Astrophotography From Upper Pottsgrove Pennsylvania
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word Σείριος (Latin script: Seirios), meaning lit. ‘glowing’ or ‘scorching’. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbreviated α CMa or Alpha CMa. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, Sirius is almost … Read More “Sirius” »
NGC 2903 is an isolated barred spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Leo, positioned about 1.5° due south of Lambda Leonis. This field galaxy is located about 30 million light-years away from the Milky Way, and is a member of the Virgo Supercluster. On March 18, 2025 I set up my Celestron 9.25 telescope … Read More “NGC 2903” »
NGC 3718 is a small but beautiful galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. It is not far from other deep sky objects that are much easier to image. On March 14, 2025 I set up my Celestron 9.25 telescope on my CGEM II mount with no particular goal. It was a full moon and the … Read More “NGC3718 & NGC3729” »
NGC 2287 (M41) cluster covers an area about the size of the full moon. It contains about 100 stars, including several red giants the brightest of which has spectral type K3, apparent magnitude 6.3 and is near the center, and some white dwarfs. The cluster is estimated to be moving away from us at 23.3 … Read More “M41 – Little Beehive Cluster” »
It took me a couple tries to get this one. You know this hobby, something always goes wrong. I took this image on February 4, 2025. It is 70 3 minute long exposures with a total integration time of 3.5 hours. As normal my ZWO ASI2600 MC pro was set to 100 gain. 15 of … Read More “M1 – The Crab Nebula” »
I cannot believe this beauty does not have a name! NGC 2403 (also known as Caldwell 7) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis. It is an outlying member of the M81 Group, and is approximately 8 million light-years distant. It bears a similarity to M33, being about 50,000 light years in diameter … Read More “NGC 2403” »
The Iris Nebula (also known as NGC 7023 and Caldwell 4) is a bright reflection nebula in the constellation Cepheus. The designation NGC 7023 refers to the open cluster within the larger reflection nebula designated LBN 487. The nebula, which shines at magnitude +6.8, is illuminated by a nameless magnitude +7.4 star designated HD 200775. … Read More “Iris Nebula” »
Now I have 2 telescopes, I am trying to take 2 pictures of the same Deep Space Objects. The close up was taken with my Celestron 9.25″ telescope which has a focal length of 2350mm. The distant picture was take with my Celestron 8″ telescope with a Hyperstar which changes the focal length from 2032 … Read More “Orion-B The Flame Nebula and Horsehead Nebula” »
There are actually two Bubble Nebula’s. The other one is in the Barnard’s Galaxy. This one is located in the constellation Cassiopeia. It lies close to the open cluster Messier 52. The picture from my Celestron 8″ with my Hyperstar actually gets both the nebula and the open cluster. And if I moved my telescope … Read More “The Bubble Nebula – NGC 7635” »
What do you do on cloudy nights? I process images. This is NGC 253 The Sculptor Galaxy. Took it on 11/3/2024. This is with my Celestron 9.25″ telescope and my Celestron CGE II Mount. I have struggled with 5 minute long exposures. The new mount, did it! To make this, I took 20 5 min … Read More “NGC 253 The Sculptor Galaxy” »
