Galaxies: Hunter Wilson

NGC 891 in Andromeda

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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NGC 891 is an edge on unbarred spiral galaxy about 30 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It was discovered by William Herschel on October 6 1784. The galaxy is a member of the NGC 1023 group of galaxies in the Local Supercluster.

The finding of large amounts of molecular hydrogen (H2) in NGC 891 has raised the question of whether "dark matter" may be partially due to molecular hydrogen. According to two Dutch astronomers, most or all of it may be ordinary molecular hydrogen (H2), which, unlike atomic hydrogen (H), is invisible except at certain infrared wavelengths.

NGC 891 is one of those objects that makes you wonder how Messier missed it.

November 12, 2009

M74 in Pisces - The "Phantom Galaxy"

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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Of all the objects in Messier's catalogue, number 74 has the lowest surface brightness. It is so difficult for amateur astronomers to spot through a telescope that it has been given the nickname 'The Phantom Galaxy' and is the Messier object most likely to thwart a Messier Marathon.

Discovered 1780 by Pierre Méchain, Messier 74 (M74, NGC 628) is one of the nicest examples of so-called "grand-design" spiral galaxies seen face-on, so that its spiral structure stands out conspicuously. With its comparatively low surface brightness, it is one of the more difficult objects in Messier's catalog, situated in constellation Pisces.

Its distance may be about 30 to 40 million light years, as it recedes with 793 km/sec. Its spiral arms are about 1000 light years broad. They are traced with clusters of blue young stars and pinkish colored diffuse gaseous nebulae (H II regions) in color photos, and reach out to cover a region of more than 10 minutes of arc in diameter, corresponding to roughly 95,000 light years, or about the same size as our Milky Way galaxy. The Webb Society deep sky observer's handbook gives a number of 193 known H II regions.

Two supernovae have been discovered in M74:

Supernova 2002ap was discovered in M74 on January 29, 2002 by Japanese amateur Yoji Hirose when it was at mag 13.7. This type Ib/c supernova brightened up to mag 12.3 between February 5 and 12, 2002, and was classified as a "hypernova," occurring when progenitor stars of at least 40 solar masses explode.
Supernova 2003gd was found visually in M74 by Bob Evans on June 12.82 UT, in the morning twilight at Australia as it was 13.2 mag bright, and already fading. This supernova was of type II.

NGC 7331 and the "Deerlick Group"

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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Deer Lick Group: The dominant galaxy is NGC 7331, a magnitude 10.3 spiral galaxy estimated to be close to 50 million light years away. It is thought that this is similar to what our galaxy would look like from a like distance and angle. It has a radius of about 32,000 light years. This group apparently was given this odd name "in commemoration of one of the finest nights of viewing EVER, at Deer Lick Gap, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, in the NC mountains," by persons unnamed.

The galaxies in the Deerlick group other than NGC 7331 are 10x more distant On the top from left to right are NGC 7337 NGC 7340, NGC 7335, NGC 7336, PGC 2051985. On the bottom, NGC 7325 and NGC 7326.

NGC 7331 is one of the brighter galaxies which is not included in Messier's catalog. It exposes a fine spiral structure despite its small inclination from the edge-on position. NGC 7331 was among the earliest recognized spiral galaxies, and listed by Lord Rosse in his list of 14 "spiral or curvilinear nebulae" discovered before 1850.

September 16, 2009

M31 in HaRGB - The Great Andromeda Galaxy - 4 Panel Mosaic

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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Astrophotogallery.org September, 2009 Hard Category Winner

The Great Andromeda Galaxy is approximately 2.52 million light years from earth and is 125 thousand light years across from front to back as seen from earth. It is likely that the ancestors of the human species were still on all fours when the light left the back side of Andromeda, but were walking upright and using stone tools by the time it reached the front edge of the galaxy. In any event, if you see Andromeda, keep in mind that you are seeing the light from when Humanity was just starting to gain a foothold on planet Earth.

M31 in Andromeda is the nearest major galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy and the two galaxies are on a collision course, approaching each other at the rate of 100 to 140 kilometers per second (300,000 MPH). This catastrophic wreck will begin to happen in approximately the year 1,000,000,000 AD.

Our Galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda and together these two dominate the Local Group of galaxies. The several distinct stars that surround Andromeda's image are actually stars in our Galaxy that are well in front of the background object. Much about M31 remains unknown, including why the center contains two nuclei.

M31 is large enough and close enough that scientists are able to study smaller structures within the galaxy, like the structures within our own galaxy. One of these, star cluster NGC 206 has it's own designation.

Here's an interesting article by Tom Trusok concering all the different objects within the Andromeda Galaxy.

Color Data August 23 and 25, September 12, 2009
Ha Data August 31, 2009

M110 in Andromeda

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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Just cropped a low res shot from the M31 image to add to the Messier list.

The small elliptical galaxy M110 (NGC 205) is at about the same distance as the Andromeda galaxy M31, about 2.9 million light years, as confirmed by Walter Baade in 1944, when he resolved it into stars (Baade 1944). It is of Hubble type E5 or E6 and is designated "peculiar" because it shows some unusual dark structure (probably dust clouds). M110 is now often classified as a dwarf spheroidal galaxy, not a generic elliptical one (this would make it the first ever known dwarf spheroid, of course). However, as it is much brighter than typical dwarf spheroids, Sidney van dan Bergh has introduced the term "Spheroidal Galaxy" for this and similar galaxies, including Local Group members NGC 147 and NGC 185. M110's mass was estimated to be between 3.6 and 15 billion solar masses.

Apparently, despite its comparatively small size, this dwarf elliptical galaxy has also a remarkable system of 8 globular clusters in a halo around it. The brightest of them, G73, is of about 15th magnitude and thus within the reach of large amateur telescopes
(SEDS)

Color Data August 23, 2009
Ha Data August 31, 2009

M32 in Andromeda

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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Just cropped from a low res version of M31 to add to the Messier gallery.

Color Data August 23 and 25, September 12, 2009
Ha Data August 31, 2009

Arp 271 (NGC 5426 and NGC 5427) in Virgo

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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NGC 5426 (left) and NGC 5427 (right) comprising the system known as Arp 271 lie 114 million light years away in the constellation Virgo. The two nearly identical galaxies are in the early stages of gravitational interaction and can be seen sharing matter in a 60,000 light-year long bridge-like structure between them. Their spiral arms are beginning to distort as well. This can be seen best in NGC 5427 as a bifurcation in it's upper arm in this image.

Since this image was taken with a humble 9.25 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain, you might want to check out a closer view and educational writeup taken by the Gemini South Telescope at Cerro Pachon Chile.

The interacting pair is part of Dr. Halton Arp's "Catalog of Peculiar Galaxies".

May 19, 2009

Draco Trio

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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Sky and Telescope Editor's Choice May 20, 2009

A beautiful, if faint, trio in the constellation Draco is comprised of from left to right, face on spiral NGC 5985, elliptical galaxy NGC 5982, and edge-on spiral NGC 5981. Distance from earth is about 100 million light years.

NGC5985 is considered an active or 'Seyfert' galaxy. Some galaxies, notably the Seyferts, show large quantities of gas in their nuclei which is not associated with O or B stars. Their nuclei are called Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN's); the galaxies are sometimes called Active Galaxies. While making up the biggest portion, Seyferts are not the only galaxies with AGNs: Other examples are the radio galaxies and the quasars. They all have in common that their high luminosity is not produced by stars. Seyfert galaxies are characterized by extremely bright nuclei believed to be secondary to an accretion disk and jet caused by rapid rotation around a black hole. Seyfert galaxies show strong emission in the radio, infrared, ultraviolet, and x-ray. The radio emission is believed to be synchrotron emission from the jet.

A number of fainter, more distant galaxies can be seen in this image as well.

May 17, 2009

Draco Trio Reworked

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Same data as the previous image. This time the data was separated into the LRGB channels in PixInsight LE and each channel was processed according to it's needs. Luminance channel was sharpened and contrast adjusted after noise reduction. The color channels were much noisier than in the M83 image shown later in the gallery, probably because this is a one-shot-color camera as opposed to a mono imager. Each channel was noise reduced much more than the luminance channel. The combined color data (RGB image) also had to be significantly blurred to avoid noise and then laid on top of the lumance layer to add color.

Luminance and color data was separately adjusted for balance and then combined to make this image.

Reworked June 7, 2009

M61 in Virgo

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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North is left in this image

Astronomy Magazine Print Version Reader Gallery November, 2009 Edition

Anacortes Telescope and Wild Bird Picture of the Day April 29, 2009

Messier 61 (NGC 4303) is a large barred spiral galaxy in the southernmost part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies located between e Virginis (Vindemiatrix) and b Leonis (Denebola). It has three arms that contain many clumps of new star clusters and HII regions.

M61 is both a starburst and a low luminosity Seyfert type 2 galaxy. These two phenomena may not just coexist in galaxies like M61, but may be co-dependant.

M61 was discovered by Barnabus Oriani on May 5, 1779 when following the comet of that year, 6 days before Charles Messier's discovery, who had seen it on the same day as Oriani but mistaken it for the comet. Messier mistook it for two nights more, until he realized that it did not move. (SEDS)

M61 is one of the larger galaxies in the Virgo cluster; its 6 arc minutes of diameter correspond to about 100,000 light years, similar to the diameter of the Milky Way galaxy. It lies about 60 million light years from earth.

Companion barred spiral NGC 4303A can be seen to the lower left of M61, and Elliptical NGC 4292 in the upper left. Hundreds of other faint, distant galaxies are present in the background - as would be expected of any field taken in Virgo.

April 16, 2009

M61 in Virgo with Supernova 2008in

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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A slightly closer view of M61 better showing the location of SN2008in. Estimated magnitude ~ 17 at the time of this image.

Sky and Telescope Online Gallery April 22, 2009

Listed on Supernovae.net

Type IIP Supernova 2008in was discovered on 26th December by Koichi Itagaki in the spiral galaxy M61 in Virgo. Type II supernovae are formed from the core-collapse and explosion of massive stars (i.e. greater than 9 solar masses). Type IIP are designated as such because they reach maximum brightness, dim slightly, and then stay at almost the same brightness "plateau" for many days before fading (hence the name type IIP, i.e. II-Plateau).

Four other supernovae have been observed in M61: 1926A (12.8 mag) was discovered by Wolf and Reinmuth, 1961I (mag 13, Humason), 1964F (mag 12, Rosino), and 1999gn (13.4 mag, Dimai). NED gives the following types and (alternative values for) maxima: SN 1926A, type IIL, 14pv; SN 1961I, type II, 13.0; SN 1964F, type I, 14.0. The Supernova 1961I appeared in the spiral arms, about 82" from the center, and was photographed by the Lick observatory.

April 16, 2009

M81 and M82 in Ursa Major

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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About 600 million years ago, galaxies M81 and M82 were involved in a cosmic near miss hit and run accident. During this event, larger and more massive M81 (lower) extensively deformed M82 by gravitational interaction. The encounter has also left traces in the spiral pattern of the brighter and larger galaxy M81, first making it overall more pronounced, and second in the form of the dark linear feature in the nuclear region. The centers of M81 and M82 are only 150,000 light years apart, and they continue to interact strongly. M82 may eventually be stripped of gas and dust and become a tight and featureless elliptical.

Here's an interesting paper that illustrates the difficulties in identifying and documenting adequate data on DSO's in a time when sketching and textual description was the astronomer's only tools. Besides, it has a really wild picture of William Herschel's son John.

Taken with a glaring waxing gibbous moon, which shows that the dynamic range of the CCD allows adequate imaging even in bright moonlight. I am sure that some of the faint detail like galaxy Holmberg IX suffered for it, however (even though it's miraculous that it even showed up in these conditions).

April 4, 2009

M81 and M82 in Ursa Major - Cropped View

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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April 4, 2009

M109 in Ursa Major

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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First trial of guiding the C9.25 with the internal guidechip. As noted, this is only 3 ten minute subs (30 minutes) so it's very noisy but better than my previous effort with the unmodified DSLR, so I put it up until I get a better shot.

Messier 109 (NGC 3992) is a barred spiral approximately 46 million light years away in the constellation Ursa Major and and receding at 1142 km/sec.

M109 is the brightest galaxy in the M109 Group, a large group of galaxies located in the constellation Ursa Major that may contain over 50 galaxies.

In March of 1956, supernova 1956A was observed in M109. SN 1956A was a type Ia supernova in the southeast part of the galaxy, glowing at magnitude 12.8 to 12.3 at its maximum. SN 1956A was the only supernova observed in M109 since its discovery.

April 1, 2009

M106 in Canes Venatici

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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M106 (NGC 4258) is a Seyfert II galaxy in Canes Venatici. It lies at a distance of 22 to 25 million light years from earth and is receding at 537 km/sec. M106 is usually classified as peculiar "normal" spiral of type Sb (or Sbp). This is the nearest example of a Seyfert galaxy to earth.

NGC 4217 is the bright edge-on spiral in the lower right of the frame, and may be a companion of M106. NGC 4248 is the small galaxy just to the upper right of M106.

Map of some faint galaxies near M106

March 30, 2009

M106 Cropped View

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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Anacortes Telescope and Wild Bird Picture of the Day June 22, 2009

Sky and Telescope Editor's Choice April 1, 2009

March 30, 2009

M65 and M66 In Leo

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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First light with my new CCD camera. I had some trouble trying to guide with the internal chip, and some other software issues, but it's not a bad first light - especially for only three subexposures and a total of 30 minutes integration time.

March 26, 2009

NGC 5364 and NGC 5363 in Virgo

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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A very busy, typical Virgo galaxy field containing beautiful spiral NGC 5364 (bottom), elliptical NGC 5363 (top middle), edge-on 13th magnitude spiral NGC 5356 at top right corner, and NGC 5360 14th magnitude irregular galaxy just right of NGC 5364. There are many other galaxies throughout the field as well.

This group is one of the Virgo III groups, the NGC 5364 group.

March 20, 2009

M99 in Coma Berenices

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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M99 (NGC 4254) is an unbarred spiral galaxy approximately 60 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It is one of the fainter Messier objects, and a beautiful spiral galaxy seen almost face-on and is one of the brighter spiral members of the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies.

The galaxy has a normal looking arm and an extended arm that is less tightly wound. A bridge of neutral hydrogen gas links NGC 4254 with VIRGOHI21. The gravity from the dark galaxy VIRGOHI21 appears to have distorted M99 and drawn out the gas bridge, as the two galaxy-sized objects have a close encounter, before they go their separate ways. It is expected that the drawn out arm will relax to match the normal arm once the encounter is over. Three supernovae have been observed in this galaxy. (Wikipedia)

March 20, 2009

M95 in Leo

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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M95 (NGC 3351) is a barred spiral galaxy about 33 million light-years away in the constellation Leo.

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.

March 20, 2009

NGC 5033 in Canes Venatici

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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NGC 5033 is an inclined spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici at a distance of 37 million light years. The galaxy has a very bright nucleus and a relatively faint disk. The galaxy's location relatively near Earth and its active galactic nucleus make it a commonly studied object for professional astronomers. The galaxy is receding from earth at the rate of 1.88 million mph.

NGC 5033 contains a low luminosity type 1 Seyfert nucleus, a type of active galactic nucleus. Like many other active galactic nuclei, this galaxy's nucleus is thought to contain a supermassive black hole. The galaxy has a disproportionate mass (two TRILLION suns) that can only be explained by a large dark matter halo surrounding it.

Astronomers have also found that this galaxy contains twice the concentration of Oxygen that our own solar neighborhood does.

March 16, 2009

NGC 2841 in Ursa Major

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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NGC 2841 lies 50 million light years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It's diameter is 150,000 light years, or about 50% larger than the Milky Way. The spiral arms are particularly tightly wound, with no visible outliers. It is known for it's large population of young stars and paucity of HII regions.

NGC 2841 contains a low-ionization nuclear emission-line region (LINER), a type of region that is characterized by spectral line emission from weakly ionized atoms.

March 16, 2009

NGC 2903 in Leo

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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Astrophotogallery.org March Easy Winner

Sky and Telescope Online Gallery April 1, 2009

NGC 2903 is a barred spiral galaxy about 20.5 million light years away in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by William Herschel who cataloged it as on November 16, 1784. NGC 2905 is a bright star cloud within this galaxy.

The bright yellow center of NGC 2903 is undergoing very active star formation and contains massive amounts of dust and gas that are coagulating into stars and new globular clusters, while the arms are composed of older stars and aging clusters. It is believed that the gravity of the dense central bar expedites star formation in the core. The core resembles a Seyfert galaxy, but at a lower magnitude.

This galaxy is just smaller than the Milky Way at about 100,000 light years across.

One of the brighter galaxies in the northern hemisphere, most agree that it is remarkable that Messier missed this object in his observations.

Distant galaxy UGC 5086 is found left of NGC 2903 and
and 16th magnitude galaxy 1648681 is seen below.

March 15, 2009

NGC 2903 - "Hydrogen Enhanced" Collaboration

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

RGB Data:
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March 15, 2009

Hydrogen Alpha Data:
Meade DSI Pro 2 Mono
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Baader 1.25" 7nm H alpha filter
February 6, 13, 24, March 3, 4, 2009

Collaboration with Ted Rafferty, using his Ha data and my RGB data to better show the HII regions of NGC 2903.

The Ha image shows much more detail than I was able to bring into this HaRGB combination. I simply couldn't get the fine Ha to show here, and it doesn't do the Ha image justice.

M83 in Hydra

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Imaged Remotely
12.5" RCOS
STL-11000 with AO
HaLRGB 300min(4x15, 8x15, 4x15, 4x15, 4x15)
All Binned 1x1
Darks Applied
Astrodon RGB Filters
Paramount Equatorial Mount
Fair Dinkum Skies, Pingelly Australia

Data registered and dark subtracted in Maxim DL, image assembled from Ha, L, R, G, and B frames in Photoshop CS3/FITS Liberator.

Each individual channel was pre-processed in PixInsight LE prior to processing each channel separately in CS3. This allowed for individualized treatment of each channel according to it's particular needs.

FITS data was initially stretched and noise reduced in PixInsight LE, then transfered to CS3 via FITS Liberator by a linear conversion (no stretch involved). The luminance data was then processed, contrast adjusted, and sharpened in CS3. The color data was balanced, saturated, and star size reduced (particularly the red channel) to allow good color merge in CS3 and then layered onto the luminance data as a color layer.

Color adjustments and final sharpening of the luminance data were executed prior to merging the layers and the Ha was then added to the LRGB image to accentuate the Ha regions in the final HaRGB image shown here.

Bottom line - each channel was processed according to it's individual needs.

Thank you - you know who you are - for allowing me to use this marvelous equipment for a night. I just wish I could afford this kind of setup on a permanent basis.

M83 (NGC 5236) is an intermediate spiral galaxy approximately 15 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra. Messier 83 stretches over 40 000 light-years, making it roughly 2.5 times smaller than our own Milky Way. However, in some respects, Messier 83 is quite similar to our own galaxy. Both the Milky Way and Messier 83 possess a bar across their galactic nucleus, the dense spherical conglomeration of stars seen at the centre of the galaxies.

The core of M83 itself is bright at x-ray energies, showing a high concentration of neutron stars and black holes left from an intense burst of star formation.

It is one of the closest and brightest barred spiral galaxies in the sky, making it visible with binoculars. Six Supernovae (SN 1923A, SN 1945B, SN 1950B, SN 1957D, and SN 1983N) have been observed in M83.

March 5, 2009 and Reworked June 6, 2009

M108 in Ursa Major

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
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Cropped a little tight for quality, but it really is a nothing kind of galaxy and I had to show at least some detail.

M108 (NGC 3556) is a nearly edge on galaxy that appears to have no bulge and no pronounced core at all, it is just a detail-rich mottled disk with heavy obscuration along the major axis. About it's only claim to fame is that is makes part of a photogenic pair with planetary nebula M97 (Owl Nebula) in wide field images from small telescopes.

There's little evidence for a well-defined spiral pattern in this Sc galaxy, which is receding at 772 km/sec. It is about 45 million light years distant, and a member of the Ursa Major cloud, a loose agglomeration of galaxies.

The type II supernova 1969B occurred in M108 and reached mag 13.9 on Jan 23, 1969.

March 4, 2009

M51 "Whirlpool Galaxy" in Canes Venatici

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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Cloudy Nights Imaging/Sketching Contest Winner March 2009 and Here

Astrophotogallery.org April Easy Winner

Cloudy Nights Imaging/Sketching Contest DSLR Division March. 2009 Winner

Anacortes Telescope and Wild Bird Picture of the Day March 20, 2009

Messier 51 (NGC 5194) along with it's interacting companion NGC 5195 are know as Arp 85 and reside just south of Alkaid (the star at the end of the big dipper's handle) in the constellation Canes Venatici at a distance of about 37 million light years. The exaggerated spiral appearance is thought to be a result of interaction with NGC 5195. M51 has a diameter of 38,000 light-years. Its mass is estimated to be 160 billion solar masses.

The Whirlpool Galaxy is the brightest galaxy in the M51 Group, a small group of galaxies that also includes M63, NGC 5023, and NGC 5229. This small group may actually be a subclump at the southeast end of a large, elongated group that includes the M101 Group and the NGC 5866 Group.

M51 was the first galaxy to be recognized as a spiral. This was achieved by Lord Rosse employing a 72-inch reflecting telescope which he constructed at Birr Castle, Ireland. Sometimes M51 is used to refer to the pair of galaxies, in which case the individual galaxies may be referred to as M51A (NGC 5194) and M51B (NGC 5195).

March 4, 2009

M51 - "Hydrogen Enhanced" Collaboration

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

RGB Data:
Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
70x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63
February 22, 2009

Hydrogen Alpha Data:
Meade DSI Pro 2 Mono
15x480sec
Darks/Flats Applied
Meade SN8 Reflector
Baader 1.25" 7nm H alpha filter
February 6 and 13, 2009

Collaboration with Ted Rafferty, using his Ha data and my RGB data to better show the HII regions of M51. I left the addition moderately subtle - there was so much Ha in this galaxy that it could have been much more vivid had I wanted.

Notice the INTENSE star formation in M51 in the outer arm facing the companion galaxy NGC 5195.

M81 - Bode's Galaxy in Ursa Major

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
70x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

50% Crop

2008 SCT User Contest Winner: DSO with Non-Astro Camera

M81 (NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy) is a large, bright, classic spiral galaxy 12 million light years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It is the dominant member of the group of galaxies that carry it's name- one of the nearest groups to our local group.

A few tens of million years ago a close encounter occurred between the galaxies M81 and M82. During this event, larger and more massive M81 has dramatically deformed M82 by gravitational interaction. The encounter has also left traces in the spiral pattern of M81, first making it overall more pronounced, and second in the form of the dark linear feature in the lower left of the nuclear region. The galaxies are still close together, their centers separated by a linear distance of only about 150,000 light years.

The spiral arms, which wind all the way down into the nucleus, are made up of young, bluish, hot stars formed in the past few million years. They also host a population of stars formed in an episode of star formation that started about 600 million years ago. A number of sinuous dust lanes also wind all the way into the nucleus of M81.

The galaxy's central bulge contains much older, redder stars. It is significantly larger than the Milky Way's bulge. A black hole of 70 million solar masses resides at the center of M81. The black hole is about 15 times the mass of the Milky Way's black hole. Hubble research shows that the size of the central black hole in a galaxy is proportional to the mass of a galaxy's bulge.

A nice movie inspecting the Hubble image of M81.

Satellite dwarf galaxy Holmberg IX can be seen above M81.

February 22, 2009

M81 - "Hydrogen Enhanced" Collaboration

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

RGB Data:
Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
70x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63
February 22, 2009

Hydrogen Alpha Data:
Meade DSI Pro 2 Mono
12x480sec
Darks/Flats Applied
Meade SN8 Reflector
Baader 1.25" 7nm H alpha filter
February 20, 2009

Astronomy Magazine Picture of the Day July 7, 2009

Collaboration with Ted Rafferty, using his Ha data and my RGB data to better show the HII regions of M81. The Ha data adds quite a bit, but it's somewhat subtle in appearance as M81 is quite "nodular" anyway.

NGC 3718 and NGC 3729 in Ursa Major

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
56x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

60% Crop

Astronomy Magazine Picture of the Day July 14, 2009

NGC 3718 (Arp 214) is a strongly warped spiral galaxy that is gravitationally interacting with it's neighbor, NGC 3729, which is only 150 thousand light years from it's companion. The pair is approximately 42.5 million light years distant.

NGC 3718 contains an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and is known as a Seyfert type 1.9 galaxy. HI mapping of the galaxy shows a suggestion of a tidal tail that starts on the eastern side of the galaxy and extends north towards its companion NGC 3729 strongly suggesting a gravitational relationship between the two galaxies.

Below NGC 3718 and 300 million light years distant is compact galaxy group Hickson 56, also carrying an Arp designation (322) comprised of five closely interacting galaxies, two of which are radio sources.

Members of Hickson 56 from left to right in this image:
MCG 9-19-113 (edge-on spiral) Mag=14.78
UGC 6527 (barred lenticular) Mag=14.69
PGC 35618 (lenticular, peculiar) Mag=15.82
PGC 35615 (spiral, peculiar) Mag=17.01
PGC 35609 (barred lenticular, peculiar) Mag=16.37

There are also multiple faint distant galaxies peppering the entire image, particularly the large cluster between the upper poles of NGC 3718 and NGC 3729. To the upper left of NGC 3729, the brightest members (mag 19) of distant galaxy Cluster MaxBCG J173.61398+53.22685 (z=0.232 / light travel time = 2.6 Gyr) are visible.

February 22, 2009

NGC 772 in Aries

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
20x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

50% Crop

Clouds stopped any further exposure time

Sky and Telescope Editor's Choice February 4, 2008

Astronomy Magazine Online Picture of the Day March 23, 2009

NGC 772 (Arp 78) is an giant spiral galaxy approximately 130 million light years distant measuring 250,000 light years across - 2.5 times that of the Milky Way. NGC 772 has a Seyfert nucleus and is very active in star formation.

The galaxy below it in this image is E3 elliptical dwarf NGC 770 - a satellite of NGC 772 - that interacts gravitationally with it's companion causing deformation of one of the larger galaxy's arms. NGC 770 may be one of the few examples of where two dwarf galaxies have merged into one.

The Arp catalog of peculiar galaxies was compiled by astonomer and big bang critic Halton Arp.

In 2003, two supernovae were seen in NGC 772 within three weeks of one another.

January 22, 2009

IC 342 in Camelopardalis

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
39x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

30% Crop

It was very difficult to obtain a reasonable signal/noise ratio with this object as it lies directly in the only light dome I have in my sky. I wanted to try it anyway, and it's not my best, but I'm glad to have it in the collection.

Edwin P. Hubble suspected IC 342 as a member of the Local Group, but later observations showed that it is at a distance of about 14 million light-years. It forms a group with some large and many dwarf galaxies, the so-called Maffei 1 group, or IC 342 group, which is the closest group outside our local group.

It lies only 10 degrees of so off the galactic equator and therefore is obscured by a factor of 2.5 magnitudes by interstellar debris. If it were not for this decrease in magnitude, it would be one of the brightest galaxies in the sky. It is the largest galaxy in the northern sky after M31 and M33.

Faint galaxy UGC02826 can be seen glowing at mag 15 in the upper right corner.

November 4, 2008

M82 in Ursa Major

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
55x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

50% Crop

Astronomy Magazine Picture of the Day January 23, 2009

Messier 82 (NGC 3034) is a galaxy of peculiar type in the galaxy-rich constellation Ursa Major. It is usually classified as irregular, though probably a distorted disk galaxy. It is the prototypical "starburst galaxy" as it is very active in star forming, probably due to the energizing influence of a recent close (in galactic terms on both counts - the most recent being 50 to several 100 million years ago) encounter it's neighbor M81. M82 forms stars at the rate of 10 times that of a normal galaxy.

Also due to this close encounter, M82 is the brightest infrared emitting galaxy in the sky, and recently over 100 young globular clusters were recently discovered there by the Hubble Space Telescope.

M82 is 12 million light years distant and spans 40,000 light years.

October 30, 2008

M82 "Hydrogen Enhanced" Collaboration

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

M82 Showing Quasar Hoag 1

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

RGB Data:
Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
36x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63
October 30, 2008

Hydrogen Alpha Data:
Meade DSI Pro 2 Mono
10x480sec
Darks/Flats Applied
Meade SN8 Reflector
Baader 1.25" 7nm H alpha filter
February 8, 2009

Same image as prior with indicators showing the position of 20th magnitude Quasar Hoag 1.

The first quasars found near M82 were serendipitously discovered by Arthur A. Hoag, who had recently invented the grating prism, or grism.

According to material in a book written by Halton Arp, there are at least 3 other quasars in this area, but too faint to see here. It was later determined that there were many more QSO's residing in this area.

Arp has argued that this group of quasars, which shows a concentration of about 60 QSO's per square degree of space, is too dense to be a random event (considering QSO's near M82 and other galaxies, the probabilities of these associations being due to chance are calculated to range from 0.01 to 0.001) and are actually "children" of M82 despite their vastly different redshifts (and thus vastly different theoretical distances). This is one of the findings that Arp has cited when criticizing the big bang theory.

Don't believe this little spot is a QSO - well, here's at least one other guy that thinks so.

NGC 672 and IC 1727 - Interacting Pair in Triangulum

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
40x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

50% Crop

Sky and Telescope Online Gallery November 3, 2008

While not a very visually appealing pair (I defy you to find a pretty picture of this duo), NGC 672 (top) and IC 1727 are quite the interesting couple. Being only 88,000 light years apart - about the diameter of one of them - they interact extensively, even to the degree that they are encapsulated in a common envelope of shared gas and intermingling stars . IC 1727, from the data, seems to be getting the worst of this relationship.

This pair has been shown to be related to the the NGC 784 group (previously thought to be independent) by being situated along the same dark-matter filament in an otherwise galaxy-sparse part of the universe. The theory is that the dark matter has focused the regular matter in the region, allowing it to condense into small, irregular galaxies and then into larger spirals by way of heirarchial clustering.

These galaxies lie only 18 million light years distant from Earth, and thus can be resolved into some of their galactic components, as can begin to be seen here.

Three other faint edge-on spirals can be seen in the image as well.

October 29, 2008

M77 in Cetus

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
40x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

50% Crop

Cloudy Nights Small Wonders: Quick Peeks - Cetus 12/08 (Tom Trusock)

Astronomy Magazine Picture of the Day December 8, 2008

Sky and Telescope Editor's Choice November 3, 2008

Messier 77 (NGC 1068, Arp 37), lies about 60 million light years away (approximately the same distance but another direction as the Virgo Cluster) in the constellation Cetus. It is the nearest Seyfert type II galaxy to Earth, but also the most distant Messier object according to some sources.

This galaxy has been studied extensively regarding galaxy core supermassive black holes and is thought to contain a monster black hole of 15 million solar masses.

Most images of M77 are composed of the bright central core, but as you can see here, there is more to the galaxy than the bright core. Including the less-bright periphery, the galaxy spans perhaps 170,000 light years - larger than the Milky Way - and one of the largest in the Messier Catalog - containing an estimated 1 trillion solar masses.

October 30, 2008

M77 Core

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
40x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

A closer shot of the bright core of M77, which by itself is about 120,000 light years across and contains the supermassive black hole that is the engine of this galaxy. The short central bar of the galaxy can be better seen here - classification SA(rs)b

October 30, 2008

NGC 7814 in Pegasus

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
35x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

50% crop

Astronomy Magazine Picture of the Day November 17, 2008

Sky and Telescope Online Gallery November 3, 2008

NGC 7814 (Caldwell 43) is a beautiful edge-on spiral located in the southeast corner of the great square of Pegasus. It looks somewhat like a miniature version of M104 - the Sombrero Galaxy and the plane of the galaxy can be seen to be slightly warped, which is not usually seen at optical wavelengths.

If one examines the background field, it is evident that the area around NGC 7814 is swarming with distant galaxies. Like the Hubble deepfield, this type of image puts our tiny earth in perspective and is truly humbling.

The galaxy is between 40 and 55 million light years distant and glows at magnitude 10.6.

October 30, 2008

NGC 925 in Triangulum

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
45x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

50% Crop

Sky and Telescope Online Gallery November 3, 2008

This object is about the limit of the 350D's ability to gather photons. Much lower surface brightness than I expected. Still, this image compares favorably with images from larger scopes and CCD cameras.

NGC 925 is nearly face-on with us. A barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Triangulum, this galaxy is part of the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale, which was designed to determine the Hubble Constant within +/-10% using Cepheid Variables. It is 45 million light years distant. The central bar is dominated by old yellow stars, while the arms are populated by star-forming areas and young, blue stars.

October 23, 2008

NGC 6946 - "Firecracker Galaxy" in Cepheus

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
25x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

Astronomy Magazine Picture of the Day November 24, 2008

Poor seeing, but the Firecracker was bright enough to stand up to it.

NGC 6946 (Arp 29) is a nearby intermediate spiral galaxy at a distance of 10 million light years (one of the nearest to us), which at one time was suspected to be an outlying member of the the local group, but has since been shown to be a relative loner in space. It is highly obscured by interstellar matter of the Milky Way galaxy, as it is quite close to the galactic plane. If it weren't for this screening by the Milky Way, this galaxy might be the brightest in the sky. It spans about 20,000 light years.

This galaxy is EXTREMELY active (partially the reason for the name "Firecracker") and is thought to have been spewing out supernovae for tens of millions of years. Together with M83, NGC 6946 shares the record number of observed supernovae. Nine supernovae have been observed in NGC 6946.

October 23, 2008

NGC 7479 in Pegasus

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
50x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

50% Crop

Sky and Telescope Online Gallery September 30, 2008

NGC 7479 (Caldwell 44) is a barred spiral galaxy discovered by William Herschel in 1784, about 105 million light-years away and roughly 120,000 ly across (20% larger than our Milky Way). Supernova SN 1990U occurred in NGC 7479 on July 27, 1990 at 22"W and 54"S of the galaxy's nucleus and reached mag 16.

NGC 7479 is also recognized as a Seyfert galaxy undergoing starburst activity in the nucleus and the outer arms (Kohno, 2007 ). Polarization studies of this galaxy indicate it recently underwent a minor merger and that it is unique in the radio continuum with arms opening in an opposite direction to the optical arms (Laine, 2005). (Glen Youman)

September 22, 2008

M33 - "Triangulum Galaxy" - "Hydrogen Enhanced"

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
32x180sec at iso 1600
13x600sec Ha with Baader 7nm Ha filter at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
APM/TMB 130/780 with APM Field Flattener

Sky and Telescope Editor's Choice September 22, 2008

Astronomy Magazine Picture of the Day September 8, 2008

Taken almost one year to the day, this image of M33 replaces last year's effort.

Hydrogen Alpha Data used in this image. RGB version of this image.

Hydrogen enhancement using Chris Schur's method for Hydrogen Enhanced Galaxies.

The RGB image is split into it's components and the data from the Ha exposure is projected onto the R channel at 100% opacity with the layer set to "screen". The Ha data is also projected onto the B layer in the same manner, but at 15% opacity, which provides color for the H beta line. The RGB channels are then recombined into an image by starting with the G data as the background layer and then projecting the HaR and HaB layers on top of it as "lighten" layers.

The Triangulum Galaxy Messier 33 (M33, NGC 598) is another prominent member of the Local Group of galaxies. This galaxy is small compared to its big apparent neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy M31, and to our Milky Way galaxy, but by this more of average size for spiral galaxies in the universe. M33 may be a remote but gravitationally bound companion of the Andromeda galaxy M31.

Several knots in the spiral arms of M33 have been assigned their own NGC catalog numbers - the largest of which in this image is in the upper mid-right and is NGC 604. This is one of the largest H II regions known at all: it has a diameter of nearly 1500 light-years, and a spectrum similar to the Orion nebula M42. Over 200 young hot massive stars (of 15 to 60 solar masses) have recently formed here.

Some other catalogued objects are identified in this map.

September 6 and 9, 2008

M101 in Ursa Major

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
43x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

I finally got a decent shot of this low surface brightness masterpiece of a galaxy.

The Pinwheel Galaxy - M101, or NGC 5457 - is a face-on spiral galaxy about 27 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major and is a relatively large galaxy compared to the Milky Way. With a diameter of 170,000 light-years it is nearly twice the size of the Milky Way. Less is known about the mass of M101. A frequently cited number is an equivalent mass of about 16 billion solar masses. That value is almost certainly too low, and probably stems from M101's low surface brightness. New insights in its HII regions and rotational velocities have put the number between 100 billion and 1 trillion suns.

M101 is know for it's large number of HII regions that contain enormous clouds of high density hydrogen gas contracting under its own gravitational force. Eventually, when the localized hydrogen contracts enough for fusion processes to begin, stars are born. Consequently, HII regions are places that often contain large numbers of extremely bright and hot young stars giving them their characteristic blue color. You can also see some Halpha regions (pinkish red) in this image as well.

M101 was discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 27, 1781, and he subsequently communicated his discovery to Charles Messier who verified its position and added it to the Messier Catalogue as one of the final entries.

May 28, 2008

M101 - "Hydrogen Enhanced"

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

RGB Data:
Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
43x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63
May 28, 2008

Hydrogen Alpha Data:
Meade DSI Pro 2 Mono
7x480sec
Darks/Flats Applied
Meade SN8 Reflector
Baader 1.25" 7nm H alpha filter
February 13, 2009

Collaboration with Ted Rafferty, using his Ha data and my RGB data to better show the HII regions of M101.

NGC 5907 in Draco

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
30x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

NGC 5907 is a spiral galaxy located approximately 39 million light years from Earth. It has an anomalously low metallicity and few detectable giant stars, being apparently composed almost entirely of dwarf stars.

NGC 5907 shows evidence on recent deep imaging of absorption of at least one dwarf galaxy into itself during formation.

Besides M102 candidate NGC 5866, this is the second prominent member of the NGC 5866 group. As it is seen almost exactly edge-on, and is an extremely flat disc, it appears extremely elongated, shaped like a "knife edge" or a splinter, therefore its popular name.
William Herschel discovered this galaxy together with NGC 5866 and several fainter galaxies in this celestial area on May 5, 1788, and cataloged it as H II.759.
Supernova 1940A, which was discovered by Johnson, occurred in NGC 5907 on February 16, 1940 and reached magnitude 14.3

May 28, 2008

M63 - "Sunflower Galaxy" in Canes Venatici

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
40x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

Astrophotogallery.org May, 2008 Challenge Winner

Imaged in what I would call poor conditions with high clouds and high humidity. I don't think the sky was completely clear all night.

Messier 63 is about 25 million light-years distant in the constellation Canes Venatici. Also known as NGC 5055, M63 is nearly 100,000 light-years across, about the size of our own Milky Way. It is a major member of the M101 galaxy group as classified by some - but sometimes grouped separately in the M51 galaxy group.

M63 was the very first discovery of a Deep Sky Object by Charles Messier's friend, Pierre Méchain, who described it on June 14, 1779. On the same day, Charles Messier included it in his catalog.

May 24, 2008

NGC 6822 in Sagittarius

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
10x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

An image I took as an afterthought one night after shooting the Ophiuchus globulars during a moonlit night. Once the moon went down, I thought I would have a couple hours on this galaxy, but only had 30 minutes. It is more a novelty than a good image.

NGC 6822 (also known as Barnard's Galaxy or IC 4895) is a barred irregular galaxy approximately 1.6 million light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Part of the Local Group of galaxies, it was discovered by E. E. Barnard in 1881 (hence its name), with a six-inch refractor telescope. It is one of the closer galaxies to the Milky Way. It is similar in structure and composition to the Small Magellanic Cloud.

It was the third galaxy beyond the Magellanic clouds where Cepheid variables have been found, after M31 and M33 [see reference].

Edwin Hubble wrote the seminal paper N.G.C. 6822, A Remote Stellar System (Hubble 1925) wherein he identified 15 variable stars (11 of which were Cepheids). He also surveyed the galaxy's stars distribution down to magnitude 19.4. He provided spectral characteristics, luminosities and dimensions for the five brightest "diffuse nebula" (giant H II regions) that included the Bubble Nebula and the Ring Nebula. He also computed the absolute magnitude of the entire galaxy.

May 12, 2008

Hickson Compact Galaxy Group 44 in Leo

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
30x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

Hickson 44 is a small group of galaxies named after the Canadian astronomer, Paul Hickson. The group consists of dominant member NGC 3190, two other spirals NGC 3185 and gravitationally torn NGC 3187, and eliptical NGC 3193.

In 1982, Hickson published a catalogue of 100 systems (over 400 galaxies found in compact, physically-related groups of typically 4 to 5 galaxies per group) (see the image of Robert's Quartet in ESO PR Photo 34/05 as another example). Such compact groups allow astronomers to study how galaxies dynamically affect each other, and help them test current ideas on how galaxies form. One idea is that compact groups of galaxies, such as Hickson 44, merge to form a giant elliptical galaxy, such as NGC 1316.

May4, 2008

NGC 4490 and NGC 4485 in Canes Venatici

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
12x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

These two galaxies used to be spirals until they had a close gravitational encounter with each other. They have passed, and now speed away from each other at a distance currently estimated at about 24,000 light years - practically on top of each other in galactic terms. In contrast, their distance from earth is 40-50 million light years.

Note the profuse star forming regions in these galaxies due to the strong gravitational force between them.

When this image was taken, NGC 4490 was experiencing a supernova, Supernova 2008ax. See the next image for the location of this explosion.

May 4. 2008

Supernova 2008ax in NGC 4490

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
12x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

Astrophotogallery.org May 2008 Challenge Winner

Supernova 2008ax in NGC 4490

Listed on Supernovae.net

Discovered independently by Lick Observatory Supernova Search (USA) and Koichi Itagaki (Japan).

The spectrum of this one has been an interesting development. Initially it was suspected to be a blue variable (not a supernova), then it went to a young type II, and is now reported as a type Ib. This one was found very early on in it's development in the Cocoon galaxy.
(Rochester's Astronomy Club)

May 4, 2008

NGC 5921 in Serpens Caput

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
23x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

Astrophotogallery.org May, 2008 Challenge Winner

NGC 5921 is a pretty barred spiral in Serpens Caput.

According to the Wray Atlas, this is a good example of a barred spiral with a blue ring. Classified SBb.

One supernova (SN 2001X) was observed in NGC 5921

May 4, 2008

M104 in Virgo

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
14x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

Astroimaging Challenge Yahoo Group Winner April, 2008

I really like the "oil painting" appearance that happened to come out of the processing of this image. I think it adds to the mystery of a very enigmatic object.

The "Sombrero" is located in the constellation Virgo, at a distance of about 50 million light-years. This galaxy is notable for its dominant nuclear bulge, composed primarily of mature stars, and its nearly edge-on disk composed of stars, gas, and intricately structured dust. The complexity of this dust, and the high resolution of this image, is most apparent directly in front of the bright nucleus, but is also very evident as dark absorbing lanes throughout the disk.

M104's most striking feature is the dust lane that crosses in front of the bulge of the galaxy. This dust lane is actually a symmetric ring that encloses the bulge of the galaxy. Most of the cold atomic hydrogen gas and the dust lies within this ring. The ring might also contain most of the Sombrero Galaxy's cold molecular gas, although this is an inference based on observations with low resolution and weak detections. Additional observations are needed to confirm that the Sombrero galaxy's molecular gas is constrained to the ring. Based on infrared spectroscopy, the dust ring is the primary site of star formation within this galaxy.

In the 1990s, research demonstrated that a supermassive black hole is present within the Sombrero Galaxy. Using spectroscopy data from both the CFHT and the Hubble Space Telescope, the group showed that the speed of rotation of the stars within the center of the galaxy could not be maintained unless a mass 1 billion times the mass of the Sun is present in the center. This is among the most massive black holes measured in any nearby galaxies.

The Sombrero Galaxy lies within a complex, filament-like cloud of galaxies that extends to the south of the Virgo Cluster. However, it is unclear as to whether the Sombrero Galaxy is part of a formal galaxy group. Hierarchical methods for identifying groups, which determine group membership by considering whether individual galaxies belong to a larger aggregate of galaxies, typically produce results showing that the Sombrero Galaxy is part of a group that includes NGC 4487, NGC 4504, NGC 4802,

NGC 4565 in Coma Berenices

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
22x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

Anacortes Telescope and Wild Bird Image of the Day May 3, 2008

As one of the most famous edge-on galaxies NGC 4565, also named Needle Galaxy because of it's narrow appearance, is a showpiece in the constellation Coma Berenices.

This view is displaying a classic feature of spiral galaxies, the bulge of stars near the center of the disk glowing in the yellow light of older stars. Massive dust lanes within the plain pf the galaxy shows very fine details and blueish areas of star formation. Recent observations at X-ray wavelengths have revealed powerful x-ray sources arising from the core region of NGC 4565. The major source is consistent with a low luminosity active galactic nucleus (AGN). AGNs are producing x-rays and other forms of high energy radiation through accreted mass by a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. The galaxy spans 100 000 light years in diameter and is situated at a distance of 30 million light years.

April 26, 2008

Markarian's Chain in Virgo

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
24x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
APM/TMB 130/780 Refractor

Yahoo Digital Astro Group May, 2008 Monthly Challenge Winner

Astroimaging Challenge Yahoo Group Winner March, 2008

Markarian's Chain is a group of galaxies that lies at the heart of the Virgo cluster. Named after the Armenian astronomer who first postulated that the group is an interacting structure, rather than a chance arrangement.

In December 1961, a three-page conference report titled "Physical Chain of Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster and It's Dynamic Instability" was published in volume 66 of The Astronomical Journal. The author, B. E. Markarian, used statistical analysis to support his conclusion that a chain of eight galaxies "in the Virgo cluster is not a chance grouping but a real physical system." Markarian's Chain, as it has come to be known, consists of NGC 4374 (M84), NGC 4406 (M86), NGC 4435, NGC 4438, NGC 4458, NGC 4461, NGC 4473 and NGC 4477. This meandering chain of galaxies extends about 1.5 degrees from M84, in Virgo, to NGC 4477, in Coma Berenices.

The group is a favorite of visual and imaging astronomers alike.

April 25, 2008

NGC 5866 (M102?) in Draco

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
5x120sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
APM/TMB 130/780 Refractor

One of the most outstanding features of NGC 5866 is the extended dust disk, which is seen exactly edge-on. This dust disk is highly unusual for a lenticular galaxy. The dust in most lenticular galaxies is generally found only near the nucleus and generally follows the light profile of the galaxies' bulges. It is also possible that the galaxy is a spiral galaxy that was misclassified as a lenticular galaxy because of its edge-on orientation, in which case the dust disk would not be too unusual.

Messier 102 is a galaxy listed in the Messier Catalogue that cannot be identified unambiguously. The two most likely possible identifications of M102 are Messier 101 and NGC 5866.

April 15, 2008

M100 in Coma Berenices

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
22x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

Sky and Telescope Online Gallery April 8, 2008

Astronomy Magazine Picture of the Day April 23, 2008

Messier 100 (M100, NGC 4321) is a beautiful example of a grand-design spiral galaxy, and one of the brightest galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, or Coma-Virgo of Galaxies. Like a number of other members of this cluster, it is situated in the southern part of constellation Coma Berenices. It lies about 52.5 million light-years from Earth.

Five supernovae have been identified in M100: SN 1901B, SN 1914A, SN 1959E, SN 1979C and SN 2006X. M100 also has a satellite galaxy named NGC 4323.

Included in this image are also dim cluster galaxies VC 636, NGC 4322, NGC 4328, MCG 3-32 11, IC 783, IC 783a, and UGC 07425

April 5, 2008

NGC 4631 - Whale Galaxy in Canes Venatici

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
36x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

NGC 4631 (with it's companion, Arp 281) is a big beautiful spiral galaxy seen edge-on only 25 million light-years away towards the small northern constellation Canes Venatici. This galaxy's slightly distorted wedge shape suggests to some a cosmic herring and to others the popular moniker of The Whale Galaxy. It is similar in size to our own Milky Way.

A companion galaxy, the small elliptical NGC 4627 appears above the Whale Galaxy. Also at the top of the frame is UGC 7882, a magnitude 15.61 galaxy.

NGC 4631 contains a central starburst, which is a region of intense star formation. The strong star formation is evident in the emission from ionized hydrogen and interstellar dust heated by the stars formed in the starburst. The most massive stars that form in star formation regions only burn hydrogen gas through fusion for a short period of time, after which they explode as supernovae. So many supernovae have exploded in the center of NGC 4631 that they are blowing gas out of the plane of the galaxy. This superwind can be seen in X-rays and in spectral line emission. The gas from this superwind has produced a giant, diffuse corona of hot, X-ray emitting gas around the whole galaxy.

April 5, 2008

NGC 4631 "Hydrogen Enhanced" Collaboration

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

RGB Data:
Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
36x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63
April 5, 2008

Hydrogen Alpha Data:
Meade DSI Pro 2 Mono
15x480sec
Darks/Flats Applied
Meade SN8 Reflector
Baader 1.25" 7nm H alpha filter
February 7, 2009

Collaboration with Ted Rafferty, using my RGB data and his Hydrogen Alpha data to produce a more accurate representation of this beatiful starburst, irregular Arp galaxy.

This image shows the intense HII regions much more vividly without adversely affecting the remainder of the image.

M65, M66, and NGC 3628 - The Leo Trio

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
43x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
APM/TMB 130/780 Refractor with AP flattener

Yahoo Digital Astro Group March, 2008 Monthly Challenge Runner Up

Sky and Telescope Online Gallery April 7, 2008

Astroimaging Challenge Yahoo Group Winner March, 2008

First light with my new AP Mach1GTO mount

This popular group is famous as the Leo Triplet - a gathering of three magnificent galaxies in one field of view. Crowd pleasers when imaged with even modest telescopes, these galaxies can be introduced individually as NGC 3628 (left), M65 (top right), and M66 (bottom right). All three are large spiral galaxies. They tend to look dissimilar because their galactic disks are tilted at different angles to our line of sight. NGC 3628 is seen edge-on, with obscuring dust lanes cutting across the plane of the galaxy, while the disks of M66 and M65 are both inclined enough to show off their spiral structure. Gravitational interactions between galaxies in the group have also left telltale signs, including the warped and inflated disk of NGC 3628 and the drawn out spiral arms of M66. The trio's estimated distance of 30 million light-years. (APOD)

March 28, 2008

M65 in Leo

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
43x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
APM/TMB 130/780 Refractor with AP flattener

M65 is a typical spiral galaxy that could be found anywhere in the universe. M65 has tightly wrapped spiral arms and a large nuclear center. The central stars are older and redder than disk stars, which are hotter and appear more blue.

The galaxy is low in dust and gas, and there is little star formation in it; there has been some relatively recently in the arms. The ratio of old stars to new stars is correspondingly quite high.

To the eye, M65's disk appears slightly warped, and its relatively recent burst of star formation is also suggestive of some external disturbance. Rots (1978) suggests that the two other galaxies in the Leo Triplet interacted with each other about 800 million years ago. Recent research by Zhiyu Duan suggests that M65 may also have interacted, though much less strongly. He also notes that M65 may have a central bar -- it is difficult to tell because the galaxy is seen from an oblique angle -- a feature which is suggestive of tidal disruption.

March 28, 2008

M66 in Leo

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
43x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
APM/TMB 130/780 Refractor with AP flattener

Messier 66 (NGC 3627, Arp 16) is an intermediate spiral galaxy about 36 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1780. M66 is about 96 thousand light-years across with striking dust lanes and bright star clusters along sweeping spiral arms.

Messier 66 exhibits a remarkable central bulge. This galaxy shows several anomalies, deviations from "perfect" spiral structure, which can be observed in many galaxies, notably a crack in one of its spiral arms at the lower end of the bright central region and a wave-away of the spiral arm visible left in this image. This is very probably a result of its gravitational interactions with its neighbors M65 and NGC 3628.

March 28, 2008

NGC 3628 in Leo

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
43x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
APM/TMB 130/780 Refractor with AP flattener

Dark dust lanes cutting across the middle of this beautiful galaxy strongly hint that NGC 3628 is a spiral galaxy seen sideways. About 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo, NGC 3628 is the only member of the well known Leo triplet of galaxies not in Charles Messier's catalog. Otherwise similar in size to our Milky Way galaxy, the disk of NGC 3628 is clearly seen to fan out near the galaxy's edge. The distorted shape and tidal tail suggest that NGC 3628 is interacting gravitationally with the other spiral galaxies in the Leo triplet, M66 and M65.

March 28, 2008

NGC 253 in Sculptor

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
40x180sec iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Celestron 9.25 reduced 0.63

Cloudy Nights Small Wonders: Quick Peeks - Sculptor 01/09 (Tom Trusock)

Two hours is all that my sky would give me on this spendid far southern galaxy. I'll take it, since I didn't think that I could ever image it as low as it is in my sky.

NGC 253 is the brightest member of the Sculptor group of galaxies, which is grouped around the South galactic pole (therefore, also sometimes named "South Polar Group"). The Sculptor group is perhaps the nearest to our Local Group of galaxies. NGC 253 is also one of the brightest galaxies beyond the Local Group.

The type Sc galaxy is about 10 million light years distant. NGC 253 is considered a starburst galaxy because of high star formation rates and dense dust clouds in its nucleus.

NGC 253 was one of the major discoveries of Caroline Herschel, the sister of William Herschel. She discovered this object on September 23, 1783 with "an excellent small Newtonian Sweeper" of 27 inches focal length and a power of 30 (William Herschel's description).

November 1, 2007

NGC 6946 in Cepheus - Widefield View

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 30D Unmodified
27x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Orion ED80 with WO 0.8 reducer/flattener

Chagrin Valley Astronomical Society Picture of the Day

NGC 6946 is a spectacular galaxy, but unfortunately dim because of it's proximity to our galactic plane - this interferes with the light coming from NGC 6946. At a distance of 10 million light years, this galaxy is one of about a dozen nearby neighbors to the Milky Way although this is recently in dispute.

Together with M83, NGC 6946 shares the record number of observed supernovae.

Open Cluster NGC 6939 gives a nice contrast here.

July 20, 2007

M64 - Black Eye Galaxy - In Coma Berenices

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 30D Unmodified
24x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
C8 at 1260mm

M64 in Coma Bernices - the "Black Eye" Galaxy

Distance from earth 20 million light years

5-8-2007

M64 Closeup View

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Canon 30D Unmodified
24x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
C8 at 1260mm

Astroimaging Challenge Yahoo Group May 2007 Winner

5-8-2007

Virgo Galaxy Cluster

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Orion ED80 and Canon 30D Unmodified.
20x180sec, iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias

See how many galaxies you can identify

The Virgo cluster at a distance of 59 million light years is composed of between 1300 to 2000 member galaxies. the largest member is the giant elliptical galaxy M87. M87 has an unusually huge population (perhaps the greatest known around any one galaxy) of globular clusters - 12,000.

M87 has a 'jet' of matter 5000 light years long being ejected from it's core thought to be caused by the supermassive black hole at it's center.

4-19-2007

Virgo Cluster Captioned

hwilson429@aol.com (Hunter Wilson) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Orion ED80 and Canon 30D Unmodified.
20x180sec, iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias

4-19-2007