Galaxies

Limited Results

December 30th was an unexpectedly cloudless night with a new Moon. Clear conditions were too good to pass up. I knew it would be the last opportunity to use Seestar for a while, so I set out to capture a few galaxy targets on my observing list. Initially annoying neighbor lights were eventually turned off.

Seestar's ability to produce good galaxy images is limited, especially for small dim galaxies. The 50mm aperture is a small light bucket, and, in my particular case, bright background sky prevents capture of faint detail. Exposures longer than about 30 minutes don't seem to yield more detail. (All images shown below are 30-minute exposures.) Seestar's field of view is too large for smaller galaxies which call for more magnification. Nevertheless, Seestar reveals much more than my eyeball can ever perceive at the eyepiece of my telescopes. In spite of Seestar's limitations, I still enjoy finding and examining galaxies I've never seen before.

I began this night by aiming low in the south to elliptical galaxy NGC1316, an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Fornax. In the image below NGC1316 is the large bright central object. Smaller galaxy NGC1318 is directly above center. In the lower left a dim fuzzy patch below a relatively bright pair of stars is galaxy PGC12706. Additional galaxies would have appeared in the field of view if I had moved NGC1316 below center. I missed this good opportunity.

Also in the southern sky was a close galaxy pair in Canis Major. I pointed Seestar there next. Centered in the image below, NGC2293 is below its close companion NGC2292. These two galaxies are separated by only 44 arc seconds! Just to the upper right of the centered pair is another galaxy, NGC2295, flanked closely by two foreground stars in our own galaxy. NGC2295 is about 3.75 arc minutes from NGC2292. It would be nice to see a more magnified image here, but this isn't possible with Seestar. 

Leaving southern sky glow, I moved north to Ursa Major where three galaxies were available for addition to my Messier collection. In the next image nearly edge-on spiral galaxy M108 is large enough to show some dark dust clouds and internal structure. There are three bright foreground stars from our own galaxy directly in front of M108. (Enlarge the image to see these more clearly.)

This night's next Ursa Major galaxy was barred spiral galaxy M109. The image below was good enough to show some spiral arms. Once again, a bright foreground star appears in front of the galaxy's disc. Two other dim galaxies can be seen in the same field of view. To the right of M109, near the right hand edge, is 13.4 magnitude galaxy PGC37553. The dim smudge to the lower left of M109 is 15th magnitude galaxy PGC37700.

The brightest Ursa Major galaxy of the night was M82 shown next. The hint of a dark lane cutting diagonally across the center is just visible in the enlarged image.

By the end of this session I had added three more objects to my Messier collection leaving only 26 more needed to reach the complete 110 total.
 

Looking South

Galaxies and Clusters

The Moon had not yet risen on December 22nd when I saw a clear evening sky. One annoying neighbor light made sky darkness less than ideal. Also, at this time of year many nearby houses with bright Christmas lights add to suburban sky glow. At my location the worst light pollution conditions are at low southern altitudes where I planned to capture a few targets.

It was a cold 26 degrees when I carried Seestar outside to begin imaging. On nights like this I can do the initial Seestar setup inside before moving Seestar outside. In warm comfort I turn on the power, establish connection to my tablet, wait for any firmware updates to load, raise the viewing arm,  install the dew shield, and turn on the dew heater. It then takes only a few seconds to move Seestar outside, place it in its usual level spot, and immediately return inside to control the remaining initialization. I really appreciate how Seestar takes all of the suffering out of observing! 

The first southern sky target this night was galaxy NGC1300 in Eridanus. As the 30-minute exposure shown below progressed, I was thrilled to see this barred spiral galaxy gradually become visible in spite of considerable sky glow in that part of the sky. The small fuzzy ball to the upper right of NGC1300 is elliptical galaxy NGC 1297.

Next, I moved to capture a pair of interacting galaxies in Canis Major. Once again, a 30-minute exposure allowed the galaxies to eventually appear. The larger, more circular shaped galaxy is NGC2207. Close by to its lower left is smaller galaxy IC2163 which has been captured by NGC2207's gravity. IC2163 has actually passed by NGC2207 and will begin circling behind over the course of tens of million years. The two galaxies orbit each other and will eventually merge. It's incredible to be able to see this interaction even though the image is small! If you Google the Hubble Telescope image of these galaxies, you can see this interaction in amazing detail. 

The southern constellation Puppis contains two Messier objects I wanted to add to my collection. Where does that odd name come from? The ancient astronomer Ptolemy created a huge constellation of mostly southern stars called, Argo Navis - the ship of Jason and the Argonauts in their search for the Golden Fleece. Later, this original constellation was broken into three smaller parts called Carina, the keel, Vela, the sails, and Puppis, the stern. (Puppis is a Latin term.) M93 was the most impressive of two Puppis open clusters I captured this night. The 10-minute exposure is shown in the next picture.

Also in Puppis is relatively unremarkable open cluster M47 shown below. This is a 5-minute exposure.

Discouraged by light pollution to the south, I turned north toward Ursa Major which was beginning to rise to a decent altitude. There I targeted the unusual Messier object, M40, with a quick 5-minute exposure. M40 is not a galaxy, nebula, or star cluster. Instead, it's an optical double star - two stars not actually orbiting each other but coincidentally appearing close together along our line of sight. The upper star is about 1,000 light years away, and the lower star is 470 light years away. The angular separation of the stars is about 53 arc seconds. If you enlarge the image and follow a diagonal line starting with the star pair and moving upward, you can barely see two tiny galaxies. First along this diagonal line is NGC4290. Next is smaller NGC4284. As I understand it, Messier was looking for these fuzzy nebulae and added the double star to his catalog when he couldn't find the dim fuzzies.

As you can see in the image above, Seestar has no trouble resolving two stars separated by 53 arc seconds. I wondered how close two stars could be and still be seen by Seestar as separate. After a quick search through some of my Seestar images I found an example of two stars 14 arc seconds apart that were clearly separate. Maybe I'll find another pair slightly closer, but I doubt clear separations less than 10 arc seconds are possible. Nevertheless, Seestar's resolving power is remarkable for such a small aperture! 

After imaging M40 I went outside for a quick sky check and noticed hazy clouds forming in the north. The temperature had dropped to 23 degrees, and it was time to quit.
 

24-Hour Relay

Youthful Energy

While taking a nostalgic look through my running scrapbook, I came upon an event I'd almost forgotten. On June 14-15, 1980, in Lynchburg, VA, I participated in a 24-hour relay as part of a ten-member team. The event was organized by endurance icon, Steve Bozeman, a former marine and multi-ironman veteran. Two teams of ten runners competed to see which team could cover the most distance in 24 hours on the Brookville High School track. Each team member ran a mile and handed a baton to the next runner. After all ten team members had run their first mile, the tenth runner would hand off to the first runner who would run his second mile and begin the second relay cycle. This procedure went on for 24 hours with no breaks or runner substitutions.

The average age of our team was 33 years old. The other team was composed of younger guys.  If all runners on our team ran 6 minutes per mile, our team would cover 10 miles in an hour and 240 miles in 24 hours. We ultimately fell short of 240 miles because our team average ended up greater than 6 minutes per mile. Although we finished behind the younger guys who did about 244 miles, we managed to cover a respectable 221.75 miles in 24 hours.

Running started at 8:20am on June 14th. I was the 6th runner in our team's running order and took off with energy and enthusiasm when I first received the baton. I had done no special training or speed work to prepare for this event. Having lost all feeling for pacing, I went out at what I thought was just under 6 minute/mile pace. It turned out I ran with too much enthusiasm because, with a nearly all out effort, I did my first mile in 5:22. Afterward my legs were tight and my breathing violent. The consequences of this foolish pacing wouldn't become apparent until hours later.

After the first mile roughly an hour would pass before I needed to take the baton for my second mile. It might seem that an hour's rest between mile runs is a generous recovery time. This was true for the first few hours, but, gradually, it seemed like the hour was passing too quickly. After handing off the baton I would walk at least two or more very slow laps to cool down and recover. At this point I would still be too charged up to sit or lie down. All too soon it would be time to begin preparing for the next mile. I would walk/jog another couple laps to loosen up. Consequently, less than an hour between relay legs was available for substantial rest.

Soon the baton slapped into my hand for the second time, and I was off for my second mile. This time, again foolishly, I competed with a younger runner from the other team and pushed myself to a 5:21 mile. Afterward, my legs were really tight and my breathing desperate. The strain of the first two miles must have knocked some sense into my knucklehead because I did the third mile in a more reasonable 5:49.

At that point, finally, I thought a good plan would be to pace more wisely and run each mile closer to 6 minutes. The plan worked for the next 3 miles which I ran in 5:41, 5:43, and 5:52. During the 5:52 sixth mile, however, serious back cramps began. The cramps felt like two giant hands squeezing my lungs so I couldn't breath properly. My legs felt reasonably good, but breathing was painful, and it hurt to take a deep breath. The effect of cramps was immediately evident. My notes for the next 5 miles say: 7th mile in 6:04, cramps in back and chest ; 8th mile in 6:37, back cramps affect breathing ; 9th mile in 6:21, cramps loosen a bit ; 10th mile in 6:04, cramps hit on last lap ; 11th mile in 6:26, cramps improving. Cramps caused by my initial fast pace worsened during the heat of the day when there was no escape from the blazing Sun.

Next is a picture of me during a relay leg on the Brookville High School track. You can see the baton in my right hand. I was 31 years old and weighed 145 pounds at the time, 20 pounds lighter than I am today 44 years later. The lyrics to Bob Seger's "Like a Rock" come to mind.

After each run I tried to cool down, rest, drink, and warm up for the next run. Although I brought a folding lounge chair, it was really difficult to sit for any appreciable time after running. Any small advantage gained by sitting would be completely cancelled by muscle tightening. By the time I was ready to sit there wasn't much time remaining before I needed to get up moving again to prepare for the next mile. As the day wore on it became increasingly difficult to get going during the first running lap. I would groan through slow, achy, crampy initial laps until everything loosened enough to run the remaining laps at respectable pace.

Here's another picture taken during the hot day. You can see developing sunburn on my shoulders. Notice the speaker on the track in the background. The younger guys provided music ranging from the Beach Boys to the theme from Rocky.

Near sunset it was time for my 12th mile which I ran in 6:11. After sunset I temporarily felt better in the dark. The 13th mile was covered in 6:16. The 14th mile was 6:13. I noted extreme tightness during the 6:18 15th mile. Somehow I managed a 6:09 16th mile. At this point, a couple hours after midnight, heavy fatigue set in. The 17th mile was 6:31, the slowest since cramp-plagued mile 8. Things got even worse. My notes for the next two miles said, "fading fast". Near my 4:00am low point before dawn, miles 18 and 19 were both covered in 6:43. These were my slowest miles of the entire relay.

During the night many runners would finish running, drink something, then crawl into a sleeping bag until their next turn came up. They would rise groaning, and hobble out stiff-legged to run. Several times we had to wake up teammates by shaking and shouting. I stayed awake the whole 24 hours because I couldn't relax enough to sleep between relay legs. Each time I rose from the lounge chair was agony.

During my 20th mile the Sun rose and I ran 6:28. As the day brightened my 21st mile was covered in 6:30. Now the end was in sight! Sometime close to 7:45am on June 15th I ran my 22nd mile in 6:13. It was my last mile because 24 hours arrived by 8:20am before my next turn came up.      

So, after 24 hours, taking into account precise times instead of the rounded times mentioned above, I had run 22 miles at an average pace of 6:10.1. Although another teammate and I tied for the fastest individual mile time of 5:21, I had only the fourth best overall average among my teammates. On our team the best two overall individual averages were about 5 seconds under 6-minute pace for 24 hours. They did it by sensible pacing. If I could somehow return in a time machine to run this event again, I wouldn't start out with the crazy, all out effort I expended in the first miles. If I had run the first few miles at 5:50 pace, I might have avoided the debilitating cramps that plagued me for the final 17 miles.

I can't remember what I ate or drank during the relay, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't the best possible fuel. Modern energy gels were certainly not used, and I didn't drink Gatorade. I probably drank apple juice. Afterward I had lost 7 pounds.

During the entire event I kept a record of all the quarter mile laps I completed either running or walking. Total laps came to 180, so I covered 45 miles during 24 hours. Once upon a time I had the strength and energy to complete this unique event.   

Far and Near

Bits and Pieces

I gathered some astronomical bits and pieces in early December before waxing moonlight became too bright. On December 5th Seestar was initially balky, refusing to target and track targets. Eventually, it settled down, and I captured the following 50-minute exposure of open cluster NGC1893 with its accompanying nebula, IC410, in Auriga.

As usual, Seestar delivers disappointing dull red nebula color. NGC1893 and IC410 are about 12,000 light years away, the most distant object observed tonight.

The worst of troublesome neighboring lights glared into my backyard this night. In spite of this annoying light pollution I was able, with some image processing, to get a decent 10-minute exposure of open cluster M50 in Monoceros. This unremarkable cluster is shown next. 

Cluster M50 is about 3,200 light years away, significantly closer than my previous target, NGC1893/IC410. Neighboring light was so severe that I gave up trying for more images on December 5th.

Three days later, on December 8th, it was hard to pass up clear sky. Moonlight was becoming an issue, but, just for fun, I pointed Seestar at Jupiter to see what kind of picture Seestar would produce. (Seestar is really not designed to get good images of planets.) I had to adjust gain and exposure time because Jupiter was so bright. Even with zero gain and short exposure the planet's disc was overexposed showing no detail. Three Galilean moons are visible in the next image, however.

The three visible moons are, diagonally upward from left to right, Europa, Io, and Callisto. The fourth Galilean moon, Ganymede, happened to be transiting in front of Jupiter's disc when this image was taken, so Ganymede and its shadow were lost in the planet's glare. Jupiter was about 34 light minutes away this night, so much closer than the previous two targets.

Even closer still was the nearly first quarter Moon, only 1.22 light seconds away. Seestar produces nice lunar images. The next picture is a single snapshot with no image processing. It can be enlarged to full size without losing detail.

This ends my far and near early December trip from 12,000 light years away to 1.22 light seconds away.
 
  

Cold December Sky

Mix of Seestar Targets

One month of cloudy weather elapsed since my last Seestar session. Clear moonless evening sky returned in early December bringing cold temperatures. It was nice to sit comfortably inside controlling Seestar when it was 27 degrees outside! I captured no Messier objects over the course of two nights. Instead, a mix of targets presented themselves for observation.

On December 2nd only one annoying neighbor light compromised an otherwise dark sky. I began by targeting the Crescent Nebula, NGC6888, located high above the horizon in Cygnus. A 30-minute exposure with light pollution filter engaged revealed the nebula's oval shape. The brightest star within the oval is a Wolf-Rayet star called WR136 whose strong stellar wind compresses surrounding gas. Ultraviolet radiation from the star causes the gas to glow producing the nebula seen below. WR136, about 21 times more massive than the Sun, has evolved beyond the red supergiant phase. Its high surface temperature creates the ultraviolet radiation which powers the nebula.

Next, I tried to capture a closely spaced group of galaxies in Pisces with a 34-minute exposure. The result was too dim and small to exhibit much detail. There are 3 obvious galaxies in the next picture. From left to right they are NGC474, NGC470, and NGC467. The brightest, somewhat fuzzy object near NGC467 on the right is actually the 7.4 magnitude star HD7991, not a galaxy. When the image is enlarged, two other extremely small and dim galaxies are visible as tiny gray smudges below HD7991. The upper one is 16.6 magnitude galaxy PGC4765. The lower one is 15.5 magnitude galaxy PGC4755. (PGC is the Principal Galaxies Catalog, NGC is the New General Catalog, and HD is the Henry Draper Catalog.)

Pretty open cluster, NGC7686 in Andromeda, was my next target. A 10-minute exposure worked well. Most open clusters show nicely with exposures between 5 and 10 minutes. 

Another good target was open cluster NGC129 in Cassiopeia. Only a 5-minute exposure was sufficient for this one.

The final image from December 2nd revealed dim nebulosity in Cassiopeia near the bright star Gamma Cassiopeiae which appears near the left edge. IC59 is primarily a reflection nebula stretched horizontally across image center. It shows only ghost-like traces in the 55-minute filtered exposure below. IC63 is an arrow-shaped emission nebula to the right of Gamma Cassiopeiae. Both nebulae are being worn away by radiation from Gamma Cassiopeiae. (IC is the Index Catalog, an addition to NGC.)

The next evening, December 3rd, was also clear and cold with 26-degree temperature. No neighbor lights interfered this time. The first target this evening was NGC1931, an open cluster with nebulosity in Auriga. The 45-minute filtered exposure below was able to capture glowing red hydrogen gas surrounding four bright blue stars powering the emission. The four central stars are just barely seen as separate if you click on the following image to enlarge it.

When the original NGC1931 image is enlarged by 150%, however, the four central stars can be seen more clearly separated.

The final image from December 3rd is The Flaming Star Nebula, IC405, in Auriga. In the 50-minute filtered exposure below bright star AE Aurigae is in image center surrounded by glowing gas. Radiation from AE Aurigae causes the gas to glow. While I was amazed to see this nebula gradually revealed by Seestar, I was, once again, disappointed by the washed out red color. Most astrophotos of similar nebulae show a much brighter and deeper red color from excited hydrogen. I still don't know how to correct this problem.

As cold winter weather settles in I'm so happy to watch Seestar perform while sitting warm inside at my dining room table!

A Visit to Smithfield

Attractive Historic District

The regional cross country championship was held in Smithfield, VA this year. Our granddaughter's high school team was participating, so we decided to attend and spectate. Only 27 miles from home, Smithfield is famous for its meat curing and packing industry, including well-known Smithfield ham and bacon. Meat processing isn't particularly interesting to us, but, after researching the town online, I discovered an attractive historic district there. It seemed like a nice place to visit and explore at leisure. We decided to go a day early, stay overnight, and enjoy a brief vacation.

Upon arrival we went to the Visitor Center on Main Street and saw the first of eight colorful pig statues celebrating Smithfield's main industry.

We saw only two of eight possible pigs because I failed to read the visitor's brochure before beginning our walking tour. There were more pig statues and historic houses on side streets. If we return on some future day, we'll be sure to visit side streets we missed on this initial visit.

Main Street was a wide, attractive road, often with very little traffic. In addition to numerous gift shops, antique stores, art shops, and cafes/bakeries, the street was lined with historic buildings and homes. For example, the colorful Nelms house built around 1899 by Charles Nelms, a local contractor, was the first of many interesting old houses to catch my eye.

Two houses down from the Nelms house was the Barrow House built after 1873.

At the intersection of Main Street with Church Street we admired the beautiful yellow Thomas House built around 1889. It now serves as a bed and breakfast. Unfortunate electric wires impose on the view. 

We eventually continued walking down Church Street to see more old houses. First up was the Wentworth-Barrett House erected in 1752.

Further down the street was the Delk House built in 1877. 

The King-Atkinson House constructed in 1795 was another old brick dwelling.

The 1897 Holloway House hid behind a big tree. 

The next house, built in 1876, was owned by P.D. Gwaltney Senior who founded the Smithfield peanut business.

The pink 1875 house below has been the home of a few Smithfield mayors over the years. 

The 1886 Goodrich House had elaborate front decorations.

My favorite house was completed in 1901 and built for P.D. Gwaltney Junior who developed Smithfield's meat curing and packing industry. The stained glass windows and elaborate decoration were awesome!

All these old houses made me think that historic Smithfield was a bit like a late 1800's version of Colonial Williamsburg. Of course, Smithfield didn't include reenactors, horse drawn carriages, and closed streets like Williamsburg, but when traffic disappeared at times, it felt like walking through the past.

Next, we went to the Isle of Wight County Museum housed in what was once a bank. The exhibits included a mix of amusing and interesting things. For example, we laughed at the world's oldest ham!

We also laughed at the world's oldest peanut!

The museum contained a reproduction of an old country store as it would have appeared in about 1900. I regret not taking more photos. If you wanted a Coca-Cola in 1900, the syrup would have been deposited in a glass by the following dispenser. Carbonated water would be added later.

The country store also featured an old Sears and Roebuck Catalog, the Amazon of its day, which I would have enjoyed browsing through in detail.

The museum basement (once a bank's basement) housed a nuclear fallout shelter in the 1950's. The basement bank vault now displays a fallout shelter exhibit with an old "duck and cover" video playing on a loop. (Enlarge the images if you wish to read the text.)

It was hard to take pictures through the bank vault bars.

We stayed overnight in the Smithfield Station Hotel located on the Pagan River. This was the view from the hotel restaurant.

Smithfield Station was a pleasant hotel with courteous efficient staff, a nice location, and nice clean rooms. I particularly liked the quiet restaurant with no blasting background music. We could actually hear our conversation without the usual roar of competing noise. There were only two negatives. Unfortunate road construction in front of the hotel took away some of the charm. Late at night we could hear guests in a neighboring room talking for quite a while.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the Cockeyed Rooster Cafe. Once again, we enjoyed the absence of gratuitous background music! The omelette and hash servings we had were delicious!

As I mentioned above, the primary reason for going to Smithfield was the regional cross country championship to be held within Windsor Castle Park. After breakfast we went to the park to find good places to watch the races. In spite of its name, the park doesn't contain anything that could be called a castle. Instead, there is a historic old house which at one time was the manor house of a plantation on the grounds. The previous day we walked over a good portion of the beautiful cross country course and became familiar with its nature and level of difficulty. The surface consisted of packed dirt with frequent gravel sections and many small rolling hills. There were a few long wooden bridges along the way, but much of the course passed through lovely woods as you can see in the pictures below.

Five years ago we would have brought our running clothes and run the course ourselves. Sadly, neither of us are able to run anymore. Oh how we missed being able to run this course! It would have been wonderful.

I'm happy to say my granddaughter's cross country team from Jamestown High School won both the boy's and girl's races and qualified to move on to the state championships ten days later.

We thoroughly enjoyed watching the races and visiting Smithfield. There's a good chance we'll return someday to have another Cockeyed Rooster breakfast and explore places we missed on this trip.