M31 The Andromeda Galaxy:

About The Andromeda Galaxy:
The closest Galaxy to our Milky Way is M31, The Andromeda Galaxy, only 2,500,000 light years away. Andromeda and our own Milky Way galaxy are speeding through space towards each other which will result in a catastrophic collision and subsequent reformation of a new giant elliptical galaxy. This is estimated to happen roughly 3.75 billion years from now… I guess it’s a little early to start building a backyard bunker.
It has recently been estimated that M31 holds about one trillion stars, more than double that of our home galaxy, which weighs in at 200-400 billion stars...

Contemplating Galaxies:
I have a hard time just thinking about the size of our sun and the distance to the other planets... It really blows my mind to start thinking about other suns (or stars) and their planets... but to consider galaxies!.. containing billions of suns!.. It’s UNREALl!!!... My wife and I have been blessed to have the opportunity to speak to various youth groups about God’s Amazing Creation, as seen in space. The text image below the galaxy picture is a brief summary of our talk...

Now... Photographing the Andromeda Galaxy – Here’s my ‘Three-Step’ Plan:

1. Image the most detailed left side of M31 including all the core and bonus galaxy M32 – completed on Sept 28/13!

2. Image the remaining right side of M31 including the core, thus providing a large overlap for blending the two images together - not completed... see fall 2014...

3. Shoot a wide field view of the galaxy and the surrounding constellations to help people locate and view M31 in the night sky overhead, without any equipment, naked-eye! - not completed. 

The Andromeda Galaxy: 60 x 3minute exposures stacked = 3hrs total exposure @ 1600iso




BUBBLE TROUBLE:

I would like to quote one of my favourite heroes, famous Dr. Fredrick Fronkensteen (from the 1974 American Comedy Film “Young Frankenstein”): “No. No... Be of good cheer! If science teaches us anything, it teaches us to accept our failures, as well as our successes, with quiet dignity and grace!” (I feel as though this shot is more of a failure than a success! ...But it does serve as a great learning experience.)

NGC7635, The Bubble Nebula, is a faint emission nebula that floats above the “w” in the constellation Cassiopeia. The "bubble" is created by stellar wind from the young central star who’s mass is thought to be up to 40 times that of our Sun’s! The top left corner of the image shows 11^th magnitude open star cluster M52.

If I would have studied the object’s specifications a little more prior to shooting it, I would have realized how dim it is. This would have prompted me to increase the exposure lengths, which would have resulted in a brighter image. Much of the red nebulosity that floats around the central bubble is missing in my picture. The good thing is, the perimeter of the bubble is still evident. ...Don’t let this image represent all that God had intended us to see, when he created the Bubble Nebula. He had much more beauty in mind. Try this link to see a great shot from another amateur astro-photographer:

 http://www.feraphotography.com/AM14/Bubble.html

The Bubble Nebula: 56 x 4.5min frames = 4hours 12minutes total exposure @ 1600iso

The Amazing "Eastern Veil Nebula"

The Truth: The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard.  Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.
(Ps 19 1-4).

Deep Sky Object Information: 5000-6000 years ago a supernova star exploded and was so bright it allegedly out-shone the full moon. It quickly dimmed but oxygen, sulphur & hydrogen emissions have rolled-out in a circular shock wave ever since. This image of “The Eastern Veil Nebula” frames the brightest section of that circular shock wave. It is located right next door in our galaxy at roughly 1500 light years distance.

My Image Details: 42 x 4.5minute frames stacked together = 3hrs 9min total exposure length @ 1600iso, shot light-pollution-free at Aylen Lake, ON about 6’ from shore! Shot on August 9^th-10^th, 2013.

That Night: As an amateur astronomer and astro-imager, I am obviously not scared of the dark!.. And obliviously not scared of any hairy or slimy creatures that may be lurking in the dark! I am a well seasoned 45 year-old man, who has long since left behind any childish notions that there may be spooky, beady-eyed, sharp toothed monsters lurking in the pitch-black forest, awaiting my close approach...
The night I imaged the Eastern Veil was so black, only star light illuminated the long path from my telescope at the lake shore to the safety of the back cottage door (flash lights are prohibited when astro-imaging). I had made my last trip down the path at 3am, to shut-down and cover my equipment. Suddenly, from the darkness, I heard a swiftly approaching, heavy footed... THING!!!. Was this it?! Was I about to be reduced to a casual nightly meal?! Every scary episode of Scooby-Doo flashed through my mind!!! Suddenly, I notice a light admitting from my "monster's" location. OH NO!!! IT MUST BE A GLOWING ALIEN MONSTER!!!... Well... My monster was holding his iphone to light the path ahead of him. It turns out, our next door neighbour’s son was returning to his cottage after a night with friends. We chatted for awhile in the darkness. I’m not sure he realized the trauma he inadvertently created. And, I hope my overt panting wasn’t overly noticeable.

Set up and ready for a clear night shooting the Eastern Veil Nebula

One Swan... One Thousand Mosquitos:

July 15^th was a clear night to shoot M17 The Swan Nebula. I just had to wait until around midnight for moonset. I was set-up, aligned, tracking and had M17 nicely centred. I just had to fine-tune focus, and then start shooting. It was a beautiful night to be outdoors... but unfortunately the mosquito population agreed...
        ...I say all that to make this excuse: My focus on this shot isn’t dead-on!.. and it’s not my fault! It’s the mosquitoes fault!! I was absolutely being eaten alive while I tried to obtain perfect focus – I was swatting my arms and head and stamping my feet vigorously! I’m sure I looked  like I was performing some ritualistic star dance! Thank goodness it was dark!
I did take time, once I had covered the street light (don’t tell the town of West Lincoln) to sit back and look up. I was given an anti-gravity chair for father’s day so I can lay back and star gaze - it's awesome! It is so overwhelming, when you look up this time of year... the Milky Way sprawled overhead. What a privileged perspective we have! In Psalm 17 David looks up to God and says “I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray.  Show me your unfailing love in wonderful ways. (Ps 17:6-7 NLT)... God is the amazing and powerful creator of the whole universe, yet he is always ready to bend down and listen to our simplest thoughts! 

M17, The Swan Nebula is roughly 6000 light years away and is guessed to be 15 light years across. We are actually looking at it edge on - Face on it is thought to be up to 40 light years across.

M17 image technical details:

8" Skywatcher Newtonian on NEQ6pro (auto-guided) and DSLR Canon T3i Camera (Gary Honis Mod)
33 light frames x 3 minutes = 99 minutes total exposure @ 1600 iso + (15 darks and 15 flats)
Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and processed in Photoshop CS2 free.

The Lagoon Nebula

The first real test for my new "Full Spectrum" modified T3i Canon DSLR Camera!
M8 The Lagoon Nebula was captured early morning of June 15th at our local RASC Observatory. Myself and a friend imaged M8 all night long (once the moon set at midnight) despite the heavy dew, fog and intermittent cloud. Much time was lost, but a total of 75 minutes of exposure were stacked to create this image.
The Lagoon Nebula is 4000-6000 light years away and measures 110 light years across. The features of M8 that intrigue me the most are the little black clouds called "Bok Globules". They are dark collapsing clouds of proto-stellar material and they contain the right ingredients to hatch a new star. Wikipedia has more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bok_globule
I keep a photo album at home of my space images. Each image is captioned with the Psalm number that coincides with the objects Messier number... So for M8, here is the verses that jumped off the page from Ps.8:
 Psalm 8: 3-6 (NLT)
When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?
Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority.

25 subs x 3minutes = 75 minutes total exposure at 1600iso - Stacked with DSS and processed with Photoshop CS2free

May 2013 - Spring Globular Clusters:

The beginning of May provided two beautiful warm & clear nights. May 1st & 3rd were dedicated to imaging Globular Clusters M3 and M13. Both nights were perfect for sitting back in my lawn chair and gazing into the starry blackness above!
I should mention: Some of the bonus darkness I enjoy at home is courtesy of a kind and supportive neighbour! When she sees me out setting up my telescope, she makes sure all her outside lights and yard light are shut off for the night. You can't beat neighbours like that!!
I shot both clusters with the same settings, under the same "seeing" conditions, same exposure times and an equal frame size. This provides a direct visual comparison of these two giant star clusters from our distant perspective here on Earth. Both of these clusters are roughly 90 light years diameter but M3 has a hard time competing with M13, as it rests 33,900 light years away. M13 is much closer at only 25,100 light years. M3 may lose a little in quality, but it makes up for it in quantity: M3 has 500,000 stars while M13 only holds 300,000 stars!
Close examination of both clusters reveal a colourful array of bluish to orangey stars.
Look for many 'small' distant galaxies in the peripheral as well.



M3 - Globular Star Cluster in Canes Venatici - 40 x 2.5min exposures = 1hr 40min total exposure @ 800iso

M13 - Globular Star Cluster in Hercules - 40 x 2.5min exposures = 1hr 40mins total exposure @ 800iso





Camera and Tripod

March 2013: I have been taking some pictures with my Canon T2i DSLR camera and an old manual lens FD 35-105mm zoom. It took some searching on-line to find an adapter that would let me join a 25 year old lens to a 2 year old camera... Amazon.ca saved the day!
I was able to get a couple pictures of Comet PanSTARRS in mid March, before it became to dim to capture. (A car zoomed by in the second frame).
The picture of my favourite constellation "Orion" is ten 15 second long frames stacked, ISO 800. Orion stands (from top to bottom stars) about 890 light years tall. The top left bright star "Betelgeuse", if placed where our sun is, would reach past the orbit of Jupiter, thus consuming the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter!
God challenged Job by reminding him that He is in control! - God said:
        "Can you direct the movement of the stars, binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion?" Job 38:31 (NLT)
My response would be..."ummm, no... ok God, you're in control! Sorry for doubting you - Big Guy!"
I also included a quick 1/3 second shot of the cloud covered moon.

Finally... Clear Skies! 
Friday night, March 8th was an ideal night to set up and try out my new telescope. I am now shooting with an 8" Skywatcher Newtonian OTA. I sold my 6" SCT in the fall and picked up the 8" Newt about a month before Christmas. There has been very few clear nights but finally, Friday was one!
Spring is galaxy season so I decided to shoot the Pinwheel Galaxy M101 (or NGC 5457). 
The Pinwheel has a diameter of 170,000 light years and it's about 21 million light years away! It's located above the handle in the Big Dipper.
Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of His great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing. (Is 40:26)

Pinwheel Galaxy M101 - 36 x 4min sub frames = 2hrs 24mins total exposure @ 800iso