Flame Nebula and the Whirlpool Galaxy

Another great night here in Benson, AZ… I managed to capture some usable data for the Flame Nebula and the Whirlpool Galaxy.

Flame Nebula 2015-05-24 10×30 second subs, sum stacked

The bright glow at the bottom of the Flame Nebula shot is Alnitak, the left most star from our perspective of Orion’s belt in the Orion Constellation.

Whirlpool Galaxy_2015-03-24.median.gradient.compressed

Whirlpool Galaxy – 2015-03-24 5×300 second subs, median stacked

In the shot of Whirlpool, there are at least 2 additional galaxies visible besides Whirlpool and it’s colliding cousin NGC5195… See if you can spot them. 🙂

Categories: Geekery

Michael

Resident Tesla nut and polymath. Raised in eastern Kentucky, joined the US Navy at 19 to operate a Nuclear Reactor on a Fast-Attack submarine. After finishing his enlistment, Michael has continued to follow his passions in technology, astronomy, and of course, traveling the country.

2 Comments

Mel · 2015-03-25 at 19:29

I’m pretty sure I see two. One appears edge-on at about 50 degrees and another at about 45 degrees but further away from the Whirlpool Galaxy. Do you tell us if we’re right? I see others that I think may be galaxies too, but they are much fainter; not as obvious. This really is a beautiful photograph, and the one of the Flame Nebula is too. I can see why you are very excited about this new equipment. I’m ready to see more!

Michael · 2015-03-26 at 16:12

Re: Other galaxies in the Whirlpool photo: Ya, those are the two that I was able to find as well. As you said, there are likely others, but not really able to tell.

Thanks for the accolades… I’m very excited by the ability to capture these with my gear. 🙂