M33 Triangulum Galaxy

Although we had a couple of good nights for imaging this week I found it difficult to get the scope pointing and tracking correctly. Cygnus is now more or less zenith (straight up!)making it hard to point, but Andromeda (M33) is very easy to find. I spent some time trying again to capture that 'memorable' image, but couldn't get the tracking spot on. Meanwhile the BRT is doing some more imaging for me, have a nice image of M33 Triangulum Galaxy after quite a bit of processing with the FITS applet and Paint Shop Pro.

Tropical Weather

Well, it's the Autumnal Equinox and the weather doesn't know what day it is! Later today the back end of a hurricane hits the west of the country with winds approaching 90mph, but the temperature will also hit 25 degrees! The south east is having a heatwave...weird.

Yesterday I recieved an interesting image that I submitted from the JML telescope of NGC266 located in Andromeda somewhere (I have still not found it!) This is a feint galaxy which cannot normally be seen with my own equipment. With a bit of processing from Photoshop and LTimage the results are really nice!

Observation of NGC 266.

Taken for SS Osmund and Andrew s RC Primary School.

On 18 Sep 2006 at 23:04:00 GMT.

By the Liverpool Telescope using RATCam.

The exposure was 120.00 seconds using filter R.

The Little Dumbell Nebula (M76)

When I saw this it blew my cotton socks off!!
This image was taken with the Liverpool John Mills University Robotic Telescope (JMU)located in La Palma in the Canary Island. I submitted a job for M76, set up the exposure time etc and waited for the result.

The resulting image was processed with LTImage, which came as a free download from the JMU site and processes FITS type image information. This, along with some processing in Photoshop gave some amazing results! Really pleased, but the JMU telescope seems a bit limited in what objects it offers in the way of observations. The website is is great for schools and has tons of useful information. www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk

Here are the details:

Observation of M76. (The Little Dumbell Nebula)

On 15 Sep 2006 at 00:04:00 GMT.

By the Liverpool Telescope using RATCam.

The exposure was 120.00 seconds using filter HA.

Distance to object: 3.3 thousand light years away

Telescope Dimensions
Height: 8.5 metres
Weight: 24 tonnes
Mirror Diameter: 2 metres
Mirror Weight: 1.25 tonne

The Andromeda Problem

I have tried and tried to get detail from imaging M101 - The Andromeda Galaxy with my own set up. Last night I used my ST80 and managed to image up to 1 minute with the EQ1 tracking motor working fine. I can see some detail (dust lanes) but I want the ultimate image of this beast. The nearest galaxy to ours, but the most difficult to image.

Meanwhile, the BRT has been doing some imaging for me.

I like this image, the colour is cool!

Here are the details...

Your Job

Request ID 36181
Job ID 25760
Object Type MESSIER
Object ID 31
Object Name The Andromeda Galaxy
Exposure Time 120000 ms
Filter Type Colour
Dark frame Instant
Site Name Tenerife
Telescope Type Name Galaxy
Telescope Name Galaxy Camera
Request Time 11:23 on Wednesday 13 September 2006 (10:23:54 UTC)
Completion Time 03:36 on Friday 15 September 2006 (02:36:04 UTC)
Comments Andromeda for Liz
Status Complete

The Dumbell Nebula

The Bradford Robotic Telescope has been down for re-fitting over Summer, but now it's back!

In the last week before the school holidays we had a 'Space Day' with the children in my class. One of the children (Kris) submitted a job to the BRT for the Dumbell Galaxy (M27), Kris was quite excited about seeing this 'object' in space from the BRT so here it is in all it's glory! Not an easy object to image with a telescope as it is very feint and ghostly.

Last night I submitted a job to see if I could capture Uranus...watch this space...might be a disaster but we'll see!

Here are the settings for the BRT for our M27 image:

Request ID 33686
Job ID 24357
Object Type MESSIER
Object ID 27
Object Name The Dumbell Nebula
Exposure Time 100000 ms
Filter Type Colour
Dark frame Instant
Site Name Tenerife
Telescope Type Name Galaxy
Telescope Name Galaxy Camera
Request Time 10:37 on Tuesday 18 July 2006 (09:37:57 UTC)
Completion Time 01:43 on Thursday 7 September 2006 (00:43:06 UTC)
Comments Dumbell (Kris)
Status Complete

Double Cluster

Tonight brought a partial eclipse of the Moon and a Full Moon as well! Sky crystal clear! The Moon came up quite late and low in the sky at the time of the eclipse but the view was amazing, almost as though someone or something had bit a lump out of the top. A beautiful sight, but even though I set up my equipment it was not possible to image, such a shame! Instead I had a go at the Double Cluster in Perseus with my ST80 and focal reducer, hopefully this would give me a wide field view which shows both clusters together, something I cannot do with the Skywatcher 130m. The results were very pleasing! Easy to find and easy to image, even with a full moon!

Holiday Sunset

After the deluge...the sunset!

Well...end of my holidays...back to work tomorrow! Rain, Rain, Rain for the last two weeks, yesterday and today was abominable! Then, suddenly...the skies clear and sunshine at 6.00pm tonight...too late!
If it stays like this I might have a look outside later with the ST80, but the back garden is waterlogged so might need the wellies!

It can only get better!