Late Summer Skies

Galaxies and Nebulae

On the clear night of September 12th most of my neighbors' troublesome lights were turned off. The sky was slightly hazy, but cloud free conditions are so rare this time of year that I decided to try some Seestar imaging.

Galaxy NGC7331 in Pegasus and other nearby galaxies were good candidates for Seestar's mosaic mode. The following 25-minute exposure successfully captured nine galaxies, but all besides NGC7331 at top left were too small to show internal detail. These small galaxies only show up as fuzzy smudges in Seestar's wide field of view. View the next image at full size by clicking on it. In the enlarged image notice three small fuzzy spots to the left of NGC7331 at top left. Notice also the group of small fuzzies on the lower right. These are the five galaxies of Stephan's Quintet. (It's difficult to see any of these small galaxies unless the image is viewed at full size.)

The next labeled image identifies previously mentioned galaxies. In the Stephan's Quintet group on lower right the presence of two foreground stars is distracting. Only the small fuzzy things are galaxies. One of the galaxies has a double nucleus. Four of these galaxies are gravitationally interacting. 

Sky and Telescope magazine's October issue featured an article about visually observing a pair of dark nebulas called Barnard's E in the constellation Aquila. These clouds of gas and dust block starlight coming from behind and appear black against background stars. I usually have no hope of seeing these visually through an eyepiece, but Seestar reveals what my eye can't see. The next 15-minute exposure shows c-shaped dark nebula Barnard 143. The c-shape is the top of Barnard's E.

In order to capture the entire E, I used mosaic mode to widen the field. In the next 21-minute exposure dark nebula Barnard 142 now appears below Barnard 143 and completes the E.

The E-shape is more apparent in a reduced view below.

The September 12th observing session ended when a rising Moon brightened the hazy sky.

Six days later on September 18th the cloud free sky was once again hazy. Some temporary ground fog was also present. Two nebulae high above diminishing ground fog looked like good targets. I began with the Heart Nebula, IC1805, in Cassiopeia. With light pollution filter engaged and mosaic mode employed I was able to fit the entire heart shape within the field of view in the following 60-minute exposure. The heart-shaped outline is definitely visible, but somewhat dim. The heart shape's visibility varies depending on what screen the image is displayed upon. In the heart's center, accompanied by a bright nebular patch, is the star cluster that powers the heart's emission. In the upper right is another nebula, NGC896, sometimes called the Fish Head Nebula. 

My final target was the North America Nebula, NGC7000, in Cygnus. It was well after midnight when I began the following mosaic mode 66-minute exposure with light pollution filter engaged. I was able to catch some sleep while Seestar successfully kept running. "Mexico", the "Gulf of Mexico", and "Florida" are clearly visible, but the "Midwest" is missing.

I'm continually amazed at what little Seestar can produce!