Edge-on spiral galaxy. 10 million light-years away. Magnitude 10.1. Composite of 84 (out of 296) 40-second exposures. Full color image.
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, in GIMP
October 30, 2005
Spiral galaxy with two prominent arms. 25 million light-years away. Magnitude 8.4. Composite of 63 (out of 140) 60-second exposures. Full color image.
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, in GIMP
April 30, 2004
Large spiral galaxy 31 million light-years away, viewed edge-on. You can see the dust lanes bisecting the central bulge. Magnitude 9.6. Click image for a wider view. Composite of 25 (out of 87) 78-second exposures. Full color image.
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast in GIMP
April 28, 2004
Bode's Galaxy
Spiral galaxy 11 million light-years away. Magnitude 6.9. A dust lane is apparent to the lower right of the center. Composite of 24 (out of 60) 78-second exposures. Full color image.
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Despeckle in GIMP
April 24, 2004
Cigar Galaxy
Irregular galaxy near the large spiral galaxy M81. 11 million light-years away. Magnitude 8.4. The galaxy is bisected by dark dust lanes. M82 is undergoing a lot of star-forming activity probably caused by a close encounter with M81. Composite of 18 (out of 56) 78-second exposures. Full color.
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/9
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor + IR-block filter
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Gaussian Blur in GIMP
March 04, 2004 2:00am PST
Whirlpool Galaxy
Magnitude 8.4 face-on spiral galaxy with companion galaxy. 37 million light years. This seems to be the best I can do with my gear. A dust lane is visible running along the center of the upper inside spiral arm. Brighter spots on the arms are star-forming regions. Composite of 58 (out of 184) 60-second exposures. Full color image.
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Unsharp mask in GIMP
May 16, 2004
Sombrero Galaxy
Large galaxy 50 million light-years away. Magnitude 8.0. M104 is encircled by a very large dust band. You can see it here passing horizontally across just below the core. Composite of 15 (out of 80) 78-second exposures.
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Despeckle in the GIMP
April 28, 2004
Giant elliptical galaxy 60 million light years away in the Virgo Cluster. Magnitude 8.4. Only the bright core and central regions are visible here. Composite of 19 78-second exposures. Color image converted to B&W (no IR-block filter).
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Gaussian Blur
March 16, 2004
Black Eye Galaxy
Spiral galaxy 19 million light years away. Magnitude 8.5. The dark dust lanes that give the galaxy its name are just above-left of the center. Composite of 32 (out of 152) 60-second exposures. Full color.
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast in GIMP
May 9, 2004
Large spiral galaxy 27 million light years away. Magnitude 7.9. The spiral arms are faint, and just barely detected here. Parts of the arms appear as disconnected patches, including one in the lower right corner. Composite of 90 (out of 194) 60-second exposures. Full color. Slightly hazy conditions.
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Gaussian Blur in GIMP
May 26, 2004
Galaxy Group
Group of three galaxies, magnitude 11.0, 11.1, 13.0 repectively. 5985 is a spiral viewed obliquely, 5982 is an elliptical, and 5981 is a spiral galaxy viewed edge-on. Composite of 100 (out of 150) 60-second exposures. Full color. Some light haze, occasional thin clouds.
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Gaussian Blur in GIMP
May 27, 2004
A small spiral galaxy in Draco, but relatively bright for its size. Magnitude 10.2. Composite of 85 (out of 110) 60-second exposures. Full color.
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Gaussian blur, Unsharp mask
June 5, 2004
Spindle Galaxy
Lenticular galaxy 22 million light years away. Magnitude 9.9. Composite of three 78-second exposures. Full color (no IR-block filter).
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Gaussian Blur
February 12, 2004
Andromeda Galaxy
Only the bright central core and inner part of this nearby spiral galaxy show up in this exposure. M31 is the closest large galaxy, just 2.9 million light-years away. Composite of 12-second exposures taken in B&W mode.
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast
September 18, 2003 12:00am PDT
Quasars are extremely bright, but very distant galaxies with active cores. This is the brightest in our sky, about magnitude 13 and about 2 billion light-years away. Composite of 24 (out of 120) 40-second exposures.
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast
May 11, 2004
This is probably the most distant object accessible to the ETX/webcam astrophotographer. About magnitude 14.8, this quasar has redshift z=1.3 corresponding to a distance of about 2800 Mpc or >9 billion light-years. That's 2/3 of the way to the edge of the visible universe! Composite of 86 (out of 128) 60-second exposures. Click image for wider field of view.
Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Unshap mask, Adjust levels, Contrast in GIMP
June 5, 2004