as a supernova.

The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way south[b] of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of 1,344 �� 20 light years and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light years across. It has a mass of about 2000 times the mass of the Sun. Older texts frequently refer to the Orion Nebula as the Great Nebula in Orion or the Great Orion Nebula

The Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33 in emission nebula IC 434) is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion. The nebula is located just to the south of the star Alnitak, which is farthest east on Orion's Belt, and is part of the much larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. The nebula was first recorded in 1888 by Scottish astronomer Williamina Fleming on photographic plate B2312 taken at the Harvard College Observatory. The Horsehead Nebula is approximately 1500 light years from Earth. It is one of the most identifiable nebulae because of the shape of its swirling cloud of dark dust and gases, which bears some resemblance to a horse's head when viewed from Earth

Equipment and processing

Telescope: Canon 50mm F2.8

Mount: Meade LXD55

Camera: Canon T1i

Filters: None

Guiding: PHD

Processing: Photoshop, DSS, Fitswork

Capture software: Intervalometer

Exposures: 142x60 ISO3200

Location: Parsippany,NJ

Description

The Crescent Nebula (also known as NGC 6888, Caldwell 27, Sharpless 105) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, about 5000 light-years away. It was discovered by Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in 1792. It is formed by the fast stellar wind from the Wolf-Rayet star WR 136 (HD 192163) colliding with and energizing the slower moving wind ejected by the star when it became a red giant around 250,000 to 400,000 years ago. The result of the collision is a shell and two shock waves, one moving outward and one moving inward. The inward moving shock wave heats the stellar wind to X-ray-emitting temperatures.

Equipment and processing

Telescope: 135mm F2.8 lens

Mount: Meade LXD55

Camera: Canon T1i

Filters: Astronomik Ha 12nm

Guiding: PHD

Processing: Photoshop, DSS, Fitswork

Capture software: BackYardEOS

Exposures: Ha: 108x300 ISO1600 RGB: 195x30 ISO400

Location: Parsippany,NJ

Description

Messier 95 (also known as M95 or NGC 3351) is a barred spiral galaxy about 38 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by Pierre Mechain in 1781, and catalogued by Charles Messier four days later. On 16 March 2012, a supernova was discovered in M95. M95 is one of several galaxies within the M96 Group, a group of galaxies in the constellation Leo. The group also includes the Messier objects M96 and M105. A Type II supernova, designated as SN 2012aw, was discovered in M95 on 16 March 2012

Equipment and processing

Telescope: Meade SN6

Mount: Meade LXD55

Camera: Canon T1i

Filters: None

Guiding: PHD

Processing: Photoshop, DSS, Fitswork

Capture software: BackYardEOS

Exposures: 55x120 ISO1600

Location: Parsippany,NJ