The VBAS Blog

“The Cigar Galaxy” Messier 82 in the “Big Bear” (Big Dipper)

Doug — Fri, 11 May 2012 23:07:49 +0000

This is a photograph of Messier 82, the “Cigar Galaxy”, the irregular galaxy in Ursa Major or “The Big Bear”, also the “Big Dipper” taken with the Swanson 21 inch by Jeff Delmas who did the video and Doug Horacek did the post processing. The video was obtained with the Stellacam II with 8 seconds per frame. Taken on the evening of 28 April 2012 at 22:00 CDT or 3:00 U.T. on 29 April 2012.

Super Nova 2012aw in barred spiral galaxy Messier 95 in Leo

Doug — Fri, 11 May 2012 22:58:45 +0000

Our 21 inch captured the recent super nova in Messier 95, Jeff Delmas did the video and Doug Horacek did the post processing. The super nova is right in the center right of the bright part of the galaxy. The video was from the Stellacam II and the Swanson 21 inch. Taken on the evening of 28 April 2012 at 21:30 CDT or 2:30 UT on 29 April 2012.

Saturn with 21 Inch and StellacamII 28 April 2012

Doug — Fri, 11 May 2012 22:16:46 +0000

This picture of Saturn was taken with a 3X barlow and one neutral density filter and one yellow filter. Taken on the evening of 28 April 2012 23:30 CDT or 4:30 UT on the 29 April 2012. Jeff Delmas took the Video Frank Schenck did most of the post processing and Doug Horacek put the finishing touches with gamma, histogram, brightness and contrast.

Copeland’s Septet from 11 March 2011

Doug — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:47:56 +0000

Here is Copeland’s Septet from 11 March 2011, faint galaxies, the field of view showed 9 of 11 faint galaxies, some as dim as 13 or 14 magnitude. This group of galaxies is 480 million light years away. It is located near star 92 in the constellation Leo above the tail of the lion, Zosma and Chertan, and Denebola.

M105 or NGC 3379, NGC 3384, NGC 3389 from 12 April 2012

Doug — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 22:20:20 +0000

These three galaxies were used to determine the field of view of our camera, the dimensions of the field of view are 6 arcminutes in the vertical direction and 10 arc minutes in the horizontal direction. These three galaxies were captured by Mimmo Demartino and Doug Horacek on the evening of 12 April 2012 about 22:00 CDT or 3:00 UT on 13 April 2012. These three galaxies are in the constellation Leo near the heart of the Lion, Regulus.

Jupiter, Moon, and Venus 25 March 2012 by Jeff Delmas

Doug — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:51:44 +0000

This shot was magnified and cropped to better show Jupiter, the Moon, and Venus above.

On the evening of 25 March 2012 the Crescent Moon passed close to Jupiter in the sky and above was the planet Venus. Jeff Delmas captured this view with his CCD camera. On the evening of 26 March 2012 the Moon was even with Venus and Jupiter shined below the Moon and Venus. Click on the picture to get a better View

Comet Garradd Moving Past a Star in Ursa Minor in the 21 inch Swanson

Doug — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:02:16 +0000

Comet Garradd moving past a star in Ursa Minor using the 21 inch Swanson March 6, 2012.

Mars at its closest, Perfect Evening except for Moon, Frank Schenck’s Picture of Mars with LX200 Meade 14 inch F10

Doug — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 22:29:02 +0000

Messier 13 Globular Cluster in Hercules

Doug — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:59:00 +0000

About Hickson 31

Doug — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:26:58 +0000

Hickson 31 is a group of Galaxies in the Constellation Eridanus near the bright star Rigel in Orion. It is one of the most Luminous Wolf-Rayet Galaxies in the night sky. It is 166 million light years away and 150 thousand light years in extent. Hickson 31 consists of NGC 1741 A-H including F1 and F2. The cluster of galaxies form a V, the brightest one in the center is NGC 1741 C, the branching galaxy attached to C in NGC 1741 A the dimmer one with a little space, the other part of the V is NGC 1741 B and the dim galaxy below the V, just above is NGC 1741 B is NGC 1741 D. Just below NGC 1741 C are NGC 1741 E and if you look closely NGC 1741 H, and below the bright star are NGC 1741 F1 and F2 and the Larger galaxy to the left of the bright star in NGC 1741 G which is also IC 399. Note below the galaxy C is realy to the left of galaxy C. The Bright star is to the left of the brightest group.