I’m still here at Granite Gap. No break in the heat out in the Sonoran Desert. That’s OK because this is a great place for astrophotography and nights are currently moonless. Every night is good, clear, usually no wind, dark. Compared to South Dakota, this is great for astro. Up there I can only wish for a good night or two during the new moon period. Yesterday I put quite a bit of time in on Sage Thrashers trying for a better shot of them eating juniper berries.
Finally, I got a good shot of a Sage Thrasher eating juniper berries. Once they get used to me sitting there, they will come out in the open, but it takes awhile. It is too bad that branch is covering the tail, but nothing I can do about it. This is M15, the Pegasus Cluster. Located, as one would suspect from the name, in the constellation Pegasus. M15 is about 33,600 light years from Earth, and is an estimated 175 light-years in diameter. It is one of the oldest star clusters known, at around 12 billion years. The Cocoon Nebula. I have done this before but it is quite small and by using the C8, it looks much more impressive. Located in Cygnus, it is is a stellar nursery where star-formation is ongoing. M33, Triangulum Galaxy, which I have done many times with the 500 f4 lens. This image was done with the C8. The galaxy is nearly too big to get it framed but it does fit.
As always, right click on any image to open in a new tab if you want to see it at full size.
