Venus - Mercury getting closer - May 19-23 2020

Last evening but also the next 3 evenings, Venus and Mercury will be "meeting" each other. Not in space of  course but as seen from Earth. 

My weather station VWR200

Supernova SN2020jfo in Galaxy M61

Last night I took time to make more pictures of Galaxy M61 to capture supernove SN2020jfo. Total exposure of 60x60s ISO6400 with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5/ Stacking with DeepSkyStacker of both pictures of last night as from May 16. This results of a total exposure of 1h30m. Final editing using CS4.

Siamese Twins or Butterfly Galaxy

NGC 4567 and NGC 4568 are part of the Butterfly Galaxy or also known as the Siamese Twins. Both galaxies are located in constellation Virgo and about 60 million light years away from Earth. Together with NGC 4564 (55 million light years from Earth) they are all part of the Virgo Cluster.

Picture taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting ISO6400 and 10x60s exposure time. Stacking with DeepSkyStacker and final editing using CS4.

Picture uploaded in Astrometry - see results.

Galaxy NGC 4526 or NGC 4560

Galaxy NGC 4526 (also listed as NGC 4560 - see astrometry) is located in constellation Virgo and is part of the Virgo Cluster and about 55 million light years away from Earth. 

Picture taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting ISO6400 and 16 minutes exposure time (16x60s). Stacking using DeepSkyStacker and final editing with CS4.

Galaxies NGC 4550 & 4551 - Clockwise / Counterclockwise movement

Galaxy NGC 4550 is located in constellation Virgo and is part of the Virgo Cluster, about 50 million light years away from Earth. An interesting fact is that NGC 4550 has stars which move counterclockwise and another part of the stars move clockwise.

Picture taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting ISO6400 and 10x60s. Stacking using DeepSkyStacker and final editing with CS4. 

Galaxy NGC 4535

Galaxy NGC 4535 is located in constellation Virgo and part of the Virgo Cluster and about 54 million light years away from Earth. 

Picture taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting ISO6400 and 15x60s. Stacking with DeepSkyStacker and final editing using CS4.

Supernova SN2020jfo in Galaxy M61

A Supernova SN2020 jfo is found in Galaxy M61. This galaxy M61 is located in constellation Virgo and about 52 million light years away from Earth. Galaxy M61 part of the Virgo Cluster and is one of the largest members of the Cluster. 

The supernova SN2020 jfo is a type 2 nova. Type II supernovae like 2020jfo involve the sudden and violent collapse of a supergiant star when its nuclear fuel gas tank hits empty. With no heat and pressure in the core to battle back the crushing hand of gravity, the star implodes. The infall rebounds at the core, creating a shock wave of such ferocity that it rips through the star and blows it to bits in a titanic explosion 100 million times brighter than the Sun. No wonder we can see these things in our backyard telescopes (source Sky & Telescope)!


Picture was taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting ISO6400 and 31x60s. Stacking with DeepSkyStacker and final editing in CS4.