M13Great Globular in Hercules 10.1” f/4.5, Mallincam DS432cTEC with 0.5 focal reducerExposures = 1.5 sec, Live Stacked frames = 60, Gain = 150 of 250  The combination of brightness and number of stars that resolve across the face of this globular is probably what’s most impressive about M13. Distance listed as approximately 25,000 light years…

M45 Pleiades in Taurus 10.1” f/, 4.5Mallincam DS432cTEC with 0.5 focal reducerExposure = 15 sec, Live-stacked frames = 10,  Gain = 15 of 250 The reflection nebula portion of the Pleiades cluster is easily pulled out of the background sky via EAA, something that is not visible with just an eyepiece. The wispy details around Merope…

Mars 10.1″ f/4.5 (stopped to 3.8″ f/12), Mallincam DS432CTEC with 2.5x barlow Exposure = 2.696 msec, Gain = 80 of 250October 18, 2020  04:53 UT Mars just past opposition. Major surface features visible are Syrtis Major (dark area to the lower right) and darker southern highlands. Mars south pole is at approximately 2 o’clock slightly inside…

Jupiter 10.1″ f/4.5, Mallincam DS432cTEC with 5x barlowExposure = 9 msec, Gain = 30 of 250November 27, 2021  22:06 UTC Jupiter with 3 Galilean moons visible (Ganymede to the upper left of the disk, Io and Europa respectively to the lower right). Approximate magnitudes for the three moons are 4.5, 5.0, and 5.3 respectively. The…

Venus 10.1” f/4.5, Mallincam DS432cTEC with 5x barlow Exposure = 9 msec, Gain = 1/250November 27, 2021 – 21:50 UTC Venus on this date was about a month past greatest eastern elongation and at maximum brightness of magnitude -4.9, approximately 25% illuminated. Size is about 35 arc seconds across. At this brightness it is said…

M74Phantom Galaxy in Pisces 10.1″ f/4.5, Mallincam DS432cTECExposures = 10-15-20-25 sec, Live-stacked frames = 15-15-15-13 (58 total), Gain = 12-11-10-9 of 250 The low surface brightness of this face-on spiral made it very difficult to locate, despite its size; had to increase gain quite a bit to find it against the background stars. Successive exposures…

Moon 10.1″ f/4.5, Mallincam DS432cTECExposure = 0.878 msec, Frames = 1, Gain = 5 of 250January 24, 2021 – 01:16 UTC Phase is 3 days past first quarter. Copernicus is the prominent crater lower center; sunrise on the mountains of Sinus Iridum lower right near the terminator. North at 4 o’clock, East at 7 o’clockmore…

Solar System 8^)

M16Eagle Nebula in Serpens 10.1” f/4.5, Mallincam DS432cTEC with Optolong L-eNhance filter Exposures = 2 sec, Frames = 677, Gain = 30 of 250 M16 is a star-forming region about 70 light years across and 5700 light years distant. The eagle-shaped outline is clearly visible south-east of the star cluster associated with the nebula. The…

Messier Catalog 8^)