Astronomy photos from the Dwarf 3 telescope

First attempt at time lapse photography of clouds over the Cascades. An image every 15 seconds for 2 hours. Full Moon - 40 stacked images at 1/200th of a second.

  The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules - M 13 Messier 13 was first seen by Edmond Halley in 1714 and added to Messier's list in 1764.   This cluster of stars is thought to be composed of several hundred thousand stars , with estimates varying from around 300,000 to over half a million stars.  When Charles Messier first observed this cluster with his telescope, he could not resolve any individual stars, it appeared to be one large blob. As he said, "Nebula without star..." The 1974 Arecibo message, which contained encoded information about the human race, DNA, atomic numbers, Earth's position and other information, was beamed from the Arecibo Observatory  radio telescope in Puerto Rico  towards Messier 13 as an experiment in contacting potential extraterrestrial civilizations in that cluster. M13 was chosen because it was a large, relatively close star cluster that was available at the time and place of the ceremony.  The cluster will move through spa...

  Captured the Pacman Nebula (NGC 281). And the Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

  New objects tonight.  First, the California Nebula. This emission nebula bears a slight resemblence to the shape of the State of California. Next the Pleiades (M45). This is an open star cluster that is the nearest Messier object to the Earth.  Lastly, the Heart Nebula. You can just make out the top of the heart shape in red.

 Tonight a repeat of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51): And the Sombrero Galaxy which failed in attempts to stack - clouds after I headed in perhaps.

 Caught two new objects: The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) - a spiral galaxy with a dwarf companion. It was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral.  The Sombrero Galaxy (M104) - an edge on galaxy.  This galaxy is of uncertain shape with a prominent central dark dust lane.

  The Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) - this is a smaller dark nebula located in the constellation Orion.  The Crab Nebula (M1) - This nebula is the leftovers after a supernova exploded in the year 1054.