While the some of the nation is basking in Arizona style temperatures here is a summary of our days of summer heat:
The Eagle Nebula is part of a diffuse emission nebula, about 5700 light-years distant and is actually 55 by 70 light years across. In the middle is the so called pillars of creation, as new stars are forming there.
5340 total exposure time in seconds, Camera cooled to 0°C, 30 seconds average exposure time, 178 of 247 frames processed/stacked.
I often get asked what is that immensely bright star? It is often called the "Morning Star" or the "Evening Star" but, it is a planet! The planet Venus - it is not a star at all... The word planet comes out of Greek meaning to wanderer. It is the brightest celestial object out there right now - third brightest after the Sun and Moon. Here is what Venus looks like through my 9 1/4 inch wide telescope. All we can see is a thick, toxic atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide and thick, yellowish clouds of sulfuric acid that trap heat, causing a runaway greenhouse effect. Surface temperatures on Venus are about 900°F – hot enough to melt lead. Venus has crushing air pressure at its surface, 90 times that of Earth – similar to the pressure of a mile below the ocean on Earth. The clouds are so dense all we get is a very bland picture. Since, Venus is semi-close the horizon the view is quite turbulent. To obtain this picture I have to take over 2000 frames and then pick out only the ones that are lucky enough to be taken the during times when the atmosphere is settled down. Hence they call this "lucky imaging". I have an semi-automated process that make it way easier than it sounds.😁 By the way the light takes 6 minutes and 9 seconds to get to us.
The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a or NGC 5194, lies in the constellation Canes Venatici, and was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. It is about 31 million light-years away from Earth and 76,900 light years in diameter. The companion galaxy is NGC 5195. (This first light for my Hyperstar)
