The Flickr Zwooag Image Generatr

Messier 1 is better known as the Crab Nebula. Charles Messier originally mistook Messier 1 for Halley’s Comet, which inspired him to create his famous catalogue of celestial objects that might be mistaken for comets.

The Crab Nebula is an expanding remnant of a star's supernova explosion. Japanese and Chinese astronomers recorded this violent event nearly 1,000 years ago in 1054 AD, as likely did the Native Americans. The glowing relic has been expanding since the star exploded, and it is now approximately 11 light-years in width.

The orange filaments are the tattered remains of the star and consist mostly of hydrogen. The blue in the filaments in the outer part of the nebula represents neutral oxygen. These elements were expelled during the supernova explosion.

A rapidly spinning neutron star (the ultra-dense core of the exploded star) is embedded in the centre of the Crab Nebula. Electrons whirling at nearly the speed of light around the star’s magnetic field lines produce the eerie blue light in the interior of the nebula. The neutron star, like a lighthouse, ejects twin beams of radiation that make it appear to pulse 30 times per second as it rotates.

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Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: Optolong L-eNhance filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 47 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flat 30 at 7.6 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flat 30 at 7.6 seconds, gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in Pixinsight
Captions added in Photoshop CS4

On the 2nd of January I took a few minutes to capture this colourful open cluster. It is M38, the Starfish Cluster in the constellation of Auriga.

It is about 3500 light years away and 25 light years across. The cluster's brightest stars form a pattern resembling the Greek letter Pi. (If you squint and tilt your head to the right there is a wide strip of stars representing the top of Pi, a bright fine line of stars which would be the 'left leg' of Pi and a fairly indeterminate linear group forming the 'right leg')

The lines can also be interpreted as looking like a starfish (apparently), hence the name for this cluster of stars.


~

Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: Optolong L-Pro filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 10 at 60 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flat 30 at 1.1 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flat 30 at 1.1 seconds, gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Captions added in Photoshop CS4

It was bitterly cold on the night of 2nd January 2025, but what a beautifully crystal clear starry night it was. So the year began with stargazing late into the night (or early morning).
To begin proceedings I spent over 4 hours capturing this image of IC 342, the Hidden Galaxy in the northern constellation of Camelopardilus.

It is a spiral galaxy the far side of the equator of the Milky Way’s pearly disk, which is crowded with thick cosmic gas, dark dust, and glowing stars that all obscure our view, earning it the nickname of the Hidden Galaxy. It is roughly 11 million light years away and about 50,000 light-years across (half the size of our own Milk Way galaxy).

~

Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: Optolong L-Pro filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 126 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flat 30 at 1.1 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flat 30 at 1.1 seconds, gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in Pixinsight
Captions added in Photoshop CS4

Messier 74 (also known as NGC 628 and Phantom Galaxy) is a large spiral galaxy in the constellation Pisces. It is about 32 million light-years away from Earth. The galaxy contains two clearly defined spiral arms and is therefore used as an archetypal example of a grand design spiral galaxy. The galaxy's low surface brightness makes it the most difficult Messier object for amateur astronomers to observe. Its relatively large apparent size and the galaxy's face-on orientation make it an ideal object for astronomers who want to study spiral arm structure and spiral density waves. It is estimated that M74 hosts about 100 billion stars.

~

Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: Optolong L-Pro filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 110 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flat 30 at 1.1 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flat 30 at 1.1 seconds, gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in Pixinsight
Captions added in Photoshop CS4

This is my only shot of the comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) that everyone has been talking about in recent weeks. It has passed its prime and is fading now as it zooms away from the sun for another 80,000 years.

The relentless cloud cover prevented me from seeing it until a couple of days ago. A rare clear night, so I pointed my Celestron C11 scope up and this is what it saw, after a bit of processing with PixInsight to extract and align the coment and reapply to the starless image. It turns out that is harder than it sounds.

~~~~~

Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256G
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: ZWO UV/IR Cut filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 40 at 10 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 10 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flats 30 at 610ms, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flats 30 at 610ms, gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated and processed in PixInsight
Added captions in Photoshop CS4

According to my information there is a dark nebula in this picture. It is recorded as LDN 1242 in the constellation of Cepheus.

Perhaps if I had spent over 20 hours trying to capture it with five or six hours per night something might show up. I don't get enough clear nights to devote that much time in the hope that a dark nebula will emerge from the void. Not when there are so many rewarding objects find. So for now, I will just content myself with this view of some pretty stars in the night sky from integrating 20 three minute images.

Next target please.

~~~~~

Telescope: William Optics ZenithStar 81 APO
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256G
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: ZWO UV/IR Cut filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI290MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 20 at 180 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 180 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flats 30 at 14.6 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flats 30 at 14.6 seconds gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Added captions in Photoshop CS4

IC1805 is part of a large complex of nebulosity in the constellation of Cassiopeia. The name Heart Nebula clearly comes from its shape. It is about 7500 light years away. The open cluster of stars in the centre is catalogued as Melotte 15. The red colour of the Heart Nebula is driven by the radiation from Melotte 15. This cluster contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun.

It was a clear night last night and this image was from thee and a half hours observation with my ZenithStar 81 telescope.

In this picture are: Heart Nebula, LBN 655, LDN 1366, LBN 648, LBN 650, LBN 647, LDN 1369, LDN 1367, LDN 1372, LDN 1368, LDN 1364, CL TOMBAUGH 4, LDN 1361, LDN 1363, LDN 1365, LDN 1371, CED 7 and LDN 1362

~~~~~

Telescope: William Optics ZenithStar 81 APO
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256G
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: Optolong L-eNhance filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 68 at 180 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 180 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flats 30 at 14.6 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flats 30 at 14.6 seconds gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Added captions in Photoshop CS4

The sky last night (14 September 2024) was patchy with clouds drifting across my field of view. However I did get this close-up of a part of the Moon with my ZenithStar 81 telescope. It has a wider field of view than the C11 so it could capture more of it. It will be a full moon in a couple of days, so for now the shadows and highlight in the craters still show up the relief of the lunar surface near the terminator.

~~~~~

Telescope: William Optics ZenithStar 81 APO
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256G
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: Antlia IR 685 1.25" filter (IR Pass)
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI290MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
The best 50% of 13,752 frames of video at 480x640 px

Bortle 4 sky.

Stabilised in PIPP
Stacked in AutoStakkert!
Post-processed in Pixinsight.
Added captions in Photoshop CS4

The Elephant's Trunk Nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396 located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth.

The central part of the nebula shown here is the dark, dense globule IC 1396A; it is commonly called the Elephant's Trunk nebula because of its appearance at visible light wavelengths, where there is a dark patch with a bright, sinuous rim. The bright rim is the surface of the dense cloud that is being illuminated and ionized by a very bright, massive star which lies near its centre.

This image is from integrating nearly two hours worth of two minute exposures using my ZenithStar 81 telescope. If there had not been so many clouds I would have been able to collect four or five hours of data which would have made the image even sharper and more detailed.

~~~~~

Telescope: William Optics ZenithStar 81 APO
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256G
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: Optolong L-eNhance filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 53 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flats 30 at 9seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flats 30 at 9 seconds gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Added captions in Photoshop CS4

NGC 1491 is called the Fossil Footprint Nebula. It is a bright emission nebula and hydrogen (HII) region, located on the edge of a vast cloud region of neutral gas, about 10,700 light-years away in the Perseus arm of our Milky Way Galaxy in the constellation Perseus.

HII regions are well known for being places where new stars are born, and are created when ultraviolet radiation from hot stars ionizes the surrounding gas, causing it to glow in visible light. The surrounding dust is also heated by this radiation, so we also see it glow in infrared light.

The bright, blue star near the centre is illuminating the nebula while its strong stellar wind is “blowing” a bubble in the gas that immediately surrounds it. The intense radiation from the star is also eroding the gas clouds surrounding it.

The entire nebula is quite irregular with a subtle bite cut out of the nebulosity that creates a darker hollow, and a high surface brightness region as seen in this image. A faint, elongated haze extends from this patch past the star, giving an elongated appearance.

~~~~~

Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256G
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: Optolong L-eNhance filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 63 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flats 30 at 6.5 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flats 30 at 6.5 seconds gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Added captions in Photoshop CS4

The Dumbbell Nebula is a bright, large planetary nebula located in Vulpecula constellation. The nebula is about 1,300 light years from Earth. It is sometimes also called the Apple Core Nebula or Diablo Nebula, and has the designation NGC 6853 in the New General Catalogue.

The Dumbbell Nebula was the first planetary nebula to be discovered. Charles Messier included it as M27 in his catalogue of deep sky objects in 1764.

Planetary nebulae, like this and the Ring Nebula, are the remains of stars similar to our Sun. When they reach the end of their life cycle as evolved red giants, they expel their outer gaseous layers to form the nebula, which is then heated by the hot core of the central white dwarf. This will be the fate of our Sun in roughly five billion years.

~~~~~

Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256G
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: Optolong L-Pro filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 58 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flats 30 at 1.1 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flats 30 at 1.1 seconds gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Added captions in Photoshop CS4

NGC 6946 is a face-on intermediate spiral galaxy with a small bright nucleus, whose location in the sky straddles the boundary between the northern constellations of Cepheus and Cygnus. Its distance from Earth is about 25.2 million light-years

It gets its name, Fireworks Galaxy because of the number of Supernova explosions that have been reported in the galaxy. In the last century alone, at least 10 supernovae have been detected in the galaxy. N.A.S.A.

It is also known as a Starburst Galaxy galaxy due to the number of new stars being created.

I have taken images of this galaxy before, but this time I have worked on sharpening up the collimation, adjusted the back-focus and opened up the image train (by replacing the 50mm M42 spacer with an M48 spacer) to reduce vignetting. This has not just helped the image camera it has also improved the view for the guide camera, resulting in better tracking.

~~~~~

Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256G
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: Optolong L-Pro filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 85 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flats 30 at 1.1 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flats 30 at 1.1 seconds gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Added captions in Photoshop CS4

At the end of my stargazing session last night there was still a bit of dark sky remaining so I spent about three quarters of an hour on Messier 29.

M29, also known as NGC 6913, is sometimes called the Cooling Tower Cluster. It is a quite small, bright open cluster of stars just south of the central bright star Gamma Cygni in the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan.

I didn't have to spend hours capturing faint wisps of galactic spiral arms or fetching the folds and details of a nebula because the stars show up quickly against the dark sky.

~~~~~

Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256G
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: ZWO IR Cut filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 23 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flats 30 at 1.08 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flats 30 at 1.08 seconds gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Added captions in Photoshop CS4

M82 or the Cigar galaxy, shines brightly at infrared wavelengths and is remarkable for its star formation activity. The Cigar galaxy experiences gravitational interactions with its neighbouring galaxy, M81, causing it to have an extraordinarily high rate of star formation — a starburst.

M82 is about 12 million light years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It is five times brighter than the whole Milky Way and one hundred times brighter than our galaxy's centre.

I took this last night over about two and a half hours using a filter to block out UV and Infrared light so it only captures visible light. I will try again soon with a different filter to see if it can bring out the star creation areas in the centre.

~~~~~

Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256G
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: ZWO IR Cut filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 71 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flats 30 at 1.08 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flats 30 at 1.08 seconds gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Added captions in Photoshop CS4

The Pinwheel Galaxy, also known as Messier 101 (M101), is one of the best known spiral galaxies in the night sky.

M101 is a grand design spiral galaxy (a spiral galaxy with prominent and well-defined spiral arms) located in the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. It is about 170,000 light years in diameter, which makes it roughly 70 percent larger than our galaxy, the Milky Way.

It is approximately 20.9 million light years distant from Earth, which means that we are seeing it as it was about 20.9 million years ago.

~~~~~

Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256G
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: Optolong L-Pro filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 93 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flats 30 at 1.08 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flats 30 at 1.08 seconds gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Added captions in Photoshop CS4

Stephan's Quintet is a visual grouping of five galaxies of which four form the first compact galaxy group ever discovered. The group is visible in the constellation Pegasus.

Four of these galaxies are about about 300 million light years away. Because of the two dimensional nature of this image, the fifth member (to the left of the middle pair) appears to be with the others; but in fact it is “only” 40 million light years away, so it is not part of the more distant group.

You may recognise these galaxies from the opening scenes of the classic 1946 film, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

~~~~~

Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256G
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: Optolong L-Pro filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 65 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flat 30 at 160ms, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flat 30 at 160 ms gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Added captions in Photoshop CS4

Messier 53 (M53) is a globular star cluster located in the northern constellation Coma Berenices. The cluster is almost 60,000 light years from Earth. It contains at least 500,000 stars.
The stars in the cluster are considered metal-poor, as they contain very little quantities of elements heavier than helium, which is below average for stars found in a globular cluster.


~~~~~

Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Pro
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: ZWO UV/IR cut filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 4 at 30 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 30 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flat 30 at 1.2s, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flat 30 at 1.2s gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Added captions in Photoshop CS4

NGC 2403 (also known as Caldwell 7) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis.

Some 10 million light-years distant and about 50,000 light-years across, the spiral galaxy also seems to have more than its fair share of giant star forming regions.

~~~~~

Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Pro
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: ZWO UV/IR cut filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 25 at 180 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 180 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flat 30 at 430ms, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flat 30 at 430ms gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Added captions in Photoshop CS4

Sometimes I find there are nothing like as many stars to see as other times.

Take this picture which includes M40, a pair of bright stars that Charles Messier thought was a double star. It is in Ursa Major (or the Plough, near to Megrez the star that connects the handle to the plough).

The stars form an optical pair, lying along the same line of sight, but not physically connected to each other as they are now known to be at different distances from Earth. One is about 470 light years away and the other is over 1000.

Messier was trying to identify nebulae but at that time it was hard to distinguish between galaxies and nebulae. This one of the few objects that made it into his catalogue that were neither.

What he missed were two spiral galaxies that my C11 picked up near to M40. The larger one just under the word Major is NGC 4290 and the much fainter one below that is PGC 39934.

~~~~~

Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256G
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: ZWO UV/IR cut filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 12 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flat 30 at 430ms, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flat 30 at 430ms gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Added captions in Photoshop CS4

Last night there were a few hours of clear sky so I thought I would do a bit of star gazing. Sometimes I come across more stars than you could shake a stick at. Like this picture I got of M71, a globular clusters of stars in the constellation Sagitta (yes Sagittarius). It is in the direction of a particularly rich area of the Milky Way. As you can see that provides a backdrop of so many stars you hardly tell which ones are in the cluster and which are not. If you double click on this image to see it enlarged the whole picture is stellar.

The M71 cluster has about 20,000 stars, is about 13,000 light years away and is estimated to be 27 light years across. Or 90 light years across - apparently it depends on which stars can be deemed to be a part of the cluster and which are apart from it.

~~~~~

Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus 256G
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -10C
Filter: ZWO UV/IR cut filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini guidecam
Guide via: ZWO OAG

Stacked from:
Lights 20 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Darks 30 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -10C
Flat 30 at 430ms, gain 101, temp -10C
Dark Flat 30 at 430ms gain 101 temp -10C

Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Added captions in Photoshop CS4