Milky Way around Sagittarius

 

Sagittarius lies in the direction of the densest part of the Milky Way, the spiral galaxy in which our Solar System resides. If it were not for interstellar dust, which is concentrated along the plane of the Milky Way, this constellation and those near it would be obscured by the brilliance of the galactic core. The field of view near the galactic center is heavily mottled with stars and interstellar matter. In addition, several large fuzzy patches of light are clearly visible.

Technical Details

Optics: Canon EF 24mm f/5.6 lens

Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Synscan pro

Guiding: Skywatcher 9x50 finderscope+DMK21AU04

Camera: Canon EOS 450D

Date: 27 Jun, 2014

Location: Parnonas Mountain, Greece

Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex

 

Near the star Rho Ophiuchi, in the extreme southwest corner of Ophiuchus, is a region of strangeness and beauty. The star itself is enmeshed in a vast diffuse nebulosity, IC 4604, too faint to be studied visually. But from this nebulous region a number of dark narrow lanes flow out toward the east, appearing like black tentacles obscuring the starry background. These vacant lanes end near the star Xi Ophiuchi. Near Xi also is the large and strangely shaped dark cloud B63. This is an extraordinary region, described by Barnard as making a picture almost unequalled in interest in the entire heavens.

Technical Details

Optics: Canon EF 24mm f/5.6 lens

Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Synscan pro

Guiding: Skywatcher 9x50 finderscope+DMK21AU04

Camera: Canon EOS 450D

Date: 27 Jun, 2014

Location: Parnonas Mountain, Greece

Exposure: 3x15 min, ISO 800

M42 Great Nebula in Orion

 

The Great Nebula in Orion, an immense, nearby starbirth region, is probably the most famous of all astronomical nebulas. Here, glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1500 light-years away. In the above deep image in assigned colors highlighted by emission in oxygen and hydrogen, wisps and sheets of dust and gas are particularly evident. The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the unaided eye near the easily identifiable belt of three stars in the popular constellation Orion. In addition to housing a bright open cluster of stars known as the Trapezium, the Orion Nebula contains many stellar nurseries. These nurseries contain much hydrogen gas, hot young stars, proplyds, and stellar jets spewing material at high speeds. Also known as M42, the Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located in the same spiral arm of our Galaxy as the Sun.

Technical Details:

Optics:Vixen ED81s @ f/5.2
Mount: HEQ5 synscan Pro
Guiding: Skywatcher 9x50 finderscope+DMK21AU04
Camera: SBIG ST2000XM
Filter Wheel: SBIG CFW9
Filters: Baader Ha, Astronomik LRGB
CCD Temperature: -10 degrees Celsius
Constellation: Orion
Date: 22 Jan, 2014
Location: Kifisia, Greece
Exposure:
Lum : 120 min (40x3 min)
Red : 30 min (15x2 min)
Green : 30 min (15x2 min)
Blue : 30 min (15x2 min)
Binning: 1x1(L,R,G,B)
Total exposure 3.5 h