Chris Lasley

According to SEDS, M102 is a rather controversial object. Evidently good old Charles included the object in his catalog based on an observation of his friend, Pierre Méchain. Problem is Charles didn’t verify the observation before publication and the published position is wrong – opps. Today M102 is commonly accepted to be the Lenticular Galaxy NGC 5866 in Draco, also sometimes called the Spindle Galaxy.

I captured M102 using a 12.5 inch f/9 RCOS Ritchey-Chrétien telescope with an SBIG ST10XME and AO7. The image is a combination of 6 – 10 minute exposures.

I’m imaging again! I’ve set my color filters aside and gone back to what I know works for me. Gone are the frustrations of tri-color imaging. Gone are the worries of finding a guide star through a blue filter. Gone are the endless hours of blood, sweat and tears that go into color imaging – I AM FREE!

The truth of the matter is my observatory is ridden with light pollution. I literally have a parking lot lit in all it’s glory feet from my backyard. Mix that in with city lights, limited clear nights and mediocre skies and it just equals an uphill battle for color imaging.

I’m not saying it can’t be done – I have managed to pull a couple rabbits out of the hat. The return just isn’t worth the effort for me in my current situation. Some day I will return but today I embrace all that is gray.

Beth, Jessie and I joined several folks from the astronomy club on a trip to Hot Springs to visit Jim Hoskins and Jack Patterson at the Nubbin Ridge Observatory.

We stopped off for lunch at the infamous McClard’s Bar-B-Q before heading out to the observatory. We spent the afternoon checking out what Jim and Jack have been up to and admiring their impressive facilities. Keep up the good work guys!

The past few weeks the sun has been gonzo with activity. I went out tonight to check up on an email from SpaceWeather.com quoting possible auroral activity. I wasn’t disappointed!

It seems a coronal mass ejection swept past Earth and sparked bright auroras over large portions of the United States – even as far south as Arkansas! This is one of two times I have seen aurora – both from the middle of town. This aurora was a bright blue/green fading in and out of site dancing to and fro. It must have been amazing from a dark site.

The source of the activity is a group of three big sunspots. All three of these sunspots are mega active so more auroral activity is possible. Keep and eye on the NOAA Auroral Activity Site for possible upcoming aurora.

UPDATE! – Danny Flippo was able to nab a few shots of last nights auroral activity from the River Ridge Observatory. Visit Danny’s Gallery to see what all the excitement was about.

Had a good night up at the club observatory. Danny Flippo and I teamed up to do a little wide field CCD imaging. We used Danny’s Johnson widefield adapter and my ST10 along with John Reed’s 135mm Olympus lens – it was quite a group effort!

The camera was mounted on top of Danny’s C8 using the club’s AP800 mount. The combination of the 135mm lens and the ST10 yeilded a field of view approximately 4 x 6 degrees! Since Cygnus was well placed we aimed just shy of Denub and shot 12 x 10 minute exposures of the North American and Pelican nebulae using an 11 nm HAlpha filter.

» Click here to see the final image