Messier 34 (also known as M34 or NGC 1039), the Spiral Cluster is in the constellation Perseus. The cluster is just visible to the naked eye in very dark conditions. Since the Moon was waxing gibbous at 69% on November 21, I used a hydrogen filter to filter out the moonlight. The filter also makes the stars look smaller.
In Perseus
M68 (NGC 4590) is a globular cluster in the constellation Hydra. At magnitude 7.8 and low in the south, it cannot be seen by naked eye.
M68
M3 (NGC 5272) is a big globular cluster just barely in the boundaries of the constellation Canes Venatici (Hunting Dogs). At magnitude 6.2 it is just naked-eye-visible under dark skies. Messier’s search for comet-like objects starting with M3 led him to catalog the objects up to M40 in 1764.
M3
This time of year (April) the Milky Way is on the horizon, for us now as it was for Messier then, when we look straight up we’re looking straight out of the Galaxy. The galactic pole is straight up in Coma Berenices. Continue reading
M53 (NGC 5024) is a globular cluster in the constellation Coma Berenices. At magnitude 7.6 it is too dim for the naked eye.
M53
M105 (NGC 3379) is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Leo. At magnitude 9.3 it cannot be seen by naked eye. See location below.
M105
M105 is the elliptical galaxy in the center of the photo and is part of the Leo I or M96 group of galaxies.
M95 (NGC 3351) & M96 (NGC 3368) are spiral galaxies in the constellation Leo. At magnitudes 9.7 and 9.2, respectfully, they cannot be seen by naked eye. See their location below.
M95 & M96
My first attempt on March 24th was too cloudy. I increased the exposure time and waited for a more clear night and less moon on 04/14/2023.
North (toward Polaris) is up in the photo. The picture was taken with a fully modified Canon Rebel camera (this is my one shot color camera) on a TEC 140 telescope in the Alpenglow-Torrey House Observatory in the dark sky community of Torrey, Utah (Bortle 2-3). The ten best of 14 120-second sub-frames were used and stacked in Deep Sky Stacker = twenty minute photo. Unguided, binned 2X2 (to make smaller files for remote transfer), no calibration frames. Processed in Photoshop (CS5).
Location in the night sky of the photo:
Source: Astrometry.net
M109 (NGC 3992) is a spiral galaxy in Ursa Major (The Big Dipper). At magnitude 9.8 it cannot be seen with the naked eye. M109 is in the center of the photo. In Stellarium M109 is called the “Vacuum Cleaner Galaxy.”
M109 in center
M40 is an optical double star (a chance alignment of two independent stars at different distances from earth) in the constellation Ursa Major and in the center of the photo below. Ursa Major is known as the Big Dipper and is circumpolar for northern observers (it never sets). Many apparent single stars are actually double stars, held together by mutual gravity and called binary systems. Roughly half the sky’s stars are binary.
M40
M67 (NGC 2682) is an open cluster in the constellation Cancer. At magnitude 6.1 it generally cannot be seen with the naked eye.
M67
M48 (NGC 2548) is an open cluster in the constellation Hydra. At magnitude 5.5 it can be seen in dark skies with the naked eye. See location of M48 below.
M48