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The telescopes and CCD units at the Francisquito
Observatory are dedicated nearly full-time to making NEA
observations. Most of the images presented here were made during
the early stages of equipment testing and commissioning before the
observatory went on-line for NEA observations. We do, however,
have a wish-list of nearby and deep-space objects that we'd like to get
images of, and will endeavor to do so as circumstances allow.
The casual visitor to this site should be aware that
these images are fairly crude by astro-photography standards.
Hopefully one's curiosity will be sufficiently piqued such that web
sites with high-quality astrophotography will be sought. A couple
of excellent places to begin would be:
Dr. Robert
Gendler's web site. Dr. Gendler is a physician living in the
northeastern US, and is one of the standard-setters in CCD-based
astrophotography. He rolls his telescope out of his garage and
onto his driveway, and through seemingly super-human patience and
endurance, and extraordinary artistry, turns out images that rival
anything produced by any observatory, anywhere - professional or
otherwise. His images are of such a high standard that they are
regularly used to illustrate scientific publications.
Bill
McLaughlin's web site. Bill is a CCD-astrophotography pioneer
and standard-setter as well. He has helped construct and operate
at least two sophisticated observatories in the Pacific Northwest
dedicated 100% to astrophotography. His images of distant galaxies
make one wonder if he has had secret access to the Hubble Space
Telescope.
We hope our visitors will view the images below at least once before
checking out Dr. Gendler's and Bill McLaughlin's sites. Because
after seeing their images, everything else looks pretty shoddy!
Click on any of the thumbnail images below to see the
full-size image.
This is a cloud of ionized hydrogen gas in our own galaxy, with an interesting inclusion of dark, dusty material. It is about 1,500 light years distant, and is popularly known as the Horsehead Nebula. Image taken with 30cm reflector telescope at f/6.7. Popularly referred to as the Orion Nebula, this is the object that appears to be one of the faint 'stars' in Orion's sword. The true nebular nature of this object can actually be seen with a good pair of binoculars. This is the closest known star forming region in our galaxy, about 1,500 light-years distant. It is part of the same complex of swirling, glowing matter that includes the Horsehead Nebula. The intense light radiating from the center of the nebula is evidence of the star forming activity going on inside. The subtle 'shadows' visible in this image also allow one to see the true 3-D nature of interstellar objects. Image taken with 9cm refractor telescope at f/4.5. Popularly referred to as the "Dumbell Nebula" for its twin-lobed appearance, this object is one of the photographic gems of the Summer sky. From a safe distance of about 1,200 light-years we are witnessing the death of a star; as the central star in this image nears the end of its life cycle it is shedding enormous quantities of mass and energy. The image was made by taking three separate 15-minute grayscale exposures through special filters which only permit the passage of red, green, and blue visible light, and then combining the individual grayscale images as RGB color channels to form a single image. This is the same process used for color images produced by the Hubble Space Telescope and Mars Exploration Rovers. Taken with 30cm reflector telescope at f/6.7. This is an image of what is popularly known as the Whirlpool Galaxy (30 million light-years distant), taken just after focusing the observatory's main telescope for an NEA run. It was noted that M51 happened to be passing directly overhead, so a quick series of seven 30-second images were snapped (un-guided), aligned and stacked together, sharpened, and finally, brightness histogram-adjusted. Total time from start to finish: about ten minutes. This image shows the aftermath of a cosmic sideswipe. The small, elliptical galaxy passed along one side of the Whirlpool Galaxy, taking part of the larger galaxy's stars and dark, dusty matter with it. Presumaly, the Whirlpool Galaxy captured some of the smaller galaxy's matter as well. One wonders which one got the most out of this enounter. Image taken with 30cm reflector telescope at f/6.7. A monstrous asteroid bearing down on our defenseless blue orb? Not to worry - just our favorite satellite, the Moon. This image shows a region of the lunar surface near the Mare Nubium and Tycho Crater. Interestingly, this image was taken in mid-afternoon while testing the telescope's drive mechanism. Telescope: 30cm reflector at f/3.3
This is a cloud of ionized hydrogen gas in our own galaxy, with an interesting inclusion of dark, dusty material. It is about 1,500 light years distant, and is popularly known as the Horsehead Nebula. Image taken with 30cm reflector telescope at f/6.7.
This page was last updated
07/19/04
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