This is my dedication to Astronomy. This page is dedicated to DSO's or "Deep Sky Objects" located
outside our Solar System. This includes Star Clusters, Nebulae and Galaxies. All the following pictures have been taken with
the Meade DSI (Deep Sky Imager).
Star Clusters
There are 2 types of Star Clusters: Open and Globular.
Open Clusters are less dense and very loosely associated with other members of the same cluster. Their shapes
and sizes vary for each individual cluster.
Globular Clusters are very dense, compact and, for the most part, always rounded. They are believed to be the
cores of dwarf galaxies that our own Milky Way Galaxy consumed at an earlier point. Some globulars have over a million stars
compacted into an area of a few light years!
Designation: M2 , NGC7089
Type: Globular
Distance: 37,500 Light-Years
Size: 175 Light-Years
Magnitude: 6.5
Location: Aquarius
Imaging: Top: single 4-second exposure during a full moon; Bottom: single short exposure, equal RGB, 0.5x
Focal Reducer
| M13 - The Great Hercules Cluster |
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| As many as 1 million stars make up this massive globular ! |
Designation: M13 - The Great Hercules Cluster
Type: Globular
Distance: 25,100 Light-Years
Size: 145 Light-Years
Magnitude: 5.8
Location: Hercules
Imaging: 1 x 5.7 second exposure, B&W
M13 is visible through binoculars of almost any aperature. When viewed through a 10" scope or more, hundreds of outlying
stars around it's core become visible. Through the use of a CCD camera and time exposure, many many thousands become apparent.
This was only a single exposure at 5.7 seconds because of poor viewing conditions (high winds) allowing me no more time without
the image being deteriorated.
Designation: M15
Type: Globular
Distance: 33,600 Light-Years
Size: 175 Light-Years
Magnitude: 6.2
Location: Pegasus
Imaging: single image short exposure, equal RGB, 0.5x Focal Reducer
Designation: M37
Type: Globular
Distance: 4,400 Light-Years
Size: 25 Light-Years
Magnitude: 6.2
Location: Auriga
Imaging: 7 x 8 second exposures, B&W
M37 shows up rather large and almost perfectly circular through my 9x50mm finder. The apparent size of this cluster fills
the FOV when using the CCD camera.
Designation: M38
Type: Globular
Distance: 4,200 Light-Years
Size: 25 Light-Years
Magnitude: 7.4
Location: Auriga
Imaging: 10x4 second exposures, Equal RGB Channels
| M44 |
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| The "Beehive" or Praesepe Cluster in Cancer. |
Designation: M44, "Beehive" or Praesepe
Type: Open
Distance: 577 Light-Years
Size: ?
Magnitude: 3.7
Location: Cancer
Imaging: 10x4 second exposures, B & W
| M45 - the Pleades |
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| The most famous star cluster of all. |
Designation: M45, the Pleades
Type: Open
Distance: 440 Light-Years
Size: ?
Magnitude: 1.6
Location: Taurus
Imaging: Single 4-second exposure, equal RGB, softened through PhotoEditor
| M72 |
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| One of the more distant clusters of our Galaxy (lower right) |
Designation: M72
Type: Globular
Distance: 55,400 Light-Years
Size: 106 Light-Years
Magnitude: 9.3
Location: Aquarius
Imaging: Single 4-second exposure, B & W
This Messier object was one of the most difficult to date. The quality of the picture is so poor due to terrible light
pollution from nearby Philadelphia coupled with it's relatively faint magnitude. I had to use "dead reckoning" in order to
take this shot. The cluster did not show up in my 50mm finderscope (or my eyepiece). I had to triangulate using nearby stars
to approximate its location.
| M103 |
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| The open cluster M103 located in Cassiopeia. |
Designation: M103, NGC581
Type: Open
Distance: 8,500 Light-Years
Size: 15 Light-Years
Magnitude: 7.4
Location: Cassiopeia
Imaging: Single 5.7-second exposure
A very loosely compiled open cluster. Not much to see.
| NGC 884 |
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| 1 of the 2 "Double Clusters" in Perseus. |
Designation: NGC 884
Type: Open
Distance: 7,400 Light-Years
Size: 100 Light-Years
Magnitude: 4.4
Location: Perseus
Imaging: single 4 second exposure processed through B&W
The "Double Cluster" in Perseus is beautiful to behold at any power. Even through binoculars, these clusters are apparent,
bright and crisp. Located high in the sky and further north, light pollution (from my area) is not an issue. This cluster
(NGC884) plus NGC869 make up the Double Cluster system. In reality they are actually about 200 light years apart from
one another which makes them totally unrelated. It is from our vantage point that they appear right next to one another.
Nebulae
Nebulae are vast clouds of dust and gas. Though there are some very bright nebulae (M42) most of them are faint and detail
can only be seen through a telescope. Color on most of these only appears through either time exposure or an extremely large
aperature telescope.
There are 3 main types of Nebulae: Emission, Reflective and Planetary.
Emission Nebulae emit their own light source from the glowing gases they are comprised of. The Orion nebula (M42)
is the best known example of this. They are usually stellar nurseries for new stars being formed from the collapsing gases.
Reflective Nebulae simply reflect light from a nearby star. They do not emit their own light source and would
be invisible without the nearby star's light source. The nebulosity that surrounds the Pleades is a good example.
Planetary Nebulae are an expanding shell of gas that was blown off from a dying star. Most times they appear as
a circular ring or as symmetrical with lobes but this is not always the case. They are called "Planetary" nebulae because
when they were first discovered hundreds of years ago, they appeared round, much like the planets do. Hence, the name planetary.
The Ring Nebula (M57), the Dumbell Nebula (M27) and the Helix Nebula (NGC7209) are classic examples of planetaries.
| M27 - The Dumbell Nebula |
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| The finest of all planetary nebulae. |
Designation: M27, Dumbell Nebula, NGC 6853
Type: Planetary
Distance: 1,250 Light-Years
Size: 1.5 Light-Years
Magnitude: 7.4
Location: Vulpecula
Imaging: single 5.7 second exposure, equal RGB, 0.5x Focal Reducer
The Dumbell was the first of it's kind to be discovered. It is the finest planetary nebula in the sky and can easily
be spotted with aperatures as low as 50mm in diameter. It appears about half as large as the full moon from our perspective
and is one of the most colorful deep sky objects in the heavens. Due to its size, a 0.5x focal reducer was needed to keep
the whole nebula contained in a single image.
| M42 - The Great Nebula in Orion |
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| A Giant Star-Factory 30 light years in diameter located some 1,500 Light Years away. |
| M42-The Great Nebula in Orion (Black & White) |
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| Another go at the Great Nebula in Orion in b&w. |
Designation: M42, The Great Nebula in Orion
Type: Emission
Distance: 1,500 Light-Years
Size: 30 Light-Years
Magnitude: 4.0
Location: Orion
Imaging: 20x8 second exposures, B&W
Without doubt, THE most viewed nebula in the northern hemisphere if M42. This nebula is not only part of the most recognizable
and prominent constellation in the winter sky, but it's easily seen with the naked eye. Even in light polluted areas. Through
binoculars the outline of the nebula is sharp even in hand-held apparatuses. Through a larger scope at higher power, the nebula
clearly haold up to high magnification. The trapezium appear as headlights of a car coming through a foggy bank. Using a nebula
filter crispens the view even more with hints of green. Time exposure tends to burn the image due to its brightness and high
contrast.
| M57 - The Ring Nebula |
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| The most photographed and well known planetary nebula. |
Designation: M57 (Ring)
Type: Planetary
Distance: 2,300 Light-Years
Size: 2 Light-Years
Magnitude: 8.8
Location: Lyra
Imaging: single 4-second exposure, B&W
This is M57, the "Ring" Nebula in Lyra. It is one of the most popular nebulae (next to the Orion
Nebula) because it is easily located and is high in the sky during late summer months.
The Ring is a planetary nebula
from a dead star. It is assumed by popular belief to be located some 2,300 light-years away, but varying beliefs place it
anywhere from 1,400 up to 5,000 light years away.
Galaxies
There are many different classifications of galaxies. The main types are Spiral, Elliptical, Irregular and Dwarf. There
are some galaxies that fit into more than a single classification. For instance, a galaxy can be elliptical with spiral arms.
Also, an elliptical that is less than 10,000 light years in diameter would be considered a Dwarf galaxy.
| M31 - The Andromedan Galaxy |
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| This image consists of 40 x 5.7 second exposures. |
| The core of M31 |
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| The core of the Andromeda Galaxy. |
Designation: M31 (The Great Spiral, Andromeda Galaxy)
Type: Spiral
Distance: 2.5 Million Light-Years
Size: up to 250,000 Light-Years
Magnitude: 3.2
Location: Andromeda
Imaging: Top: 40 x 5.7 second exposure; Bottom: 2 second exposure
This is M31. This is the closest galaxy to the earth at 2.5 Million Light Years distance.
The Andromeda Galaxy is travelling toward our own galaxy at a rate of about 2 million mph. In another 5 billion years or so,
our galaxy and this one will collide.
| M81 - The Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major |
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| Only a hint of the Galaxy's spiral arms can be seen. |
Designation: M81 (Bode's Galaxy)
Type: Spiral
Distance: 12 Million Light-Years
Size: 100,000 Light-Years
Magnitude: 6.9
Location: Ursa Major
Imaging: 20x8 second exposures, B&W
| M82 - The "Cigar" Galaxy |
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| M82 is classified as an Irregualr (Starburst) Galaxy. |
Designation: M82 (Cigar)
Type: Irregular (Starburst)
Distance: 12 Million Light-Years
Size: 100,000 Light-Years
Magnitude: 8.4
Location: Ursa Major
Imaging: 20x8 second exposures, B&W
Noteworthy Stars
| Sirius - The Brightest Star |
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| Beautiful Sirius, the Gem of Winter. |
Designation: Sirius
Type: Blue Main Sequence
Distance: 8.6 Light Years
Size: 1.7 million miles diameter (2x our sun)
Magnitude: -1.6
Location: Canis Major
Imaging: 5 x 0.25 second exposures, softened thru PhotoEditor
Sirius is the night sky's brightest star. Located 8.6 light years away, it
is the main star in the constellation Canis Major. It is a blue main sequence star with a magnitude of -1.46. Sirius is about
2x as massive as our sun and around 25 times brighter.
Though there are much brighter stars in our galaxy, Sirius appears as the brightest
due to its close proximity to the Earth. This picture of Sirius is a total of 5 x 0.25 second exposures slightly softened
through MS PhotoEd.
| Deneb |
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| 1 of the 3 stars that make up the "Summer Traingle" |
Designation: Deneb
Type: Blue-White Supergiant
Distance: 1,500 Light Years
Size: 180 million miles diameter (200x our sun)
Magnitude: -1.25
Location: Cygnus
Imaging: single 8 second exposure, softened thru PhotoEditor
Deneb is the brightest star in Cygnus and one of the vertices of the "Summer Traingle". It is about 60,000 times as luminous
as our sun. It is likely expanding into a Red Supergiant before exploding into a supernova in a few million years. If Deneb
were located where our sun currently is, it would be large enough to reach the Earth's orbit.
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