Orion M42 - OIII and ASI2600MC

Past weekend I took the time to optimize my PHD2 guiding skills. The build-in "Guiding Assistance" was used and the camera exposure time was increased from 1s to 2s. The guide pulses in EQMOD are increased from 0.5 to 0.9.

I made sure the 2" flattener was set at exactly 105mm till the + 17mm ASI2600MC chip. 

Setting scope : ASI2600MC and TLAPO80/480 f/6

Guiding : ZWO Guiding scope 30/120 and ASI224MC

Software : N.I.N.A, Stellarium, PHD2, APP, CS4, DeNoise AI

Lights : 10x180s 5x300s

Light 2" OIII filter: 8x300s 3x600s

Globe at Night - Saving Private Orion

Globe at Night is an international citizen-science campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure & submit their night sky brightness observations. Past weekend I submitted my backyard data (ID #95057) after observing constellation Orion with a max magnitude of 5.5.

See also this link

Asteroid (16) Psyche

Last thursday (March 3) asteroid (or better planetoid) Psyche was in opposition. Psyche is a giant iron-nickel metal-rich M-Type asteroid, about three times farther away from the Sun than is the Earth. Its average diameter is about 226 km.

Psyche might be the partial core of a shattered planetesimal – a small world the size of a city or small country that is the first building block of a planet. If it is, asteroid Psyche can offer a close look at the interior of terrestrial planets like Earth that is normally hidden beneath layers of mantle and crust. Therefor NASA is planning for a mission, NASA's Psyche Mission which is foreseen to be launched with a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Milestones:

2022 – Launch of Psyche spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center, Florida

2023 – Mars Flyby of Psyche spacecraft

2026 – Psyche spacecraft arrives in asteroid’s orbit

2026-2027 – Psyche spacecraft orbits the Psyche asteroid

Psyche is currently visible in constellation Leo and about magnitude 10.4. I was able to take some pictures on both march 4 and 5. Psyche could be observed near galaxy NGC 3462. Below is a gif picture with a time interval of 50 minutes. 

Setting : ASI2600MC and TLAPO80/480 f/6, ZWO guidescope 30/120 with ASI224MC; 
Lights: 10x300s, 10x180s, darks, bias, flats and darkflats (gif 3x150s & 5x180s)

Software : N.I.N.A, Stellarium, PHD2, APP and CS4.

See for more information : NASA Psyche Mission

Lecture March 17, Dwarf Galaxies Small but Powerful

The University of Maastricht organises a lecture on Dwarf Galaxies. Prof. dr. Eline Tolstoy from the University of Groningen will discuss the importance of dwarf galaxies.

When : March 17 20h00-21h30

Where: Maastricht University or on line

For more information see this link.

NGC3226 & 3227 (ARP94)

Galaxy NGC3227 is interacting with dwarf galaxy NGC3226, both are located in constellation Leo and more then 50 million ly away from Earth. Galaxy NGC3227 has an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) and contains a supermassive blackhole (14 million solarmasses). The interacting galaxies are also categorised as ARP 94.

Setting : ASI2600MC with TAL200K f/8.5, guidescope ZWO30/120 with ASI224MC; lights 11x300s, darks, flats, darkflats and bias.

Software : N.I.N.A, APP, Stellarium, PHD2, CS4.

Seeing : moderate with hig clouds.

NGC2362 Tau Canis Majoris Cluster

NGC2362 (Tau Canis Majoris Cluster) is located in constellation Canis Major and about 5000 ly away from Earth.

Setting : ASI2600MC with TAL200K f/8.5 and Guidescope ZWO 30/120 with ASI224MC; lights 6x300s, darks, flats, darkflats, bias

Software : N.I.N.A, PHD2, Stellarium, APP, CS4, DeNoise AI.

Seeing : moderate with high clouds. 

Startrail

A startrail was made by taking 219 pictures of the winter constellations Orion, Gemini, Canis Major & Minor, Auriga and Taurus. 

Setting: Nikon D7500 10mm f/4.5 ISO400 219x30s. Startrails v2.3 was used to combine all pictures and CS4 for final editing.