Comet Catalina 2013 US10

This morning I took advantage of clear skies and having the time to do so.... and went out to the observatory to catch a few photons from Comet Catalina (Comet Catalina is your Christmas Star for 2015)  =)

After a bit of help from my friend, Dave P, I put the correct coordinates in my calibrated scope and "Twala!"  I was bumping up against dawn (again) so I hope this won't be the only time I get to chase after this particular comet.

Here are a couple of pics of M15 I took in November that didn't get posted.  I totally LOVE gobular clusters!

Messier Galaxies....

Back out at the Witte Observatory this morning =)  I wasn't real pleased with my focus.... but couldn't "wrestle" to get it any clearer.  Still getting baseline photos.  Most exposures were only 30 seconds 6400 ISO.

Leo is a VERY BUSY place for galaxies!!!!  Many photos have more than the target galaxy captured - bonus galaxies!

Some of the last photos taken have a bit of "dawn" in them =)

M65 M66 NGC3628 = Leo Triplet ~ 2 minute exposure

M106 w/meteor?

M101

M81

M82

M85

M100

 

M98

M99

M84

M86

M91

Some shots at the end of the session to the East.... Sigh! ;-)

More Progress on the Messier's :-)

From the convenience (though not nearly as dark skies as the Witte Observatory) of our porch, here are photons I caught this morning =)

M46 ~ with planetary nebula NGC2438 ;)

M47

M48

M50

M93

M101 ~ with satellite passing through?

Time to brace for Wednesday's storm......  Hah!

Tonight at the Observatory

Temperatures in the upper 30's and clear skies out at the Witte Observatory tonight!

Still not autoguiding or stacking but working on obtaining "baseline" photos of all the Messier objects.

M31

M32

M33

M39

M42

M42

M52

M56

M57

M71

M74

M77

M110

NGC896

NGC1977

NGC6811

Video of Moon, Venus and Dr. Green =)

Here's a video I made of the Moon mid-October.  It's the first video I've made since getting my telescope mount back from the shop.  It feels sooooo good! :-)

Not to be outdone.... a morning video I made of Venus in its gibbous phase.....

Also, Dr. Green, Director the Planetary Science Division of NASA visited our college in October.  The presentation was captured via Zoom.  Dr. Green was consulted on the making of the movie, "The Martian."  It's an OUTSANDING movie! :-)

October was a VERY busy month!

Other Miscellaneous Stars Etc

While set up and roaming, I checked out a few IC and NGC objects too.  Here they are! :-)

IC342

IC1805

NGC1502

M42 (again) emphasizing the Trapezium <3

Star Clusters Etc

I've got the goal of getting a photo of ALL of the Messier Objects... So along those lines in the month of October I had my scope set up several times and took the following photos....  All photos were taken on our front porch.  No stacking =)

M2

M20

M21

M25

M29

M34

M36

M37

M38

M42 =)

M42

M45

M56

M67

M76

 M97