Blog - Galactic Images

M17 – A close-up inside the Swan/Omega Nebula Complex

By John Chumack|2022-08-09T13:30:20+00:00August 9th, 2022|Tags: #ChumackObservatories, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #messier, #messier17, #natgeo, #omeganebula, #QHYCCD, #skyatnight, #swannebula, #Universetoday, #ZWO, #ZWO294MC, Astronomy, Astrophotography, M17, Sagittarius, Space|

A close-up look inside of M17 the Swan/Omega Nebula… also known as the Check-mark Nebula, Lobster Nebula, and the Horseshoe Nebula.(so many common names for one object)

M17 The Swan or Omega Nebula Complex in Sagittarius

The Omega Nebula, also known as the Swan Nebula, is an HII region (star formation region) in the constellation Sagittarius.

5,000 to 6,000 light-years away, and spans about 22 light years across.

You can see lots of dust and gas in my close-up shot as well as some Bok globules.

This nebula is a bright one, shining at Magnitude 6, barely visible to the unaided eye from a dark location, but looks great in binoculars or a small telescope.

C-11 SCT Telescope at F10, Bisque MYT mount, ZWO 294MC Cooled Cmos Camera, L-Enhance filter,

“Short Exposure Imaging” Method, 60 x 20 second subs, 20 minutes total integration time., unfortunately the target went behind my neighbor’s trees, so only got 20 minutes worth of data from my backyard observatory in Dayton, Ohio on 08-01-2022.

Calibrated & stacked in Deep Sky Stacker, Pixinsight, & Adobe Raw CC 2022.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

The Waxing Gibbous Moon in daylight on 08-07-2022

By John Chumack|2022-08-08T15:48:40+00:00August 8th, 2022|Tags: #Canon, #daylight, #lunarSurface, #pointandshoot, Moon|

I captured this image in Daylight, around 7:20pm EST on 08-07-2022 while the sky was still blue.

Here is a quick shot handheld with my Canon Point and Shoot camera, Power Shot SX50 HS, 138.53mm lens, F6.5, ISO 80, 1/125 sec exposure.

Notice the Moon is sitting very low in the South all this week, as we go from Waxing Gibbous toward Full Moon.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

Jupiter and The Great Red Spot on 08-03-2022

By John Chumack|2022-08-05T14:09:18+00:00August 5th, 2022|Tags: #ChumackObservatories, #GalacticImages, #greatredspot, #JohnChumack, #joviansystem, #natgeo, #QHYCCD, #skyatnight, #Universetoday, Astronomy, Jupiter, Planets, Space|

Jupiter and the Great Red Spot on 08-03-2022 @ 09:24 UT

I was surprised with better than average seeing, but there was still a thin layer of haze up there every morning this week.

C-11 Telescope at F20, 2x Barlow, ADC, Bisque MyT mount, QHY462 Color Planetary Camera,

Fire-Capture Software, 10.5 ms exposure, best 75% of 8,000 frames stacked in Autostakkert, Wavelets in Registax6, Final in Adobe Raw CS 2022. Captured from my backyard observatory in Dayton, Ohio. Jupiter & Great Red Spot on 08-03-2022 @ 09:24 UT

I was surprised with better than average seeing, but there was still a thin layer of haze up there every morning this week.

C-11 Telescope at F20, 2x Barlow, ADC, Bisque MyT mount, QHY462 Color Planetary Camera,

Fire-Capture Software, 10.5 ms exposure, best 75% of 8,000 frames stacked in Autostakkert, Wavelets in Registax6, Final in Adobe Raw CS 2022. Captured from my backyard observatory in Dayton, Ohio.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

M27 The Dumbbell or Apple Core Planetary Nebula – A Close-up of a dying star

By John Chumack|2022-08-02T11:22:09+00:00August 2nd, 2022|Tags: #ASIAIR, #ChumackObservatories, #Dumbbell, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #m27, #messier, #messier27, #natgeo, #planetarynebula, #skyatnight, #Universetoday, #ZWO294MC, Astronomy, Space|

Just a quick test…on M27, another Dying Star blowing off its outer atmosphere. The Dumbbell Nebula (also known as the Apple Core Nebula, Messier 27, or NGC 6853) is a planetary nebula (Notice the White Dwarf star at center) in the constellation Vulpecula, at a distance of about 1360 light-years.

Captured with a C-11 at F10, Bisque MyT Mount, and ZWO 294MC Pro (OSC) cooled Cmos Camera, “Lucky Imaging” Method,

L-Enhance Filter, 60 x 30 sec Subs, 30 minutes total integration time from my backyard in the city of Dayton (Bortle 8 skies).

Captured via ASI Air WiFi App to capture on my IPAD, Calibrated & stacked raw in Deep Sky Stacker,

and Processed in Pixinsight, Adobe Raw CS 2022.

I was surprised it even came out okay, Since I was actually shooting through a lot of High Cirrus Clouds, we had rain all week, It was supposed to be clear last Friday night,

but I ended up with thin High Cirrus most of the night. So i got rid of most of the real badly fogged frames,

and ended up keeping 30 minutes worth of data.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

The Great Planetary Alignment 2022

By John Chumack|2022-07-29T11:17:48+00:00July 29th, 2022|Tags: #ChumackObservatories, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #Planetparade, #skyatnight, #Universetoday, Astronomy, Planetary Alignment, Planets, Space|

The 2022 Planetary Alignment from back in June, Sorry a little behind on this one, but I have been traveling on business and my shot was still on my camera from last month.

2022 Planetary Alignment captured on 06-23-2022.

Canon 6D DSLR Camera, Tokina 16mm lens F2.8, Set to F7.1, ISO 1250, A single 6 second exposure. Mercury is just above my truck and tree top on the left, Saturn is off to the far right edge, but at least I captured most of this alignment from the suburbs, not far from my home.

Captured off of Patterson Road in East Dayton, Ohio at 04:55am EST.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

NGC-7008 The Fetus Planetary Nebula, An Extreme Close-up!

By John Chumack|2022-07-18T18:00:05+00:00July 18th, 2022|Tags: #ChumackObservatories, #discover, #DyingStar, #Fetusnebula, #GalacticImages, #natgeo, #NGC7008, #planetarynebula, #skyatnight, #Universetoday, #whitedwarfstar, Astronomy, Cygnus, Space|

Here is my Extreme Close-up of the Fetus Nebula.

NGC-7008 Planetary Nebula in Cygnus, A dying star that is blowing off its outer atmosphere, also called the Fetus Nebula.

It shines at 12^th magnitude and is located 2,800 light years away from Earth.

C-11 Telescope F10, Bisque MYT Mount, ZWO 224MC Uncooled(very small chip) Cmos Camera, ASI AIR WIFI Capture,

I used a “Lucky Imaging” method, visible light only, 90 x 20sec subs, 30 minute total exposure integration time. No Crop, original FOV.

Captured on 06-18-2022 from my backyard observatory(Bortle 8) in Dayton, Ohio. Seeing wasn’t the best but went for it anyway.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

M13 Globular Star Cluster with Galaxies NGC 6207 and IC 4617

By John Chumack|2022-07-13T10:57:30+00:00July 13th, 2022|Tags: #ChumackObservatories, #GalacticImages, #herculesCluster, #IC4617, #JohnChumack, #M13, #messier, #Messier13, #natgeo, #NGC6207, #skyatnight, #Universetoday, Astronomy, Astrophotography, Hercules, Space|

M13 Hercules Globular Star Cluster

with distant spiral galaxies NGC 6207 & IC 4617, and a few other faint galaxies visible throughout the FOV.

TPO 12″ F4 Newtonian Telescope, Bisque ME Mount, HAP Modified Canon 6D DSLR Camera, ISO 800, 10 minute exposure on 06-18-2022

from my observatories at JBSPO, Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

M57 The Ring Nebula (Close-up of a dying star) 07-03-2022

By John Chumack|2022-07-05T22:55:42+00:00July 5th, 2022|Tags: #ChumackObservatories, #DyingStar, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #M57, #Messier57, #natgeo, #planetarynebula, #ringnebula, #skyatnight, #Universetoday, #whitedwarf, #ZWO, #ZWO224MC, Astronomy, Lyra, Space|

M57 The Ring Nebula (Close-up of a dying star)
The Ring Nebula is one of the most famous Planetary Nebulae and is a classic example of a dying star.
The central star has blown off its outer atmosphere and the UV light energizes the gases to make this one of the brightest planetary nebulae in the sky.
Such a nebula is formed when a star, during the last stages of its evolution before becoming a white dwarf, expels a vast luminous envelope of ionized gas into the surrounding interstellar space.
Located in the constellation of Lyra, it is very easy to see with even the smallest of telescopes.
M57 shines at magnitude 8.8 and visually it is a delight, and we see it quite well in most telescopes with a little magnification as a smoke ring or Cheerio in the sky. its diameter is 2.6 light years and is located 2,283 light years from Earth.
Note the blue central star, it shines at magnitude 15, and several other faint background stars are visible.
Celestron C-11 SCT Telescope at F10, Bisque MyT Mount, ZWO ASI Air, ZWO 224MC uncooled Color Camera(OSC), no NB filters, just Visible light.
I captured 142 x 20 sec subs exposures for a total of 47.3 minutes total integration time. No auto-guiding, just dithering to help remove noise as my ambient temp was 32C.
Calibrated and Stacked in Nebulosity, Adobe RAW CS 2022.
Captured from my backyard Observatory in Dayton, Ohio on 07-03-2022.
I was surprised it came out OK with all the Smoke from the fireworks going off in my bortle 8 neighborhood this holiday weekend.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

M22 Globular Star Cluster on 06-18-2022

By John Chumack|2022-07-01T11:46:40+00:00July 1st, 2022|Tags: #ChumackObservatories, #cluster, #GalacticImages, #globular, #globularCluster, #JohnChumack, #messier, #natgeo, #skyatnight, #Universetoday, Astronomy, M22, Sagittarius, Space, Stars|

Here is one of my latest shots captured with my TPO 12” F4 Newtonian Telescope, Bisque ME Mount, and HAP Modified Canon 6D DSLR Camera, ISO 800, 20 minute exposure on 06-18-2022 at my Observatories in JBSPO in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Messier 22 or M22, also known as NGC 6656, is an elliptical globular cluster of stars in the constellation Sagittarius,

near the Galactic bulge region. It is one of the brightest globulars visible in the night sky.

M22 can be seen with the naked eye from a dark location. The best time to observe the cluster is during July & August.

M22 is easily visible in Binoculars or a small telescope.

M22 has a diameter of about 100 light years, It is said to contain over 500,000 stars.

Located 10,000 light-years from Earth, the cluster’s relatively bright apparent magnitude of 5.1 makes it a popular target for today’s amateur astronomers.

You can find it just above the top of the Teapot Asterism in Sagittarius.

Containing some of the oldest known stars, globular clusters are popular objects of study for astronomers.

This bright globular cluster sits amongst one of the richest of star fields near the central bulge of our Milky Way Galaxy.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

M20 The Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius

By John Chumack|2022-06-23T11:32:54+00:00June 23rd, 2022|Tags: #ChumackObservatories, #emissionnebula, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #messier20, #natgeo, #nebula, #Reflectionnebula, #skyatnight, #Trifid, #trifidnebula, #Universetoday, Astronomy, M20, Sagittarius, Space|

M20 The Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius
The Trifid Nebula (catalogued as Messier 20 or M20 and as NGC 6514) is an H II region in the north-west of Sagittarius in a star-forming region.
The Trifid is divided into three lobes of red Emission nebula, also it has a blue reflection nebula at the top, and the dark nebula are what divides the 3 red lobes. This is a fantastic combination of Emission, Reflection, and Dark nebula along with the associated star cluster.
It was discovered by Charles Messier on June 5, 1764.
This beautiful Nebula is 4,100 light years from Earth, and spans 42 light years across.
Captured at my Observatories in JBSPO on 06-18-2022 with my TPO 12” F4 Newtonian Reflector telescope, Bisque ME Mount, HAP Modified Canon 6D DSLR Camera, 30 min total exposure time. Processing in DSS, Nebulosity, and Adobe CS 2021.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com