Time for a pretty picture. This is Bode’s galaxy and the Cigar galaxy. Otherwise known as M81 and M82. A pair of galaxies in Ursa Major, approximately 12 million light years away.
As always this is from a fairly cheap 6 inch reflector and a very cheap second hand mirrorless camera. Shot in my back garden in Southend-on-Sea. Total exposure was about 10 minutes.
If you want to try and have a look in binoculars. You might just be able to make them out if you look here.
Of course you won’t see anything that looks like a galaxy, just a fuzzy blob. You need to take photographs to see anything vaguely galaxy shaped. Even through the telescope the view looks more like this 5 sec exposure..
I was fairly chuffed with this picture. So I went in search of similar ones on the internet and found this.
Now, it’s entirely subjective of course, but I have to say this image is just a teensy weensy bit better than mine. Having said that, the photographer has some fantastic equipment to take pictures with.
https://cosgrovescosmos.com/projects/m81-m82
Rather than 10 minutes of exposure, this photo took 10 hours.
If you’re wondering why the link above shows the photographer using two telescopes, one of them is a guide scope. It has its own camera that sends images to a computer. The computer runs a piece of software that locks onto the image of a bright star and then send commands to the guidance software of the main telescope, keeping it pointing in the right direction for hours at a time. A second camera in the main scope then takes long exposure images of several minutes at a time. These are then stacked by more software, either in real time or offline.
I’ve sometimes thought about plunging down the astrophotography rabbit hole. If you want to consume as much money as you like, it’s the perfect hobby. But in the last month I think I’ve had two whole nights when there wasn’t any moon, any clouds, any wind, any excessive moisture in the air, any neighbourhood parties with lights, or any spotlights in neighbours’ gardens. So, for now at least, I think I’ll stick to cheap second hand stuff and see how far I can push it.
Platitude of the Day 