u/3Tcubed
▲ 4 r/DWARFLAB
C4
The Iris Nebula (aka: Caldwell 4 (C4), NGC 7023) is a wonderful example of an open star cluster associated with a reflection nebula. It is located in Cepheus. It has very dark lanes within the nebular glow. The surrounding field has a dim glow from outlying sections of the nebula. C4 lies in a region of the Milky Way darkened by dust, within which the nebula is embedded. It is about 6 light-years across, and 1,300 light-years away.
Within the Iris, dusty nebular material surrounds a massive, hot, young star in its formative years. Central filaments of cosmic dust glow with a reddish photo-luminesence, as some dust grains effectively convert the star's invisible ultraviolet radiation to visible red light. But the dominant color of the nebula is blue, a characteristic of dust grains reflecting starlight.
Dark, obscuring clouds of dust are also present and can lead the eye to see other convoluted and fantastic shapes. There is also an open cluster of stars associated with C4, known as Collinder 427. This loose open cluster is located on the west side of the reflection nebula, within the dark region above the "petal" structure of the Iris.
Taken from Sedona, AZ; Bortle 5, w/Dwarf3
I took 320 images and used 249 60s each, gain 60, Duo Filter
Edited with Luminar Mobile and iPad
u/3Tcubed — 1 day ago
The Milky Way Core
The Milky Way Core, about 3am and 4am w/Dwarf3
Taken from Sedona, AZ; Bortle 5, 10s each, gain 0 (52 & 145 images used) Astro filter
Edited in Luminar Mobile and iPad; some star reduction
u/3Tcubed — 2 days ago
▲ 1 r/DWARFLAB
Leo triplet
The Hamburger Galaxy or Sarah’s Galaxy (aka: NGC 3628) it is an unbarred spiral galaxy about 35 million light years away in the constellation of Leo. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1784. It along with M65 and M66 forms the Leo Triplet a small group of galaxies. Its most conspicuous feature is the broad and obscuring band of dust located along the outer edge of its spiral arms, effectively transecting the galaxy to the view from Earth. This dust band is approximately 300,000 light-years long (aka: tidal tail).
Messier 65 (aka: NGC 3623) is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo. M 65 and M 66 were discovered by Charles Messier in 1780, who described them as a "very faint nebula without stars." M65 is located about 35 million light-years away; its diameter is over 80,000 light years. M 65 is just slightly the smaller and fainter of the pair. M 65 is a highly inclined spiral galaxy with a prominent dust lane which extends across the side of its disk facing toward us. It has a prominent central lens and tightly wound spiral arms. The dust may hide regions of star formation usually associated with such features in spiral galaxies
Messier 66 (aka: NGC 3627) is also a spiral galaxy it is the largest and brightest of the trio. M 66 is a spiral with two bright arms which loop outward from the nucleus; its arms are among the most easily seen of all spiral galaxies. It is about 35 million light-years away. The apparent separation between M65 and M66 corresponds to a distance of over 190,000 light years. M66 has a luminosity of 21 billion suns, and a true diameter of at least 75,000 light years. M66 has a well-developed central bulge, its spiral arms are deformed, probably due to encounters with its neighbors. Much dust is visible, as well as a few pink nebulae - signs of star formation - near the end of one of the arms.
The bright blue star in the center is 73 Leonis. It is about 386 light years away. It is 26% cooler than our Sun's, but it’s 24 times the Sun's diameter. Its luminosity is 168 times that of our Sun. It is part of a binary star system with a known orbit. Its partner appears 0.1 arcseconds away from the primary, a physical distance of 8 AU. Their orbital period is 8 years.
The bright yellow star to the right is HD98388. It is only 144 light years away. It is about 1.1 times hotter than our Sun - and it is 1.4 times the Sun's diameter in size. Its luminosity is 2.5 times that of our Sun's.
From Phoenix & Sedona, AZ (5,9 May 26); Bortle +8,6, w/Dwarf3
I took 383 images and used 324; 60s each, gain 60, Astro Filter
Edited with Luminar Mobile and iPad
u/3Tcubed — 4 days ago
▲ 34 r/DWARFLAB
Messier 92 (aka: M92, NGC 6341) is a globular cluster in the constellation Hercules. It is one of the brighter globular clusters in the northern hemisphere. It is often overlooked because of its proximity to the even more spectacular Messier 13. M 92 was discovered by Johann Bode in 1777. Charles Messier independently rediscovered it and cataloged it in 1781, along with eight other objects (M84-M91) which are all Virgo Cluster galaxies.
Located on the north edge of Hercules, this impressive globular cluster deserves more attention, but is outclassed by the Great Hercules cluster, M 13, to its southwest. M 92 is harder to locate than its more famous cousin, but it is still a splendid object, visible to the naked eye under very good conditions, and a showpiece for optics of every size. It is slightly fainter than M 13, and about 1/3 smaller. M 92 is about 26,000 light years away, just a little farther away than its brighter ‘neighbor’ M 13. Its true diameter is about 100 light years. Its luminosity is that of 150,000 Suns (60% that of M 13). M 92 is approaching us at 112 km/sec.
The stars of M 92 are exceptionally poor in iron and other elements heavier than hydrogen. This suggests that M 92 was formed before the gas and dust of our galaxy were enriched with heavy elements. Which makes M 92 exceptionally old, even for a globular cluster. M 92 is likely about 12 billion years old.
From Phoenix, AZ (5 May 26); Bortle +8, w/Dwarf3
I took 890 images and used 860; 30s each, gain 60, Astro Filter
Edited with Luminar Mobile and iPad
u/3Tcubed — 7 days ago