WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 55- These galaxies, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435, are
nicknamed The Eyes. This is an LGRB image with
exposures of 8, 4, 4, and 4 hours, respectively. - The Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) is a popular
astroimaging target. To make this photo unique,
Mark went as deep as possible with the Oxygen-
III filter, using a series of one-hour exposures
with a 14.5-inch RCOS f/8 telescope and Apogee
Alta U16M camera running at –31 degrees
Fahrenheit (–35 degrees Celsius). The final Hα/
OIII/RGB image has exposures of 6, 10, 4.25,
2.75, and 3.5 hours, respectively. - A seldom-imaged area in Orion, this region
features a beautiful full field of wispy blues and
dynamic reds. The LGRB image contains exposures
of 3.75, 2.5, 2.5, and 2.5 hours, respectively. - NGC 4725 is a spiral galaxy much like our
Milky Way. Mark captured this image, which has
been inverted for added contrast, using Stellar
Winds Observatory’s 24-inch PlaneWave CDK24.
He used an SBIG STX 16803 camera with an SBIG
AOx adaptive optics unit and an Astrodon filter
wheel. This LGRB image has exposures of 5.75,
3.25, 3.25, and 3.5 hours, respectively. - The western part of the Veil Nebula is often
called the Witch’s Broom (NGC 6960). Mark
worked on this particular image, taken with an
SBIG STX 16803 camera and a PlaneWave 17-inch
f/6.7 on a PlaneWave Ascension 200HR German
Equatorial Mount, for several months. He notes
that it was quite a challenge to produce, as the
bright magnitude 4.2 star fell very close to the
edge of the frames. The Hα/OIII/LRGB image
has exposures of 7.5, 9, 3, 3, 3, and 3 hours,
respectively, for each panel of the mosaic. - NGC 1275 (also known as Perseus A or
Caldwell 24), visible at center, houses an
actively feeding central supermassive black
hole. This shot of the active galaxy was taken
with a PlaneWave 24-inch f/6.7 telescope on a
PlaneWave Ascension 200HR German Equatorial
Mount, using an SBIG STX 16803 camera. It is an
LGRB image with exposures of 8.3, 3.25, 3.25,
and 3.25 hours, respectively.
Amateur astronomers
can definitely contribute to science.
After all, you never know
what will end up in your images.
9
10