{"id":3689,"date":"2018-04-04T15:46:17","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T14:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.popastro.com\/main_spa1\/deepsky\/?page_id=3689"},"modified":"2018-04-30T09:40:40","modified_gmt":"2018-04-30T08:40:40","slug":"march-2018","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/deepsky\/march-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"March 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four\u00a0 members sent observations\u00a0 to deep sky section this month, all were digital images, twenty – one in total.<\/p>\n

Geoff Elston,<\/strong> SPA solar section director, used an 80mm Vixen refractor and Canon D550 DSLR camera to capture four of these.<\/p>\n

NGC 869 and 884 are the well – known open pair of open clusters in the constellation of Perseus, alternatively known as Caldwell 14 1+2 and the Swordhandle.\u00a0 This is a superb sight in binoculars and small telescopes.\u00a0 In this image NGC 869 is uppermost.<\/p>\n

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NGC 869, NGC 884<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Geoff’s next two images are of open clusters;\u00a0 M34 in Perseus and M38 (also the fainter NGC 1907 to the right and above centre) in Auriga.<\/p>\n

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M34<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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M38, NGC 1907<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Geoff’s final image is M42, the prominent emission \/ reflection nebula in Orion.<\/p>\n

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M42<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alan Clitherow<\/strong>, SPA planetary section director, imaged emission nebulae IC 405, the Flaming Star nebula (right in this image) and IC 410, the Tadpoles nebula.<\/p>\n

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IC 405, IC 410<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

IC 405, (aka Sh2 \u2013 229 and Caldwell 32), surrounds the irregular variable star AE Aurigae, a hot, blue, type O star which appears to have been ejected from the Trapezium cluster in the Orion nebula some two million years ago, together with \u03bc (mu) Columbae (and possibly 53 Arietis). The common point of origin is \u03b9 (iota) Orionis: an interaction between two binary systems is a plausible explanation for these runaway stars.\u00a0 AE Aurigae, therefore, was not formed within IC 405 although it is responsible for the ionisation of the nebula; rather it is punching through the gas at high velocity.<\/p>\n

Alan also re – imaged\u00a0 supernova remnant Sh2 – 240, (aka Simeis 147 and the Spaghetti nebula – see February 2018 report);\u00a0 this time using a 135mm telephoto lens on his cooled, astro – modified Canon 600D DSLR camera, plus a Baader 7nm H alpha filter, to capture it in its entirety.\u00a0\u00a0 The small, bright nebula at the top of the image, just left of centre is Sh2 – 242, an emission nebula ionised by B0V class star BD+26 980.<\/p>\n

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Sh2 – 240<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mark Beveridge<\/strong> used a 200mm Celestron Edge f10.4 SCT and a Starlight Xpress SXR \u2013 H814 mono camera with red, green and blue filters to capture four images of galaxies from his location in Thainstone, near Inverurie.\u00a0 M108, M109, NGC 3184 and NGC 3953 are all within the constellation of Ursa Major.<\/p>\n

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M108<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

M108 is a source of X -rays;\u00a0 indeed the Chandra X – ray telescope has identified 83 separate X – ray sources within it, including the nucleus, which hosts a 24 million solar mass black hole.<\/p>\n

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M109<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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NGC 3184<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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NGC 3953<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Steve Norrie<\/strong>, imaging from Fife, sent in eleven images:\u00a0 the first being IC 434, an area of emission nebulosity in the constellation of Orion containing the Horsehead dark nebula (Barnard 33).\u00a0 The Flame nebula, NGC 2024, is at the bottom left of this image;\u00a0 ionised by Alnitak (zeta Orionis).<\/p>\n

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IC 434 and Barnard 33<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The remaining ten images are actually in pairs: one taken with a Skywatcher 72mm ED refractor plus Atik 490 colour camera and the other with an ES 127mm CF APO and a Starlight Xpress Trius SX694 mono camera plus red, green, blue and narrow band filters.<\/p>\n

First are images of the Leo triplet of galaxies;\u00a0 M65, M66 and NGC 3628.<\/p>\n

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Leo triplet, mono camera plus filters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Leo triplet, colour camera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In these images, M65 is upper left, M66 is upper centre and NGC 3628 lower right. The latter is edge – on and has a noticeable dust band . At about 35 million light years from the Earth, these galaxies show evidence of gravitational interactions with one another: a billion years ago M66 had an encounter with NGC 3628 which displaced its central bulge and pulled a tidal stream of stars out of its neighbour.<\/p>\n

Here we have face – on spiral galaxy M51 in Canes Venatici, the Whirlpool:<\/p>\n

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M51, mono camera plus filters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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M51, colour camera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Next is M101, the Pinwheel galaxy, in Ursa major:<\/p>\n

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M101, mono camera plus filters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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M101, colour camera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This pair is of M109, also in Ursa Major:<\/p>\n

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M109, mono camera plus filters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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M109, colour camera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally, a pair of images of the Rosette nebula in Monoceros, NGC 2238:<\/p>\n

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NGC 2238, mono camera plus filters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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NGC 2238, colour camera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dave Finnigan<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four\u00a0 members sent observations\u00a0 to deep sky section this month, all were digital images, twenty – one in total. Geoff Elston, SPA solar section director, used an 80mm Vixen refractor and Canon D550 DSLR camera to capture four of these.Read more<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3689","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t