You may recall that a few weeks ago I set up my telescope in the backyard to do a little testing. I was extremely restricted in my view, and I ended up semi-randomly taking a picture of M81, aka Bode's Galaxy. It was surprisingly good.
A few days later I took another picture, and although it wasn't really a lot better, it showed some color that didn't come through in the first picture.
Finally, when I was out in the desert last week shooting the Pleiades, I finished up by midnight because that's when the Pleiades fall below the horizon. So I figured I'd give M81 another try under a nice, dark sky. Unfortunately, something weird happened that ruined most of my images¹ and I ended up with only four good subs.² But that turned out to be enough to get a pretty nice picture.
Here they are. The bottom image is the original one from my backyard. The middle one is also from my backyard. The top one, which shows considerably more detail and some subtle colors, was taken out in the desert.
¹I still don't know what it was. After the meridian flip, every image was a little blurred and had a big triangle of empty black space at the top center. The blurriness might have been a focus problem, but the Bermuda Triangle thing is just inexplicable.
²This is astro-ese for subexposure. The more the better!
Nice photos! Can anyone identify the streak in the right lower corner? Maybe a galaxy viewed side on? And tonight Venus and Jupiter conjunct, I think.
That's M82, another galaxy, viewed side-on.
Kevin, these are amazing. The one in the desert is so clear!
Maybe I'm just eccentric but I like the first one best.
And in the desert picture can anyone else see a kind of oval structure surrounding the galaxy on the right?
I agree on the first pic. The arms seem to be better defined which looks cool. I don’t see an oval structure anywhere though..,
Gorgeous!
Congratulations! You are seeming to be better than NASA....with real emotional import conveyed...at least for me. Thanks.
I will however
The top picture is great. Perhaps the most beautiful spiral galaxy out there, surprisingly well photographed.
It's almost certain that any problem that happens after a meridian flip is (1) due to gravity and (2) something has come loose. I always cross my fingers when one happens...
Google paid 99 dollars an hour on the internet. Everything I did was basic Οnline w0rk from comfort at hΟme for 5-7 hours per day that I g0t from this office I f0und over the web and they paid me 100 dollars each hour. For more details visit this article... https://createmaxwealth.blogspot.com
Well, we know there's no triangular empty space in the heavens, so I suggest the next time you're up at Palomar, knock on the door and see if you can talk to someone who knows what's up. Not an astronomer -- they probably don't know how the telescope works -- but the person who sets up the shots and maintains the equipment.
These are beautiful photographs, by the way.