Category: Astrophotography

Dark Nebulas

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date November 30, 2021

For the past week I have been putting a lot of time into dark nebulas. There are hundreds of them listed in Stellarium but almost no photos anywhere online to see what they look like. I tried for a few of the better- known dark nebulas, these are the ones with some bright stars lighting up the clouds. They are difficult targets; the dust is dim and it is hard to get enough exposure. With the C8 (at f6.3) it is nearly impossible but with the 500 mm lens at f4 I can get one nebula done in a couple of nights if all goes well. Framing is hard too, I can’t see the clouds in the images, all I can see is areas with no stars, obscured by the dust. Anyway, I will post some of the results below. As always, right click on an image and open in a new tab for a larger view.

The Helping Hand Nebula is a very faint dust cloud in Cassiopeia. It is made up of two main dark nebulas, LDN 1357 and LDN 1358. There are lots of other faint things in here too, some small reflection nebulas and other small dark nebulas. I was just happy to see that I was able to get the hand!

This is in the Taurus Molecular Cloud. The main features are Barnard 7 (the dark nebula) and LBN 782, the blue reflection nebula.

I added more exposure to NGC 1333, the Embryo Nebula. I think it looks pretty good and will leave it as is.

Dark nebulas and reflection nebulas abound in this image of VdB 14 and VdB 15. This one was more difficult than I expect and I probably need a lot more exposure. VdB is a catalog of reflection nebula published by Sidney van den Bergh in 1966.

A Gray Flycatcher at the golf course. It has been a long time since I’ve seen one here in the Ajo area.

A Sharp-shinned Hawk at the golf course.

Astrophotography Photography

Jupiter and Two Galilean Moons

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date November 14, 2021

Last night the forecast for “seeing” ranged from excellent to good. Excellent seeing is very rare so I decided to try some planetary photography. Jupiter is about the only planet in a good place right now, Saturn is getting lower in the west and Venus isn’t a very photogenic planet. So, Jupiter it was. I am very pleased with how it turned out.

I think these are the best photos of Jupiter I’ve ever taken. These are stacks of video frames, taken over about three minutes. In this image, I got two of Jupiter’s moons. Europa is in the upper left and Io at lower right. Io and Europa are two of the Galilean moons. The other two, Ganymede and Callisto, are out of the field of view. Io and Europa are approximately the size of our moon. Apparent size from Earth is about 1 arc second, so it is like taking a photo of a dime 2.5 miles away.

Another photo of a Kit Fox at the den. One couldn’t ask for nicer light!

Astrophotography Birding Insects Photography

Barn Owls in a Hole

A few days ago I went out to Hot Shot Well to check it out. I had heard about Barn Owls potentially using the site quite a few years ago. I think it was about four years ago when I first visited the old well, which is actually a really big hole that someone dug many years ago. It is maybe 25 ft. across and more than 50 ft. deep. On my first visit, there was evidence of owls using it but there were no owls. The following year I returned and found that a colony of bees had moved in and I got chased off by them. There were aggressive. Every year since, I have carefully checked it and the bees have been there but no owls. On my visit this year, it appeared that the bees were gone and lo and behold, there were two Barn Owls at the bottom. I contacted Joe and Mary Staab, in Mesquite, Nevada as I knew Joe really wanted a Barn Owl. They came down here on Tuesday and we all hiked out there, the owls were still there. Unfortunately, this time we saw bees too but they didn’t bother us.

Shooting almost straight down at the Barn Owls. I think they may have some young ones stashed away out of sight.

I’m working on the Embryo Nebula again but this time with the 500 f4 lens. I get a much wider field of view, which I like, and I gather light almost twice as fast as I can with the C8. I like the result so far. I put a lot of time into this nebula, also known as NGC 1333, with the C8 last year and never got very satisfying results.

Astrophotography Insects Photography

Too Many Butterflies

As I posted previously, there are enormous numbers of butterflies around the area, mostly where there is Chuckwalla Delight in flower. I have been searching for a new species for me, but mostly the same ones, especially Sonoran Metalmarks. There are literally thousands of them. I have been doing some astrophotography too. It has warmed up here quite bit, record high temps again, but that is only about 90 degrees so it is tolerable.

I’ll start out with a Ceraunus Blue. I don’t think I saw any of these last year when it was so dry.

Fatal Metalmark, another species I have not seen for a long time.

Yet another Great Purple Hairstreak, this one with a curled proboscis, on Chuckwalla Delight.

A Leda Ministreak that landed dangerously close to an assassin bug.

The assassin bug made an attempt to grab it, but the butterfly got away. Lucky for the butterfly but not so lucky for the bug or the photographer.

A typical sight wherever there is Chuckwalla Delight in flower.

This is the Little Sombrero Galaxy, NGC 7814, in Pegasus. It is very similar to the Sombrero Galaxy but is much further away and therefore appears smaller. The small galaxy in the middle right is IC 5381, a spiral galaxy that is about 508 million light years distant from the Milky Way and has a diameter of about 195,000 light years. There are other smaller, faint galaxies that are also visible, some of which may be a billion lights years away. The largest star in the upper left is HIP199, a 7.2 magnitude star that would be barely visible with binoculars.

M74, the Phantom Galaxy, located in the constellation Pisces. I have done this one before but the results are better now with guiding. It is named the Phantom Galaxy because it is very faint and hard to see in a telescope. About 32 million light years distant.

Astrophotography Birding Photography

A Halloween Post

I figure it is about time to post something. I’ve been keeping busy with astrophotography, birding, and hiking. Yesterday I found a Rufous-backed Robin at the city park and even got some good photos. That is the third time I have seen Rufous-backed Robin in the Ajo area. Today, I found a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the same park but could not get any good photos. I will keep trying.

Rufous-backed Robin in Bud Walker Park, Ajo.

I drive by a Kit Fox den everyday, every now and then I will spot one outside in the sun. This one was catching the late afternoon sun just before sundown.

I’ve got 10 hours on the Helix Nebula now and I think it is enough.

I’ve never tried the Pacman Nebula with the C8 and with guiding. It is almost too big for the C8 but it works, I guess. This nebula is about 9000 light years distant and 48 light years in diameter. There is a dark cloud in the center of the nebula known as a Bok Globule, a dense cloud of dust and gas, a prelude to star formation. Officially NGC 281, the Pacman Nebula is found in the constellation of Cassiopeia.

My Halloween image, the Skull Nebula. I have added a lot more exposure since posting this a few weeks ago.

Astrophotography Birding Herps Photography

A Skull and a Snake, Among Other Things

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date October 12, 2021

Birding has really improved with the latest storm. Today I saw two American White Pelicans at the ponds (first time ever for Ajo) and two Lewis’s Woodpeckers at the golf course, only the second time I’ve seen that species in the Ajo area. There were three Red-necked Phalaropes at the pond too. I had one good night for astro before the storm and now the moon is getting too bright again. I am enjoying this cooler weather but will miss snake hunting, I suppose till next spring, although I did have an encounter with a snake recently.

I was checking out The Thicket for owls. I didn’t see any owls but I did come across this Coachwhip. It was close, laying there and watching me and I suppose hoping I would just go away. I have given up trying to catch this species for photography. Even if I could catch it, all they do is fight, bite, and try to get away. Not a nice snake to handle. And they are big, this one was about 5 feet long.

Zoomed out to see more of the Coachwhip, a very fast and powerful predator.

One of the two Lewis’s Woodpecker at the golf course.

A species of wild *Datura*, or Moonflower.

These wild Morning Glories are blooming by the hundreds in The Thicket.

I got about an hour on this, the Skull Nebula, NGC 246, about 1600 light years away. I have tried this before with the 500f4 but it is too small, it works much better with the C8. I am going to be adding more exposure time to this eventually. This is an interesting planetary nebula, located in Cetus. It has a central star, known as a white dwarf, that is forming the nebula, but also a second star and an even smaller third star, forming the only known planetary nebula with three central stars. None of the stars in this image are bright enough to be seen even with binoculars, the brightest is about magnitude 10.

Here is the white dwarf, cropped out of the image above. The large second star is also visible. I am pretty impressed with my Celestron C8 reflector since it can actually resolve these two stars. Not many scopes can. The third star is too small or maybe is hidden behind these stars, I don’t know. Here’s a link with more information:
Eerie Skull Nebula glows bright for Halloween | Space My little C8 can resolve the central stars just about as well as the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope! I need more exposure time for the dimmer stuff.

Astrophotography Birding Herps Photography

Eye of Sauron?

I think the heat of summer is behind me now. By next week it looks like an even more significant cool down is on the way. I’ve been getting a little bit of astro done too. I decided that I’m going to spend more time on fewer deep sky objects. I started out with the Helix Nebula. As always, one can right click on an image, open in a new tab and see a larger image.

The Helix Nebula in the constellation Aquarius. This is one of the largest and brightest planetary nebulas in the night sky but even at this latitude (32 degrees north) it only rises to about 35 degrees above the horizon, so I am shooting through lots of atmosphere. I’ve got almost 7 hours on it now (with the C8) and the faint outer bands of glowing hydrogen are starting to show up. I’ve become somewhat of a Lord of the Rings fan and I think it looks like the eye of Sauron.

My snake hunting is going OK, I’m finding lots of snakes but mostly of three species, including this one, the Long-nosed Snake. I have photographed these before but here’s a new one.

A young female Red-naped Sapsucker that let me get very close.

Astrophotography Birding Herps Photography

Astrophotography at Datil Well

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date September 13, 2021
2 Comments on Astrophotography at Datil Well

This area of New Mexico has the darkest skies one can find anywhere in the United States. It is a great place for astrophotography but this time of year, one has to deal with the monsoon season and clouds. To top that off, the moon is getting bright again. I got in a couple of pretty good nights though. It is amazing to be out at night here and see how bright the Milky Way really is. There are lots of birds around too. I have a couple of feeders up and one hummingbird feeder. The Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jays have eaten all of my black oil sunflower seed already and there is no place to buy more. A large flock of Pinyon Jays is roaming the area and but have been difficult to photograph.

Last night I worked on the Fireworks Galaxy. I got some time on this last June in South Dakota and added it all together to produce this.

Same with the Crescent Nebula. I really need a lot more exposure to make this one look impressive but this is what I have so far.

Probably the best shot I have ever taken of a Juniper Titmouse. I have a few of them coming to my feeder. The nice perch and clean background with nice light are a tough combination to get.

There are lots of hiking trails in the hills around here. I have found two of these lizards on the trails. This is the same species of horned lizard that occurs in western South Dakota, Greater Short-horned Lizard (*Phrynosoma hernandesi*).

A close-up of one of the short-horned lizards.

As always, right click on an image and open in a new tab or window for a larger image.

Astrophotography Insects Photography Travel

Valley of Fire, New Mexico

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date September 7, 2021
2 Comments on Valley of Fire, New Mexico

I’m currently parked in the campground at the Valley of Fires Recreation Area, near Carrizozo, New Mexico. I’ve been here four days now. This area is in the Malpais Lava Flow and is a pretty nice area, especially since there has been a lot of rain. It is a nice campground too, with showers, electric hookups if needed (I don’t need them), not crowded at all. With my senior pass it costs $6.00 a night. I hoped for some astrophotography and finally last night it was clear and calm. I had an experience with a new night sky object too, a weather balloon.

Last night while I was setting up for planetary photography, I saw a very bright object in the east. There wasn’t supposed to be anything there of that magnitude of brightness. I had the C8 on the mount so I put in a 15X eyepiece and this is what I saw. I decided to hook up a camera and took a few photos. This is most likely a weather balloon, from what I’ve read they can be up to 25 miles high in the atmosphere.

The best night I’ve ever had for imaging Jupiter. It rises to over 40 degree above the horizon and last night seeing was pretty good. I’ve never got detail like this before. One can even see detail in the Great Red Spot! This is a stack of about 12,000 frames from 3 minutes of video.

Saturn was lower and as always, dimmer, so it is difficult to get as many video frames. Still, it came out OK. Saturn is almost as far away from Jupiter as Jupiter is from Earth.

Twice I have come on Scaled Quail with young ones, but the young ones always scurry off and hide before I can get any photos.

And Checkered-Skippers, this one on some species of composite.

A new flower for me, *Phemeranthus aurantiacus*, Orange Fameflower.

There are many species of mallows in bloom, colors range from white to red.

Astrophotography Photography

Slim Buttes, Harding County

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date July 11, 2021
2 Comments on Slim Buttes, Harding County

After a visit to Pierre, I’m now in the Slim Buttes in Harding County, about 25 miles east of Buffalo. Although this is one of my favorite places I haven’t been here for several years now. Not much has changed. There is a Forest Service campground at Reva Gap and it is usually nearly empty, although more people show up on weekends. As of right now, is is empty. No charge for camping, which I like!