NGC 2244 - Rosette Nebula Core

Dear group,

Last night I went after the bright open cluster NGC 2244 which is at
the core of the Rosette Nebula. Both the transparency and seeing were
very good and I was able to pursue this outstanding item due to
general problems with my southern sky (light pollution).

Since many people prefer monochrome work, I will start out with
http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-NGC-2244-Hab.htm and which is based on
8x10 min subs.

For the colour version and which needs a repeat visit so as to tone
down the bright central stars, please see http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-NGC-2244b.htm
..

Details in relation to the above result are available at
http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-NGC-2244.htm .

I was debating about coming back at it again this evening with the FSQ-
ST10XME combo so as to get a much larger field of view but I will
leave that for another day since I have longterm outstanding items in
Orion and which I would like to knock of ASAP while the weather
conditions are good.

I have more results awaiting processing including two planetary
nebulae in Cas (Sh2-176 and Sh2-188) as well as a stunning open
cluster in Tau (NGC 1647).

Anthony.

On 11/5/10 2:52 PM, Anthony Ayiomamitis wrote:
Dear group,

Last night I went after the bright open cluster NGC 2244 which is at
the core of the Rosette Nebula. Both the transparency and seeing were
very good and I was able to pursue this outstanding item due to
general problems with my southern sky (light pollution).

Since many people prefer monochrome work, I will start out with
http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-NGC-2244-Hab.htm and which is based on
8x10 min subs.

For the colour version and which needs a repeat visit so as to tone
down the bright central stars, please see http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-NGC-2244b.htm
.

Details in relation to the above result are available at
http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-NGC-2244.htm .

I was debating about coming back at it again this evening with the FSQ-
ST10XME combo so as to get a much larger field of view but I will
leave that for another day since I have longterm outstanding items in
Orion and which I would like to knock of ASAP while the weather
conditions are good.

I have more results awaiting processing including two planetary
nebulae in Cas (Sh2-176 and Sh2-188) as well as a stunning open
cluster in Tau (NGC 1647).

Anthony.

smiling

Thank you, Anthony!

On Nov 5, 2:01*pm, Sam Wormley wrote:

* *Thank you, Anthony!

And, of course, one can also convey congratulations for having one of
his pictures selected as the APOD a few days ago.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap101028.html

And the very next day, one of his compatriots was the

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap101029.html

John Savard

On Nov 5, 5:27*pm, Quadibloc wrote:
On Nov 5, 2:01*pm, Sam Wormley wrote:

* *Thank you, Anthony!

And, of course, one can also convey congratulations for having one of
his pictures selected as the APOD a few days ago.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap101028.html

And the very next day, one of his compatriots was the

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap101029.html

John Savard

Mirach's Ghost, the easiest galaxy in the sky to find!

\Paul A

On Nov 5, 7:29*pm, palsing wrote:

Mirach's Ghost, the easiest galaxy in the sky to find!

But not the easiest one to photograph.

I'll have to admit, though, I would have recommended cropping the
image so that the galaxy, instead of Mirach, was in the center of the
picture.

John Savard

On 6 ÍïÝ, 17:29, Quadibloc wrote:
On Nov 5, 7:29*pm, palsing wrote:

Mirach's Ghost, the easiest galaxy in the sky to find!

But not the easiest one to photograph.

I'll have to admit, though, I would have recommended cropping the
image so that the galaxy, instead of Mirach, was in the center of the
picture.

John Savard

Gents,

Make thanks for the kind words!

John, the problem with NGC 404 is that it is only a few arc-minutes in
apparent diameter and which means some very serious focal length would
be required to get such an image. If I crop the original image, I
would probably end up presenting a cropped version of the original
master file (ie. at 100%).

As for the other link involving Chris Kotsiopoulos' APOD, he is a
personal friend and colleague and very talented at such work.

Anthony.

On Nov 6, 7:33*pm, Anthony Ayiomamitis wrote:

John, the problem with NGC 404 is that it is only a few arc-minutes in
apparent diameter and which means some very serious focal length would
be required to get such an image. If I crop the original image, I
would probably end up presenting a cropped version of the original
master file (ie. at 100%).

I was thinking of an image with a slightly larger sky coverage than
the one shown, but with NGC 404 closer to the center, and Mirach close
to an edge. That way, a naive person looking hastily at the image
would have been able to correctly guess what the subject of the image
was without having to carefully read the description below. (Having
NGC 404 at the center would have required too much reduction of the
magnification.)

John Savard