SK Astro
Tag

Atik460

Browsing
Galaxies

Abell 2151 – The Hercules Cluster

LRGB Abell2151

Abell 2151 is a cluster of galaxies about 500 million light years away in the constellation of Hercules. There are a total of about 300-400 galaxies in this image. I am especially interested in these remote galaxy clusters and it is sobering to think how many planets and civilisations must exist amidst this vastness. Countless trillions. Abell 2151 – The Hercules Cluster Image Technical Data Technical Details Imaged from my backyard in Nottingham over four nights in late April and May 2020, during the Coronavirus lockdown. We had some superb clear skies over the UK during this period with very good visibility and seeing – highly unusual for the UK. I used my TEC 140 refactor at its native focal length of F7 and Atik 460 cooled CCD camera with Astrodon LRGB filters. The telescope was mounted on my MESU 200 mount and guided with OAG. All data is binned…

More
By
Galaxies

M87, The Giant Elliptical Galaxy in Virgo TEC 140

M87

M87 M87 is a supergiant elliptical galaxy at the heart of the Virgo cluster of galaxies and is visible in many pictures of the famous Markarian’s Chain. It is about 65 million light years away and, after the Sun, is the brightest source of radio waves in the sky – at that vast distance! The galaxy is one of the most massive in the local universe at two hundred times the mass of our own Milky Way galaxy. M87 harbours one of the most massive Black holes in the Universe at 8 billion solar masses. The galaxy is surrounded by a swarm of globular clusters, about 12000 of them, compared to only 200 from our galaxy. The galaxy is so large that from The Earth the extended galaxy is almost the size of the full moon. Image Technical Data Imaged from by back yard in Nottingham, UK with my TEC…

More
By