NGC 3184 is a spiral galaxy in Ursa Major. Also known as the
Little Pinwheel Galaxy, its distinctive blue color comes from a relatively small
number of young, bright stars. The galaxy has two H II regions, NGC 3180 and
NGC 3181 (see astrometry image). I was only able to capture around 35 minutes
of data with the RASA 8 and Mallincam DS10C before the galaxy was lost in trees,
but the image is still usable.
The Sun on 4.28.2022. The Sun was imaged through haze (hence the poor image), but a number of active regions can be seen, most of them capable of producing C-Class flares.
Coddington’s Nebula (IC 2574) is a dwarf spiral galaxy. It
is believed that 90% of its mass is in the form of dark matter. This image was
difficult to capture as there was a light, high haze in the sky and occasional
cirrus clouds drifting across the field. The image was captured as 457 single
frames, comprising a little less than an hour of continuous imaging. The files
were initially processed in Siril with an automatic script. I used Astroflat to
reduce the sky gradients, with tweaks in Topaz Denoise and Affinity Photo. The nebula is the concentrated haze in the center of the image. I
was surprised at the surrounding nebulosity captured, and I’m not really sure if it is
real, or whether the high haze contributed in some way.
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The Sun continues to be active, with several impressive prominences on display today.
Discovered by Pierre Méchain and verified by Charles Messier in 1789, the Sunflower Galaxy (or Messier
63) was one of the first galaxies in which spiral structures were identified
(by Lord Rosse, in the mid-19th century). In visible light, the
large-scale spiral structure of the galaxy is not well defined. As such, it is
classed as a flocculent (or “fluffy”) galaxy. The arms of the galaxy are
brightly illuminated by giant, blue-white stars. This highly cropped image,
taken with the RASA 8, shows the structure of the galaxy quite well. In the
wide-angle annotated image (the original from which I took the crop), the lenticular galaxy NGC 5103 is also visible in
the top, right hand corner (click to zoom in and take a closer look).
This image is a stack of 218 x 10s integrations taken with a RASA 8 and Mallincam DS10C camera. Normally, I would guide and dither when capturing, but PhD2 was not talking to the telescope mount and I had close to perfect polar alignment, so I just captured it anyway. There have been lots of discussions about dithering and whether it can be dispensed with if you have excellent alignment. In this image, that would seem to be the case, as there was no evidence of "walking noise" (a "sleet like" noise that has a consistent direction on the stacked frame due to fixed noise in the imager) on the stacked image.
Lots of clouds and water vapor today. In my experience, a high amount of water vapor in the atmosphere degrades Ha imaging, so today's images of the Sun are very suboptimal. Here are 2 images, showing the active areas and another showing an impressive promience. AR 2993-94 continues to pose a threat of M-class flares.
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A string of active regions runs across pretty much the whole disk of the sun today (4.24.2022)--a big change from what was visible just a few days ago. The main active regions are AR 2293-2294, which has the potential to produce M-Class solar flares. Here's an inverted image of the sun, and, for a change, a white light image of the disk showing sunspots and penumbral areas.
AR 2993-4 is now crackling with M-Class flares. Compare today's inverted image with other images of this group posted earlier and the development is very clear. I've alsp posted images of the numerous prominences visible on the Sun today. This SolarMAX is shaping up to be a good one!
Messier 106 with narrowband data. As the clouds rolled in a couple of nights ago, I managed to capture 35 minutes of narrowband data on M 106 (140 x 15s). I added this data to the data captured several nights previously with the L-Pro light pollution filter. The heavily cropped result is below. Reddish areas on M 106 are due to ionized hydrogen and likely indicate star-forming regions in the galaxy. I've also included an annotated image.
ARs 2293 and 2294 are now joined by AR 2295, which has just emerged over the solar limb. These active areas continue to develop, but are not currently likely to spawn any flare activity. Correction on April 22--apparently some C-Class flares have been detected from these active areas. This image may have captured either the start or end of one, which is indicated by the "blown out" areas towards the bottom of the image of the group.
After several days of a quiet disk--plus lots of cloud and rain--there are some active-looking spots emerging from the Sun's limb (AR 2293 and AR 2294). I am looking forward to following them as they move across the Sun's disk--weather willing!
he Sun on 04.15.2022. Solar activity continues to be low. Here's a full disk pic I took today, together with some prominence images. Activity looks to pick up over the next few days. Note the loop prominence showing the looping magnetic fields of the Sun.
The cameras and tools available to astroimagers today make possible images with small telescopes that would have seemed impossible only a decade or so ago. But some of this technology is a double-edged sword. Tools can be misused and the result is inaccurate, overprocessed images. The image in this post is one example. I like to invert my solar images as the inverted image sometimes shows fine detail missing in the positive image. In the inverted image, the red narrowband sun becomes blue. Black spots become bright areas and dark filaments transform into ribbons of light. The image is inaccurate, but it allows easier visualization of scientifically valuable information. However, sometimes things can get out of hand. I was trying to reduce light gradients in an inverted solar mosaic. As an experiment, I opened the image in Astroflat Pro, which does a great job of removing gradients from dark sky image backgrounds. It made little difference to the solar image, but then I accidentally pulled an image parameter slider to its maximum position, and the result you can see below. It definitely a Weird Sun and of little other value other than an interesting picture. But on the other hand, it could make a great album cover for a progressive Jazz or Metal album--or maybe even a print for the observatory wall :)
Messier 106 is classed as an intermediate spiral galaxy and
is similar in size to the Andromeda Galaxy (M 31). But there the resemblance
ends. M 106 is a Seyfert Galaxy and its quasar-like nucleus is powered by an
immense black hole. Cephied variables on M 106 also played an important role in calibrating their role in the Cosmic Distance Ladder--a set of methods that enables astronomers to determine the distance of celestial objects. This image is heavily cropped as it was taken with a wide field (RASA) telescope. I have also attached an uncropped and annotated image, showing galaxies and other objects in the imaged field. Click and zoom for larger images,
Messier 101--A Pinwheel in the Sky. M191, like M51, is a face on spiral galaxy. It is significantly larger than our own Milky Way Galaxy and has a large number of star forming regions. As the images below show, the galaxy is assymetrical due to gravitational interactions with neighboring galaxies. Below are two images. One is a crop of the original, larger image. The other shows the original image with astrometric data. Please click for larger images.
The Sun on 04.06.2022. I had to image today through clouds and haze, which is a challenge with narrowband solar imaging. The resulting images still show lots of detail, inclusing some impressive prominences and filaments. The current spot groups on the sun are magnetically stable, so they are unlikely to produce any flares. Click individial images for larger pix.
Messier 51--also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy--is a striking object. It's long, spiral arms of gas and dust are its most prominent feature, likely enhanced by the galaxy's interaction with NGC 5195 (the small 'blob' that seems to be pulling on a spiral arm). The RASA is not an ideal scope for this object; M51 appears very small in the imaged field using the Mallincam DS10C camera. Fortunately, the 10 MP sensor supports moderate cropping without too much detail loss and blockiness. There are also a number of other galaxies and other objects in the original, uncropped image. I have included astrometry data for these objects. Please click images for larger versions.
The Sun on 04.04.2022. Solar activity continues, but no flaring is evident at the moment. NASA reports a potentially large sunspot group may be about to emerge over the Sun's southeastern limb. Below are pix of ARs 2978 and 2981, which are approaching the western limb of the Sun. Note the magnetic lines of force shaping the plasma around the dark spot area (the light area in the inverted image).
The Sun on 04.03.2022.The Sun had plenty to offer today, with sunspot complex AR2978-2981 offering the potential for M-Class flares. M-Class flares have the potential to interrupt shortwave communication here on earth and may spark Aurorae. Here are some images of the Sun on this active day.
Today's Sun inverted and normal images. AR 2978 is towards the lower part of the image. AR 2981 is lower still, but adjoined. This new spot is flaring with C Class flares. ARs 2975 and 2976 are moving off the Sun's disk. The two monochrome images show how different enhancement techniques can bring out additional details on the solar surface.
Update--the flare was an M-Class (medium strength) flare. It caused shortwave radio outages in Western Africa. Here are before and after pix of AR 2975, plus a panorama of the whole sun.
AR 2975 is flaring now--image taken at 13:20 Eastern Time today. More on this and follow up images tomorrow. Not the brightness of the area, which oversaturates the sensor.
The Sun on 03.26.2020. The Sun continues to crackle with flares. The large active areas on the left of center (ARs 2975 and 2976) are flaring with C-Class flares (minor flares unlikely to affect the Earth). AR 2975 is growing rapidly and may send more energetic flares earthward as if reaches the center of the solar disk--stay tuned!
