09/17/2022 – EAA – Messiers and More!

Another nice clear night, pretty much the same as last night. Observed a few more Messiers for the log and a couple of other interesting objects while I was just looking around.

Earlier in the month I had a lot of issues during an EAA session where I captured a few Messiers. Well since I was not able to observe them as they were captured, and instead had to post process the images… well the objects were not really EAA observed so I have decided not to add the captures from that session to the Messier Log. With all the gear and software working tonight I decided to hunt down as many as I could.

Since nothing had really changed with the scope or mount since last night I kept the same polar alignment and focus. I also reused the darks and flats which I shot last night.

The EAA images in this post were capture with my ZWO ASI294MC Pro cooled to -15 C through my SVBONY SV503 102ED scope with 0.8 Focal Reducer and a SVBONY IR/UV Cut filter. The images were live stacked using SharpCap Pro. The mount and cameras are remotely controlled with KStars/Ekos/INDI running on an Astroberry Raspberry Pi. The images have been resized (80% of original) and/or cropped for file size but otherwise appear just as I observed them.

M75 is a globular cluster in the constellation of Sagittarius.
Live stack of 60 x 10 second exposures, 121 gain, bin 2×2.
M 75, Messier 75, Globular Cluster, EAA Capture 09/17/2022
Had a visit from a satellite about 3 minutes into the live stack.

M30 is a globular cluster in the constellation of Capricornus.
Live stack of 60 x 10 second exposures, 121 gain, bin 2×2.
M30, Messier 30, Globular Cluster, EAA Caputre 09/17/2022

M2 a globular cluster in the constellation Aquarius.
Live stack of 60 x 10 second exposures, 121 gain, bin 2×2.
M2, Messier 2, Globular Cluster, EAA Capture 09/17/2022

M73 a small open cluster of stars in the constellation of Aquarius.
Live stack of 30 x 10 second exposures, 121 gain, bin 2×2.
M 73, Messier 73, Open Cluster, EAA Capture 09/17/2022
Four nice little stars in the middle of the frame.

M72 a globular cluster in the constellation of Aquarius.
Live stack of 60 x 10 second exposures, 121 gain, bin 2×2.
M 72, Messier 72, Globular Cluster, EAA Capture 09/17/2022

That was all of the Messier objects I was able to see. I tried for M62, M69, M6, and M7 but they were all obscured from view. I am not sure I will be able to get another shot at them until next year 🙁 Still I was able to add five EAA observed Messier objects to my Messier Log.

Since I was not able to see any more Messiers I bounced around a bit.

NGC 6962 is the brightest member of a group of galaxies located in Aquarius.
Live stack of 20 x 30 seconds, 121 gain, bin 2×2.
NGC 6962, Galaxy, EAA Capture 09/17/2022
NGC 6962 is in the very center. KStars shows 9 other galaxies in this frame but I was only able to resolve 5 for sure in this frame. There is an annotated image of this galaxy group here.

NGC 7789 is a large open cluster of stars in the constellation of Cassiopeia.
Live stack of 40 x 15 second exposures, 121 gain, bin 2×2.
NGC 7789, Open Cluster, EAA Capture 09/17/2022
This was definitely one of my favorites from this session. Nice big open cluster of stars.

NGC 7822 a star forming complex in the constellation of Cepheus. There is an emission region, Sharpless 171, and the young cluster of stars named Berkeley 59.
Live stack of 90 x 30 second exposures, 121 gain, bin 2×2.
NGC 7822, Emission nebula and star cluster, EAA Capture 09/17/2022
I did something a bit different with NGC 7822. I usually keep my EAA observations to around 10 to maybe 15 minutes per object, NGC 7822 seemed to need a bit more time so I stayed on it for 45 minutes. I was able to start to resolve some of the nebula about 10 minutes in, but with each 5 minute run I was able to see a bit more detail. Enjoyed looking at this one.

I covered the gear around 11 PM and called it a night. Great having two nice clear weekend nights.

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