by yaska77
When it comes to astrophotography, occasionally I get a break and things go well. I should probably state from the offset that getting perfect scope alignment is nigh on impossible due to my house being in the way of Polaris! That doesn’t mean I haven’t got close but it does mean I still get some object drift across the field of view.
That hasn’t put me off trying though, and after watching the first episode of the recent Stargazing LIVE (on the BBC) I set up my scope and took advantage of the clear night sky. First off was a look at M42 the Orion Nebula, which I’ve imaged before but thought I’d have another look as the conditions were so good!
M42 the Orion Nebula with faint M43 Nebula top left (click to enlarge) - Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn
For the first time I caught some of the faint nebula M43 to the top left of the image, and you can also see the stars that make up the Trapezium cluster in the centre of M42. Of all the things I’ve seen since I got my telescope, the Orion Nebula will always remain a favourite. Beautiful!
I next looked towards M1, the Crab Nebula, which I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to see through the light polluted skies over where I live. To my surprise the stacked images clearly define the shape of the nebula.
M1 the Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant in the constellation Taurus (click to enlarge) - Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn
Because I know now that I can find M1 and image it I’m hoping to try again soon using a 2x magnifying barlow lens, to see if any more details can be caught!
Passing back through Orion I aimed now towards the Rosette Nebula. I was sure it would appear too large in my camera’s field of view, but as star cluster NGC 2244 is at the centre I was hopeful I’d be able to get some details.
NGC 2244 is an open cluster of stars in the heart of the Rosette Nebula (click to enlarge) - Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn
The stars of the open cluster shine brightly, surrounded by the gas and dust that make up the Rosette Nebula. You can even make out some of the darker lanes to the top right of the cluster.
By now it was into morning, and the prospect of getting up for work in a few hours was pushed from my mind. I was having too much fun and was sure I was getting some good results. So I decided to stay out in the cold a while longer and push my luck. I’d imaged the Andromeda Galaxy in October last year, but could I get two galaxies in the same image?
Two for the price of one! Galaxies M96 (left) and M95 (right) in the same shot (click to enlarge) - Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn
Despite being small in the image, you can clearly make out the spiral shapes of both galaxies, M96 and M95, located in the constellation Leo. M96 is the closer of the two at 31 million light-years away, with M95 being 38 million light-years away.
The cold was setting in now and dew was beginning to build up, but I thought I’d try one more target and see what happened. It was already 3 hours past when I should have gone to bed, what difference would another half hour make?!
Messier 37 is the richest open cluster in the constellation Auriga (click to enlarge) - Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn
The M37 open cluster is roughly 300 million years old and contains over 500 stars (many of insufficient magnitude to be seen in this image). The camera finished clicking away as the battery warning light started flashing, and I could see dew building up on the scope’s mirror so I finally called it a night. I’d taken over 10 gigabytes worth of images and now had the stacking to look forward to.
So I finally got them all finished and they’re now here for your perusal 
Was it worth the 3 hours sleep I got and the tough day at work that followed? Most definitely!
To not only see these sights with my own eyes, but to capture them in pictures too has more than justified the cost of the scope and camera as far as i’m concerned, and there can only be more to come!
Thank you to Stargazing LIVE for inspiring the nation (and me to stay up way too late!), we hope we can help keep the interest going!
Equipment used:
Unmodified Canon EOS 550D (with T-Ring)
Sky-Watcher Explorer 200P EQ5 PRO SynScan 200mm Newtonian Reflector Telescope
Intervalometer
DeepSkyStacker Software
Filed under: Astronomy, Blog gallery, Galaxy, Nebula, Night sky, Stars, yaska77 Tagged: #bbcstargazing, astrophotography, Crab Nebula, galaxies, images, Orion Nebula, photography, postaweek2011, postaweek2012, Rosette Nebula, stacking, star cluster
