The Images -- Black & White Page 2

*** To see these images at their best, adjust your monitor to distinctly show all the gray steps in this step wedge. ***
Step wedge courtesy of Chuck Vaughn

(Click each image for a full screen version.)

M 52 and

1024 X768 pixel 203 K .jpg


The open star cluster M52 and the bright nebula NGC 7635
Location: M52 = 23h 24 m +61d 35m, NGC 7635 = 23h 40m +61d 12m
Size: M 52 = 12 arc/min, NGC 7635 =16 X 6 arc/min
Magnitude: M 52 = 6.9
33 minute exposure on hypered TP-2415, #92 filter, developed in D-19.
IC 410

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M 38 and the nebulae IC 410 and IC 405 in Auriga.
Location: M 38 = 5h 29m +35d 51m, IC 410 = 5h 22m +33d 27m, IC 405 = 5h 15m +34d 10m
Size: M 38 = 21 arc/min, IC 410 = 25 X 20 arc/min, IC 405 = 84 X 60 arc/min
Magnitude: M 38 = 6.4
33 minute exposure on hypered TP-2415, #92 filter, developed in D-19.
B 142 & B 143

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The dark nebulae Barnard 143 and Barnard 142 in Aquila.
Location: B 143 = 19h 40m +11d 07m
Size: B 143 = 30 arc/min
Magnitude: ---
33 minute exposure on hypered TP-2415, #92 filter, developed in D-19.
Helix Nebula

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NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula in Aquarius.
Location: 22h 30m -20d 50m
Size: 16 arc/min
Magnitude: 7.5
33 minute exposure on hypered TP-2415, #92 filter, developed in D-19.
M 16

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M 16, the Eagle Nebula in Serpens and M 17, the Swan Nebula in Sagittarius.
Location: M 16 = 18h 19m -13d 48m, M 17 = 18h 21 m
Size: M 16 = 35 X 30 arc/min, M 17 = 11 X 6 arc/min
Magnitude: M 16 = 6.0, M 17 = 6
33 minute exposure on hypered TP-2415, #92 filter, developed in D-19.
NGC 281

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NGC 281 in Cassiopeia.
Location: 0h 53m +56d 38m
Size: 23 X 27 arc/min
Magnitude: 7.4
33 minute exposure on hypered TP-2415, #92 filter, developed in D-19.
Cone Nebula

417 X 652 pixel 70 K .jpg


The Cone Nebula surounding the cluster NGC 2264 in Monocerous.
Location: 06h 41m +09d 54m
Size: 20 arc/min
Magnitude: NGC 2264 = 4.1
33 minute exposure on hypered TP-2415, #92 filter, developed in D-19.
M 45

959 X 768 pixel 108 K .jpg


M 45, the Pleiades in Taurus.
Location: 03h 47 m +24d 06m
Size: 110 arc/min
Magnitude: 1.2
Four minute exposure on 103aO Spectrocopic film, no filter, developed in MWP-2.
NGC 7822

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The nebulae NGC 7822 and SH2-187 in Cepheus.
Location: NGC 7822 = 00 h 01m +68d 34m, SH2-187 = 00h 03m +67d 13m
Size: NGC 7822 = 72 X 20 arc/min, SH2-187 = 50 arc/min
33 minute exposure on hypered TP-2415, #92 filter, developed in D-19.
Veil Nebula

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The Veil Nebula in Cygnus.
Location: NGC 6992 (left) 20h 57m +31d 30m, NGC 6960 (right) 20h 46m +30d 43m
Size: NGC 6992 = 80 X 26 arc/min, NGC 6960 = 60 X 9 arc/min
Magnitude: ---
33 minute exposure on hypered TP-2415, #92 filter, developed in D-19.

Many thanks to Emil Bonanno and his wonderful MEGASTAR star charting program for the techical data about the size, magnitude, and coordinates of the objects in these images.
Also see what Apogee Instruments has to say about MEGASTAR.

More About the Images

Oddly enough, I am not showing my "latest and best" pictures. All of the black and white images shown here were taken more than 12 years ago and the color images were taken 14 years ago. I have taken no more color photos with the Schmidt camera since then. There is a reason for this. After my Schmidt camera was moved to the Von Braun Photographic Station in 1986, its observing program has consisted entirely of producing photographs for a massive mosaic of the Milky Way. This project envisions the use of almost 350 separate 40-minute exposures to cover the entire Milky Way visible from 30 degrees latitude. As a consequence, the photography done in the past 10 years has been targeted to R.A. and Dec. points dictated by a mosaic grid. This often leads to prominent deep sky objects being split between adjacent mosaic frames. To showcase the large deep sky objects centered on their own negative, I have selected a series of images that were actually taken between 1982 and 1984 when the Schmidt camera was housed at the D. Nelson Limber Observatory north of San Antonio.

Go to next page The color images
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