This is an alphabetical listing of all images on my film site... a sampling of film images taken from the 1980's to June 2005. Most of these images date from 1992, when I assembled my 14.5" f5 Newtonian reflector. Space considerations had prevented me form exhibiting more images, especially those taken in the 1970's (with a C8 and 103aF film) and 1980's (with my 8" f5 Newtonian reflector on hypered Kodak Tech Pan 2415). I am presently imaging from my home in Thousand Oaks, California, using the 8" f5 and 14.5" f5 Newtonians, and an SBIG ST-8XME. Click here to see my ccd site. As always, click on the object designation (name) for the image.

This site is no longer updated / maintained

The famous Horsehead nebula. The Dark Nebula Barnard 33 is a cold dark cloud of 'dust' that appears in front of the curtain of faint light that is known as the Bright Nebula IC 434. The silhouette of B 33 is what gives this interesting area in Orion its famous moniker. The bright blob of nebulosity to the northeast (upper left) is the bright nebula NGC 2023. The straight lines coming down from the north (top) are portions of the diagonal spikes from Alnitak (Zeta Orionis, 1.7 magnitude), about 32 minutes to the north.

A very interesting Dark Nebulae complex in Sagittarius. B 83a (6 E? G) is the small (4.0 arc minutes) elliptical dark nebula to the northwest (upper right) of this image, while B 84 (6 Ir) is the large (30 x 15 arc minutes), complex, tarantula-looking area at southeast (lower left) portion of this image. The center of this field is located at approximately 17h 46m 05s -20d 05m 47s

This nice Dark Nebula is often over looked, as it is located just to the north of the North America nebula. A fairly large (20 x 10 arc minutes) and prominent (5 Ir) area located in Cygnus at 20h 57m 08s +45d 52m 19s

This is not the object in the Sky & Telescope May 1998 article. This dwarf irregular Galaxy in Sagittarius is at 19h 30m 00s, -17d 40m 42s, and is plotted in Megastar v3 and v4, Arizona Database v9.0, and Uranometria 2000. It is not plotted in the Millennium Star Atlas

This little wisp of a Bright Nebula in Cepheus is also called "Gyulbudaghain's Nebula". It is one of the rare objects (like Hubble's variable nebula) that show changes in structure over time. Located at 20h 45m 54s +67d 58m 00s

See this color image by Adam Block/Mount Lemon SkyCenter/University of Arizona

This large and low surface brightness Galaxy is located in the fringes of the winter Milky Way in Camelopardalis. This was the last shot of the night, and the sky transparency from the October 2003 Southern California wildfires had deteriorated (from the smoke), and the winds had shifted to the west and gusting to over 10mph.

This is the 'core' of a Bright Nebula complex in Cepheus that is also known as Sh2-156 and LBN 537. Deep images overexpose this area. This enlarged short exposure gives an image reminiscent of a planetary nebula (field is about 5' square). Located at 23h 05m 11s +60d 15m 22s

Although it looks like a planetary nebula (cataloged as PK169-0.1), this object seems to be a gaseous nebulae (Bright Nebula). The original discovery observation by M. G. Bigourdan was of Comet 113P/Spitaler. From The Webb Society Quarterly Journal, Issue 104, pages 1 to 8. This nebula is in Auriga and is located at 05h 18m 10s +37d 33m 28s

One of the many blue Reflection Nebula in the Rho Ophiuchi complex on the Scorpius/Ophiuchus border. A very faint satellite passed diagonally through IC 4603 as this image was being exposed. IC 4603 is located at 16h 25m 15s -24d 26m 00s

This is the famous 'Cartwheel' Galaxy in Sculptor. See image from the Hubble space telescope. The small (1.5' x 1.3') ring structure shows nicely, but the interior details are a little lacking in comparison to the Hubble image. Also known as ESO 350-G040

The famous Crab Nebula! This object is possibly the most studied (at all wavelengths) astronomical object in the sky. A Supernova Remnant. The visible manifestation of a star in the constellation Taurus that exploded in 1054A.D., and was recorded as a 'new' star by Oriental astronomers. M 1 is about 6.0' x 4.0' and a bright 9th magnitude.

This image is a Picture Window Pro 2.5 blend of a October 1991 image at 50 minutes and the December 2002 image at 60 minutes. The December 2002 image was a little overexposed in the nebula's center, and the large drop in temperature slightly changed the focus. By blending the 1991 and 2002 images together I got better star images than either exposure, and retained most of the interior detail that the shorter 1991 image revealed.

The 'Triffid Nebula' in Sagittarius is a complex region of Bright Nebula, Dark Nebula and Reflection nebulosity located about 1.4 degrees north of M 8 (the 'Lagoon Nebula'). This region is just above the Sagittarius Star Cloud (towards the center of our galaxy) and contains innumerable kinds and classes of objects. A visual and photographic playground! M 20 is located at 18h 02m 25s -22d 59m 00s

This bright (5.9 magnitude) Messier Open Cluster is just 35 arc minutes NNE of M 20 (the Trifid Nebula) in Sagittarius, and is set amid a bright Milky Way background that is just visible in this 40 minute exposure. M 21 is located at 18h 04m 13s -22d 29m 51s

This spectaular Messier Globular Cluster in Sagittarius is set amid a dense star field on the eastern edge of the Great Sagittarius Star cloud. Among the largest globuars in apparent size (24 arc minutes), this object would be much more appreciated by us 'northerners' if it were higher in our sky. M 22 is located at 18h 36m 24s -23d 54m 12s

This image of the Great Galaxy in Andromeda is from 1987. This is one of the negatives that was too dark for my old HP scanner, but scans fine on the SprintScan. I made this image a little larger than usual (1280 x 779), but it's still only one third of the original scan.

M 32 is the round elliptical Galaxy at the upper left (northeast), NGC 206 is the resolved Star Cloud to the lower right (southwest). M 32 is set against the large background spiral Galaxy M 31, while NGC 206 is part of a spiral arm of M 31.

M 51 is a classic face-on spiral Galaxy (Sbc(s) in Canes Venatici with an interacting companion (NGC 5195). M 51 is large and bright, and reveals spiral structure visually in 6 to 8 inch telescope when viewed from a dark site.

M 51 was imaged as the last object of the first Saturday night in late March, when the seeing had settled down enough for the mount to track properly for the last 60 minutes of darkness.

The October ten minute image was "fixed" in Photoshop to mask the 'trailing' in over a dozen stars that was caused by a wind gust near the end of the exposure. This image is a Picture Window 2.5 blend of the October 2002 image and an August 1995 eleven minute (at f6) image taken from my house in Thousand Oaks.

One of the oldest Open Clusters in the sky, this large (29 arc minutes) and bright (6.9 magnitude) grouping in Cancer contains 200 member stars and is located well away from the Milky Way. A real treat visually in a larger telescope

M 69 is one of three Messier Globular Clusters in the body of the Sagittarius 'Teapot' (M 54 & M 70 are the other two). M 69 and M 70 are located at almost the same declination (M 70 is only about 3 minutes of declination higher and 2.5 degrees due East).

M 82 is a close (about 0.5 degrees) companion to M 81 (see above). This is an irregular 'star burst' Galaxy. Red light images show a large outflow of material from the chaotic central region, which has 'recently' undergone an intense period of star formation.

M 87 in Virgo is an extremely large elliptical Galaxy (E 0-1 peculiar)) and is the brightest (9.7 blue) member of the Virgo Cluster. M 87 also has an active nucleus with a large jet that can be seen here in this 5 minute exposure. The two bright galaxies to the lower right (southwest) are NGC 4478 and 4476.

The Owl is a fairly bright (12.0 photographic magnitude) and large (2.8 minutes) Planetary Nebula in Ursa Major. Supposedly one of the faintest of the Messier objects, I have always found this an easy object to spot in a dark sky.

This medium sized (5.7 x 4.7 arc minutes) and fairly bright (9.9 visual) 3-branched Spiral Galaxy (SA(s)c) in Coma Berenices is one of the more obvious visual spirals in the sky, when viewed with a large telescope under dark skies.

This image is was taken during the January 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake. The epicenter of this 6.7 magnitude earthquake was approximately 40 miles from Mt Pinos. I was approximately 16 minutes into the exposure when the quake struck at 4:31 a.m. local time. Since I didn't loose the guide star (I was manually guiding), I continued with the exposure. At the time, the true severity of the earthquake was not known

This face on Scd spiral Galaxy is among the lowest surface brightness of any galaxy known. Background galaxies can be seen through the body of the galaxy. Located in Cetus at 00h 14m 03s -23d 11m 01s

This large (32' x 6') on edge spiral Galaxy in Sculptor get to only about 15 degrees above my horizon, making the star images and resolution poor for this image. Located at 00h 15m 09s -39d 13m 13s

This object is also known as the 'Pac Man' nebula, among other fanciful names, and is an Open Cluster in Cassiopeia with a Sharpless Bright Nebula entwined. This image was shot when the southeast winds were the worst, gusting to over 15mph, and the transparency from the October 2003 Southern California wildfires was starting to go downhill. There is a slight E-W elongation of the star images, but not as bad as I had feared while the image was being taken.

One of the spectacular southern spiral Sc Galaxies. Large (25' x 7.4') and bright (7.1 visual magnitude), this classic on edge galaxy is in Sculptor and located at 00h 47m 33s -25d 17m 18s

This beautiful large (20' x 15') Sc spiral Galaxy in Sculptor is only about 18 degrees above my horizon, making the star images and resolution poor for this image. Located at 00h 54m 54s -37d 40m 57s

One of the sky's few variable Bright Nebulae. This small complex in Taurus is located on the west side of the star T Tauri, and is also known as 'Struve's Lost Nebula' and 'Hind's Variable Nebula'. Located in a small Dark Lane known as B 84E.

This large complex in Monoceros contains Open Clusters, Bright Nebula and Dark Globules. The classic Rosette Nebula is well over a degree in size, so this image is just of the northwestern portion. The stars of the Open Cluster NGC 2244 can be seen at the middle left of this image, in the 'hole' in the Rosette, while the prominent line of a Dark Lane stretches from upper left to the right. Bok Globules are the little round dark spots across the nebulosity. The Rosette is variously cataloged as NGC 2237/2238, Sh2-275, LBN 949, etc.

This paring of small Galaxies in Cancer is known as Arp 82. NGC 2536 is the small galaxy at the end of the plume of material being pulled from the larger S(c) peculiar galaxy NGC 2535. This image is a Picture Window 2.5 blend of a 121 minute February 1999 and a 120 minute March 1999 negative. NGC 2535 is located 08h 11m 13s +25d 12m 22s

A wonderfully large (11 arc minutes) and relatively bright (9.0 visual) Globular Cluster in Bootes that should be better known. Very apparent in my camera viewfinder, this globular was a large (unresolved) glow. This is a wide view because the stellar images are to poor for a high resolution view.

This complex area in Sagittarius is comprised of two smallish Reflection Nebulae (NGC 6589 and NGC 6590) and a larger (12 minutes) Bright Nebula (IC 1283/1284). All this is set against the bright Milky Way StarCloud about 16 degrees to the NNE of M 8.

This very rich Open Cluster is situated against the dense background of the "Small Sagittarius Star Cloud" in Sagittarius. NGC 6603 is located at 18h 18m 30s -18d 24m 00s, about 7 degrees NNE of M 8 (Lagoon Nebula), in the densest, most prominent part of the Milky Way

Another Globular Cluster, this one in Aquila. NGC 6749 had also been classified as Berkeley 42, but the Berkeley designated objects are supposed to be open clusters. Apparently, NGC 6749 is now thought to be a globular cluster. Located at 19h 05m 15s +01d 54m 06s

This Open Cluster in Vulpecula has an identity crisis. I shot this area using a chart from Megastar v4, which indicated that N 6882 is the larger (18.0 arc minutes) of the two clusters, with N 6885 listed at 7.0' and contained within its southeast corner. In their recently published tome, "Star Clusters", by Brent A. Archinal and Steven J. Hynes, they indicate that Herschel possibly cataloged the same object twice. Also, Trumpler cataloged the grouping of stars at the center of my image as number 416. This area is what Megastar v4 designated as the center N 6882. Archinal and Hynes lean towards considering NGC 6885 and NGC 6882 as one object, centered on the bright (magnitude 5.91) star 20 Vulpecula, so the way I shot and cropped this image, NGC 6885 fills almost the entire field of view

This complex area in Cygnus is riddled with Bright Nebulae, Dark Lanes and Reflection Nebulae. In the central part of this image are reflection nebulae known as NGC 6914, 6914A and 6914B (A and B are also known as vdB 131 and vdB 132). In addition, the large 'clouds' of bright nebulosity on the left (east) of the image have GN and DWB designations. The entire region of The Swan is a complex mass of bright nebula spanning at least 30 degrees. The center of this image is located at approximately 20h 25m 10s +42d 25m 30s

Another try at what some call the 'Iris Nebula', another example of a Bright Nebula and Open Cluster entwined. This was the second shot of two planned images for this object. The first shot of 30 minutes was for the bright core, but didn't come out. This was the second 'long' shot for the outer regions, but burns out the bright star and inner nebulosity. During this image the southeast winds started blowing, and the scope was not configured for the wind (in the f6 configuration, without the light shield extension), resulting in some slight E-W trailing of the star images.

While imaging this 'S' type SB(s)c spiral Galaxy in Pegasus, the ST4 lost the guide star near the end of the (planned) 125 minute exposure. When the ST4 goes into the 'search' mode, it moves each axis in succession to try to reacquire the quidestar. In this case it didn't find it, and the brighter stars painted a stair-step pattern across the negative. I cleaned up this pattern with Photoshop, and may use this image in a Picture Window blend with a previous N 7479 image

NGC 7538 is a Bright Nebula in Cepheus that is in an area of sky that contains many interesting nebulae. NGC 7538 is within 1.5 degrees of NGC 7635 (the Bubble Nebula) and the bright open cluster M 52, both to the east. Also in the area are several fainter Sharpless and GN nebulae.

This little Open Cluster in Pegasus reminds me of M 73, as it is above the plane of the Milky Way and is very sparse. Data says there are 10 stars here, but I only see 9 stars that are within the 5.0 arc minute circle drawn by the charting software (Megastar v5). NGC 7772 is located at 23h 51m 46s +16d 14m 41s

This fairly large (67 x 47 arc seconds) and faint (17.0 photographic magnitude) Planetary Nebula in Cepheus has been mis-plotted in some atlases as NGC 7076, which is apparently non-existent. Kent Wallace and Steve Gottlieb have researched its history and determined that NGC 7076 is a mis-plotted PK101+8.1. The CDS's SIMBAD lists only PK101+8.1 (PNG 101.8+08.7) at this position.

This interesting Planetary Nebula is also small (37 arc seconds), round, but fairly bright (13.9 photographic magnitude). Situated in Orion, maybe its most notable characteristic is its location. Abell 12 is located less than one arc minute from the fourth magnitude Mu Orionis (61 Ori)

A large (about 80 x 70 arc minutes), fairly dim Bright Nebula in Cepheus. This section is the brightest part, and is about 41 x 29 arc minutes in size. The remainder of the nebulosity is to the south, and is about twice as large, but very dim. Sharpless 2-132 is often overlooked due to its position between, and south of, the large IC 1396 to the west and NGC 7380/Sh2-142 to the east.

This 'bright nebula' (name from the Sharpless catalog) in Cassiopeia is now thought to be an old Planetary Nebula. Also known as PK128-4.1 and the 'Little Crescent nebula' this is another often overlooked object that is just 1.5 degrees due east of the splashy open cluster NGC 475.

A stunning photographic region of the winter Milky Way in Monoceros. Sh2-273 is a very large Bright Nebulosity that surrounds and gives 'form' to the dark nebulosity that is the 'Cone' nebula, in the southern portion of this image. This is the same situation that produces the Horsehead nebula (IC 434 <bright> and B 33 <dark>). This part of Sh2-273 also extends northwards to the Open Cluster NGC 2264, of which about two thirds is contained in this image. The brightest star at the heart of NGC 2264 is the 4.7 magnitude 15 Monoceros

This interesting Dwarf Irregular Galaxy is fairly large (7.9 x 6.3 arc minutes), but faint (11.1 blue magnitude), and is also known as Holmberg II and Arp 268. UGC 4305 is part of the M 81 / NGC 2403 galaxy group. Located in Ursa Major at 08h 19m 12s +70d 43m 15s

This irregular ImIV-V Galaxy is in Sextans and is also known as Sextans B. The 'seeing' during this exposure was very bad, with the ST4 autoguider numbers averaging between A4 to AE! Some slight E-W trailing can be seen. Located at 10h 00m 00s +05d 19m 57s

This is the most famous (and easiest to find) of the faint Leo dwarf galaxies. UGC 5470 is classified as an E3 in most of my sources, but the CDS information indicates it is a dwarf (elliptical) Galaxy. Regulus (Alpha Leonis, 1.4 magnitude) is just a little over 20 arc minutes due south of Leo I, and the lines cutting through the galaxy are the northern spikes from my second support vanes.

UGC 12342 is the really interesting galaxy in this image. It is cataloged as a 'strongly peculiar' Sc Galaxy. UGC 12342 is a possible disturbed pair with UGC 12350, is just 12 minutes to the NNE (galaxy at the top). Center of this image in Pegasus is about 23h 05m 05s +16d 45m 25s

This last UGC galaxy is faint (aren't they all) at 12.6 visual magnitude, and fairly large at 5.0 x 2.7 arc minutes. It is classified as a Dwarf Irregular Galaxy, and is also known as the 'Pegasus Dwarf'

This interesting object is a new Nova light echo shell that has developed since January 2002. The "V" is for variable. This is the 838th variable star discovered in the constellation Monoceros. This object is would be classified as a type of Planetary Nebula, and is presently about 2.5 x 2.2 arc minutes in size.

This has become a popular field to image; however, there is confusion as to the actual positional identity of the object known as 'vdB 142'. According to the "Atlas of Galactic Nebulae", by Th. Neckel and H. Vehrenberg, the object they designate as GN 21.35.1.02 (vdB 142) is a faint blue reflection nebula to the northwest of the star near the eastern end of LDN 1105 (dark lane). The sinuous dark lane (LDN 1105) with the bright rim and embedded dark markings is not vdB 142. I have placed a small arrow in my image to point out the position of vdB 142.

Objects by Type | Thumbnails of all images