Bubble Nebula NGC 7635 & Open Star Cluster M52

The Bubble Nebula NGC 7635 & Open Star Cluster M52
The Bubble Nebula NGC 7635 & Open Star Cluster M52
 The Bubble Nebula NGC 7635, Open Star Cluster M52 and NGC 7538 . Taken with 80mm telescope
The Bubble Nebula NGC 7635, Open Star Cluster M52 and NGC 7538
Telescope / LensTMB 80mm Refractor fl/384mm
Mount TypeAstro-Physics 1200
CameraSBIG ST10xme cfw9
 FiltersHa, LRGB Astrodon
 FilmCCD
 Exposure190 minutes Ha,LRGB
 ProcessingCCDStack, Photoshop CS2 & Picture Wind Pro
 DateImages taken 09/05/2008
 Location June Mountain 122° 43.528′ W, 43° 48.407′ N
22 miles S of Dexter, Oregon
Conditions3232′ clear calm skies magnitude 6

The Bubble Nebula NGC 7635 is also known as Caldwell 11. This is an emission nebula in the constellation of Cassiopeia. The Bubble nebula was created from a massive young central star, because it is very hot, it has created a stellar wind. As a result, this stellar wind has formed a “Bubble.  Surrounding the nebula is a massive molecular cloud with dark clumps that consequently form new stars as the material condenses. The Bubble nebula NGC 7635, has a diameter of 7-9 light years and lies approximately 8,000 light years from earth.

M52 is located just above and to the left.  Open Star Cluster M52 (NGC 7654) is located in the Northern portion of the constellation Cassiopeia.  It is 19 light years in diameter, at a distance of  5,000 light years from earth

NGC 7538 is another nebula to the right of the Bubble nebula.  NGC 7538 is 9,100 light years away and reside in the Constellation Cepheus.  The largest protostar discovered so far is forming here. This protostar is 300 times the size of our solar system.  This nebula is also a very active star forming region.

A narrow band Ha filter was used to help capture the nebulosity made up of primarily Hydrogen.  LRGB filters were also used in a SBIG ST10XME CCD through a TMB 80mm f/6 refractor & TeleVue 0.08 field flattner/reducer.

NGC 7635 Taken with TEC 140 f/7

NGC 7625 (Bubble Nebula)
7/31/2011 12:10-5:00 AM PST Latitude: 44° 2’ 07.73” North Longitude: 120° 50’ 43.21” West; 3855 ft. Juniper Acres, 30 miles East of Bend, OR Seeing: E Transparency: 6 SQM: 21.65 Telescopes / Optics: TEC 140mm f/7 Mount: AP1200 Camera: SBIG ST10xme CCD & CFW10 FOV: 48’ x 32’ FWHM: 2.7 Filter: Astrodon LRGB series E Gen. 2 (Ha 9nm used for Luminance) Information: NGC 7625 (Bubble Nebula) Captured with CCDSoft; RGB=5 x 5 minute; L (Ha 9nm)= 8x 15 minute -20°c. Total L(Ha)RGB= 195 minutes (3+ hours) Processed with CCDStack2, Photoshop CS6

NGC 7635 Taken with TEC 140 f/7 Crop

NGC 7635 Bubble Nebula
7/31/2011 12:10-5:00 AM PST

This is an emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. This nebula is rich in H2 and birthing place of stars. The massive molecular cloud is created by a stellar wind storm from a young central star that is massive and hot. The bubble itself is itself excited by a hot central star. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1787.

M 42 Great Orion Nebula

Great Orion Nebula M42 & NGC 1973, NGC 1975 & NGC 1977

Great Orion Nebula 1344 Light Years

M 42 Great Orion Nebula, Pictured above. Next to it is M43 (NGC 1982) along with the blue nebula called “The Running man” NGC 1977. The start cluster NGC 1981 is superimposed over the blue nebula. The pinkish nebula composes of M42 & M43 at magnitude 4, and is visible a a one degree fuzzy patch to the naked eye. These nebulae reside in the sword of Orion below the left bright belt star Alnitak. This region of nebulae is approximately 1344 light years from earth and 12 light years in diameter. 60 x 60 arc-minutes .

M42 Orion Nebula & Running Man Nebula NGC 1973
Zoom in View of Trapezium, 4 central stars formed in the nebula, they are 15-30 solar mass each.

Telescope / LensTEC 140 f/7 5.5″ Refractor 980mm focal length
Mount AstroPhysics 1200
CameraCanon EOS 20d DSLR
 FiltersNone
 FilmDLSR
 Exposure88 minutes; 5min exposures @ ISO 400, 800, 1600 & 1 minute @ ISO 100
 ProcessingDeep SkyStacker, CCDStack, Photoshop CS2 & Picture Wind Pro
 DateImages taken 09/12/2007
 Location June Mountain 122° 43.528′ W, 43° 48.407′ N
22 miles S of Dexter, Oregon
Conditions3232′ clear calm skies magnitude 6


The Orion nebula M42 is even visible in light polluted skies with the naked eye. Dark sky locations show a glowing gaseous area the middle star of the “sword” of Orion. These stars are located south of Orion’s belt. Wide Field eyepieces in a 10-14″ scope really brings out the detail.

Lunar Eclipse 8/28/2007

Total Lunar Eclipse 8/28/2007

Lunar Eclipse 8/28/2007 – Total Lunar Eclipse-
Images left to right: 2885-2:06 AM; 2897-2:12; 2911-2:18; 2931-2:25; 2941-2:27; 2945-2:31; 2556-2:32; 2973-2:40 2994-2:44 AM; 3020-2:49; 3033-2:52; 3034-2:53; 3041-2:54; 3064-2:58; 3098-3:11; 3099-3:14 3087-3:05 AM; 3160-3:50AM Full Lunar Eclipse (stars are visible)
3105-3:21 AM; 3126-3:32; 3140-3:38; 3160-3:50; 3164-3:54; 3174-4:07; 3191-4:23; 3212-4:32 3217-4:34 AM; 3236-4:44; 3253-4:48; 3282-4:54; 3304-4:58; 3335-5:09; 3353-5:16; 3414-3:32

Lunar Eclipse 8/28/2007, Canon EOS 20D, Lens Tokina 300mm f/2.8 Lens w/ 2xb & Hamma Adapter 1.26Total Focal length 1210 mm f/5.6. Photos taken with remote switch with camera mounted on a Velbon CX 687 Tripod. Exposures 1/500- 1.2 seconds, processed in Photoshop CS2.

Globular Star Cluster M13 (NGC 6205)

M13 Globular Star Cluster in Hercules NGC 6205 TEC140 f/7 Canon 20d
Telescope / Lens TEC 140 f/7 980mm; TMB 80 f/6 manual guiding
Mount Type Astro-Physics 1200 mount
Camera Canon 20D & Angle C magnifier
 Filters N/A
 Film  Digital
 Exposure 5 minutes x 8 stacked
 Processing Photoshop CS2 Cropped; 2017 CS6 & CCDStack
 Date  9-11-2007
 Location June Mountain, South of Eagles Rest, Oregon
 Conditions 3232′ magnitude 6.2 Skies; Clear & Steady

The brightest globular cluster in the northern latitudes, the Globular Star Cluster in Hercules M13 (NGC 6205) shines at magnitude 5.8 and is visible to the naked eye from a dark sky site. It is approximately 20 arc-minutes in diameter with around 300,000 stars. Located in western edge of the Keystone in the constellation of Hercules. It takes an 11-12″ telescope to resolve the stars decently, like diamond dust on black velvet. Go to a 14″ or larger at a dark sky site and it is a real treasure! The Great Hercules Globular Cluster of stars lies 22,200 light years from earth. This is roughly one quarter the width of our Milky Way Galaxy.

The larger galaxy, upper right-hand corner is NGC 6207 at magnitude 12.2 , 3 x 1.2 arc-minutes and 45 million Light years distant, about the distance of the Virgo Galaxy Group . The smaller galaxy, just to the upper right of the globular cluster, in between M13 and NGC 6207. This galaxy is IC 4617 magnitude 15.5, 1.2′ x 22″, at 489 million light years away.  A visually challenging object through an eyepiece.

DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex)  cameras are really opening new doors in astrophotography and the Canon 20d and 20da really preform. Currently in 2018, the Canon 6d (full size) and 7d Mark II (APS) have really made monumental strides in Resolution, QE (Quantum Efficiency), Noise, etc.

New M13 Image 8/14/2022

M13 Globular Star Cluster
4/16/2021 1:22 AM PST Latitude: 33° 29′ 01.48″ North Longitude: 116° 43′ 19.24″ West Elevation: 4321 ft. Jupiter Ridge #4 Observatory; OCA site, near Anza, CA.

Additional data from imaging with TEC 140 f/4.55 f 637mm (APEX-L) SQM: 20.85. Telescopes / Optics: TEC 140mm f/4.55 RGB= 3 x 5 minute; L= 10x x 5 minute -20°c. Total LRGB= 95 minutes. This data was added to existing DSLR & CCD data to go deeper and improve resolution. FWHM: 1.56 average. Processed with CCDStack, Photoshop CS6, Pixel-Insight. Final image has approximately 3.5 hours of data. Several background galaxies are clearly visible.

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