Celestron – Astro La Vista Observatory

Sombrero Galaxy – M104

Shown below are three new versions of the Sombrero Galaxy. The original data involved a total imaging time of 5.6 hours and 79 photos through LRGB filters and the Celestron EdgeHD 11.

From Wikipedia: “The Black Eye Galaxy (also called Evil Eye Galaxy; designated Messier 64, M64, or NGC 4826) was discovered by Edward Pigott in March 1779, and independently by Johann Elert Bode in April of the same year, as well as by Charles Messier in 1780. It has a spectacular dark band of absorbing dustContinue reading “Black Eye Galaxy -M64”

Whirlpool Galaxy – Color

The subexposures for this stacked image were taken with LRGB filters. The total exposure time was about 25 hours with the Celestron 11 inch telescope. From Wikipedia: “The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a, M51a, or NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus in theContinue reading “Whirlpool Galaxy – Color”

Whirlpool Galaxy in Greyscale

My first 30 minute sub exposure of the Horsehead Nebula.

Taken in HA and processed in pseudo color in Photoshop. This single exposure was taken with the QSI 583wsg camera on the Celestron C11 EdgeHD at f7. An updated photo that shows the impact of stacking a few additional narrowband images.

Supernova in NGC 4386

This is a recently discovered Supernova that I calculate is currently at magnitude 14.5. It is a crop of a 200 second exposure taken with a QSI 583wsg camera and the C11 Edge HD. Below is an inverted view.

Panstaars C/2012 K1 (Update)

This is the latest photo of this comet. It was imaged using a Hyperstar lens at F2 on a Celestron C11 Edge HD with a Starlight Xpress H9C color camera. The best of 90 images were stacked using Maxim DL and then the image was processed further in Photoshop CS6. The individual exposures ranged betweenContinue reading “Panstaars C/2012 K1 (Update)”

A Messier Miss in Leo – NGC 2903

This is one of the better objects missed by Charles Messier in the preparation of his list of objects to avoid when searching for comets. Located in the constellation Leo it is around 31 million light years away and has the luminosity of 19 billion suns. It has been adorned with festive star spikes justContinue reading “A Messier Miss in Leo – NGC 2903”

The Outer Limits Galaxy – M104

Otherwise known as the Sombrero Galaxy or Messier 104, a black and white photo of this galaxy was shown in the ending credits of each episode of the original version of “The Outer Limits.” It is fitting that the Sombrero Galaxy is the first deep space object taken from the Astro La Vista Observatory givenContinue reading “The Outer Limits Galaxy – M104”

Pinwheel Galaxy – Celestron Edge HD 11 First Light

First Light with Celestron C11 EdgeHD. This image of the Pinwheel Galaxy is a composite of 15 one minute photos that have been stacked. — in Prescott, AZ. September 30, 2013.