M14 (NGC 6402) is a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus (oh-fee-you-choose).

by Mark Bailey

The picture was taken with a modified Canon Rebel on a TEC 140 from the Alpenglow-Torrey House Observatory in the dark sky community of Torrey, Utah (Bortle 2-3) on October 30, 2022.

10 2 minute subs stacked in Deep Sky Stacker = 20 minute photo.

I am aiming to shoot all the Messier objects quickly. But of course the objects are only up by season. I’m using a list put together by The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada which is arranged by season. You can find the list here. I am shooting short exposures, using no calibration frames, no guiding, and doing quick (and dirty) processing in Deep Sky Stacker and Photoshop. I want to keep things simple and use the observatory for what it is best at and made for.

My father generously left me an observatory that is mostly automated. There is even a program called the ‘autopilot.’ The autopilot works in conjunction with a program called The SkyX and is run by a PC in the observatory that uses Windows 7. The remote aspect is using software remotely to run the PC in the observatory and to program the autopilot. I use software called ‘AnyDesk.’ I use it so much that AnyDesk thinks I might be a professional. If only. If AnyDesk keeps making it harder to use, I will have to find something else.

Here are the usual annotated frames that show the object and where in the sky it can be found:

Astrometry.net

Astrometry.net