June 2023

Welcome to Hank’s June 2023 astrophotography blog. The big news this spring is that I have been working on putting a shelter over my telescope pier, with the goal of having an observatory where my telescope could be set up full time, out of the weather, and I wouldn’t be dragging out the equipment every night I want to do observing. I had been researching what my options might be, when I ran into a Dakota Starry Nights video that our BHAS Observatory Director, Richard, posted about his re-purposed hunter’s blind set-up. Check it out here! My Astro-Buddy Jim and I visited Richard’s observatory, and it looked like the ticket. I picked up a hunter’s blind at Farm and Fleet in Rapid City, added some pavers around my existing pier, and Jim helped me put it together. Here’s Jim holding the first panels together, and a little later when he took a nap.

The top of the blind can slide off, and I put up a stand to hold it in place, making it easy to get on and off. With my new iOptron CEM40 mount, I am able to control the telescope from the observatory or from inside our home, which makes observing in the winter possible. The mount remembers it’s polar and other alignment data, so it makes getting set-up each night very easy. So for the rest of the summer I’m working out the bugs and further discovering ways to improve my Electronically Assisted Astronomy (EAA) photography techniques. No ducks have come by yet to check out the blind.

Galaxies are really out in June, but I was able to capture a few nebula. C4, C 34, and M 16. C 34, shows part of the West Veil Nebula, and the starless version really brings out what’s going on. M 16, commonly called the Pillars of Creation, is a favorite of mine, and I’ll be trying to hone my skills on photographing it in the coming months.

I also rounded up a few star clusters as well. M 53, NGC 5897, and C 37.

Here’s the lineup of galaxies spotted this month. C 3, C 12 (& starless), C 26, C 32, M 40, M 51 (and starless), M 60, M 61, M 64, M 81, M 85, M 87, M 100, M 108, NGC 2903, NGC 3344, NGC 4302, NGC 4526, NGC 4535, and NGC 4656.

Also of galactic interest are these:

This M 106 photo shows a small galaxy in the lower right hand corner, NGC 4248. It is another spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici that the Hubble News website featured in 2017. You can compare my image to what a $1.5 billion telescope can give you here. One of the cool things about the Hubble telescope photos is that you can view or download them for free! See them all here.

NGC 4567 & NGC 4568, the Butterfly Galaxies, are a pair of spiral galaxies that are colliding and merging with each other. They are about 62 million light years (Mly) away from us. These galaxies were originally nicknamed the “Siamese Twins” but NASA no longer uses that term due to perceived discriminatory naming. Personally, I think they look more like ballerina shoes. . . .

M 99 and bright star HIP 60089 may look close to one another, but the star is 670 light years away in our Milky Way Galaxy, whereas M 99 is 49 Mly away. Relative brightness and size can be deceiving! M 99’s distorted shape may be due to the gravitational pull of a dark galaxy, that has a bunch of gravity, but not many, if any, visible stars. All of this reminds me that while science leads us to understanding, there are still a bunch of puzzles we haven’t got our heads around yet, like what’s this dark matter stuff all about?

Beginning mid-month, I started using a capture technique that uses Flat Frames to help eliminate the dark dust spots and “donuts” that comes from the tiny stuff that seems to collect on my telescope mirror. To do this I take a photo using a light frame that highlights these marks, then the SharpCap software I use subtracts those imperfections from the capture. Thanks to BHAS member Chris for suggesting this technique to me. Compare the “donuts” in the first Sun photo with the clearer “complexion” of the Sun’s surface where I used a Flat Frame.

That’s it for this month. I’m glad that we are past the summer solstice and the nights will start coming earlier in the evening, so I can get a little more observing in before my bedtime!

Until next month, Clear Skies! -Hank