[MtnGoat]

Here's SS Cygni dropping from peak outburst brightness towards it's quiescent state 3 magnitudes (about 16x) fainter, from Aug 9 to Aug 18, 2009. How low will it go this time? My observations...note the three stars in an arc slightly to the left. SS starts as bright or brighter than the brightest one, and is now about as bright as the fainter of the three..

Cataclysmic variable star SS Cygni drops in brightness over the course of 9 days

AAVSO example of SS Cygni light curve...tick marks are days

Light Curve for SS Cyngi, courtesy AASVO. TIcks indicate days

This is a very close double in which one star is dumping material onto the surface of it's white dwarf companion. The hydrogen builds up on the surface until it is of sufficient temperature and pressure to ignite a fusion explosion of all the added mass, which causes an outburst. It then proceeds to die back down and then begins re accumulating mass, beginning the cycle anew, Pheonix style, from it's own ashes. SS Cygni - History and Theory

[MtnGoat]

Caught one going up! RX Andromedae...in it's quiescent dim state on the 19th, a day later on the 20th it has undergone a fusion explosion powered outburst of startling power.

RX increases in brightness in 24 hours due to the ignition of a massive fusion detonation of hydrogen accreted on the surface of a white dwarf

[bobbi]

your astrophotography is out of this world.....

[MtnGoat]

thanks for the nod...it's an entertaining hobby.

[touron]

Thanks for posting these pictures!

[MtnGoat]

Deep Space and Time: Two objects, same age, one near, one far. APM 08279 is a galaxy/quasar very near the edge of the observable universe at a distance of about 13 billion light years. NGC 188 is a galactic cluster (gravitationally bound to the Milky Way galaxy) at a distance of about 5000 light years. The brighter stars in the image are foreground objects within the Milky Way itself, while the fainter loose grouping of stars representing NGC 188 lie 3200 light years above the galactic disk, in intergalactic space. NGC 188 is the oldest known galactic cluster with an age on the order of 12-13 billion years, at least as old as the Milky Way, and possibly slightly older. The estimated age (and distance of APM 08279) of each object implies that each formed at roughly the same time near the beginning of the universe, which itself is currently estimated to be about 14-15 billlion years old. At the time of the formation of these objects, the universe was much smaller and the two objects were necessarily much closer together. Due to chance and the effects of an expanding universe, APM 08279 went one direction, and NGC 188 went another, gravitationally bound to an enormous mass concentration of hydrogen..... which would go on to form the collection of stars, dust and gas we today call the Milky Way Galaxy.

APM is 13 billion years old and 13 billion lights away, NGC188 is the same age and 5000 lights away

[MtnGoat]

A weird object I decided to try last night after hitting NGC188, above. This is a dark nebula of dust, outlined by the bright gas behind it. Very peculiar effect, one of the oddest nebulas I've ever imaged. If it's clear again tonight, I'll try to get another hour or two on it.

This dark nebula in Cepheus consists of vast quantities of dust blocking out the glow of the associated nebulas as well as that of distant stars

[MtnGoat]

OK, I got in 85 more minutes of VdB 142, and combined it with last night's photo totals 135 frames of 1 minute each, for a total of 2 hours and 15 minutes of data taken over two nights. This gas and dust cloud has a very odd and unique appearance and lies 3000 light years away. The universe is a strange and beautiful place.

VDB-142 is a combination emission and dark nebula of unique character. 3000 light years from earth, massive hydrogren clouds glow red, blocked by dust clouds.

I need to figure out how to 'de bloat' stars, but the colors are amazing,

[MtnGoat]

Snagged a redo of the Veil Nebula Friday night. My focussing technique is improving and the air was fairly steady if not all that clear, and the detail rendered in the wispy filamentary structure is quite striking, I think. This object is a supernova remnant from about 5000 BC, it's about 2000 light years distant, and if you could see it with the naked eye, the entire ring would appear to be wider than six full moons.

veil sn8 082909 75min

[MtnGoat]

A few new ones. The Helix Nebula came out great considering the conditions it was taken under....I only get 22 minutes per night. It's so low in the sky that's how long I have as it goes between oak trees, and there is no other way to reach it. So I combined four nights of data and tossed all the sloppy looking frames for good measure.

One the closest planetary nebulas, this dying star ejects a gas shell. It's apparent size is 1/2 that of the full moon.

My reshoot of M33 definitely beats lasts years run at it.

Great Spiral in Triangulum. Briilliant blue star forming regions are visible in the arms.

NGC246 is a classic example of the processes which result from the end of an average sized star's life.

Yet another example of a gas shell surrounding a dying star.

[MtnGoat]

Start 'em young. Is so cute...

"FIxing Daddy's telescope"

[tmatlack]

Goat, Since you're here.... What is the planet blinky blinky in the SE sky, down low, looks greenish blue early early in the AM, like 3:30 am? And why so sparkly, blinky blinky? Tom

[MtnGoat]

I'm thinking it's the star Sirius. It's the brightest star in the sky, and since it never gets all that high, it is greatly effected by the turbulence in the atmosphere. Air refracts light, and air movement causes the refraction to be random..including how much the different constituent colors are refracted. Since Sirius is bluish white to start with, those color shifts are strikingly evident and that's what you're seeing. Sirius is also one of the closest stars at about 8 light years, which is part of the reason for it's apparent brilliance. It is intrinsically brighter than the sun, at about 25x or so, but the very close distance is the real key to it's prominence as seen from here. It's also notable for having one of the most studied white dwarf companions. Sirius

[33teeth]

Damn impressive images. I didn't really realize that a hobbyist could see so much without dumping a life savings into building a full sized observatory on the back 40 somewhere. Very nice. Thanks for sharing.

[MtnGoat]

you're welcome. It takes a fair amount of attention to detail, but it's not all that expensive. The total for the gear used to take most of these pics is under a grand...heck that's less than a lot of folks spend on a single camera body. I was getting some pretty decent stuff using a rig I assembled for about $200 bucks when I started out.