re: Messier 44, aka, The Beehive

M-44 is the final image from the night of April 19. It's hard to believe that Messier could have mistaken M-44 for a comet, since it's a huge (nearly 1.5 degrees in diameter) naked-eye object (3.7 visual magnitude) better suited to binocular than telescopic viewing. (Click on the image for a larger view.)

I previously noted that the Borg field of view is nearly 4 degrees across the long dimension. Thus the enormous size of M-44 is readily apparent. Professional astronomers believe that both the Hyades and the Beehive originated in an enormous nebular cloud, much like M-42, some 750 million years ago. M-44 is nearly 670 LY distant from the solar system.

Clear skies.
Max

Image Acquisition and Processing Data
Camera control with ImagesPlus 2.82 using the Xti and Borg f/4 astrograph on the CG5 mount
Autoguiding with C102, PHD and Meade DSI

5 subs at 1 min/ISO1600(5 total minutes)

Eight darks at 1 min/ISO 1600

No bias or flats

Converted, calibrated, aligned, stacked, digitally developed in IP

Resized in PS CS2

Astronomy Tools star reduction action and increase star color action

Converted for the web in PS CS2

re: The Leo Trio (more results from April 19)

The Leo Trio is an often imaged object, and thus offers abundant opportunity for comparisons with the work of others. I'd like a tighter shot to show more detail in the galaxies, but that goal will have to wait for "new equipment." (Click on the photo for a larger image.)

The Trio (in the middle of the image) is comprised of NGC3628 at the upper right, M65 on the bottom right, and M66 on the left. One additional galaxy is visible at the bottom of the image near the middle. With additional "new equipment" (like a dedicated astroimaging camera) and longer exposures additional galaxies would be visible -- there are literally dozens in the FOV.

The subs were acquired before those of Markarian's Chain. I was still "tweaking" the autoguiding, so there is some trailing visible. But given that the majority of the subs were 3 minute exposures, I'm not disappointed. Live and learn, eh? Likely I need to reprocess the subs, and eliminate a few frames, but that will have to wait another day of processing.

Clear skies.

Max

Image Acquisition and Processing Data

Camera control with ImagesPlus 2.82 using the Xti and Borg f/4 astrograph on the CG5 mount
Autoguiding with C102, PHD and Meade DSI
14 subs at 1 min/ISO1600
15 subs at 3 min/ISO1600
(59 total minutes)
Eight darks at 1 min/ISO 1600
No bias or flats
Converted, calibrated, aligned, stacked, digitally developed (settings 0, 1.04, 4500, soft sharpen), auto stretch, saturation-brightness adjustment 1.2 in IP
Resized in PS CS2
Astronomy Tools star reduction action, increase star color action
Small levels and curves adjustment in PS CS2
Rotate 180d
Converted for the web in PS CS2

re: Markarian's Chain and Autoguiding

Will miracles never cease? After a long run of cloudy and blustery nights, including a 9" snow and several rainshowers, April 19 offered a calm and clear night.

Several "advances" (relatively speaking) were made. For one, I was finally able to field test the autoguiding setup (PHD Guiding + Meade DSI). With a minimal amount of tweaking the CG5 mount was tracking like never before! My compliments to Craig Stark, who distributes PHD Guiding as freeware. (Click on the photo for a larger image.)

The second step ahead was tweaking the focus using ImagesPlus rather than my own eye. Eric Jacob and Mike Reid had noted that the focus was soft in the previous images. And finally I increased the exposure from 60 seconds to 180 seconds. (Acquisition and processing details below.)

The photo has a good bit but not all of Markarian's chain included. The two bright galaxies near the middle of the photo are M84 (on the right) and M86. M87 is in the lower left. Altogether I can count 22 galaxies in the image -- all part of the Virgo Supercluster. If the opportunity presents itself I plan on capturing the missing Messier objects (M88-M91, M99, and M58) and then taking a shot at my first mosaic image.

Abundant information on Markarian's chain can be found online. Here's a link to a fabulous astroimage by Karel Teuwen of Markarian's Chain.

Clear skies.

Max

Image Acquisition and Processing Data

Camera control with ImagesPlus 2.82 using the Xti and Borg f/4 astrograph on the CG5 mount

Autoguiding with C102, PHD and Meade DSI
18 subs at 3 min/ISO1600
(54 total minutes)
Eight darks at 1 min/ISO 1600
No bias or flats
Converted, calibrated, aligned, stacked, digitally developed (settings 0, 1.05, 4500, soft sharpen) in IP
Resized in PS CS2
Astronomy Tools star reduction action, enhance deep sky object action, and increase star color action
Converted for the web in PS CS2