Thursday, March 7, 2024

PREVIEW: NGC 3953 --- a close look

I took the "giant" RC scope out back for the second time --- another 3hr setup with the RC and the AP, but fun in a weird way, haha.
I went out on Valentine's Eve 🥰 ...and this was one of a couple of targets I got that night.

This is just a preview.

The seeing conditions were not great, but I still had fun to finally get out again! AND...this target is one that is near and dear to my heart:
NGC 3953 @ 55 million light years away ❤️
This is LUM only, and I collected all LRGB so will process as I go 🙂
#galaxy #astronomy #farfaraway

Saturday, February 24, 2024

NGC 7662 - Blue Snowball planetary nebula

Hi all,
Not yet on my website:
The last object I imaged with the new RC scope and AP mount was this (attached - one is center crop, other is uncropped). It was the same night as my previous two results (5 Sep) and this was was the last for the night. Bright, but tiny object (from here), and the moon really wreaked havoc on the contrast, as the moon was high in the sky and 65% illuminated, so only a hint of the outer areas for this object.
So, this was *still* my "first light" night with the RC and was to the west (Las Cruces light dome).
NGC 7662 - Blue Snowball planetary nebula from Las Cruces in LRGB. Distance: ~5730 LY This nebula was discovered October 6, 1784 by the German-born English astronomer William Herschel.
Setup: TPO RC 12" Truss-tube @f/8 (2432mm focal length) AP1100GTO mount QSI690wsg 19x5min L, 4x5min ea RGB (and then the sun rose)

Saturday, January 13, 2024

Galaxy NGC 772 --- 130 million light years away...

This was the most distant *primary target* for me to date. Very small and very dim. I captured this the same night as my NGC 7331 result with the same RC scope, QSI camera, and AP mount. The Moon had risen and was at 65% illumination - and it was also close to my FOV, which made this very difficult (and bad decision by me to go after this one on this night!). So it goes 🙂

Thursday, December 14, 2023

My Trifid Nebula image featured in national astronomy magazine

Received a surprise in the mail, this week!
Honored!!!
My M20 nebula image featured in a printed national astronomy magazine!
"Reflector" magazine is published by the Astronomical League. My original image that they featured is here: http://jeffjastro.com/dso/M20_24May23.htm
#astronomy

Monday, December 4, 2023

Composite from the Total Annular Eclipse

On 14 October 2023, I went to Roswell, New Mexico to view the Total Annular Eclipse with my loved ones. It was AMAZING!!!

Friday, November 10, 2023

Email from BBC Sky at Night Magazine!!!! (and my FIRST LIGHT image!)

Super excited after receiving this email the other morning!!! 😍💪🔭

"Hi Jeffrey I’m emailing because we’d like to use your image of NGC 7331 in the January issue of BBC Sky at Night Magazine, in our Gallery section."

🤩🤩🤩 THIS one --- and this (NGC 7331) was also my First Light image with my completely new setup: TPO 12" RC Truss-tube, Astro-Physics AP1100GTO Mount!!!

Thursday, October 5, 2023

Galaxy NGC 3718 --- and friends!

Here is my latest result from the TOA scope and from my backyard in New Mexico, USA - this is two nights of data from back in May. This was my FIRST time to try this interesting target!
Here (below) are some notes on it. I have more info/capture details at my site: http://jeffjastro.com/dso/NGC3718_24May23.htm
Galaxy NGC 3718 --- and friends! 52 million light years distant...and that small group of galaxies next to it is 400 million light years away 😮 😊 🤩

From wiki:
NGC 3718, also called Arp 214, is a galaxy located approximately 52 million light years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major.[4][2][5] It is either a lenticular or spiral galaxy. NGC 3729 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major. It is located at a distance of circa 65 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 3729 is about 60,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on April 12, 1789.
There are several theories and model results of the possibility of past gravitational intereaction between NGC 3718 and NGC 3729, one paper is here: https://arxiv.org/abs/1504.03691
#deepsky #galaxies #ccd