Month: March 2022

Birds, Bats and Galaxies

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date March 26, 2022

It is that time of year again, where there is so much to do I can’t decide what to do next. One result is I don’t get much sleep. I finally caught up on sleep last night.

A couple of nights ago, I captured about 2 hours of the Sombrero Galaxy, M104, and added it to what I captured last winter. I’d like to get even more, weather permitting.

Same with M106, I added more to what I captured last winter. It is starting to look very nice. Even though these galaxies are tens of millions of light years out there, it is a sissy skip in distance compared to the quasars I posted earlier. Hardly even worth mentioning anymore.

And M65, one of the Leo Triplets, more data added to what I had from last winter. The frustrating thing about astrophotography is the amount of time it takes to get a good image. At least the nighttime temperatures aren’t as cold now and it makes it more enjoyable to be outside.

Last night I went to Valentine Well again and got this shot of a Pallid Bat in the act of getting a drink.

A female Gila Woodpecker showing its underside. There were four of them having some kind of dispute and they all liked to hang on the fence while doing it.

Astrophotography

I mentioned in my other post about quasars that there was another project I wanted to work on. This is it. This is one of those images I did just to see if I could do it. The Twin Quasar was discovered in 1979 and is the first gravitationally lensed object identified, thus proving Albert Einstein’s prediction from his General Theory of Relativity. Einstein thought that humans would never be able to actually observe this effect, but it has now been observed numerous times.

The larger galaxy is NGC 3079, also known as the Phantom Frisbee Galaxy. It is located in Ursa Major about 50 million light years from Earth. However, that is nothing compared to the Twin Quasar, which is 8.7 billion light years out there. This is by far the farthest object I have knowingly imaged. The age of the solar system and our planet is around 4.5 billion years; the light that is captured from the Twin Quasar left before our planet even existed.

What looks like two stars is actually a quasar with a galaxy between it and our planet. The galaxy (designated YGKOW G1 and too dim to see in this image) is about 3.7 billion light years and the quasar is 8.7 billion light years. The effect is known as gravitational lensing, the warping of space-time as it passes massive objects.

Read more about gravitational lensing and at this link there is a Hubble Space Telescope image in which the galaxy causing the lensing can be seen.

Bats Birding

An Evening at Valentine Well

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date March 20, 2022
2 Comments on An Evening at Valentine Well

Friday afternoon I drove back out to Valentine Well. The weather wasn’t as warm as I had hoped but I still thought I could get some decent bat activity. About a mile before the well, I saw a sight that one does not often see here in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, an Osprey.

A rare sight around the Ajo area, an Osprey, and even rarer to see one perched on a Saguaro. I think I’ve seen Osprey maybe twice before. There is no water with fish for at least 60 miles, but the birds are common along the Sea of Cortez and of course will migrate through. But landing on a Saguaro?

The main reason I keep trying for bats at Valentine Well is to get a really good photo of this species, Townsend’s Big-eared Bat. It is always close but so far I have none that are really sharp and contain the entire bat. This one is not sharp but otherwise it would be perfect! My big hope is for a Spotted Bat to start using the tank.

Yuma Myotis are the most common bat out there and most of my shots are of this species. Therefore, I get more good ones. What I need is good photos of different species.

This Yuma Myotis is coming in for a drink.

They are very fast, and they don’t slow down much for a drink. As always, right click on an image and open in new window for a larger image.

Birding Photography

Birding Report

Bird migration is picking up nicely. I’m seeing first of spring Bell’s Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Lucy’s Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Bullock’s Oriole, and many more. I went out to Valentine Well a couple of nights ago to try some bat photography. That didn’t work out but I did see a Poorwill. Nights are warming up, no longer do I need four blankets! The lack of rain results in very few wildflowers, unfortunately. It is very dry.

I’ve been hearing about a Lewis’s Woodpecker around town, it has apparently been here all winter. I finally caught up to it.

There are lots of Lawrence’s Goldfinches moving through the area. Some days I can see over 30 at the golf course. Here is a flock watering with a Gila Woodpecker.

These Lawrence’s Goldfinches were bathing at a pretty close range.

My first of spring Lucy’s Warbler, at Highway Tank.

FOS Cassin’s Kingbird at the golf course.

Astrophotography Photography

Quasars, Galaxies and M97

For a long time I’ve been thinking about trying to capture a quasar. I finally found out how to get a couple of them, by imaging a galaxy in Ursa Major, NGC 4151. Quasars are extremely bright young galaxies, at the edges of the universe, so they are far out there. I don’t know exactly how far these two are, but over a billion light years for sure. Here’s a good link to read more about quasars.

The largest galaxy in this image is NGC 4151. I was able to find the quasars using images taken by other astronomers and the Simbad database. It is hard to comprehend the immensity of all this. In fact, I think it is impossible. I may have reached the limit of my C8 as far as distant objects go, but I have another project in mind that may work out someday.

While waiting for NGC 4151 to rise, I took about 2 hours of the Owl Nebula, M97. A planetary nebula by the Big Dipper, it is one of the biggest and brightest.

NGC 3180, the Little Pinwheel Galaxy, also in Ursa Major. I’ve done this one before so I just added the data to what I already had. The bright yellow star above the galaxy is magnitude 6.5, so it would not be visible to the unaided eye.

The Kit Fox again. I think the fleas in the den must be getting pretty bad. They spend a lot of time scratching.

Astrophotography Birding Photography

At the Kit Fox Den Again and a Visit to Another Galaxy

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date March 2, 2022
2 Comments on At the Kit Fox Den Again and a Visit to Another Galaxy

Here it is, March 2, the day of the new moon and all I get is clouds. I’ve only had two good nights for astrophotography so far. At least the area got a little rain, 1/4 to 1/2 inch around the area. The biggest bird excitement was a Laughing Gull at Lake Ajo. Some birders came over from Tucson and for at least one it was an Arizona life bird. I’ve never seen one in Arizona myself. This afternoon I was passing by the Kit Fox den and saw two of the foxes outside taking a nap.