Sunday, July 7, 2019

Deep Sky Calculus and an Evil Eye?

This screen capture from https://www.goodtostargaze.com tells the story of the weekend.


Good to Stargaze?  Nope.
Sure. Seeing and transparency are in the green.  Clouds, humidity, and nearby thunderstorms, however, prevent any astronomy goodness.

It has been this way for a couple of weeks, meaning that the glairing moon is again starting to be a nuisance to anyone interested in enjoying deep sky astronomy.

The last good opportunity was in May.  I revisited some of the images that I captured then and realized that there were a couple that would fun to share.

As usual, click the images to make them bigger.


The Integral Sign Galaxy (UGC 3697)

Those of us with a math and science background will find this immediately recognizable.  For those who don't, here is a quick video to bring you up to speed! 😊



Understanding Calculus in 10 Minutes, a Youtube video.

Here is what I captured with my ZWO ASI294MC imager.


UGC 3697, 18 Frames Stacked 72s Integration
UGC 3697, in the near center, is an edge-on spiral galaxy with warped arms.  It is located in the faint constellation of Camelopardalis. Scientists believe the warping is the result of interaction with a dwarf galaxy.

The Evil Eye Galaxy (M64)

It's also known as the "Black Eye Galaxy."

This one is a real beauty.  

Ouch.  (It's Okay.  It's Just Makeup.)

Here is what I captured with my ZWO ASI294MC imager.

M64, 45 Frames Stacked 180s Integration
It's a real beauty, huh?  No pain and no makeup.   

A dark band of absorbing dust in front of the galaxy's bright nucleus gives it the nickname of the "Evil Eye" or "Black Eye" galaxy.
  


4 comments:

  1. Yep, I can see why they're called the Integral Sign Galaxy and the Black Eye Galaxy. I hope you get better seeing conditions soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Saturday night looks good so far except the Moon will be 97% illuminated. Maybe I can find some bright objects at which to point the telescope. Hmmm. Saturn is near opposition...

      Delete
  2. I thought maybe you had mouthed off to your wife - and hence the photo of the black eye. ;-)

    That photo is so sharp - nicely done C!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! It's a lot of fun to watch the images appear as the frames integrate!

      Delete

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