"All These Worlds Are Yours Except Europa.
Attempt No Landing There. Use Them Together. Use Them in Peace."
from the movie 2010
Rick's Astronomy Journal: M104 Sombrero Galaxy



Sunday, January 20, 2008

M104 Sombrero Galaxy

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©2007 Richard Murray
Full Size Image



Notes: This is a luminance image taken with a robotic telescope in southern Australia. The color image will follow soon. The second image is a crop of the full size image.

Each time I image this I get just a little more detail in the galaxy's dark lanes. Be sure and take a look at the full size image.

Imaging Details:

Date: 1-20-08
Object: M104 Sombrero Galaxy
Telescope: RCOS 10" - FL 1510mm @ F/6 (GRAS-15)
Mount: Paramount ME
Camera: SBIG ST-8XME NABG
Filter: Luminance
Exposure: Luminance-20 min (5 min subs)
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CS2, PixInsight
Location: Moorook, South Australia

9 Comments:

Anonymous Phil said...

That is truly an amazing shot. Although all your pictures amaze me. How did you come to get access to a robotic telescope in Southern Australia?

11:59 AM  
Blogger Rick said...

Thanks Phil, that's a nice compliment!

The robotic scopes are run by a company called 'Global-Rent-A-Scope' which has telescopes located in New Mexico, Isreal and Australia. You operate them through a standard browser right over the internet. Here's the link:

http://www.global-rent-a-scope.com/

Rick

4:53 PM  
Blogger heavenabove said...

Sombrero is always a favorite.

I am wondering about two eclipse predictions I ran across some time ago. Apparently, there is supposed to be a lunar eclipse visible in North America sometime in February and a solar eclipse later on this year also visible in North America. Not sure where you are at, but do you know if these predictions are accurate.

12:31 AM  
Blogger Rick said...

Looks like the US will miss the total solar eclipse in August of this year. It starts in Canada and then heads on over to Russia and China.

This next link shows lunar eclipses from 2008 thru 2015 at the bottom of the page. Click on the date for a map of what locations they will cover:

http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/LEprimer.html

11:42 AM  
Blogger Annie said...

That is a beautiful shot, Rick. Much detail and a unique object. Looks like my version of a UFO ;)

1:09 PM  
Blogger Rick said...

Thanks Annie!

It is the spitting image of a UFO. Maybe if I image long enough, I'll catch one of those little devils. :>))

Rick

3:48 PM  
Blogger Jennifer said...

Wonderful image! I love the name.

Regarding Annie's comment: Yep! They're out there!

Keep on star gazing Rick- Your view point and knowledge amaze me.

-jif

3:54 PM  
Blogger Rick said...

Thanks Jen!

4:41 PM  
Blogger heavenabove said...

Thanks for the info.

2:39 PM  

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