Herschel 400 Galaxies

Herschel 400 Galaxies

Posted: 7 July 2023

Open: Thursday, 6 July 2023, 1820 MST
Temperature: 94°F

Session: 1906
Conditions: Clear, hazy, breezy

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
2" 9mm 100° eyepiece

Camera:
D850 DSLR

1834 MST: Delayed powering on the telescope due to the breezes. Relaxed on the observatory patio bench.

1859 MST: Calmer now. Returned to the observatory.

1900 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Venus, 102X and 271X.

1905-1935 MST: Relaxed on the bench.

1937 MST: Sunset. Calm now. Viewed Venus, 271X.

Prepared the D850 DSLR for imaging.

1941-2017 MST: Relaxed on the bench to watch the stars come out. Occasional clouds appeared in the southern sky.

Back at the 12" telescope, I viewed Venus, 271X and 102X. I then mounted the D850 DSLR at prime focus.

2025-2040 MST: Relaxed on the bench while waiting for the sky to get darker.

Focused on the star Spica and locked the 12" primary mirror.

2045 MST: High Precision ON.

Slewed to NGC5054 (galaxy) to begin imaging some Herschel 400 galaxies.

2048 MST: StarLock ON.

This first image of NGC5054 was ruined by two satellites passing through the field-of-view during the exposure.

Here are the StarLock autoguided Herschel 400 images from this night's session, 5 minutes, ISO 3200, except for NGC5005 and NGC5033, which were 2 minutes, ISO 5000, and NGC5248 which was 20 seconds, ISO 6400. The shorter exposures were used due to poor or no autoguiding from passing clouds.

NGC5054 (galaxy)

NGC5363 (galaxy)

NGC5364 (galaxy)

NGC5005 (galaxy)

NGC5033 (galaxy)

NGC5195 (galaxy)

NGC5248 (galaxy)

NGC5273 (galaxy)