“Hello out there… we’re on the air… it’s ‘Hockey Night’ tonight.” With the Stanley Cup playoffs in full swing, it seems appropriate to image the “Hockey Stick Galaxy” – a highly warped barred spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici. The galaxy gets its “stick” due to gravitational warping from near by galaxies like the Whale Galaxy NGC4631. […]
NGC 4169: The Box
After being inspired by a photo on Reddit, I decided to take a crack at “The Box”… four galaxies including elliptical and edge on galaxies. The target, however, turned out to be very small… so detail is limited. Capture details Imaging telescopes or lenses: Celestron EdgeHD 9.25 Imaging cameras: QHY268C Mounts: Celestron CGX Guiding telescopes or lenses: Orion 50mm […]
NGC 5566, 5560 & Friends
Target #2 for last night’s “first light” with the new QHY 268C… this time a trio of galaxies in the southern constellation Virgo, including NGCs 5566, 5560 and 5569. They’re a neat triplet of interacting galaxies some 65 million light years away and are obviously causing some of the weird distortions we see in the spiral […]
The Hamburger Galaxy
It’s first “official” light on my new QHY268C camera. Ordered in September, it finally appeared in mid March and I’ve been spending the last few clear nights tweaking and playing with the settings. There’s some major differences between this and my ZWO ASI294MC Pro… including heightened sensitivity and reduced noise. The DSO settings alone took […]
Messier 51: The Whirlpool Galaxy
Another favourite galaxy from the Big Dipper! This time it’s Messier 51, widely known as the Whirlpool Galaxy… and sometimes the “Question Mark” Galaxy. It’s been almost a year since I’ve photographed M51, and my skills have definitely improved! Extremely happy to see the long dust trails that have escaped me in the past. Capture […]
Messier 101: Pinwheel Galaxy
Another clear moonless night turns into another night working on objects in the Big Dipper! M101 or the Pinwheel Galaxy is an annual favourite around this time of year. The nights are still long & dark, so more than 4 hours of data later I was able to capture more of the fainter arms of […]
NGC 3718 & Friends
It’s been more than a month since I’ve been able to open up the observatory nd get some clear skies. It’s an early kickoff to spring’s galaxy season with a new target – Galaxy NGC 3718. This distorted spiral galaxy is 52 million light years away and sits just below the pan of the big dipper […]
M82 – The Cigar Galaxy
I return to the Cigar Galaxy often… an edge on galaxy that shines brightly just off the Big Dipper in the northern sky. With blues forming a background of intricate red flares, it’s one of the more unique galaxies to photograph.
Triangulum Galaxy Messier 33
After a few hit-or-miss attempts at Mars during the few clear nights we’ve had this fall, I decided to go back to hunting down galaxies, nebulas, and star clusters. Triangulum is a early fall favourite, rising high in the sky while the nights begin to dramatically lengthen. Along with Andromeda, M33 is anticipated to merge […]
Andromeda Widefield
The great Andromeda is a favourite target around this time of year, well above the tree line in the North West after sunset. It’s also dark enough here that you can see it with the naked eye during moonless nights like last night. It’s size makes it a perfect candidate to shoot with the RedCat […]