Rick's Blog

M8 - The Lagoon Nebula I had three nights in a row with exceptional skies. The transparence was great. As my pictures were coming up on the screen , I could see more than usual and could even make out a bit of color. I think this is one of my best pictures so far.  

M13  A star cluster I did this one last year and thought I would try is again. I don't know if it is any better. It is a pretty bland target.  

M101- The Pinwheel Galaxy This galaxy is 21 million light years away in between the last two stars in the handle of the Big Dipper.  

This is not a great picture but it is the best I could get because it is so low in the southern sky. It is only about 1 foot above the wall of my observatory. It is an edge on galaxy about 28 million light years away. It gets it's name because of the distinct dark line running across the upper part of the galaxy which is a vast and very dense dust lane. Total exposure time was 6 hours.  

This is a spiral galaxy in the Big Dipper.It is about 23 million light years away. Total exposure time was 5 hours.  

ngc891- The edge on galaxy This is a total of 31 - 6 minute pictures for a total of 3 hours and 12 minutes total exposure time.

The Orion nebula A 10 minute exposure with Kodak Ultramax 400 speed color film.