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 Messier 13: The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules.

Like shiny flakes sparkling in a snow globe, over 100,000 stars whirl within the globular cluster M13, one of the brightest star clusters visible from the Northern Hemisphere. Located 25,000 light-years from Earth with an apparent magnitude of 5.8, the cluster stars crowd into a region 150 light-years in diameter. Approaching the cluster core upwards of 100 stars could be contained in a cube just 3 light-years. For comparison, the closest star to the Sun is over 4 light-years away. These stars are so crowded that they can, at times, run into each other and even form a new star. The resulting “blue stragglers” appear to be younger than the other stars in their immediate vicinity and are of great scientific interest to astronomers. Distant background galaxies in the medium-wide field of view include NGC 6207 at the lower left. This glittering metropolis of stars in the constellation Hercules can be spotted with a pair of binoculars most easily in July.

Dates & Locations: 19.04.2021(Buraq, bortle5), 08.05.2021(Mleiha, bortle6)
L - 1 minute x 62
R - 1 minute x 30
G - 1 minute x 30
B - 1 minute x 17, 1 minute x 17
Total integration time: 2.6 hours only at f5.3
Flats, darks. Sensor temp: -10°

Equipment: GSO 8" RC with TSCCD47(0.67 reducer) - ZWO 1600mm Pro Camera - ZWO LRGB filters, 8 Position filter wheel, AZEQ6 Mount (ZWO OAG with ZWO224MC cam for guiding)

Processing software: Pixinsight 

Sharpless 2-86 / NGC 6823.

The Open Star cluster NGC 6823 is slowly turning the gas clouds into stars. NGC 6820 is a small reflection nebula on the top right. The reflection nebula and cluster are embedded in a large faint emission nebula called Sh 2-86. The whole area of nebulosity is often referred to as NGC 6820. The huge pillars of gas and dust likely get their elongated shape by erosion from hot radiation emitted from the brightest cluster stars. Striking dark globules of gas and dust are also visible across the image. NGC 6823 is about 50 light-years across and lies about 6,000 light-years away. The center of the cluster formed about two million years ago and is located in the Vulpecula constellation.

Dates:08.05.2021 & 14.06.2021(Mleiha & Buraq, UAE)
Ha - 2 minute x 70, 5 minutes x 5
OIII - 5-minutes x 17
HOO palette
Total integration time: 4.1 hours only at f5.3
Flats, darks
1x1 bin, Sensor temp: -10°
Equipment: GSO 8" RC - TSCCD67 reducer - ZWO 1600mm Pro Camera - ZWO SHO filters, 8 Position filter wheel, AZEQ6 Mount (ZWO OAG with ZWO224MC cam for guiding)
Processing software: Pixinsight 

The Croc's Eye galaxy:
Messier 94 is a spiral galaxy in the mid-northern constellation Canes Venatici. The galaxy has two ring structures, the inner ring with a diameter of 70 arcseconds (given its distance, about 5,400 light-years) and an outer ring with a diameter of 600″ (about 45,000 light-years. These rings appear to form at resonance points in the disk of the galaxy. The inner ring is the site of strong star formation activity and is sometimes referred to as a starburst ring. This star formation is fueled by gas-driven dynamically into the ring by the inner oval-shaped bar-like structure. It is also known as Cat’s Eye Galaxy or Croc’s Eye Galaxy. The galaxy can be spotted with binoculars under exceptionally good conditions, but only appears as a small, dim patch of light. Even small telescopes will reveal the object as a galaxy.
Date: 12.05.2021(Mleiha, bortle6)
L - 1 minute x 68
R - 1 minute x 29
G - 1 minute x 26
B - 1 minute x 29
Total integration time: 2.5 hours only at f5.3
Flats, darks. Sensor temp: -10°
Equipment: GSO 8" RC with TSCCD47(0.67 reducer) - ZWO 1600mm Pro Camera - ZWO LRGB filters, 8 Position filter wheel, AZEQ6 Mount (ZWO OAG with ZWO224MC cam for guiding)
Processing software: Pixinsight 

Galactic Centre
3 minutes Single exposure with canon 700Da, 50mm f2.8 ISO:400
Empty quarter Desert, UAE
Bortle 2
09.04.2021 

 The Gegenschein.
In this image, the gegenschein is visible in the Virgo constellation as an oval patch concentrated just above the bright star Spica.

Gegenschein is a faintly bright spot in the night sky centered at the antisolar point(opposite to the sun). The backscatter of sunlight by dust causes this optical phenomenon, also called counterglow. Until now nobody knows the exact origin of the dust. Earlier we thought of this dust as interplanetary dust but recently based on the data from the Juno mission indicates that the dust close to Earth has a local origin in the inner Solar System, best fitting the planet Mars as a source and not from the comets and asteroids. So both the zodiacal light and the gegenschein which we have been observing for all these years could be the dust storm from mars.

Like zodiacal light, the gegenschein is sunlight scattered by the dust. Most of this dust orbits the Sun near the ecliptic plane, with a possible concentration of particles centered at the L2 point of the Earth-Sun system. Gegenschein is distinguished from zodiacal light by its high angle of reflection of the incident sunlight on the dust particles. It forms a slightly brighter elliptical spot directly opposite the Sun within the dimmer band of zodiacal light. The intensity of the gegenschein is relatively enhanced because each dust particle is seen at full phase. The gegenschein is not visible in most inhabited regions of the world due to light pollution. Only from very dark skies, we can see both Zodiacal light and Geneschein.

Canon 6D, Samyang 12mm f/2.8 ISO:8000, 30 secs exposure
Processed in Photoshop.
Date:10.04.2021(Empty quarter, Bortle 2 : about 500kms drive from my home) 

Canis Major

February 5th, 2019

Mleiha, UAE

 Star trails reflect Earth’s rotation, or spin, around its axis. The Earth makes a complete rotation relative to the backdrop stars in a period of about 23 hours and 56 minutes. So, as seen from Earth, all the stars go full circle and return to the same place in the sky after this period of time.
1 hour of star trails captured with Canon 6D - Samyang 14mm f/2.8 ISO:6400, 25sec exposure
Empty quarter desert, UAE
09.04.2021