Stars and Planets

Friday, March 27, 2009

M65 and M66 in the constellation Leo

2 of the 3 galaxies in Leo triplet. M65 to the right is 35 MLY asway(mag 10.3) and M66 to the left is 22 MLY from our solar system (mag 8.9).

Messier 13, a nice globular cluster in Hercules

Messier 13 in the constellation Hercules 25 kLY distant in the Milkyway. Apparent magnitude 5.8.

Blackeye Galaxy, Messier 64

Blackeye Galaxy (M64) is about 24 MLY away and has apparent magnitude of 9,4. Located in the constellation Coma Berenices, it is a particular galaxy appearance and we all understand it's nickname. It really look like and eye! Astronomers have discovered that there is to rotating systems in the galaxy with opposite directions causing collisions and unusual appearance.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

M42 Orion Nebula with Canon EOS

A starforming nebual located below Orions belt. Apparent magnitude 3, visual to the naked eye.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

The Comet Lulin again, this time with focus on the Comet and because of its velocity through our solar system, the multiple subpictures stacked here are rubbing out the background stars in the constellation Leo.

The Comet Lulin, Regulus and a satellite

The Comet Lulin here passing through Leo contellation with Regulus in the upper part of the picture. Also a satellite is passing.

Friday, February 27, 2009

A close up picture of the comet Lulin Feb 26 - 2009

The comet Lulin was jointly discovered by Asian astronomers in July of 2007. It is probably the first time the comet visits our solar system and will most likely never come back, or at least not in thousands of years. Lulin was closest to Earth on Feb 24. We will still be able to see the comet through March and may be April. Comets normally consist of dirty snow/ice and dust. Being close to the Sun the experts have calculated a water dissipation of 400 l per second! The comet actually travels opostit direction of the planets and therefore are moving fast against background stars viewed from Earth.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

The Crab Nebula.

The Crab Nebula in Taurus was first seen in 1024 by the Chineese and Arabs. The supernove explosion 6500 LY away in our Milky Way was visible to the naked eye in daylight for almost a month and in the night sky for almost two years. The remaining nebula is today called Messier 1, NGC 1952 or the Crab Nebula. Camera Nikon D70, CPC11 2000 mm at f6,3, guided.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

The Moon

The Moon again.

The Whirlpool galaxy, M51

The M51 is 23 MLY from us in Canis Venatici, Mag 9,0. The companion on top is NGC 5195. The spiral structure is believed to be caused by the interacdtion with the companion galaxy NGC5195. If you look closely on the large picture, you will find many more galaxies.

Andromeda galaxy M31, M32 and M110

The Andromeda galaxy is our nabour galaxy only 2.5 MLY away. It has trillions of stars and Magitude 4.4, you can see it easy with a binocular under dark skies.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Messier 33 - NGC 598 in Triangulum.

In Triangulum the M33 galaxy is impressive. 2.8 MLY from us with Mag6,3.

25x10 min, ISO 1600 with Celestron 80ED refractor, 600 mm, f7,5 with 0.8 reducer/flattener.

Camera Canon 40D modified, guided with Stellarvue 200mm, f4 and NexImage.

Messier 82 - Cigar galaxy

M82-NGC3034, the Cigar galaxy, 12 MLY from us in the Ursa Major constellation.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Messier 3 - Globular Cluster

The Messier M3 Globular cluster in Canes Venatici is 36.9 kLT from us in the Milky Way. It has apperent magnitude 6.2. It has a lot of variable stars.

Saturn November 2008

Saturn November 2008, not my best picutre of Saturn, anyway-now we face the Saturn disk on its edge.

Monday, November 24, 2008

M57 Ring Nebula in Lyra

The Planetary Nebula M57 is estimated to have exploded 20 000 years ago. The white dwarf in the middle (Magnitude 14) is surrounded by a darker space which is hotter than the visual ring. Since it so hot it does not emmit visual light but ultravioliet radiation. 23oo LY away.