Month: March 2020

M98 M99 Galaxies

Messier 98 (left bottom) and 99 (right) are galaxies visually located in constellation Come Berenices. These galaxies interacted with each other long time ago, but it’s long time forgotten, because currently, the distance between them is 1.3 million light years.

Technical details:

TelescopeNewton 150/600 mm
Aperture150 mm
Focal length630 mm
MountAvalon M-Zero
AutoguidingZWO 174MM, Guidescope 30 mm
CameraZWO 071 Pro @-10°C
CorrectorExplore Scientific HR
FiltersAstronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure140x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date2020-03-24

M44 Beehive Cluster

Messier 44, sometimes called Beehive cluster, is visually one of the biggest open cluster, which can be observed from northern hemisphere. Previous picture, taken 3 year ago, was done with focal length 1000 mm. Now I changed the strategy and used only 630 mm. I think this was a good idea and whole cluster is perfectly framed.

Technical details:

TelescopeNewton 150/600 mm
Aperture150 mm
Focal length630 mm
MountAvalon M-Zero
AutoguidingZWO 174MM, Guidescope 30 mm
CameraZWO 071 Pro @-10°C
CorrectorExplore Scientific HR
FiltersAstronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure76x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date2020-03-46

M95 M96 M105 NGC 3384 and NGC 3389 Galaxies

Well, the weather was so bad very long time or the Moon was up and shining. I had almost no opportunity to capture something this year. Finally the sky cleared up and galactic season started (the spring). I was so excited that I wanted to capture as many deep space object at possible. Therefore I took the telescope with the shortest focal length I have (630 mm), pointed the telescope into the constellation Leo and captured 5 bright galaxies in one shot. M95 is the one at bottom left, M96 in middle and M105 the brightest at top right corner.

Technical details:

TelescopeNewton 150/600 mm
Aperture150 mm
Focal length630 mm
MountAvalon M-Zero
AutoguidingZWO 174MM, Guidescope 30 mm
CameraZWO 071 Pro @-10°C
CorrectorExplore Scientific HR
FiltersAstronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure76x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date2020-03-18

M48 Open Cluster

Telescope is out after long time. My main targets for this night are some galaxies in constellation Leo, but I have to wait for these galaxies to cross the meridian (line splitting west and east). By browsing in planetarium software I found one object, which can fill the gap – it was the open cluster M48. Open cluster usually don’t need super dark skies, therefore I can capture them during the evening, when there is still strong light pollution. My previous picture was taken by much longer focal length, therefore the cluster covered nearly whole field of view. This time the background if filled by many stars, which are not members of this cluster.

Technical details:

TelescopeNewton 150/600 mm
Aperture150 mm
Focal length630 mm
MountAvalon M-Zero
AutoguidingZWO 174MM, Guidescope 30 mm
CameraZWO 071 Pro @-10°C
CorrectorExplore Scientific HR
FiltersAstronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure76x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date2020-03-18