During my last test with the new equatorial platform, I tried several dim targets, including the Triangulum galaxy. I took 35 one minute long exposures at 1600 ISO, and I was able to just barely capture it over the light pollution and extremely bright full moon that was out that… Continue Reading... "M33, the Triangulum"
After finishing up the Crescent nebula, I decided to try another target. With Andromeda being way too large to do, I picked her neighbor, M110. After snapping a few frames and watching them stack in real time, I wasn’t too impressed, so I called it a night. This is only… Continue Reading... "M110, just a white blob"
Excited to play with a new guidescope that I purchased to try to bring more accuracy to my manual tracking, I decided to try the setup out by finding the hardest galaxy I’ve done yet. Great idea. This is IC 10, also known as the “Starburst galaxy.” The galaxy is… Continue Reading... "Learning from mistakes with IC 10"
Fitting in with the summertime galaxy theme, after all of the good ones are gone, I settled on the Fireworks galaxy. It is quite dim at 10 magnitude, and I could barely see some spiral arms over the background noise in the individual snaps. However, with about 40 images taken… Continue Reading... "Fireworks galaxy"
The all-in-one tracking motor that I was using for my equatorial platform was a real pain in the neck. It would take me almost an hour to finally get tracking mostly correct, as I would have to take an exposure, think about it, kneel down on the ground, and try… Continue Reading... "Upgraded tracking and trying M51 again"
The last time I was imaging, I noticed that many frames would vary in the background color and brightness. I realized that this was due to light leaking into the the telescope, from my laptop, flashlights, neighbors’ porch lights, pretty much anything. I built a shroud to cover the middle,… Continue Reading... "M63, the Sunflower galaxy"
After having had great success with my tracking platform while imaging the Pinwheel Galaxy, I wanted to try the other famous galaxy in the Big Dipper, the Whirlpool galaxy. This galaxy is actually two galaxies that are interacting! You can see the funnel of stars going from the sister dwarf… Continue Reading... "M51a, the Frigidaire Whirlpool galaxy"
After spending a few weeks working on an equatorial platform for my telescope, I finally got all the kinks worked out on it and had a nice, clear night to test it. The platform worked exceptionally! I spent about 15 minutes setting it up, fiddling with the motor speed, and… Continue Reading... "First Galaxy, M101"
