Spring time is always a great time of year to observe galaxies in Leo, Virgo, Coma Berenices, Canis Venatici and Ursa Major. This also the time of year that a great star party is held, the Staunton River Star Party (SRSP). However, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, star parties are still mostly on hold. Nevertheless, I met up with a good observing friend and his wife (we were all recently vaccinated) at the site of the SRSP, Staunton River State Park in southern Virginia in early April and held a private star party, COVID-19 style. The video below are some highlights my observations. At the very end of this blog post, I’ll also link to a video I made regarding my EAA Setup.
Note: from time index 2:06 to 2:27, I’m showing a picture of M82 the Cigar Galaxy (a.k.a. the Starburst Galaxy) but the title says M81. The title is incorrect, it is M82 not M81.
Music
On the Run, From Night Drive by Timecop183. Used with permission. Check out more music by Timecop183 at http://timecop1983.bandcamp.com
These are some of the highlights of the objects I captured via E.A.A. (Electronically Assisted Astronomy) during the spring of 2021 while at Staunton River State Park, a designated Dark Sky Place by the International Dark-Sky Association.
With the exception of the first picture of the sun, all the following images are typical E.A.A. (Electronically Assisted Astronomy). My EAA pictures are the result of live stacking of images; they are real-time and as seen exactly on my computer screen. No post processing was done to enhance any of the images, except for cropping.
Every image here was taken by me, using my own equipment; equipment details are listed for each image.
Objects captured…
Sun:
Telescope: Lunt LS60THa w/B1200
Mount: Celestron CG5 Advanced GT
Camera: ZWO ASI385MC-Cool
Captured Video, then stacked best 20% of 3000 video frames using AutoStakkert
Orion Nebula (N42):
Telescope: Celestron 11” SCT
Mount: CPC 1100 w/ wedge
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
28 frames @ 10 seconds, Gain 175
Whirlpool Galaxy (M51):
Telescope: Celestron 11” SCT
Mount: CPC 1100 w/ wedge
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
111 frames @ 15 seconds, Gain 200
M3 globular cluster:
Telescope: Celestron 11” SCT
Mount: CPC 1100 w/ wedge
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
44 frames @ 10 seconds, Gain 150
Bode’s Galaxy (M81):
Telescope: Celestron 11” SCT
Mount: CPC 1100 w/ wedge
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
24 frames @ 15 seconds, Gain 200
Cigar Galaxy (M82):
Telescope: Celestron 11” SCT
Mount: CPC 1100 w/ wedge
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
21 frames @ 10 seconds, Gain 225
Whale Galaxy (NGC 4631):
Telescope: Celestron 11” SCT
Mount: CPC 1100 w/ wedge
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
30 frames @ 12.5 seconds, Gain 200
Crowbar Galaxy (NGC 4656/4657):
Telescope: Celestron 11” SCT
Mount: CPC 1100 w/ wedge
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
44 frames @ 15 seconds, Gain 300
Sombrero Galaxy (M104):
Telescope: Celestron 11” SCT
Mount: CPC 1100 w/ wedge
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
46 frames @ 12.5 seconds, Gain 200
Hickson 44 Galaxy Group (NGC 3185, NGC 3187, NGC 3190 & NGC 3193)
Telescope: Celestron 11” SCT
Mount: CPC 1100 w/ wedge
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
40 frames @ 12.5 seconds, Gain 150
NGC 2903 Galaxy:
Telescope: Celestron 11” SCT
Mount: CPC 1100 w/ wedge
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
28 frames @ 12.5 seconds, Gain 175
Galaxies NGC 3718 & NGC 3729 with Hickson 56 Galaxy Group (PGC 35609, PGC 35615 PGC 35618 PGC 35620 & PGC 35631)
Telescope: Celestron 11” SCT
Mount: CPC 1100 w/ wedge
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
45 frames @ 12.5 seconds, Gain 200
Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)
Telescope: Explore Scientific AR102
Mount: Celestron CG5 Advanced GT
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
52 frames @ 15 seconds, Gain 200
Software used:
For camera control, image capture and focus control: SharpCap V3.2
For telescope control: Stellarium
For astronomy planning and image planning: AstroPlanner, Stellarium and Sky-Safari 6
For Stacking of Solar video frames: AutoStakkert
My EAA Setup:
