The Observatory

The business end of the scope

Rigel and companion about 900 light years away

Look closely to the upper right, close to Rigel you'll see it's companion star about nine seconds of arc away. Rigel is a blue supergiant about 900 light years away. Rigel is many times the size of our sun. Our sun would appear like a small dot compared to Rigel.

M27 Planentary Nebula - 1360 light years away

M-51 Whirlpool Galaxy - 37 million light years from Earth (click to enlarge)

The above image was obtained on 5/30/2010, with a Canon 40D attached to a equatorial fork mounted 10" Schmidt Cassegrain telescope. This was a series of 35x120 second exposures W/8 darks, @ISO 800 - A 6.3 focal reducer was used in the optical train along with an Astonomik LP filter. All calibrated and stacked in DSS.






M51, the 'Whirlpool Galaxy' in Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Messier in 1773. Its companion galaxy, NGC 5195, is a spectacular example of interacting galaxies, in this case NGC 5195 is being "ripped apart" by the huge gravitational disturbance of M51. The distance of M51 is estimated to be about 37 million light years. The diameter is approximately 100,000 light years and the total mass is estimated to be the equivalent of 160 billion suns.

Orion Nebula M-42, 1275- Light years from Earth (click to enlarge)

M42 Orion is a stellar nursery where over 700 stars at various stages are being formed within the central core of the nebula.

Eastern Veil Nebula NGC 6992 - Supernova remnant (click on image to enlarge)

Veil Nebula is an old supernova remnant in the constellation Cygnus. It is the remains of cataclysmic explosion of star that exploded between 5,000 and 8,000 years ago. This nebula is about 1,860 light-years distance.

M-13 A distance of 25,000 light years.

M-13 is a Globular star cluster in the Constellation Hercules. It contains several hundred thousand stars, and is approximately 25,000 light years from earth.

Click on the image to enlarge.

M16 Eagle Nebula at 7,000 light years distance

The Pillars of Creation - Eagle Nebula (closeup)

The Hubble Space Telescope obtained a famous photograph of this nebula, known as the "Pillars of Creation." The dark tower of gas coming off the nebula, at center, is approximately 57 trillion miles high. This is not quite Hubble quality here, but the dark pillars can clearly be seen at the center of the image.

M-1 Crab Nebula - 6300 light years from Earth.

M-1 Nebula 12/5/2008 14x60sec Camera Canon 40D. M1 is the remnant of a star that exploded as a supernova which was observed in ancient times in 1054, by the Chinese.

Click to enlarge image

Appennines Mtn Range - Apollo 15 landing site (click image to enlarge)

The Appennines mountain range, by far the most magnificent range on the visible surface, with 3000 peaks, and extending in an almost continuous curve of more than 400 miles in length.

Some peaks rise more than 15,000 feet, The square-shaped mass Mount Wolf, near the southern end of the chain, include peaks standing 18,000 above the plain.

The last two peaks are perhaps most famous for forming the valley where the Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the Apollo program and the fourth mission to land on the Moon. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous missions. This landing was considered one of the most scientifically successful missions of the Apollo program and started the last three J-Series missions that included the lunar rover and 3-day stays

Planet Saturn

NGC 1977 Running Man Nebula - 1500 light years from Earth

Transit of Venus taken 6/5/2012. Looking close the "Black drop" effect can be seen. This was obtained with a Canon 40D mounted to a 10" Schmidt Cassegrain telescope.  Sun filters used were Baader Solar film. 

Venus near maximum transit, taken on 6/5/2012. This image was obtained with a Canon 40D mounted to a 10" Schmidt Cassegrain telescope.  Sun filters used were Baader Solar film.