Comet C/2019 Y4 Desintegrating

Comet C/2019 Y would be a naked eye comet during the month May but early April it was clear that it will not be the case. It was found out that the comet was falling apart. Recent pictures with the 25years old Hubble telescope confirmed the desintegration of the Comet. The picture show different fragments.
As a comparison :) above the picture from Hubble and below my picture of the Comet. Both pictures are  taken on the same day, April 20, 2020.

Whirlpool Galaxy M51 Long Exposure

In the last week I took a series of pictures from the Whirlpool Galaxy, M51. The session from April 10, 20 and 22 are stacked using DeepSkyStacker.
All pictures taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5; setting ISO3200 and ISO6400 with a total exposure of 1h34min. This is a new personel record :)

NGC 4656/7

Galaxy NGC 4656/7, also know as the Hockey Stick Galaxy, is located in constellation Canes Ventici and about 40 million lightyears away from Earth.

The picture was taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting : ISO3200 and 21x60s exposure time. Raw data converted to DNG files and stacked using DeepSkyStacker; final editing using CS4.

The setup was done as following :
- mount connected with Stellarium
- camera connected with DigiCamControl software making it possible to realize exposures beyond 30s
- sharpness using bahtinov mask

NGC4302 and NGC4298

Both Galaxies NGC 4302 and NGC 4298 are located in Constellation oma Berenices at a distance of about 55 million lightyears from Earth.
Picture taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5 setting ISO3200 - 15x60s
Stacking with DeepSkyStacker and final editing using CS4.

Galaxy M83

Galaxy Messier M83 is located in constellation Hydra and about 15 million lightyears away from Earth. It's very difficult to see as the galaxy is  maximum 9° above the horizon. Observation was made "between " the tree with very limited exposure time. So the result is poor and a dissapointment.
Picture made with Nikon D7500 an TAL200K f/8.5 : setting ISO 3200 and 8x60s exposure time.

Lyrid Meteor Shower April 21-22, 2020

Observation of Lyrid Meteor Shower April 21-22, 2020. Clear sky, moonless and max magnitude with naked eye 5.25-5.4
A total of 21 meteors are observed after midnight (UT22h) and before 4h30 (UT2h30).

Whirlpool Galaxy M51 with TAL200K

A real clearsky and no moon and for the first time I tried to calibrate the darkness. I used some reference stars in constellation Ursa Major and Bootes. Based on this I conclude that the maximum magnitude seen with the naked eye was about 5.25-5.5 Magnitude.

Under these circumstances I made two sessions of M51, Whirlpool Galaxy. One with ISO3200 (90s) and one with ISO6400 (60s). All pictures made with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. The mount was connected with Stellarium and camera controlled by DigiCamControl.
Raw pictures converted to DNG and stacked using DeepSkyStacker. Final editing with CS4.